California a priority in 2017?
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The state of California is not an easy place to recruit for a program like Ohio State, or really any program in the eastern half of the United States for that matter. Sure, the Buckeyes have signed a few California guys over the years but it's just not an area where it makes sense to use a ton of resources.
The 2017 class, however, does have a pair of big-time prospects that are high on the Buckeyes early in the process in the newly minted five-star defensive back Darnay Holmes and Rivals100 wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson Jr.
Both prospects have spoken very highly of Ohio State for several months now with rumors surrounding both that the Buckeyes could be in the top two. The two are also very close friends, though as we've seen in most cases, these guys tend to do what is best for themselves and that often times is not going the package deal route.
All of this being said, I tend to think the interest from Johnson is more likely to hold up throughout the process. With him being Michael Thomas' cousin and with his Dad being a very pro-Urban Meyer guy, this is a race that I do think the Buckeyes will stay in for the long haul.
As I've said in the past, Clemson is going to be a factor, Nebraska is going to be a factor because of Keyshawn Sr.'s relationship with Mike Riley and I will never count USC out of this one either (the Trojans just offered this week).
Still, in speaking with a source out on the West Coast with knowledge of this recruitment, things seem pretty positive right now.
"I think Ohio State would be the way early favorite for Johnson," the source said.
Holmes, however seems to be much more of a slug fest, with probably more than a dozen teams that could ultimately land his signature. Because of that, the odds are a bit longer here than they are with his wide receiver buddy.
"I think Holmes is very wide open right now with no clue of where he wants to go," the source continued. "If I had to guess, he likes Clemson, Stanford, Texas, and UCLA the most right now."
Ohio State figures to be a very safe bet to be in the Johnson Jr. sweepstakes for the duration of the process and if they can stay in that one, that might be enough to at least get an official visit out of Holmes when the time comes.
I am usually the first one to tell you guys not to get hopes up on West Coast kids but these two are definitely worth tracking.
Toledo recap
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I spent my Sunday in Toledo at the 4th and goal combine where over 100 prospects from the Glass City and surrounding areas were in attendance. There were two definite headliners to the event and they were class of 2017 Toledo Central Catholic teammates James Hudson and Michael Warren.
Those that watched the state championship game (Central Catholic beat Athens and Joe Burrow for the D2 title) will probably most remember Warren since he was one of the stars of the game for Central Catholic and had the ball in his hands a lot as a running back.
It is Hudson, however, that I think is the most likely of the two to end up as a major Ohio State target. Hudson is 6-foot-5, 265-pounds and plays both defensive end and offensive tackle for the Fighting Irish. At this point he has spent the most time along the defensive line but I think he has the most upside at as an offensive tackle.
Certainly it would not be crazy to recruit Hudson along the defensive line, as either a tackle or a 3-4 end prospect, but he is a natural knee bender with long arms, great feet, and the build of a kid that will simply not be kept under 295-pounds. No reason to force it and constantly be trying to keep weight off of him, just let him grow into a freakishly athletic 6-foot-5, 310-pound left tackle and call it a day in my opinion.
As for Warren, he brings a little bit of everything to the table but doesn't wow you in any single area. He has decent size at 5-foot-10, 190-pounds, he has good quicks, and he is strong. Of course, "brings a little bit of everything to the table but doesn't wow you in any single area' could also be used to describe now multi-year NFL veteran Boom Herron so this shouldn't be considered a total knock on Warren, I just look at the landscape at running back in 2017 and then look at the potential that Hudson has and think he's probably going to end up being the more highly recruited of the two.
Both guys hold early offers from Iowa and Toledo, both plan to work out at the Rivals Camp in Cleveland next month, and both also hope to attend the Ohio State spring game so you'll be hearing a lot more about these two during the spring.
Latest on QB recruiting
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So we're still in 'wait and see' mode on Rivals100 quarterback Jarrett Guarantano who will make an unofficial visit to Tennessee this coming weekend and will then supposedly set something up with Ohio State before making a commitment.
I continue to hear that Tennessee is Ohio State's biggest threat at this time. I think Jarrett and those close to him would prefer him at a more prestigious program than Rutgers and while certainly you can point to Tennessee's lack of recent success, that is still a big name program in the college football landscape with less proven depth at this time than Ohio State, so the threat is real here.
I also continue to feel that the best weekend to get Guarantano on campus would be the spring game if this situation can last that long without Jarrett wanting to commit somewhere. At this point I would definitely think he needs to visit Ohio State again for the Buckeyes to get him and assuming that happens, as he says it will, that is still the team I would pick if you put a gun to my head. But again, with no Ohio State visit scheduled yet and Tennessee upcoming this is certainly subject to change.
The Ohio State staff has loved Texas product Tristen Wallace for a while now and that is absolutely the guy they would put the full court press on should things go bad with Guarantano. In a perfect world, the Buckeyes would be able to get the Guarantano verdict before needing to make any type of firm decision on what to do about Wallace but an interesting recent development has been that Wallace doesn't seem to wait too much longer himself so that could complicate things if Tristen would try and commit to the staff with Guarantano still in play.
Texas is probably the biggest competition at this point for Wallace but he's looking at a handful of schools right now and after his Texas Tech commitment lasted just weeks, I think if you're an OSU staff member or fan you'd probably prefer Wallace to put a little more thought into things the second time around, even taking Guarantano out of the picture. Just not sure an April commitment from Wallace, especially if he doesn't visit, could be considered all that solid based on how things went on that initial Tech pledge.
This will be very interesting to follow over the next few weeks as both guys look like they want to make spring decisions.
