Intrigue at tackle
Ohio State does not need the quantity at offensive line in the 2016 class that it coveted in the 2015 recruiting class, but there will still be a few linemen taken. With Tyler Gerald already in the fold, I think you'll see most of the focus on the tackle spot where there is probably room for at least two in this class.
The top targets have been more or less established at this point with guys like Thiyo Lukusa, and a couple of others as the major out-of-state guys that we've already discussed.
The in-state crop is going to be an interesting situation to watch, however, as there are a few prospects within the borders that are raw but have the high end physical tools to blossom into Ohio State caliber tackle prospects.
Right now there are three guys that I would put into that category, they are Springfield's Dalton Strunk.
Harper and Gellerstedt are already starting to 'blow up' with Power Five offers and both guys are in the 6'7-6'8 range but can really move at their size. Each of these two have interesting backstories. Gellerstedt was essentially a back-up defensive end all the way through fall camp last year before the Coffman staff went to him and told him if he wanted to get on the field this fall he needed to flip over to offense. Well he ended up being a starter at tackle and has really taken well to the position.
Harper is a basketball kid that hadn't played football in a few years until this past fall and he probably has an even higher upside than Gellerstedt as he has tremendous athleticism for a kid his size. Ohio State is keeping a close eye there and would like him to camp over the summer.
Strunk is an even lesser known name but in the last week has went from zero offers to a handful of MAC programs and he has several Big Ten schools looking at him right now, including Ohio State as he has been in contact with Kerry Coombs who recruits the Cincinnati area.
At the end of the day these are all guys that are going to need to either blow the staff away at camp in June (or July Friday Night Lights) or really put some impressive stuff on tape the first few weeks of the season this fall but I think it's important to recognize that if things do go sideways with some of the national targets right now, or even if they don't, that there is still a pretty deep crop of high upside tackles in this in-state class that are just scratching the surface of what they could potentially be in three or four years.
Again, these aren't guys that I would expect Ohio State to move on in the next two months but looking long term I think they will all get a very close look over the next year. They are all three ideal tackle bodies that are light on their feet and still have a lot of room to fill out.
Latest on Guarantano and Walker
The situation with Rivals100 quarterback Jarrett Guarantano continues to be a fluid one but Adam Friedman has helped keep you guys up to date with all of the happenings. The latest of course is that Jarrett is visiting Tennessee March 22-23 but has been saying that Ohio State will also get a visit. I am just about certain that Ohio State would prefer to have their shot after the Tennessee visit and while it is by no means my call to make, I'd be pushing for Spring Game weekend if I were OSU just to get him around as many of his classmates as possible.
This thing has certainly taken some interesting twists and turns with Rutgers appearing to really make the biggest leap in recent weeks but there are several people on both sides of this that feel Tennessee could be an equal or even greater threat to Ohio State than the in-state Scarlet Knights. The Tennessee stuff has run hot and cold, however. Back in January when it looked like Guarantano was all but done to Ohio State, Tennessee was the school that was thrown out to me as the biggest competition and the school to watch in terms of one that would continue to recruit him past any commitment he might make.
Then things sort of went quiet on that front with Rutgers jumping head first into the fray, but now that things have calmed back down a bit it is Tennessee again that seems to be making another big push.
I still like Ohio State's chances here. I'm still picking them to land Guarantano. Certainly I was more confident about this six weeks ago than I am today but if I thought he was going somewhere else I would say it, and right now I just don't think it's going to play out that way. I think the moving back of the timetable was a shot to the chin for the Buckeyes but they have stabilized things here and are back in a position of strength in my opinion. Ultimately I do think a spring decision benefits Ohio State, I don't think this is one they would prefer to see drag on.
Kareem Walker, on the other hand, appears solid as ever. I know there has been concern about keeping his commitment due to the nature of how he committed, his status as a highly coveted prospect nationally, and then the Stan Drayton departure. However, while Walker is not a huge media guy, he has been extremely engaging behind the scenes with his classmates and other 2016 recruiting targets.
He has not shut himself away from the rest of the class, it has been quite the opposite, so while you guys may not be seeing him popping up doing interviews all over the place or as animated about being a Buckeye as say Danny Clark, he is definitely saying and doing all of the right things behind the scenes right now that would lead me to believe it's going to take an enormous change in circumstances for him not to keep true to his commitment.
News and notes
- If you read my front page story on Rivals100 safety Nigel Warrior, you'll know that the four-star prospect is taking a slower approach to his recruitment these days which will allow for more teams to enter the discussion. While that may not sound ideal for Ohio State, I don't look at it as a bad thing. I think this is the anti-Guarantano recruitment where OSU's best chance to land Warrior is to get into a long and drawn out process where he visits a few times and gives OSU another full year to recruit him. An early decision would likely have favored Tennessee or even Georgia over Ohio State so the Buckeyes need to simply stay in this thing and try and pull it off at the end.
- Spoke briefly with class of 2017 Akron (Ohio) Hoban running back Todd Sibley this afternoon. Sibley has become very close with Buckeye quarterback pledge Danny Clark during the recruiting process and the two will now be teammates starting this fall. Sibley was understandably excited.
"It came as a serious surprise," he said. "We've only really talked about playing together at the college level and not the high school level so I'm definitely excited to get out there."
Clark will have a strong running game with Sibley but also a big target in 2016 wide receiver Jonah Morris on the outside. Needless to say it will be interesting to watch this group this fall and see how much noise they can make in a winnable Ohio Division III.
