Jones Watch
In case you missed it, Emory Jones did spend the day Saturday in Tuscaloosa as his 7on7 team made a visit to Alabama. Emory told me yesterday that it was not a true recruiting visit for him in that he was really just there with his teammates.
Do I believe him? Yes.
The cost of recruiting nationally, especially in the Southeast, is that even if you land a big fish early in the process, it becomes almost more difficult to keep that prospect in the fold because all of the schools in the region now know who they have to beat and thus who they have to attack.
There was no chance that the SEC schools were simply going to let Emory waltz out of Georgia a year and a half before Signing Day without a fight, so you can expect them to keep pulling, tugging, pushing, kicking, screaming, and spitting until Jones arrives in Columbus. He's too talented to not keep going after. If Jackson Carman committed to Clemson this week, do you think Ohio State would stop recruiting him? Of course not, so this works both ways.
But all of that being said, I do not believe Ohio State is in danger right now of losing Jones. I absolutely believe that he is solid and his actions have backed that up with the handful of visits (another one planned for April) he has made to Columbus, the recruiting he is doing both publicly and quietly for the Buckeyes, and the backing he has from his mom and support system who, I'm told, are very anti-decommitment and very pro-Ohio State at this point of the process.
I don't know that any school has much of a chance of flipping Jones, but if you forced me to throw out a few that could at least fit the bill, I don't know that I'd be looking at Alabama who has a crowded QB depth chart itself, nor Clemson where Trevor Lawrence is already committed, nor Georgia with Eason and Fromm in the pipeline. Florida and Florida State have the more appealing long term depth charts and would be two that could sell that. But again, I think he's very solid.
Oats and Davis building a relationship
As we've talked about a lot recently, linebacker recruiting in 2018 is going to be complicated. The Buckeyes are in on about a dozen very good players and will only be able to take 3 or 4 in all likelihood.
Further complicating things was the coaching change that took place at the position this winter with Luke Fickell moving on to be the head coach at Cincinnati and Bill Davis coming in from a consulting position to being a full-fledged coaching staff member. That further complicates everything on two fronts.
On Ohio State's end, Davis has to be playing some catch up on evaluations. He has undoubtedly had a chance to watch a lot of film, but he hasn't had a chance to do any in-person evaluations. So how Luke Fickell may have set the pecking order at linebacker, might not be the exact same way that Davis would see it, making the next few months very important as Davis can get out for Spring Evaluation Period and also workout prospects who come to camp in June and July.
But on the other end of this, for the prospects who 'could' be close to picking Ohio State, particularly in-state guys like Dallas Gant and Chris Oats, the coaching change means wanting to make sure there is a good relationship established with Davis before taking the plunge.
To that point, Oats was back on campus this weekend with his parents and though he did not commit, it was a productive trip for all involved.
"It was great, I loved every part of it," Oats told me this weekend.
Most importantly, Oats and Davis were able to spend a lot of time together and Oats felt that was a really important part of his trip and a highlight of his visit.
"We watched my film and he let me know what I need to work on," Oats explained. "I really like him."
Chris told me he doesn't have a timeframe for a decision at this point and that honestly may be better for Ohio State as the longer these linebacker targets take to decide, the more evaluating Davis and the rest of the defensive staff can do to try and establish more of a pecking order here.
Michael Harris is visiting the first week of April, as is Payton Wilson who will then decide on May 1st, so there are just a ton of moving parts here at this position. I still believe they would take Oats today if he tried to commit, but the Harris and Wilson visits may help Ohio State sift through all of this and come out of those trips with a better idea of the lay of the land so to speak.
News and Notes
- Four-star defensive lineman Tyreke Smith made another visit to Ohio State this weekend with his parents and a few friends (football players) from the Cleveland area. Will have a more in-depth article at some point this week, but there really isn't much new to report here. Smith had a good visit, he continues to build a good relationship with the Ohio State coaches but he still plans to take his time with the recruiting process.
- Rivals100 two-way lineman Tyler Friday was also on campus on Saturday and visited Michigan today. I've only traded quick messages with him this weekend as he has been on the road quite a bit and am supposed to be speaking more in-depth with him later tonight or tomorrow. But in speaking to a couple of people who were on campus this weekend, they felt his visit was going very well as his parents were accompanying him on this Big Ten trip.
It's hard to say what Friday's outlook is in regards to OSU. He undoubtedly wants to play defensive line and Ohio State, at least initially, liked him more as a guard prospect. There are a lot of defensive line bodies in the mix right now and there are only so many that Ohio State can take so something will have to give there down the road. And certainly Michigan is a huge factor here as well, and probably where I'd guess Tyler ends up. But Friday has now made several visits to Ohio State and I continue to hear good reviews from Tyler and those close to him when it comes to OSU.
- A surprise visitor this weekend was Rivals250 defensive tackle Brant Lawless out of Nashville (TN) Christian. Still working on catching up with him but he put out a tweet today saying he made a visit so we should have more on him in the next day or so. The early word with Brant is that Tennessee is going to be tough to beat, but it was interesting to see him pop up on campus this weekend.
- I did not forget about Jaiden Woodbey. Look for something on him by the end of the day tomorrow. Both parents were along on the visit and, much like with Emory Jones, I think the support system is largely in OSU's corner here. I thin Jaiden is a little more emotional and less calculated than Emory, which can lead to some back-and-forth but OSU looks strong coming out of this visit and the fact that he keeps flying across the country bodes very well for how OSU stands in terms of ultimately getting his signature.
- This isn't new news, but felt it was important enough to remind everyone that five-star defensive tackle Taron Vincent is still visiting this week. He'll get things started on Wednesday. I did speak with Taron for a few minutes this evening and will be running that story first thing in the morning.
