- Check out our website where you can chat in real time with a licensed specialist
- Please check us out on the BBB website and you’ll see a few hundred happy clients. We want to make you one as well
- Special offers for members of Buckeye Grove including covering your upfront appraisal costs, and our exclusive match or beat program regarding any deal you have from another lender
- Contact us now or email directly to info@jfqlending.com
Camp fallout
Ohio State's three one-day elite camps are in the books, with just the annual Friday Night Lights camp remaining which will take place this Friday, June 22nd. With camps just about finished, we're starting to see some of the fallout from these camps.
For one, Brenton Strange looks to be the clubhouse leader for tight end prospect in Ohio State's 2019 class. They saw Strange and offered, they saw Erick All and did not. I think that's pretty telling. There is no five-star big fish out there to be had at tight end right now and I believe that Strange's offer is good to be cashed in by Brenton if he so chooses (I believe he will and perhaps soon).
There was a chance for All to be clearly better than Strange on Saturday and if he was, OSU could have offered and taken him and told Strange he waited too long. None of those things occurred. All and Strange are similar talents. I don't think we're talking night and day here, but the weight issue with All is a concern. At 212-pounds that is a long way to go, but I think the more concerning part is that he has been trying like crazy to put weight on and it's just not happening for him as quickly as you would think it might.
Strange, on the other hand, has shown better progress in terms of his physical development. His stock is rising right now at an alarming rate after a great camp circuit in the spring and building upon that this month. Neither guy is your classic 6-foot-6, in-line tight end, but Strange, to this point, looks like the safer bet to be able to add the weight.
Now, All does plan on taking five official visits and deciding in the winter. That might be the best news possible for Ohio State. I tend to think it's just one tight end in this class, but two isn't completely out of the question. Getting Strange early would allow them to keep evaluating and watching All for the next six months. You'll get senior film and you'll get six months of data on how his body is developing. There is certainly a risk there to where All becomes tired of waiting and he moves on from Ohio State before they have a chance to offer, but these decisions are a large part of why Urban Meyer makes a billion dollars per year.
Moving on to running back, Ohio State has seen some good ones in the 2020 class come through in Dublin Coffman product Mike Drennen (probably a slot receiver in college), Detroit King product Peny Boone and Akron native and now Scottsdale (AZ) Chaparral product Darvon Hubbard. 2020 could very well be a two-back class yet again for the Buckeyes, but of this group, I think Hubbard made the best impression. I could see an offer going out here at Friday Night Lights, but either way he's a very legitimate target.
Where we seem to have more questions than answers is in the secondary. I think the Jordan Battle....battle....is won this coming weekend by the Buckeyes. He's a flex guy in the secondary. I think he'd love to play corner and I think OSU will tell him he can. I think he ultimately plays safety in college, but he's another one of those big DB's with length and cover skills that Ohio State loves because they can fit him in just about anywhere.
Kaiir Elam is a guy I think Ohio State would love to land and think they can, but Florida recruitments typically ebb and flow so let's see where this one is at in September.
The Tennessee kids want to decide soon. I think Woodi Washington is higher on the board than Adonis Otey. Can they get one without the other? Is this an all-or-nothing proposition with Washington, Otey, and Wilhoite? Those are major questions right now as I don't believe they'd be ready to take the entire trio, though all three are guys I believe they like.
The Jamal Hill kid from Georgia came out of freaking nowhere at that first camp a couple of weeks ago. No offer yet but man did he open some eyes and I think they keep close tabs on him this fall.
Then you have Zion Puckett. Puckett is probably in the Craig Young/Steele Chambers athlete category, though probably more of a cornerback than a receiver.
So there are still a ton of irons in the fire in the secondary and I think defensive back recruiting will be interesting all the way through the winter with Jordan Fuller, Kendall Sheffield, and Damon Arnette all being draft eligible. The decisions made there could greatly impact the final number of defensive backs.
2019 defensive tackle recruiting has also become more interesting during camp season, but I'll talk about that more below.
Upcoming weekend WR watch
As we chronicled this past week, the upcoming recruiting weekend will be very big for Ohio State, especially at the wide receiver position. Three official visitors in the position group with the St. Louis guys Marcus Washington and Jameson Williams, along with Austin (TX) Bowie standout Elijah Higgins.
As I said before, I think we'll start to see some movement coming out of this upcoming weekend. The Buckeyes are in on what seems like about 50 wide receiver prospects right now and will only be able to take a few more after landing top target Garrett Wilson. They have seen a lot of these guys at camps or during spring practice over the past two months and I think the three they are bringing this weekend are right there at the top of the wish list.
I don't know that 'ultimatum' would be the right term to use here, but I think some very candid conversations are going to take place this weekend between these receivers and Urban Meyer/Zach Smith. Those conversations are going to be along the lines of, 'look, we want you, you're one of our guys, but spots aren't available indefinitely and the longer you wait, the more you run the risk of us filling up'.
Between Ohio State's current standing with these prospects (personally I think they lead for all three, but they're certainly in the top two for all of them) and the added pressure that I believe will be applied this weekend, it would not shock me to see multiple commitments in the aftermath of these visits.
How many will they take?
Great question. If three of them (and I include David Bell in this group) tried to jump this weekend, I don't know that you could turn any of them away. Bell is a tricky one because I do feel Ohio State has put in more time and effort there recently but now it gets dicey with the official visitors on campus and I just don't know if that one can come together this weekend. But the other three? All three want to commit this summer, they're all on the ledge right now and might just need a little push.
If just one commits in short order, I think they can continue business as usual. Two in the fold, keep working the guys that don't commit plus the Lance Wilhoite's of the world and see who is next to jump in.
