Another DB target to watch?
The 2016 Ohio State defensive back derby is certainly going to be fun to watch unfold over the next nine months with so many targets still being looked at by the coaching staff and the June camp circuit still to play out.
As we've discussed on here seemingly a million times, the OSU coaches are trying to get as many quality prospects to a one-day camp in June as possible so that they can get good evaluations on these guys with a limited number of spots left.
One guy who is starting to impress some people is West Bloomfield (Mich.) ATH Trishton Jackson. Jackson was part of a loaded wide receiver group at the recent Cleveland Rivals Camp and at most camps would have been one of the top few receivers there.
Jackson is a three-sport athlete that is also receiving Division I interest in basketball but says he knows he is playing football at the next level. He is currently balancing football workouts, AAU hoops, and track where he has run as low as 10.7 in the 100-meters. While most of his offers and interest are at wide receiver, the Buckeyes have something else in mind.
"(Ohio State cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs) came by my school and talked to my coach about a week ago," Jackson told me. "(Coombs) actually told him that they are going to recruit me to play defense."
Jackson is planning to hit the Midwest college camp circuit hard in June. Stops at Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan are all expected and I think he'll earn offers from at least a few of those places, he's an explosive athlete with good size and those aren't easy to find.
Not sure if he'll be able to work high enough up Ohio State's board, a lot could depend on just where things stand in six weeks, but he is one of the faster rising prospects in the Midwest right now and just another name to keep an eye on moving forward.
Latest on Ahmir Mitchell
So Rivals100 Egg Harbor City (NJ) Cedar Creek wide receiver Ahmir Mitchell has created a bit of a stir this week. Mitchell recently tweeted that he was looking at committing soon and pretty much had it down to two schools, though he would not mention which two schools those were.
There is some talk that Rutgers has slipped a bit recently, which I believe is probably the case, though he nearly committed there about a month ago and held off. The two likely schools that he is referring to are Ohio State and Michigan.
As I posted earlier this week, Ohio State WR's coach Zach Smith is expected to stop by Mitchell's school at some point this week and watch him workout. That's going to be an important moment in this recruitment because it could make or break Mitchell's status with the Buckeyes in terms of whether or not they would take him in this class.
Right now Mitchell is a guy they need to see to make that determination and odds are he's not going to camp in June so this could be it in terms for the coaching staff getting an in-person evaluation before the season starts.
Mitchell does NOT impact Austin Mack. I have Mack about as close to a lock as possible at this point and consider him WR1 in this class. It is WR2 that is yet to be determined and right now Donnie Corley is the guy that I think the staff would most want to take that role but the position right now with Corley isn't as strong as it was back in February as that one has become a real battle with Michigan State and Tennessee seemingly the main competition, though Notre Dame is still fighting hard there and I'm never going to completely discount Michigan because that was the school Corley watched growing up and you just never know what can happen there if Harbaugh starts to get some momentum.
So the staff really needs to see Mitchell and decide if he's good enough to make a big push for to the point where they would essentially be calling it a day at wide receiver recruiting barring a late steal like Sam Bruce or Nate Craig-Myers. There are a lot of REALLY good wide receivers in the mix for that WR2 spot in this class so to take a guy for that spot this early means you have to be a guy the staff values as an elite top of the board type of prospect.
Now with all of that being said, I was told late last night by a good source that while Mitchell has been pretty cavalier in terms of making a decision soon, that there are people around him that have been in his ear to slow things down since that tweet came out this week. There are those close to him that don't want to see him make too early of a decision and while they definitely aren't going to prevent him from committing somewhere if that is what he really wants to do, he is being advised to slow down and take visits this fall.
So long story short, there is a bit of a tug-of-war going on here in the Mitchell camp in terms of a decision timeline so between that and the Ohio State visit this week (not sure of the day just yet) this should be an interesting situation to follow over the next couple of weeks.
Southern Swing 3.0 kicking off in the morning
Kevin and I have landed (yes we have taken to the air for the first time in Southern Swing history) in Atlanta, Georgia and are ready to kick off Southern Swing 3.0 in the morning. We will obviously be in the Peach State tomorrow and have interviews lined up with a couple of top Buckeye targets and will be taking in a spring practice to watch one of them in action.
We plan to be on the road each of the next six days and we have a list of prospects that we are set to check in on which we think will ultimately surpass anything we've done the past two years so be sure to keep checking back in as we update you guys on where we are stopping and who we are talking to.