In case you missed it, Emory Jones did spend the day Saturday in Tuscaloosa as his 7on7 team made a visit to Alabama. Emory told me yesterday that it was not a true recruiting visit for him in that he was really just there with his teammates.
Do I believe him? Yes.
The cost of recruiting nationally, especially in the Southeast, is that even if you land a big fish early in the process, it becomes almost more difficult to keep that prospect in the fold because all of the schools in the region now know who they have to beat and thus who they have to attack.
There was no chance that the SEC schools were simply going to let Emory waltz out of Georgia a year and a half before Signing Day without a fight, so you can expect them to keep pulling, tugging, pushing, kicking, screaming, and spitting until Jones arrives in Columbus. He's too talented to not keep going after. If Jackson Carman committed to Clemson this week, do you think Ohio State would stop recruiting him? Of course not, so this works both ways.
But all of that being said, I do not believe Ohio State is in danger right now of losing Jones. I absolutely believe that he is solid and his actions have backed that up with the handful of visits (another one planned for April) he has made to Columbus, the recruiting he is doing both publicly and quietly for the Buckeyes, and the backing he has from his mom and support system who, I'm told, are very anti-decommitment and very pro-Ohio State at this point of the process.
I don't know that any school has much of a chance of flipping Jones, but if you forced me to throw out a few that could at least fit the bill, I don't know that I'd be looking at Alabama who has a crowded QB depth chart itself, nor Clemson where Trevor Lawrence is already committed, nor Georgia with Eason and Fromm in the pipeline. Florida and Florida State have the more appealing long term depth charts and would be two that could sell that. But again, I think he's very solid.
Oats and Davis building a relationship
As we've talked about a lot recently, linebacker recruiting in 2018 is going to be complicated. The Buckeyes are in on about a dozen very good players and will only be able to take 3 or 4 in all likelihood.
Further complicating things was the coaching change that took place at the position this winter with Luke Fickell moving on to be the head coach at Cincinnati and Bill Davis coming in from a consulting position to being a full-fledged coaching staff member. That further complicates everything on two fronts.
On Ohio State's end, Davis has to be playing some catch up on evaluations. He has undoubtedly had a chance to watch a lot of film, but he hasn't had a chance to do any in-person evaluations. So how Luke Fickell may have set the pecking order at linebacker, might not be the exact same way that Davis would see it, making the next few months very important as Davis can get out for Spring Evaluation Period and also workout prospects who come to camp in June and July.
But on the other end of this, for the prospects who 'could' be close to picking Ohio State, particularly in-state guys like Dallas Gant and Chris Oats, the coaching change means wanting to make sure there is a good relationship established with Davis before taking the plunge.
To that point, Oats was back on campus this weekend with his parents and though he did not commit, it was a productive trip for all involved.
"It was great, I loved every part of it," Oats told me this weekend.
Most importantly, Oats and Davis were able to spend a lot of time together and Oats felt that was a really important part of his trip and a highlight of his visit.
"We watched my film and he let me know what I need to work on," Oats explained. "I really like him."
Chris told me he doesn't have a timeframe for a decision at this point and that honestly may be better for Ohio State as the longer these linebacker targets take to decide, the more evaluating Davis and the rest of the defensive staff can do to try and establish more of a pecking order here.
Michael Harris is visiting the first week of April, as is Payton Wilson who will then decide on May 1st, so there are just a ton of moving parts here at this position. I still believe they would take Oats today if he tried to commit, but the Harris and Wilson visits may help Ohio State sift through all of this and come out of those trips with a better idea of the lay of the land so to speak.
News and Notes
- Four-star defensive lineman Tyreke Smith made another visit to Ohio State this weekend with his parents and a few friends (football players) from the Cleveland area. Will have a more in-depth article at some point this week, but there really isn't much new to report here. Smith had a good visit, he continues to build a good relationship with the Ohio State coaches but he still plans to take his time with the recruiting process.
- Rivals100 two-way lineman Tyler Friday was also on campus on Saturday and visited Michigan today. I've only traded quick messages with him this weekend as he has been on the road quite a bit and am supposed to be speaking more in-depth with him later tonight or tomorrow. But in speaking to a couple of people who were on campus this weekend, they felt his visit was going very well as his parents were accompanying him on this Big Ten trip.
It's hard to say what Friday's outlook is in regards to OSU. He undoubtedly wants to play defensive line and Ohio State, at least initially, liked him more as a guard prospect. There are a lot of defensive line bodies in the mix right now and there are only so many that Ohio State can take so something will have to give there down the road. And certainly Michigan is a huge factor here as well, and probably where I'd guess Tyler ends up. But Friday has now made several visits to Ohio State and I continue to hear good reviews from Tyler and those close to him when it comes to OSU.
- A surprise visitor this weekend was Rivals250 defensive tackle Brant Lawless out of Nashville (TN) Christian. Still working on catching up with him but he put out a tweet today saying he made a visit so we should have more on him in the next day or so. The early word with Brant is that Tennessee is going to be tough to beat, but it was interesting to see him pop up on campus this weekend.
- I did not forget about Jaiden Woodbey. Look for something on him by the end of the day tomorrow. Both parents were along on the visit and, much like with Emory Jones, I think the support system is largely in OSU's corner here. I thin Jaiden is a little more emotional and less calculated than Emory, which can lead to some back-and-forth but OSU looks strong coming out of this visit and the fact that he keeps flying across the country bodes very well for how OSU stands in terms of ultimately getting his signature.
- This isn't new news, but felt it was important enough to remind everyone that five-star defensive tackle Taron Vincent is still visiting this week. He'll get things started on Wednesday. I did speak with Taron for a few minutes this evening and will be running that story first thing in the morning.
