Second QB?
One question that I know a lot of people have right now is whether or not Ohio State will take a second quarterback in the 2017 class. We always talk about watching what the recruits do to help get a good read on where things are trending, well this is one where we kind of need to watch what the coaching staff is doing in terms of its movement with communicating with prospects and, more importantly, visiting prospects.
That brings us to the Spring Evaluation Period which starts in approximately two months. Tim Beck will undoubtedly be on the road watching quarterbacks throw in-person either at spring practices in the South or perhaps just outside at high schools in the north getting extra work in with their receivers.
I can say that it hasn't been one-hundred percent decided what the Buckeyes are going to do yet. I am nearly certain they'll at least watch some of the top guys throw this spring and maybe they see something that makes them dive all-in on a guy.
The addition of Haskins in 2016 does help matters here because the feedback on Joe Burrow has been positive and with Haskins coming in behind him, you do have some guys there that the coaching staff seems to feel pretty good about. But an injury, a transfer, or Barrett doing what most think he won't and leaving early would put you in a tight bind numbers wise.
This whole thing remains very fluid and whether or not OSU actually takes another guy here, I think you'll see movement that would line up with them taking another guy. If nothing else, they'll want to be prepared and make sure they are doing their homework. If they go into this with a mind set of not taking a second QB and don't do all of their homework, it's going to make it a mad scramble late in the process again.
So, again, I think you'll see them do as much homework as possible this spring/summer, that way if they do decide a second quarterback is the best course of action down the line, they'll have the information they need right away as opposed to the mad dash we saw the last few months this past cycle.
I know that didn't answer a lot of questions but I can't answer questions that the coaching staff itself hasn't answered yet, just trying to lay out what to expect here the next few months.
IMG flexes its muscle
It was quite a day for the IMG Academy football program as six players punched their ticket to The Opening by participating in the Orlando regional this afternoon. Ohio State commits Isaiah Pryor and Marcus Williamson were among the half dozen prospects (along with OL target Rob Hainsey) to earn their invites. In fact, Williamson was actually named defensive backs MVP of the event, an impressive feat considering the loaded group which also included Richard LeCounte. Many more IMG prospects are expected to earn them in the coming weeks as a few prospects will be camping in different cities due to scheduling conflicts this weekend.
Spoke to someone close to the IMG program today who was on the ground in Orlando and they shared a couple of interesting notes. First on five-star defensive end Josh Kaindoh, the Buckeyes' top defensive end target in the 2017 class.
"I think Ohio State and Maryland are the top two for Kaindoh right now," they shared. "Florida State is (up there) too. Josh loves Larry Johnson. He thinks LJ is very genuine. A lot of the kids (at IMG) talk about the Ohio State coaches and they all like LJ."
There are more than half a dozen schools with a legitimate shot at Kaindoh so it's hard to really judge just how much this means at this early stage but it's clear that Ohio State is very much in the picture here. A big thing will be getting Kaindoh up on campus to spend some time with the players and coaches. Not sure if that is going to happen this spring or not, I think the summer time might be more likely at this point.
The other prospect at IMG that I am told is very high on the Buckeyes is four-star linebacker Santino Marchiol. Marchiol recently transferred in from Colorado and has visited Ohio State multiple times already.
"Ohio State is definitely one of the top schools for (Marchiol)," the same source shared. "He really likes coach Fickell and he seems open to going just about anywhere for college (in terms of geography). His family has the means to fly and see him play in college so I don't think distance from home will be a huge problem. I know he likes Stanford, Texas A&M and a few other schools too, but he really likes Ohio State."
There is no doubt that Ohio State is going to spend a ton of time at IMG during the spring evaluation period. They are recruiting prospects at virtually every position on that roster so you'll see a lot of the assistants go through there in April and May.
Wade still looking around
It has been more than a year and Ohio State is still holding on to a commitment from five-star defensive back Shaun Wade out of Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian. As we've warned several times, however, this one won't be for the faint of heart. Wade continues to take a close look at several programs in the Southeast despite repeatedly reaffirming that he is an Ohio State pledge.
Don't look for things to calm down any time soon. I spoke with someone who spent a lot of time around Wade today and much like we've shared with you over the last several months, this person also gets a lot of mixed signals from Shaun.
"If you listen to what he says, it sounds good for Ohio State to keep him," the source shared. "But he shows up today (at the Orlando Nike regional) wearing Georgia shoes and he's going to visit Alabama now too, so I don't know. He's a tough kid to get a true read on."
The other thing here is that his brother, D.J. Matthews is committed to Florida State. We've been talking about that situation for a while now but there doesn't appear to be much interest on Ohio State's end of adding D.J. (a very talented prospect in his own right) to the fold and Shaun has not been shy about saying he would like to play with his brother at the next level.
Florida State is still pushing for Wade and he hasn't budged from his commitment yet, but that is certainly another angle to this that is worth following. In talking to the commits that were down there at the camp today, Shaun was very friendly with them. Often times when a player is close to leaving the class, things can get awkward between said player and the rest of the commits (things got VERY awkward between Terrell Hall and Kareem Walker and the rest of the class in the days/weeks leading up to those decommitments this past cycle) and we're definitely not at that point with Wade who was taking a lot of pictures with Pryor and Williamson today and was definitely engaged on that front.
Just something we have to keep monitoring. Again, I don't expect the rumors to stop until he signs somewhere.