If two commit, the St. Louis guys for example, I could see Ohio State start to pump the brakes. My best guess is that four will be the final number we see at wide receiver on National Signing Day in February, but I'm not quite sure the Buckeyes are in a hurry to arrive at that number. If their hand is forced this weekend with three trying to jump in, I tend to think they'd go with it, but other than that, I'm not sure that four is a number they want to hit in June with so much time left.
They'll chase John Dunmore into the winter and while I continue to say don't worry about Jadon Haselwood, I have no doubt that Jadon's phone will continue to ring (but stop worrying about him. seriously stop it). And if there's one thing Urban Meyer loves to do, it's squeeze in an extra receiver late in the game. You take four right now, that becomes a bit of an issue. You take three right now, you can try and stay in the mix with some of the other targets and see what else evolves this fall.
Going to be very interesting to watch everything unfold this coming weekend.
Changing the projection at DT
Much like the cut line in a golf tournament, positional numbers are living and breathing things that evolve over the course of a recruiting cycle. I have put very little stock into the theory of taking 0 defensive tackles in this class, despite some information that said it could be possible, but initially it looked like the number could be as low as 1.
Based on recent intel, I'm moving my projected number of defensive tackles to two. Tyler Davis and Mazi Smith are still very much coveted and would not be turned away. With Davis, I like Ohio State's position. Not a done deal by any stretch, but I like Ohio State's chances as we sit here today. Clemson and Miami are possibilities as well. If Davis ended up at any school outside of those three, I'd be extremely surprised.
With Smith, that one is probably Michigan's to lose right now. Smith will take his official visit this coming weekend to Ann Arbor in what could be a big point in that recruitment. Ohio State has to survive the upcoming weekend, obviously. Ohio State has played this well. They have recruited Mazi hard and they are rolling the dice on not scheduling an official visit before his trip to Michigan. Allow me to revisit this one next week after Smith's Michigan visit is in the books.
What has changed the projection, is that the secondary group of defensive tackles has proven to be very impressive. I'm told OSU really liked what they saw this weekend out of D'von Ellies. They'll bring in the little talked about Etinosa Reuben this coming weekend and I'm told he's another guy that they like and could have a shot. I could see one of these guys working their way into the class, or even both if Clemson or Miami win the Tyler Davis sweepstakes.
There is also Brooklyn (NY) Christ The King product Jared Harrison-Hunte who is a really raw but intriguing guy in his own right. As we talked about coming out of the Rutgers camp two weeks ago, I've heard Ohio State really liked his physical tools and is looking forward to getting him on campus this coming weekend. Harrison-Hunte is expected to work out at Friday Night Lights.
So defensive tackle recruiting has certainly become a bit more interesting these last few weeks. I still don't see the Ohio kids factoring into the equation, however. I continue to expect Rodas Johnson and Jowon Briggs to both end up elsewhere.
Quarterback stuff
Your favorite recruiting topic right now, and maybe my least favorite recruiting topic right now, the quarterback situation.
Graham Mertz reaffirms his commitment to Wisconsin and then Connor Bazelak commits to Missouri, meaning he will almost certainly not be at Friday Night Lights this week, his last chance to camp for the Buckeyes this month. It would seem Mertz is also an extremely unlikely FNL candidate, something that Ohio State quietly was hoping to get locked in before his recommitment to Wisconsin.
I don't think Ohio State will take no for an answer from Mertz. I think they ring the phone on that one all the way until pen is put to paper. But I just don't know how realistic of an option that can be considered at this point.
They are still going to pursue Dwan Mathis as well and I think Mathis is listening, but there hasn't been much to report there since his visit several weeks ago and he remains a Michigan State commit. So how realistic can THAT one be? Probably slightly more realistic than Mertz right now but it's hard to say.
Ryan Hilinski is kind of in the Mathis category. Ohio State likes him. He seems to be at least listening but there just isn't much there right now to instill confidence that he is on the verge of backing off his South Carolina pledge.
So the door is now wide open for Florida's Brian Maurer who has put together some very good camp performances recently, including at Elite 11. He is expected to throw at Friday Night Lights. Again, the door is wide open here. Can he do enough to earn the offer and be The Guy?
I don't think Ohio State has lowered its expectations or lowered the bar here, I think he'll have to be very good or they'll keep kicking the can down the road.
Further complicating the issue is the 2020 quarterback situation. As I said the other day, I hate projecting early numbers, but 2020 seems like a two-QB class, regardless of how 2019 shakes out. Jack Miller has been closely linked to Ohio State. He is also expected to throw on Friday. He also needs to throw it well on Friday, and if he does, I could see things moving in a really good direction from there.
But two things there. 1. Will Ohio State want movement at quarterback in 2020 before anything happens in 2019? I would think ideally they would want 2019 figured out first. 2. The biggest thing here, are the Jack Miller's of the world going to be put off by a potential two-QB class? It is really, really hard to land two good quarterbacks in one class. You're usually taking a star and a project and even sometimes the presence of a project is enough to get the star to second guess his commitment.
You probably just take the star early in 2020 and then keep searching for another quarterback that you love and if you get that one to commit too and it scares off the first guy, so be it. At least that is how I would proceed, but it's going to be an interesting deal to watch unfold that's for sure.
Quarterback recruiting is just so delicate and so different than the other positions. Recruiting is called a 'business decision' so often but that is no more apparent than at quarterback. These are enormous business decisions for both player and program.
I wish I had more answers here on 2019 but there just aren't any to be had at this point. If Maurer comes up on Friday and lights it up, this could get very simple in the coming weeks, but if he doesn't this could go for quite a while and we could see a whole new wave of candidates emerge.
