Walking Wounded
While most of the concern in August has been about the health of the current Ohio State players, high school football seasons are now underway and things haven't maybe been as smooth as one would hope for Ohio State commits on the injury front.
A handful of Buckeye pledges are dealing with injuries right now, several of which were suffered this past weekend. While we are very careful about being sensitive to the privacy of players and their families, I do think its appropriate that we share some status updates that were provided to us directly from the kids, their families, or their coaches. So here's a quick rundown of what we know right now....
Four-star wide receiver Austin Mack left his game on Friday night with a concussion in what appeared to be a bit of a scary moment for the Rivals250 member. I spoke with Austin briefly today and he told me he was feeling pretty good now that he's had a couple of days to rest. He also told me that he has been headache free which is obviously a great sign both for his eventual return to the field and his personal health.
I wouldn't expect Austin to play this coming week but it does sound like things are going about as well as could be anticipated just 48 hours removed from suffering a concussion.
Ryan Donnelly was at the season opener for 2017 Cincinnati (OH) Winton Woods defensive tackle Jerron Cage, who left just a few plays into the game. Cage has been bothered by an ankle sprain over the past week or two and will simply be monitored on a day-to-day basis.
Demario McCall is also nursing a nagging injury suffered this past weekend and like Cage is kind of day-to-day right now. Seems likely that he could play this week, however.
Tyler Gerald is also dealing with some shoulder stuff but has been playing through it the first two weeks.
Where do things go from here at DB?
A bit of a slow time in the world of recruiting, but that should change as we enter September and players start setting up visits. The big news coming out of this week was three-star safety Andrew Pryts choosing Penn State over Ohio State. The Nittany Lions just seemed to have the late momentum in this one and with Andrew's family ties to Happy Valley this wasn't a huge surprise to see him pick PSU yesterday evening.
The list of viable candidates in the defensive secondary seems to be shrinking. In the last six weeks or so, Jared Mayden has committed to Oregon, Jaylon Jones to Ole Miss, Pryts to PSU and the Buckeyes opted to let Patrice Rene head to Rutgers.
While it certainly would have been ideal to land at least one of the above prospects, I do not get the sense that we're going to see any knee-jerk type of reactions from the OSU coaching staff in terms of offering a bunch of second tier guys. There are still some prime candidates out there in four-stars Damar Hamlin and Jordan Fuller and to a lesser extent Trayvon Mullen and Brandon Jones who are much bigger long shots at this point.
I still have Ohio State as the 'gun to my head' pick for Hamlin and Fuller's recruitment still seems like it's just heating up with official visits coming and a decision likely coming sometime between the New Year and Signing day. Beyond that, I am not discounting the possibility that Jaylon Jones decides to take official visits and if he goes through with that, Ohio State will almost surely get one. The Buckeyes haven't given up there so he's worth keeping on everyone's DB board for the moment.
While there hasn't been as much smoke around Mayden as there has been with Jones, it also would not surprise me to see Jared take some late official visits as well so you could see the Buckeyes apply some pressure there at some point.
Simply put, in talking to people close to the program, I don't think it's reached the point where there is serious concern about being able to fill this class with another quality defensive back or two. The youth on the current roster in the secondary (especially at cornerback), the embarrassment of talent in 2017, and the options still available in 2016 all seem to be things that are being taken into account right now in terms of not over-extending with offers to guys who are marginal talents.
Something else to consider here as well is that the silly season hasn't started yet, that's about two months away. Coaches start getting fired, position coaches leave, etc. and players that weren't previously considered to be in play become part of the equation.
Weekend thoughts
Was able to take in five high school football games this past week, one in Central Ohio on Thursday before heading to Cincinnati for doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday. Saw a lot of the top teams in the Queen City and some very good prospects so let's get to it......
- When I put out my first 2017 Ohio rankings a few weeks ago, one of the toughest decisions I had was between Cincinnati linemen Matt Bockhorst from St. Xavier and Thayer Munford from La Salle. I ultimately sided with Bockhorst putting him just two spots ahead of Munford in the rankings.
Both guys showed me why they are among Ohio's best at their positions over the weekend but I left Cincy feeling pretty good about what I saw from Bockhorst. He played out on the edge at tackle (he's a guard in college) and was an absolute force in the run game. He was pancaking guys, moving guys out of the hole, and showed that he could really anchor in pass protection. Good start to the year for Matt who has Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Tennessee among many others all waiting to see some junior film before deciding on an offer.