The 2016 Ohio State defensive back derby is certainly going to be fun to watch unfold over the next nine months with so many targets still being looked at by the coaching staff and the June camp circuit still to play out.
As we've discussed on here seemingly a million times, the OSU coaches are trying to get as many quality prospects to a one-day camp in June as possible so that they can get good evaluations on these guys with a limited number of spots left.
One guy who is starting to impress some people is West Bloomfield (Mich.) ATH Trishton Jackson. Jackson was part of a loaded wide receiver group at the recent Cleveland Rivals Camp and at most camps would have been one of the top few receivers there.
Jackson is a three-sport athlete that is also receiving Division I interest in basketball but says he knows he is playing football at the next level. He is currently balancing football workouts, AAU hoops, and track where he has run as low as 10.7 in the 100-meters. While most of his offers and interest are at wide receiver, the Buckeyes have something else in mind.
"(Ohio State cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs) came by my school and talked to my coach about a week ago," Jackson told me. "(Coombs) actually told him that they are going to recruit me to play defense."
Jackson is planning to hit the Midwest college camp circuit hard in June. Stops at Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan are all expected and I think he'll earn offers from at least a few of those places, he's an explosive athlete with good size and those aren't easy to find.
Not sure if he'll be able to work high enough up Ohio State's board, a lot could depend on just where things stand in six weeks, but he is one of the faster rising prospects in the Midwest right now and just another name to keep an eye on moving forward.
Latest on Ahmir Mitchell
So Rivals100 Egg Harbor City (NJ) Cedar Creek wide receiver Ahmir Mitchell has created a bit of a stir this week. Mitchell recently tweeted that he was looking at committing soon and pretty much had it down to two schools, though he would not mention which two schools those were.
There is some talk that Rutgers has slipped a bit recently, which I believe is probably the case, though he nearly committed there about a month ago and held off. The two likely schools that he is referring to are Ohio State and Michigan.
As I posted earlier this week, Ohio State WR's coach Zach Smith is expected to stop by Mitchell's school at some point this week and watch him workout. That's going to be an important moment in this recruitment because it could make or break Mitchell's status with the Buckeyes in terms of whether or not they would take him in this class.
Right now Mitchell is a guy they need to see to make that determination and odds are he's not going to camp in June so this could be it in terms for the coaching staff getting an in-person evaluation before the season starts.
Mitchell does NOT impact Austin Mack. I have Mack about as close to a lock as possible at this point and consider him WR1 in this class. It is WR2 that is yet to be determined and right now Donnie Corley is the guy that I think the staff would most want to take that role but the position right now with Corley isn't as strong as it was back in February as that one has become a real battle with Michigan State and Tennessee seemingly the main competition, though Notre Dame is still fighting hard there and I'm never going to completely discount Michigan because that was the school Corley watched growing up and you just never know what can happen there if Harbaugh starts to get some momentum.
So the staff really needs to see Mitchell and decide if he's good enough to make a big push for to the point where they would essentially be calling it a day at wide receiver recruiting barring a late steal like Sam Bruce or Nate Craig-Myers. There are a lot of REALLY good wide receivers in the mix for that WR2 spot in this class so to take a guy for that spot this early means you have to be a guy the staff values as an elite top of the board type of prospect.
Now with all of that being said, I was told late last night by a good source that while Mitchell has been pretty cavalier in terms of making a decision soon, that there are people around him that have been in his ear to slow things down since that tweet came out this week. There are those close to him that don't want to see him make too early of a decision and while they definitely aren't going to prevent him from committing somewhere if that is what he really wants to do, he is being advised to slow down and take visits this fall.
So long story short, there is a bit of a tug-of-war going on here in the Mitchell camp in terms of a decision timeline so between that and the Ohio State visit this week (not sure of the day just yet) this should be an interesting situation to follow over the next couple of weeks.
Southern Swing 3.0 kicking off in the morning
Kevin and I have landed (yes we have taken to the air for the first time in Southern Swing history) in Atlanta, Georgia and are ready to kick off Southern Swing 3.0 in the morning. We will obviously be in the Peach State tomorrow and have interviews lined up with a couple of top Buckeye targets and will be taking in a spring practice to watch one of them in action.
We plan to be on the road each of the next six days and we have a list of prospects that we are set to check in on which we think will ultimately surpass anything we've done the past two years so be sure to keep checking back in as we update you guys on where we are stopping and who we are talking to.