This post was edited on 3/1 10:03 PM by Kevin_N
Ohio State does not need the quantity at offensive line in the 2016 class that it coveted in the 2015 recruiting class, but there will still be a few linemen taken. With Tyler Gerald already in the fold, I think you'll see most of the focus on the tackle spot where there is probably room for at least two in this class.
The top targets have been more or less established at this point with guys like Thiyo Lukusa, and a couple of others as the major out-of-state guys that we've already discussed.
The in-state crop is going to be an interesting situation to watch, however, as there are a few prospects within the borders that are raw but have the high end physical tools to blossom into Ohio State caliber tackle prospects.
Right now there are three guys that I would put into that category, they are Springfield's Dalton Strunk.
Harper and Gellerstedt are already starting to 'blow up' with Power Five offers and both guys are in the 6'7-6'8 range but can really move at their size. Each of these two have interesting backstories. Gellerstedt was essentially a back-up defensive end all the way through fall camp last year before the Coffman staff went to him and told him if he wanted to get on the field this fall he needed to flip over to offense. Well he ended up being a starter at tackle and has really taken well to the position.
Harper is a basketball kid that hadn't played football in a few years until this past fall and he probably has an even higher upside than Gellerstedt as he has tremendous athleticism for a kid his size. Ohio State is keeping a close eye there and would like him to camp over the summer.
Strunk is an even lesser known name but in the last week has went from zero offers to a handful of MAC programs and he has several Big Ten schools looking at him right now, including Ohio State as he has been in contact with Kerry Coombs who recruits the Cincinnati area.
At the end of the day these are all guys that are going to need to either blow the staff away at camp in June (or July Friday Night Lights) or really put some impressive stuff on tape the first few weeks of the season this fall but I think it's important to recognize that if things do go sideways with some of the national targets right now, or even if they don't, that there is still a pretty deep crop of high upside tackles in this in-state class that are just scratching the surface of what they could potentially be in three or four years.
Again, these aren't guys that I would expect Ohio State to move on in the next two months but looking long term I think they will all get a very close look over the next year. They are all three ideal tackle bodies that are light on their feet and still have a lot of room to fill out.
Latest on Guarantano and Walker
The situation with Rivals100 quarterback Jarrett Guarantano continues to be a fluid one but Adam Friedman has helped keep you guys up to date with all of the happenings. The latest of course is that Jarrett is visiting Tennessee March 22-23 but has been saying that Ohio State will also get a visit. I am just about certain that Ohio State would prefer to have their shot after the Tennessee visit and while it is by no means my call to make, I'd be pushing for Spring Game weekend if I were OSU just to get him around as many of his classmates as possible.
This thing has certainly taken some interesting twists and turns with Rutgers appearing to really make the biggest leap in recent weeks but there are several people on both sides of this that feel Tennessee could be an equal or even greater threat to Ohio State than the in-state Scarlet Knights. The Tennessee stuff has run hot and cold, however. Back in January when it looked like Guarantano was all but done to Ohio State, Tennessee was the school that was thrown out to me as the biggest competition and the school to watch in terms of one that would continue to recruit him past any commitment he might make.
Then things sort of went quiet on that front with Rutgers jumping head first into the fray, but now that things have calmed back down a bit it is Tennessee again that seems to be making another big push.
I still like Ohio State's chances here. I'm still picking them to land Guarantano. Certainly I was more confident about this six weeks ago than I am today but if I thought he was going somewhere else I would say it, and right now I just don't think it's going to play out that way. I think the moving back of the timetable was a shot to the chin for the Buckeyes but they have stabilized things here and are back in a position of strength in my opinion. Ultimately I do think a spring decision benefits Ohio State, I don't think this is one they would prefer to see drag on.
Kareem Walker, on the other hand, appears solid as ever. I know there has been concern about keeping his commitment due to the nature of how he committed, his status as a highly coveted prospect nationally, and then the Stan Drayton departure. However, while Walker is not a huge media guy, he has been extremely engaging behind the scenes with his classmates and other 2016 recruiting targets.
He has not shut himself away from the rest of the class, it has been quite the opposite, so while you guys may not be seeing him popping up doing interviews all over the place or as animated about being a Buckeye as say Danny Clark, he is definitely saying and doing all of the right things behind the scenes right now that would lead me to believe it's going to take an enormous change in circumstances for him not to keep true to his commitment.
News and notes
- If you read my front page story on Rivals100 safety Nigel Warrior, you'll know that the four-star prospect is taking a slower approach to his recruitment these days which will allow for more teams to enter the discussion. While that may not sound ideal for Ohio State, I don't look at it as a bad thing. I think this is the anti-Guarantano recruitment where OSU's best chance to land Warrior is to get into a long and drawn out process where he visits a few times and gives OSU another full year to recruit him. An early decision would likely have favored Tennessee or even Georgia over Ohio State so the Buckeyes need to simply stay in this thing and try and pull it off at the end.
- Spoke briefly with class of 2017 Akron (Ohio) Hoban running back Todd Sibley this afternoon. Sibley has become very close with Buckeye quarterback pledge Danny Clark during the recruiting process and the two will now be teammates starting this fall. Sibley was understandably excited.
"It came as a serious surprise," he said. "We've only really talked about playing together at the college level and not the high school level so I'm definitely excited to get out there."
Clark will have a strong running game with Sibley but also a big target in 2016 wide receiver Jonah Morris on the outside. Needless to say it will be interesting to watch this group this fall and see how much noise they can make in a winnable Ohio Division III.
This post was edited on 3/1 10:03 PM by Kevin_N
