Vincent goes with comfort and relationships
Relationships matter. Larry Johnson has had the best relationship with five-star defensive tackle Taron Vincent and his family over the years, going back to when Johnson was recruiting Taron's older brother Troy Jr. when he was at Penn State.
The coaching staff got blown up, Johnson went to Ohio State not long before Signing Day for the 2014 class and so Troy Jr. never really had much of an opportunity to go to Ohio State where the Buckeyes were pretty set in their defensive back targets at that point. But the trust built between the two parties during that time gave Ohio State an edge in this recruitment and they were able to close the deal.
So will this stick?
Now anything can happen in recruiting, but Taron is not an attention seeker. He had the means to make some unofficial visits to a few different places, but certainly could have went on far more visits than he actually did for a player of his caliber and in a very stable family financially. He was very close to committing to Ohio State going into last season, but at the request of his family (who are very pro-OSU and Larry Johnson) waited to take a little more time and a few more visits.
They wanted him to be fully on board with his choice and to experience a little bit of the recruiting process. Remember, when he was first thinking about an Ohio State pledge, it wasn't even September 1st of his junior year yet, so coaches couldn't even initiate contact. So that explains A. the timing of this decision and B. why other schools were getting visits and perhaps providing some angst among OSU fans that the Buckeyes weren't receiving one there for a while. He was comfortable with OSU, but needed to test the waters a bit to make sure and you can't truly do that unless you see other places.
So the short answer is 'yes', I do believe this sticks and I don't believe this turns into a circus. I am sure schools won't stop recruiting him and with him being at IMG college coaches will be going through there all the time, but this was a very well thought out decision that was several months in the making. I think this is about as solid as solid gets in this era of recruiting.
More on Sheffer
Some of the more interesting news to come out of the group of weekend visitors is that the Buckeyes now lead for Florida tight end Zach Sheffer. Sheffer is targeting a late summer or early fall decision time frame and has several more visits to make, including a likely return trip to Ohio State, before he sits down and worries about committing somewhere.
And that is good news for Ohio State.
I am just not convinced that Ohio State wants to take a tight end not named Jeremy Ruckert at this time. I ultimately believe this turns into a two tight end class, but I don't sense any desire from OSU to take one before Ruckert decides. The ideal situation from OSU's end is to land Ruckert and land him fairly early and then spend the remaining months of the process evaluating the situation at tight end and figuring out the next step.
So I'd put this Sheffer news on the back burner for now and revisit this in a couple of months when we have a lot more information on Sheffer coming out of the run of visits that he's making and when we may know the fate of Ruckert who doesn't strike me as a five official visit guy.
Jeremy has been doing the Jaelen Gill Plan of getting out all over the place on unofficial visits and he has always wanted to end it before his senior season if he can. I think he'll have enough information to do that. Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and others continue to push for Ruckert but I still like where Ohio State stands today.
Jones visits UGA
So the latest Emory Jones drama revolves around a secret weekend visit to Georgia. Opinions vary on WHEN Emory actually informed OSU the visit was happening/happened but Ohio State is certainly aware that it happened now.
I understand this flies in the face of what Emory is doing right now, taking other visits and talking about taking more this summer. But in terms of what I think OSU's level of concern should be, it's just not that high.
I get it, that is probably confusing to read. It may even come off as homerish, but I have never been one to downplay this stuff unless I felt I had good reason to. I felt Shaun Wade was legitimately worrisome for Ohio State and I said that, so this isn't some ploy to keep the townspeople calm and to keep the pitchforks in the barn, it's just my read on the situation.
Behind the scenes, Jones continues to recruit extremely hard for Ohio State. He has made a handful of trips on his own dime to Columbus since his commitment. The other commits aren't worried about Emory's status in the class and often times they are the first ones to get tuned out when a kid is leaving the class.
And finally, as I've said before, I don't see Jones jumping from one crowded depth chart to another. Yes, Ohio State is well stocked at quarterback right now. But so are Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia and all three have younger players in the pipeline either starting or in position to possibly start this fall. All of the talking, convincing, and salesmanship in the world isn't going to hide Alabama and Georgia having true sophomore starters in the fall.