One question that I know a lot of people have right now is whether or not Ohio State will take a second quarterback in the 2017 class. We always talk about watching what the recruits do to help get a good read on where things are trending, well this is one where we kind of need to watch what the coaching staff is doing in terms of its movement with communicating with prospects and, more importantly, visiting prospects.
That brings us to the Spring Evaluation Period which starts in approximately two months. Tim Beck will undoubtedly be on the road watching quarterbacks throw in-person either at spring practices in the South or perhaps just outside at high schools in the north getting extra work in with their receivers.
I can say that it hasn't been one-hundred percent decided what the Buckeyes are going to do yet. I am nearly certain they'll at least watch some of the top guys throw this spring and maybe they see something that makes them dive all-in on a guy.
The addition of Haskins in 2016 does help matters here because the feedback on Joe Burrow has been positive and with Haskins coming in behind him, you do have some guys there that the coaching staff seems to feel pretty good about. But an injury, a transfer, or Barrett doing what most think he won't and leaving early would put you in a tight bind numbers wise.
This whole thing remains very fluid and whether or not OSU actually takes another guy here, I think you'll see movement that would line up with them taking another guy. If nothing else, they'll want to be prepared and make sure they are doing their homework. If they go into this with a mind set of not taking a second QB and don't do all of their homework, it's going to make it a mad scramble late in the process again.
So, again, I think you'll see them do as much homework as possible this spring/summer, that way if they do decide a second quarterback is the best course of action down the line, they'll have the information they need right away as opposed to the mad dash we saw the last few months this past cycle.
I know that didn't answer a lot of questions but I can't answer questions that the coaching staff itself hasn't answered yet, just trying to lay out what to expect here the next few months.
IMG flexes its muscle
It was quite a day for the IMG Academy football program as six players punched their ticket to The Opening by participating in the Orlando regional this afternoon. Ohio State commits Isaiah Pryor and Marcus Williamson were among the half dozen prospects (along with OL target Rob Hainsey) to earn their invites. In fact, Williamson was actually named defensive backs MVP of the event, an impressive feat considering the loaded group which also included Richard LeCounte. Many more IMG prospects are expected to earn them in the coming weeks as a few prospects will be camping in different cities due to scheduling conflicts this weekend.
Spoke to someone close to the IMG program today who was on the ground in Orlando and they shared a couple of interesting notes. First on five-star defensive end Josh Kaindoh, the Buckeyes' top defensive end target in the 2017 class.
"I think Ohio State and Maryland are the top two for Kaindoh right now," they shared. "Florida State is (up there) too. Josh loves Larry Johnson. He thinks LJ is very genuine. A lot of the kids (at IMG) talk about the Ohio State coaches and they all like LJ."
There are more than half a dozen schools with a legitimate shot at Kaindoh so it's hard to really judge just how much this means at this early stage but it's clear that Ohio State is very much in the picture here. A big thing will be getting Kaindoh up on campus to spend some time with the players and coaches. Not sure if that is going to happen this spring or not, I think the summer time might be more likely at this point.
The other prospect at IMG that I am told is very high on the Buckeyes is four-star linebacker Santino Marchiol. Marchiol recently transferred in from Colorado and has visited Ohio State multiple times already.
"Ohio State is definitely one of the top schools for (Marchiol)," the same source shared. "He really likes coach Fickell and he seems open to going just about anywhere for college (in terms of geography). His family has the means to fly and see him play in college so I don't think distance from home will be a huge problem. I know he likes Stanford, Texas A&M and a few other schools too, but he really likes Ohio State."
There is no doubt that Ohio State is going to spend a ton of time at IMG during the spring evaluation period. They are recruiting prospects at virtually every position on that roster so you'll see a lot of the assistants go through there in April and May.
Wade still looking around
It has been more than a year and Ohio State is still holding on to a commitment from five-star defensive back Shaun Wade out of Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian. As we've warned several times, however, this one won't be for the faint of heart. Wade continues to take a close look at several programs in the Southeast despite repeatedly reaffirming that he is an Ohio State pledge.
Don't look for things to calm down any time soon. I spoke with someone who spent a lot of time around Wade today and much like we've shared with you over the last several months, this person also gets a lot of mixed signals from Shaun.
"If you listen to what he says, it sounds good for Ohio State to keep him," the source shared. "But he shows up today (at the Orlando Nike regional) wearing Georgia shoes and he's going to visit Alabama now too, so I don't know. He's a tough kid to get a true read on."
The other thing here is that his brother, D.J. Matthews is committed to Florida State. We've been talking about that situation for a while now but there doesn't appear to be much interest on Ohio State's end of adding D.J. (a very talented prospect in his own right) to the fold and Shaun has not been shy about saying he would like to play with his brother at the next level.
Florida State is still pushing for Wade and he hasn't budged from his commitment yet, but that is certainly another angle to this that is worth following. In talking to the commits that were down there at the camp today, Shaun was very friendly with them. Often times when a player is close to leaving the class, things can get awkward between said player and the rest of the commits (things got VERY awkward between Terrell Hall and Kareem Walker and the rest of the class in the days/weeks leading up to those decommitments this past cycle) and we're definitely not at that point with Wade who was taking a lot of pictures with Pryor and Williamson today and was definitely engaged on that front.
Just something we have to keep monitoring. Again, I don't expect the rumors to stop until he signs somewhere.
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