From the road
Another weekend of games in the books and this weekend I watched three Ohio State commits as well as a few underclassmen targets. Will go in chronological order here.....
I started things out on Thursday evening by watching 2017 Plain City (Ohio) TE/DE Trey Pugh, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound prospect that is starting to land some Power Five offers. Trey was just cleared a couple of weeks before the season started after tearing his ACL at the end of last season. That ACL injury prevented him from being able to work out for Ohio State at Friday Night Lights, though he did come to the camp to hang out.
He's definitely an intriguing kid. Jonathan Alder doesn't play great competition so he'll be tough to evaluate for coaches on film but for a kid coming off an ACL injury, he looked very athletic for his size and definitely has some suddenness to him. At this point he is much more comfortable on offense. He mostly stays out wide for Alder, though certainly he'll have to kick down to TE at the next level, but he's a natural pass catcher and is a guy who really finishes runs after the catch.
With that said, his frame, athleticism, and motor, make him a real possibility at defensive end. He doesn't have the same feel for things on defense that he does on offense. He gets too far up the field coming off the edge and doesn't fully understand how to use his hands yet but the raw skills are there that with the right coaching he could become a really good player at that spot.
Not sure what OSU will do here. They'll need to see him live at some point either going to a game this fall or more ideally seeing him at one of their camps in June but he's a player worth keeping on the radar.
Friday gave me a chance to watch future Buckeyes Jonathon Cooper and Marcus Williamson for about the 40th time. We've seen so much of Coop over the past two years and he just never seems to disappoint. He was extremely disruptive on Friday night, particularly against the run where he blew up several plays in the backfield, including causing a first quarter fumble that led to Gahanna's first touchdown.
Teams aren't letting him get as involved in the pass rush. Even with Northwestern commit Gunnar Vogel at tackle, South double and even triple teamed Cooper when they threw the football. While this may hurt the sack numbers, it will ultimately be a good thing for his development. We know he can rush the passer, that's not a secret, but he is much more effective his year against the run, he's a complete defensive end.
Williamson looked as confident as I've seen him since injuring his foot back in the spring. He didn't quite trust things at Friday Night Lights or even in 7-on-7 action but he was very involved on Friday, especially in run support. As I've said before, he reminds me of 2015 Notre Dame signee Shaun Crawford with his explosiveness and willingness to defend the run despite some size limitations. Even at 5-foot-10, he can impact the game in a number of different ways and he showed that Friday by returning a punt for a touchdown, just a tremendous football player.
That brings us to 2018 Westerville South athlete Jaelen Gill who is not playing at one-hundred percent right now. He is really distancing himself in my mind as the top prospect in Ohio in his class. He's stronger, more confident, and more explosive than he was as a freshman and he's going to be a human highlight reel the next three years at South. There were a couple of 'almost' type plays throughout the game on Friday and it just felt like a matter of time until he hit a home run, which he did, going 67 yards on a screen in the fourth quarter. We talk about Williamson impacting the game in different ways but Gill is the type of player that truly strikes fear into a defense. Get him the ball and watch the numbers on the scoreboard change.
Since I know he's not going to play corner, where Coach Givler is dying to see him play, his next best bet is in the H role where I think he combines all of the things that people like about Samuel, Marshall, and Wilson into one player. He is a big-time talent.
Finally, we get to Saturday afternoon. It was a pleasant surprise for me to learn on Friday night that Josh Myers' game had been postponed until Saturday so I cancelled my plans to go to Cleveland, for two games that didn't feature a ton of real Ohio State specific guys and teams that I'll see anyway later in the year, and instead went and watched Josh play.
Josh was absolutely dominant. As you can see on the video, his strength for a junior in high school is pretty unbelievable. He throws guys around out there and while Fairmont isn't a powerhouse, they are a Division I team in Ohio and they had some size up front, he wasn't tossing around midgets out there.
His strength, his ability to get out to the second level and connect on blocks, his ability to anchor in pass protection, and that mean streak to finish off his blocks were all very impressive.
I know he's listed as a tackle and I'm not saying he's not capable of playing the position but I think he'll be a guard at Ohio State. As a guard he's a guy who walks onto campus and is in the two-deep on day one and maybe even competing for a starting position depending on how the roster looks at that point.
He fits what Ohio State wants in their interior guys so well. He's so light on his feet and Warinner and company love to pull the guards and he's a guy that does a lot of that already from his right guard position for Miamisburg.