- 2017 Cincinnati Colerain CB Amir Riep was excellent on Saturday. He had two interceptions but that wasn't what impressed me the most. I thought he was very good in run support. He made some really nice plays at the point of attack when Warren Central tried to run outside and he really did a nice job of anticipating routes and getting good jumps, just a really smart football player. Ohio State's hands might be tied here, the 2017 defensive backs board is unlike anything I think I've ever seen in my time covering OSU recruiting, but I thought Amir made a major statement yesterday.
- Riep isn't the only talented underclassman at Colerain. 2017 linebacker Kyle Bolden and 2018 linebacker Dan Bolden also flashed plenty of talent on Saturday. Right now Kyle looks like the more instinctual player but Dan is a little bigger and looked really quick out there on Saturday, coming off the edge for a sack and also making some nice tackles in space. Two guys worth keeping an eye on, think Dan might be the better long term guy but both are getting a lot of looks right now.
- Really disappointed in the injury to Moeller starting QB Thomas MacVittie. His family and the Moeller staff believes just sprained his knee on Friday and hopefully that is the case. First of all, Thomas and his family are wonderful people so it was tough to see him go down in his first varsity start. I also really wanted to get a good look at the Pitt commit in a non-camp setting as he has a lot of physical tools and I wanted to see those translate to the field. But it also really limited Jake Hausmann on Friday. Jake had two catches early in the game for 21 yards, including a really nice snatch on a ball that was behind him, but spent most of the rest of the game blocking, even staying in in pass protection as the Moeller offensive line really struggled to protect both MacVittie and the backup.
I'll get a chance to see Jake again next week as his team plays a Sunday game against a very, very good Huber Heights Wayne team.
- Not a pressing situation here but just something to keep in the back of everyone's mind. Was at the Pickerington North/Central Crossing game on Thursday night. Have been tracking a freshman QB that North has, Michael Lowery. Lowery is the son of former Wisconsin quarterback Tony Lowery.
Was told Michael wouldn't start but might play on Thursday. Well unfortunately North's starter got injured and Michael was thrown into the fire. He responded by bringing North back from a 10-point deficit, throwing for a score and adding an impressive 30-yard run for another touchdown, and leading the Panthers to a win.
Now he's a bit undersized right now, he's about 6-feet tall, and he'll need to fill out his frame, but he showed the poise and mental toughness of a veteran on Thursday and has the arm and athleticism to be a pretty darn good player down the road. Dad is 6-foot-3, so if Michael can hit a bit of a growth spurt, watch out.
While most of the concern in August has been about the health of the current Ohio State players, high school football seasons are now underway and things haven't maybe been as smooth as one would hope for Ohio State commits on the injury front.
A handful of Buckeye pledges are dealing with injuries right now, several of which were suffered this past weekend. While we are very careful about being sensitive to the privacy of players and their families, I do think its appropriate that we share some status updates that were provided to us directly from the kids, their families, or their coaches. So here's a quick rundown of what we know right now....
Four-star wide receiver Austin Mack left his game on Friday night with a concussion in what appeared to be a bit of a scary moment for the Rivals250 member. I spoke with Austin briefly today and he told me he was feeling pretty good now that he's had a couple of days to rest. He also told me that he has been headache free which is obviously a great sign both for his eventual return to the field and his personal health.
I wouldn't expect Austin to play this coming week but it does sound like things are going about as well as could be anticipated just 48 hours removed from suffering a concussion.
Ryan Donnelly was at the season opener for 2017 Cincinnati (OH) Winton Woods defensive tackle Jerron Cage, who left just a few plays into the game. Cage has been bothered by an ankle sprain over the past week or two and will simply be monitored on a day-to-day basis.
Demario McCall is also nursing a nagging injury suffered this past weekend and like Cage is kind of day-to-day right now. Seems likely that he could play this week, however.
Tyler Gerald is also dealing with some shoulder stuff but has been playing through it the first two weeks.
Where do things go from here at DB?
A bit of a slow time in the world of recruiting, but that should change as we enter September and players start setting up visits. The big news coming out of this week was three-star safety Andrew Pryts choosing Penn State over Ohio State. The Nittany Lions just seemed to have the late momentum in this one and with Andrew's family ties to Happy Valley this wasn't a huge surprise to see him pick PSU yesterday evening.
The list of viable candidates in the defensive secondary seems to be shrinking. In the last six weeks or so, Jared Mayden has committed to Oregon, Jaylon Jones to Ole Miss, Pryts to PSU and the Buckeyes opted to let Patrice Rene head to Rutgers.
While it certainly would have been ideal to land at least one of the above prospects, I do not get the sense that we're going to see any knee-jerk type of reactions from the OSU coaching staff in terms of offering a bunch of second tier guys. There are still some prime candidates out there in four-stars Damar Hamlin and Jordan Fuller and to a lesser extent Trayvon Mullen and Brandon Jones who are much bigger long shots at this point.