This post was edited on 3/15 10:01 PM by Marc Givler
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The state of California is not an easy place to recruit for a program like Ohio State, or really any program in the eastern half of the United States for that matter. Sure, the Buckeyes have signed a few California guys over the years but it's just not an area where it makes sense to use a ton of resources.
The 2017 class, however, does have a pair of big-time prospects that are high on the Buckeyes early in the process in the newly minted five-star defensive back Darnay Holmes and Rivals100 wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson Jr.
Both prospects have spoken very highly of Ohio State for several months now with rumors surrounding both that the Buckeyes could be in the top two. The two are also very close friends, though as we've seen in most cases, these guys tend to do what is best for themselves and that often times is not going the package deal route.
All of this being said, I tend to think the interest from Johnson is more likely to hold up throughout the process. With him being Michael Thomas' cousin and with his Dad being a very pro-Urban Meyer guy, this is a race that I do think the Buckeyes will stay in for the long haul.
As I've said in the past, Clemson is going to be a factor, Nebraska is going to be a factor because of Keyshawn Sr.'s relationship with Mike Riley and I will never count USC out of this one either (the Trojans just offered this week).
Still, in speaking with a source out on the West Coast with knowledge of this recruitment, things seem pretty positive right now.
"I think Ohio State would be the way early favorite for Johnson," the source said.
Holmes, however seems to be much more of a slug fest, with probably more than a dozen teams that could ultimately land his signature. Because of that, the odds are a bit longer here than they are with his wide receiver buddy.
"I think Holmes is very wide open right now with no clue of where he wants to go," the source continued. "If I had to guess, he likes Clemson, Stanford, Texas, and UCLA the most right now."
Ohio State figures to be a very safe bet to be in the Johnson Jr. sweepstakes for the duration of the process and if they can stay in that one, that might be enough to at least get an official visit out of Holmes when the time comes.
I am usually the first one to tell you guys not to get hopes up on West Coast kids but these two are definitely worth tracking.
Toledo recap
[/B]
I spent my Sunday in Toledo at the 4th and goal combine where over 100 prospects from the Glass City and surrounding areas were in attendance. There were two definite headliners to the event and they were class of 2017 Toledo Central Catholic teammates James Hudson and Michael Warren.
Those that watched the state championship game (Central Catholic beat Athens and Joe Burrow for the D2 title) will probably most remember Warren since he was one of the stars of the game for Central Catholic and had the ball in his hands a lot as a running back.
It is Hudson, however, that I think is the most likely of the two to end up as a major Ohio State target. Hudson is 6-foot-5, 265-pounds and plays both defensive end and offensive tackle for the Fighting Irish. At this point he has spent the most time along the defensive line but I think he has the most upside at as an offensive tackle.
Certainly it would not be crazy to recruit Hudson along the defensive line, as either a tackle or a 3-4 end prospect, but he is a natural knee bender with long arms, great feet, and the build of a kid that will simply not be kept under 295-pounds. No reason to force it and constantly be trying to keep weight off of him, just let him grow into a freakishly athletic 6-foot-5, 310-pound left tackle and call it a day in my opinion.
As for Warren, he brings a little bit of everything to the table but doesn't wow you in any single area. He has decent size at 5-foot-10, 190-pounds, he has good quicks, and he is strong. Of course, "brings a little bit of everything to the table but doesn't wow you in any single area' could also be used to describe now multi-year NFL veteran Boom Herron so this shouldn't be considered a total knock on Warren, I just look at the landscape at running back in 2017 and then look at the potential that Hudson has and think he's probably going to end up being the more highly recruited of the two.
Both guys hold early offers from Iowa and Toledo, both plan to work out at the Rivals Camp in Cleveland next month, and both also hope to attend the Ohio State spring game so you'll be hearing a lot more about these two during the spring.
Latest on QB recruiting
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So we're still in 'wait and see' mode on Rivals100 quarterback Jarrett Guarantano who will make an unofficial visit to Tennessee this coming weekend and will then supposedly set something up with Ohio State before making a commitment.
I continue to hear that Tennessee is Ohio State's biggest threat at this time. I think Jarrett and those close to him would prefer him at a more prestigious program than Rutgers and while certainly you can point to Tennessee's lack of recent success, that is still a big name program in the college football landscape with less proven depth at this time than Ohio State, so the threat is real here.
I also continue to feel that the best weekend to get Guarantano on campus would be the spring game if this situation can last that long without Jarrett wanting to commit somewhere. At this point I would definitely think he needs to visit Ohio State again for the Buckeyes to get him and assuming that happens, as he says it will, that is still the team I would pick if you put a gun to my head. But again, with no Ohio State visit scheduled yet and Tennessee upcoming this is certainly subject to change.
The Ohio State staff has loved Texas product Tristen Wallace for a while now and that is absolutely the guy they would put the full court press on should things go bad with Guarantano. In a perfect world, the Buckeyes would be able to get the Guarantano verdict before needing to make any type of firm decision on what to do about Wallace but an interesting recent development has been that Wallace doesn't seem to wait too much longer himself so that could complicate things if Tristen would try and commit to the staff with Guarantano still in play.
Texas is probably the biggest competition at this point for Wallace but he's looking at a handful of schools right now and after his Texas Tech commitment lasted just weeks, I think if you're an OSU staff member or fan you'd probably prefer Wallace to put a little more thought into things the second time around, even taking Guarantano out of the picture. Just not sure an April commitment from Wallace, especially if he doesn't visit, could be considered all that solid based on how things went on that initial Tech pledge.
This will be very interesting to follow over the next few weeks as both guys look like they want to make spring decisions.
This post was edited on 3/15 10:01 PM by Marc Givler