You could make him a tackle, sure. But you wouldn't see the benefits of that right away. You'd essentially be taking a college ready guard and turning him into a bit of a project at tackle, given how they are recruiting right now at tackle, I don't see the need to do that, they'll have plenty of tackles on campus by the time he arrives.
Obligatory Jackson update
I'm not big on updates that really don't provide anything new but I know that there is a constant desire for the latest on Rivals250 defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson. Jackson has kept a very low profile in recent weeks and things are pretty much in a holding pattern right now. It's going to Auburn or Ohio State and he's going to take official visits.
The decision time frame remains the same; whenever he feels like it. He was very close to pulling the trigger before the season started. He told us on several occasions that he was considering it, his coaches told us he was considering it, and college coaches were expecting it. Now that it hasn't happened, I would expect him to let the process play out a little bit and make those visits first but as I always say, decision dates and time frames are probably the most volatile part of recruiting.
I still feel Ohio State has the slight edge. I've had three different sources close to Antwuan's recruitment that have told me they think OSU holds a slight lead and that he would pick them today if he had to sign somewhere. Jackson has went pretty quiet with coaches and even people in his circle so information is getting more difficult to come by as he tightens things up. I don't want to be cryptic but for anyone concerned about his lack of communication or thinking it's all wrapped up for Auburn, I can promise that is not the case and hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be able to be more specific about why I know that to be true.
Ultimately I do think the official visits will decide this but OSU has some momentum right now and don't underestimate how important that last visit to Columbus was in terms of getting his Dad up there to see the place and meet the coaches.
Not quite done yet?
When Ohio State offered and took the commitment of in-state offensive lineman Gavin Cupp, it put the Buckeyes at four offensive line commits in the 2016 class and many assumed at that point that things were finished with offensive line recruiting. Not quite.
Was told by a good source yesterday that there is a spot being saved in the event that Greg Little would pull a surprise. Little continues to mention Ohio State as a contender and a likely destination for an official visit. With that said, Alabama appears to hold a major edge right now and I just don't see Little ending up in Columbus.
Now there is also another target that could find his way into the class and its Rivals250 member Jauan Williams. I am told that things aren't dead there between the two parties. He is still being actively recruited by Ohio State and Jauan remains interested in the Buckeyes. While probably a bit of a long shot, I don't think this one would be as far fetched as Little so it will be interesting to see where things go this fall as I expect Jauan to make an official visit to Columbus at some point.
So technically Ohio State isn't finished recruiting offensive linemen, but still may end up with just the four they have in the fold today. Needless to say this will be similar to the way things played out last year with Isaiah Prince. They aren't going to take a fifth offensive lineman for the hell of it, but if there's a guy out there that the staff deems a special talent (and probably a tackle body) they'll try and find a spot.
More on Myers
We talked above about Josh Myers' performance on Saturday and posted his highlights from the game on the front page. However, Josh had a bit of a scare yesterday. I posted on here that he didn't finish the game on Saturday afternoon due to severe cramps and dehydration.
Those issues lingered after he went home from the game yesterday and he actually spent the night in the hospital receiving IV fluids. The severity of the cramping also caused some issues but he told me early this afternoon that he's feeling much better today and was scheduled to be released from the hospital early this afternoon. He also expects to play on Friday night.
The coaches forced him to remove his pads on Saturday as he kept working to get the cramps issue solved as his game went into overtime. Clearly a good move by the staff at Miamisburg given what we know now. Tough kid.
Quick hitter on Okudah
You guys probably saw Jason Howell's video update with the nation's No. 17 overall prospect Jeffrey Okudah. The Texas safety is right at the top of the Ohio State wish list for 2017 and while his recruitment will be a national battle, 30+ offers from coast-to-coast already, I really think you guys can expect the Buckeyes to be in this one for the long haul.
We talk to Jeff pretty frequently as a staff here and the interest in Ohio State is very legitimate. He loved his visit over the summer, he loves how hard the OSU staff is recruiting him, and not only is he not worried about all of the other 2017 DB targets but he also knows that the OSU secondary is going to have a lot of turnover in the next 18 months with guys leaving for the NFL so there is going to be a chance to get on the field early.
He'll release a top 10 around National Signing Day 2016 and Ohio State is going to make that cut. If he cuts it to five they are going to make that cut and if he cuts it three they are going to make that cut too. They are very well entrenched here right now.