I still have Ohio State as the 'gun to my head' pick for Hamlin and Fuller's recruitment still seems like it's just heating up with official visits coming and a decision likely coming sometime between the New Year and Signing day. Beyond that, I am not discounting the possibility that Jaylon Jones decides to take official visits and if he goes through with that, Ohio State will almost surely get one. The Buckeyes haven't given up there so he's worth keeping on everyone's DB board for the moment.
While there hasn't been as much smoke around Mayden as there has been with Jones, it also would not surprise me to see Jared take some late official visits as well so you could see the Buckeyes apply some pressure there at some point.
Simply put, in talking to people close to the program, I don't think it's reached the point where there is serious concern about being able to fill this class with another quality defensive back or two. The youth on the current roster in the secondary (especially at cornerback), the embarrassment of talent in 2017, and the options still available in 2016 all seem to be things that are being taken into account right now in terms of not over-extending with offers to guys who are marginal talents.
Something else to consider here as well is that the silly season hasn't started yet, that's about two months away. Coaches start getting fired, position coaches leave, etc. and players that weren't previously considered to be in play become part of the equation.
Weekend thoughts
Was able to take in five high school football games this past week, one in Central Ohio on Thursday before heading to Cincinnati for doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday. Saw a lot of the top teams in the Queen City and some very good prospects so let's get to it......
- When I put out my first 2017 Ohio rankings a few weeks ago, one of the toughest decisions I had was between Cincinnati linemen Matt Bockhorst from St. Xavier and Thayer Munford from La Salle. I ultimately sided with Bockhorst putting him just two spots ahead of Munford in the rankings.
Both guys showed me why they are among Ohio's best at their positions over the weekend but I left Cincy feeling pretty good about what I saw from Bockhorst. He played out on the edge at tackle (he's a guard in college) and was an absolute force in the run game. He was pancaking guys, moving guys out of the hole, and showed that he could really anchor in pass protection. Good start to the year for Matt who has Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Tennessee among many others all waiting to see some junior film before deciding on an offer.
- 2017 Cincinnati Colerain CB Amir Riep was excellent on Saturday. He had two interceptions but that wasn't what impressed me the most. I thought he was very good in run support. He made some really nice plays at the point of attack when Warren Central tried to run outside and he really did a nice job of anticipating routes and getting good jumps, just a really smart football player. Ohio State's hands might be tied here, the 2017 defensive backs board is unlike anything I think I've ever seen in my time covering OSU recruiting, but I thought Amir made a major statement yesterday.
- Riep isn't the only talented underclassman at Colerain. 2017 linebacker Kyle Bolden and 2018 linebacker Dan Bolden also flashed plenty of talent on Saturday. Right now Kyle looks like the more instinctual player but Dan is a little bigger and looked really quick out there on Saturday, coming off the edge for a sack and also making some nice tackles in space. Two guys worth keeping an eye on, think Dan might be the better long term guy but both are getting a lot of looks right now.
- Really disappointed in the injury to Moeller starting QB Thomas MacVittie. His family and the Moeller staff believes just sprained his knee on Friday and hopefully that is the case. First of all, Thomas and his family are wonderful people so it was tough to see him go down in his first varsity start. I also really wanted to get a good look at the Pitt commit in a non-camp setting as he has a lot of physical tools and I wanted to see those translate to the field. But it also really limited Jake Hausmann on Friday. Jake had two catches early in the game for 21 yards, including a really nice snatch on a ball that was behind him, but spent most of the rest of the game blocking, even staying in in pass protection as the Moeller offensive line really struggled to protect both MacVittie and the backup.
I'll get a chance to see Jake again next week as his team plays a Sunday game against a very, very good Huber Heights Wayne team.
- Not a pressing situation here but just something to keep in the back of everyone's mind. Was at the Pickerington North/Central Crossing game on Thursday night. Have been tracking a freshman QB that North has, Michael Lowery. Lowery is the son of former Wisconsin quarterback Tony Lowery.
Was told Michael wouldn't start but might play on Thursday. Well unfortunately North's starter got injured and Michael was thrown into the fire. He responded by bringing North back from a 10-point deficit, throwing for a score and adding an impressive 30-yard run for another touchdown, and leading the Panthers to a win.
Now he's a bit undersized right now, he's about 6-feet tall, and he'll need to fill out his frame, but he showed the poise and mental toughness of a veteran on Thursday and has the arm and athleticism to be a pretty darn good player down the road. Dad is 6-foot-3, so if Michael can hit a bit of a growth spurt, watch out.