If I felt Jones was close to leaving the class, I'd be the first one to come on here and say it. That is news that in my business you want to get out in front of, but I don't see it right now.
Wilson Watch Part II
Rivals250 linebacker Payton Wilson has been a regular in Skull Sessions recently so here he is again making another appearance.
Let me be clear: I think Ohio State absolutely crushed the visit this weekend. When Wilson set that May 1st announcement date, it was not to commit to Ohio State. My feel has been that it was to commit to North Carolina, but I don't think OSU was even the second choice at that point as Clemson is very much in the picture here as well.
So the next 2-3 weeks become very important to watch here. Clemson is expected to get another visits and the Tigers are rolling right now and aren't far from home. North Carolina will undoubtedly keep pushing to get him on campus as well.
I don't think there is much question that Ohio State would prefer to play the long game here. Wilson is definitely a priority recruit, but I think the longer this goes, the longer it actually helps Ohio State. I do not believe that the most attainable goal this weekend was getting his pledge on May 1st, I think the most attainable goal of the weekend was to shake this thing up enough to back off his announcement date. And they just might have done that.
Wilson told me he is having second thoughts about that May 1st announcement date, so can Ohio State keep the momentum enough to where he doesn't get back home in the Carolinas around a lot of pro-UNC and pro-Clemson folks and end up sticking with that date?
That is the thing to watch. A delay of the announcement would have to be considered good news for Ohio State. A visit to Clemson or UNC followed by a 'I'm sticking with my May 1st decision' type of announcement would probably be bad news. I definitely think Ohio State would take a delay at this point as a win. In that scenario, you try and get him back up in June or July and keep pushing.
Wilson is dropping a top four at some point this week. OSU, Clemson, and UNC will be on there. The fourth team is a bit of a mystery. My best guess would be Alabama but it is just that, a guess.
Relationships matter. Larry Johnson has had the best relationship with five-star defensive tackle Taron Vincent and his family over the years, going back to when Johnson was recruiting Taron's older brother Troy Jr. when he was at Penn State.
The coaching staff got blown up, Johnson went to Ohio State not long before Signing Day for the 2014 class and so Troy Jr. never really had much of an opportunity to go to Ohio State where the Buckeyes were pretty set in their defensive back targets at that point. But the trust built between the two parties during that time gave Ohio State an edge in this recruitment and they were able to close the deal.
So will this stick?
Now anything can happen in recruiting, but Taron is not an attention seeker. He had the means to make some unofficial visits to a few different places, but certainly could have went on far more visits than he actually did for a player of his caliber and in a very stable family financially. He was very close to committing to Ohio State going into last season, but at the request of his family (who are very pro-OSU and Larry Johnson) waited to take a little more time and a few more visits.
They wanted him to be fully on board with his choice and to experience a little bit of the recruiting process. Remember, when he was first thinking about an Ohio State pledge, it wasn't even September 1st of his junior year yet, so coaches couldn't even initiate contact. So that explains A. the timing of this decision and B. why other schools were getting visits and perhaps providing some angst among OSU fans that the Buckeyes weren't receiving one there for a while. He was comfortable with OSU, but needed to test the waters a bit to make sure and you can't truly do that unless you see other places.
So the short answer is 'yes', I do believe this sticks and I don't believe this turns into a circus. I am sure schools won't stop recruiting him and with him being at IMG college coaches will be going through there all the time, but this was a very well thought out decision that was several months in the making. I think this is about as solid as solid gets in this era of recruiting.
More on Sheffer
Some of the more interesting news to come out of the group of weekend visitors is that the Buckeyes now lead for Florida tight end Zach Sheffer. Sheffer is targeting a late summer or early fall decision time frame and has several more visits to make, including a likely return trip to Ohio State, before he sits down and worries about committing somewhere.
And that is good news for Ohio State.