Another weekend of games in the books and this weekend I watched three Ohio State commits as well as a few underclassmen targets. Will go in chronological order here.....
I started things out on Thursday evening by watching 2017 Plain City (Ohio) TE/DE Trey Pugh, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound prospect that is starting to land some Power Five offers. Trey was just cleared a couple of weeks before the season started after tearing his ACL at the end of last season. That ACL injury prevented him from being able to work out for Ohio State at Friday Night Lights, though he did come to the camp to hang out.
He's definitely an intriguing kid. Jonathan Alder doesn't play great competition so he'll be tough to evaluate for coaches on film but for a kid coming off an ACL injury, he looked very athletic for his size and definitely has some suddenness to him. At this point he is much more comfortable on offense. He mostly stays out wide for Alder, though certainly he'll have to kick down to TE at the next level, but he's a natural pass catcher and is a guy who really finishes runs after the catch.
With that said, his frame, athleticism, and motor, make him a real possibility at defensive end. He doesn't have the same feel for things on defense that he does on offense. He gets too far up the field coming off the edge and doesn't fully understand how to use his hands yet but the raw skills are there that with the right coaching he could become a really good player at that spot.
Not sure what OSU will do here. They'll need to see him live at some point either going to a game this fall or more ideally seeing him at one of their camps in June but he's a player worth keeping on the radar.
Friday gave me a chance to watch future Buckeyes Jonathon Cooper and Marcus Williamson for about the 40th time. We've seen so much of Coop over the past two years and he just never seems to disappoint. He was extremely disruptive on Friday night, particularly against the run where he blew up several plays in the backfield, including causing a first quarter fumble that led to Gahanna's first touchdown.
Teams aren't letting him get as involved in the pass rush. Even with Northwestern commit Gunnar Vogel at tackle, South double and even triple teamed Cooper when they threw the football. While this may hurt the sack numbers, it will ultimately be a good thing for his development. We know he can rush the passer, that's not a secret, but he is much more effective his year against the run, he's a complete defensive end.
Williamson looked as confident as I've seen him since injuring his foot back in the spring. He didn't quite trust things at Friday Night Lights or even in 7-on-7 action but he was very involved on Friday, especially in run support. As I've said before, he reminds me of 2015 Notre Dame signee Shaun Crawford with his explosiveness and willingness to defend the run despite some size limitations. Even at 5-foot-10, he can impact the game in a number of different ways and he showed that Friday by returning a punt for a touchdown, just a tremendous football player.
That brings us to 2018 Westerville South athlete Jaelen Gill who is not playing at one-hundred percent right now. He is really distancing himself in my mind as the top prospect in Ohio in his class. He's stronger, more confident, and more explosive than he was as a freshman and he's going to be a human highlight reel the next three years at South. There were a couple of 'almost' type plays throughout the game on Friday and it just felt like a matter of time until he hit a home run, which he did, going 67 yards on a screen in the fourth quarter. We talk about Williamson impacting the game in different ways but Gill is the type of player that truly strikes fear into a defense. Get him the ball and watch the numbers on the scoreboard change.
Since I know he's not going to play corner, where Coach Givler is dying to see him play, his next best bet is in the H role where I think he combines all of the things that people like about Samuel, Marshall, and Wilson into one player. He is a big-time talent.
Finally, we get to Saturday afternoon. It was a pleasant surprise for me to learn on Friday night that Josh Myers' game had been postponed until Saturday so I cancelled my plans to go to Cleveland, for two games that didn't feature a ton of real Ohio State specific guys and teams that I'll see anyway later in the year, and instead went and watched Josh play.
Josh was absolutely dominant. As you can see on the video, his strength for a junior in high school is pretty unbelievable. He throws guys around out there and while Fairmont isn't a powerhouse, they are a Division I team in Ohio and they had some size up front, he wasn't tossing around midgets out there.
His strength, his ability to get out to the second level and connect on blocks, his ability to anchor in pass protection, and that mean streak to finish off his blocks were all very impressive.
I know he's listed as a tackle and I'm not saying he's not capable of playing the position but I think he'll be a guard at Ohio State. As a guard he's a guy who walks onto campus and is in the two-deep on day one and maybe even competing for a starting position depending on how the roster looks at that point.
He fits what Ohio State wants in their interior guys so well. He's so light on his feet and Warinner and company love to pull the guards and he's a guy that does a lot of that already from his right guard position for Miamisburg.