I am just not convinced that Ohio State wants to take a tight end not named Jeremy Ruckert at this time. I ultimately believe this turns into a two tight end class, but I don't sense any desire from OSU to take one before Ruckert decides. The ideal situation from OSU's end is to land Ruckert and land him fairly early and then spend the remaining months of the process evaluating the situation at tight end and figuring out the next step.
So I'd put this Sheffer news on the back burner for now and revisit this in a couple of months when we have a lot more information on Sheffer coming out of the run of visits that he's making and when we may know the fate of Ruckert who doesn't strike me as a five official visit guy.
Jeremy has been doing the Jaelen Gill Plan of getting out all over the place on unofficial visits and he has always wanted to end it before his senior season if he can. I think he'll have enough information to do that. Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and others continue to push for Ruckert but I still like where Ohio State stands today.
Jones visits UGA
So the latest Emory Jones drama revolves around a secret weekend visit to Georgia. Opinions vary on WHEN Emory actually informed OSU the visit was happening/happened but Ohio State is certainly aware that it happened now.
I understand this flies in the face of what Emory is doing right now, taking other visits and talking about taking more this summer. But in terms of what I think OSU's level of concern should be, it's just not that high.
I get it, that is probably confusing to read. It may even come off as homerish, but I have never been one to downplay this stuff unless I felt I had good reason to. I felt Shaun Wade was legitimately worrisome for Ohio State and I said that, so this isn't some ploy to keep the townspeople calm and to keep the pitchforks in the barn, it's just my read on the situation.
Behind the scenes, Jones continues to recruit extremely hard for Ohio State. He has made a handful of trips on his own dime to Columbus since his commitment. The other commits aren't worried about Emory's status in the class and often times they are the first ones to get tuned out when a kid is leaving the class.
And finally, as I've said before, I don't see Jones jumping from one crowded depth chart to another. Yes, Ohio State is well stocked at quarterback right now. But so are Clemson, Alabama, and Georgia and all three have younger players in the pipeline either starting or in position to possibly start this fall. All of the talking, convincing, and salesmanship in the world isn't going to hide Alabama and Georgia having true sophomore starters in the fall.
If I felt Jones was close to leaving the class, I'd be the first one to come on here and say it. That is news that in my business you want to get out in front of, but I don't see it right now.
Wilson Watch Part II
Rivals250 linebacker Payton Wilson has been a regular in Skull Sessions recently so here he is again making another appearance.
Let me be clear: I think Ohio State absolutely crushed the visit this weekend. When Wilson set that May 1st announcement date, it was not to commit to Ohio State. My feel has been that it was to commit to North Carolina, but I don't think OSU was even the second choice at that point as Clemson is very much in the picture here as well.
So the next 2-3 weeks become very important to watch here. Clemson is expected to get another visits and the Tigers are rolling right now and aren't far from home. North Carolina will undoubtedly keep pushing to get him on campus as well.
I don't think there is much question that Ohio State would prefer to play the long game here. Wilson is definitely a priority recruit, but I think the longer this goes, the longer it actually helps Ohio State. I do not believe that the most attainable goal this weekend was getting his pledge on May 1st, I think the most attainable goal of the weekend was to shake this thing up enough to back off his announcement date. And they just might have done that.
Wilson told me he is having second thoughts about that May 1st announcement date, so can Ohio State keep the momentum enough to where he doesn't get back home in the Carolinas around a lot of pro-UNC and pro-Clemson folks and end up sticking with that date?
That is the thing to watch. A delay of the announcement would have to be considered good news for Ohio State. A visit to Clemson or UNC followed by a 'I'm sticking with my May 1st decision' type of announcement would probably be bad news. I definitely think Ohio State would take a delay at this point as a win. In that scenario, you try and get him back up in June or July and keep pushing.
Wilson is dropping a top four at some point this week. OSU, Clemson, and UNC will be on there. The fourth team is a bit of a mystery. My best guess would be Alabama but it is just that, a guess.