You could make him a tackle, sure. But you wouldn't see the benefits of that right away. You'd essentially be taking a college ready guard and turning him into a bit of a project at tackle, given how they are recruiting right now at tackle, I don't see the need to do that, they'll have plenty of tackles on campus by the time he arrives.
Obligatory Jackson update
I'm not big on updates that really don't provide anything new but I know that there is a constant desire for the latest on Rivals250 defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson. Jackson has kept a very low profile in recent weeks and things are pretty much in a holding pattern right now. It's going to Auburn or Ohio State and he's going to take official visits.
The decision time frame remains the same; whenever he feels like it. He was very close to pulling the trigger before the season started. He told us on several occasions that he was considering it, his coaches told us he was considering it, and college coaches were expecting it. Now that it hasn't happened, I would expect him to let the process play out a little bit and make those visits first but as I always say, decision dates and time frames are probably the most volatile part of recruiting.
I still feel Ohio State has the slight edge. I've had three different sources close to Antwuan's recruitment that have told me they think OSU holds a slight lead and that he would pick them today if he had to sign somewhere. Jackson has went pretty quiet with coaches and even people in his circle so information is getting more difficult to come by as he tightens things up. I don't want to be cryptic but for anyone concerned about his lack of communication or thinking it's all wrapped up for Auburn, I can promise that is not the case and hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be able to be more specific about why I know that to be true.
Ultimately I do think the official visits will decide this but OSU has some momentum right now and don't underestimate how important that last visit to Columbus was in terms of getting his Dad up there to see the place and meet the coaches.
Not quite done yet?
When Ohio State offered and took the commitment of in-state offensive lineman Gavin Cupp, it put the Buckeyes at four offensive line commits in the 2016 class and many assumed at that point that things were finished with offensive line recruiting. Not quite.
Was told by a good source yesterday that there is a spot being saved in the event that Greg Little would pull a surprise. Little continues to mention Ohio State as a contender and a likely destination for an official visit. With that said, Alabama appears to hold a major edge right now and I just don't see Little ending up in Columbus.
Now there is also another target that could find his way into the class and its Rivals250 member Jauan Williams. I am told that things aren't dead there between the two parties. He is still being actively recruited by Ohio State and Jauan remains interested in the Buckeyes. While probably a bit of a long shot, I don't think this one would be as far fetched as Little so it will be interesting to see where things go this fall as I expect Jauan to make an official visit to Columbus at some point.
So technically Ohio State isn't finished recruiting offensive linemen, but still may end up with just the four they have in the fold today. Needless to say this will be similar to the way things played out last year with Isaiah Prince. They aren't going to take a fifth offensive lineman for the hell of it, but if there's a guy out there that the staff deems a special talent (and probably a tackle body) they'll try and find a spot.
More on Myers
We talked above about Josh Myers' performance on Saturday and posted his highlights from the game on the front page. However, Josh had a bit of a scare yesterday. I posted on here that he didn't finish the game on Saturday afternoon due to severe cramps and dehydration.
Those issues lingered after he went home from the game yesterday and he actually spent the night in the hospital receiving IV fluids. The severity of the cramping also caused some issues but he told me early this afternoon that he's feeling much better today and was scheduled to be released from the hospital early this afternoon. He also expects to play on Friday night.
The coaches forced him to remove his pads on Saturday as he kept working to get the cramps issue solved as his game went into overtime. Clearly a good move by the staff at Miamisburg given what we know now. Tough kid.
Quick hitter on Okudah
You guys probably saw Jason Howell's video update with the nation's No. 17 overall prospect Jeffrey Okudah. The Texas safety is right at the top of the Ohio State wish list for 2017 and while his recruitment will be a national battle, 30+ offers from coast-to-coast already, I really think you guys can expect the Buckeyes to be in this one for the long haul.
We talk to Jeff pretty frequently as a staff here and the interest in Ohio State is very legitimate. He loved his visit over the summer, he loves how hard the OSU staff is recruiting him, and not only is he not worried about all of the other 2017 DB targets but he also knows that the OSU secondary is going to have a lot of turnover in the next 18 months with guys leaving for the NFL so there is going to be a chance to get on the field early.
He'll release a top 10 around National Signing Day 2016 and Ohio State is going to make that cut. If he cuts it to five they are going to make that cut and if he cuts it three they are going to make that cut too. They are very well entrenched here right now.
