Ohio STAte pipeline?
In my opinion there is not a better high school football program in the nation than St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) and the Raiders are once again loaded with prospects that Ohio State would love to land.
Of course at the top of the list is class of 2016 defensive end Nick Bosa. If you saw our video interview with Nick, you'd know that a decision isn't too far off in the distance as he'll visit Florida and Florida State before making a choice between those two programs and the Buckeyes at some point before his senior year starts, probably in July.
Nick's comments both on and off camera about UF and FSU are pretty telling. He really doesn't know that much about either school so these visits are to get a close look at both. Take his older brother out of the equation for a moment and look at this objectively and you'll still come to the same conclusion.
When a kid has three schools as finalists, has been to one of them a million times and doesn't know much about the other two, I think it's pretty obvious where he's going. I fully believe these in-state visits are simply him and his family doing their homework so that when they make a decision they can look back and say they checked out some other options and did their research.
We've seen some crazy stuff happen in recruiting but it would take something entirely unforeseen, beyond just having a really good visit in Gainesville or Tallahassee, for Nick to not be a Buckeye by the end of the summer.
Nick's classmate Sam Bruce on the other hand is going to be a much, much tougher battle. Bruce in his words is somewhere between 70 and 80 percent committed to Miami (drives some people nuts that he puts that way, makes me laugh hysterically). Ohio State will hold a spot for Sam because he is a special talent and they'll have to because nothing is going to change with his Miami pledge before the football season starts.
Getting to know Sam a bit, he is very much a diehard South Florida guy and while his interviews may not show it, I think he's probably more solid to Miami than people think. I think that is definitely where his heart is at.
The wildcard here though is the coaching situation at Miami. It certainly seems like Al Golden needs to show some progress this season if he wants to keep his job. If he is fired at some point before Signing Day, I think that changes things a bit here. I don't think it would guarantee that Bruce would go elsewhere but I think it would open the door quite a bit wider for teams like Ohio State, Florida State, and Alabama and it would then come down to how Miami handles its search, who it hires, and how the new staff meshes with Sam once hired. We're getting a few steps ahead of ourselves there, however, so for right now I think the best bet is that he sticks. I do think the Buckeyes are in a good position to get an official visit however.
That brings to 2017 five-star receiver Trevon Grimes. STA had a pretty intense practice on Friday so we got a pretty good look at Trevon and he certainly did not disappoint. He is big, fast, freakishly quick for someone his size and has the body control and sure hands to go along with all of his other physical attributes.
What we also got to see out of Trevon is that he is a very good practice player. He worked extremely hard out there whether it was drills and going through the route tree or one-on-one's, the jersey scrimmage STA had, or pushing the sled with his position group, he really got after it for two hours and showed a lot of leadership for someone who is still a younger player.
This is an extremely gifted prospect. It is hard for me to envision another receiver in this class surpassing him in the rankings, for my money he is the best high school WR prospect in the nation, regardless of class.
On the recruiting front, nothing much has changed here and that is very good news for the Buckeyes. The Florida schools have all come in with offers now, two very recently, and those haven't derailed things for Ohio State who is still very much the favorite. I still believe if he makes it back to campus over the summer that he could very well leave a committed prospect.
More on the Coconut Creek duo
We spent Friday morning checking on two very talented class of 2016 prospects at Coconut Creek High School in South Florida. Rivals100 defensive back Trayvon Mullen and Rivals250 wide receiver Binjimen Victor are both still looking at Ohio State and we spent a lot of time with each of them on Friday morning.
I think the odds are that both of these guys stay somewhere in Florida, but I think at this point that chances would be better with Victor than Mullen. Ohio State is in Mullen's top ten and may very well get another visit from him (the two will likely come up together) but I don't get the vibe that they are definitely in the top 3 or 4 within that top ten and I also don't get the vibe that he is being recruited quite as heavily as guys like Damar Hamlin, Nigel Warrior, and Wayne Davis.
As for Victor, I think Florida and Miami are the two teams to beat here but he definitely likes Ohio State a lot. Much of what happens here will be dictated by how things go with Donnie Corley and Nate Craig-Myers. Right now I think Corley is probably leaning towards Michigan State but OSU certainly hasn't thrown in the towel yet. While momentum hasn't been great with Corley, as we talked about the other day it is going in the right direction with NCM.
If something were to happen where OSU landed a summer commitment from Corley or NCM, I think it would become difficult to find room for Victor in this class. Until that happens, they are going to continue to recruit him hard and I think he's probably the next guy that would be preferred if OSU strikes out on Corley and NCM.
I personally like Victor more than some of the other receivers that are being talked about such as Ahmir Mitchell, Ruben Flowers, etc. All of these guys are outstanding talents so it's not a knock on any of them as any program would be glad to have them but Victor is such a smooth athlete at his size and has some untapped potential playing at just around 175-pounds on a frame that can carry well over 200-pounds. He also has some of the biggest hands I think I've ever seen. He is the poster child for having a large catch radius.
More from the Peach State
We wrapped up our Southern Swing back where it began, in Atlanta (Ga.), on Saturday as we hit the Peachtree Ridge spring game. Unfortunately five-star defensive back Deangelo Gibbs was not there but we did catch up with Rivals100 safety Nigel Warrior and class of 2017 athlete Connor Heyward.
Heyward will visit Ohio State again over the summer and will again camp as he hopes to earn an offer. He told me that the most likely date will be at the end of July for Friday Night Lights as he feels that could maximize his chances for an offer given the talent level that will surely be on hand. He is pretty much hoping to do the 'Darron Lee' thing and show the staff that he is a versatile athlete that could potentially help at multiple positions. He will try and work out both at safety, outside linebacker, and wide receiver.
As for Warrior, he'll also be up over the summer. He doesn't have a date set at this point but it wouldn't totally surprise me if he came up with Heyward for FNL. Nigel's recruitment continues to be a slugfest. SEC powers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee all have him as a major priority in addition to the Buckeyes so this one will likely be a long drawn out battle that will come down to official visits.
While I definitely think the safe bet right now is on Warrior to stay in the South, he does seem to be pretty enamored with Ohio State. The Buckeyes being first to offer has helped them stay in the mix despite not yet getting a visit and both Kerry Coombs and Chris Ash are making him a priority. We spoke with a Georgia based source who was at the school recently and told us that Warrior was really talking up Ohio State so I don't think they're just a placeholder on the list.
The upcoming visit will be really important. We should know a lot more about OSU's chances with Warrior once he has seen campus.
In my opinion there is not a better high school football program in the nation than St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) and the Raiders are once again loaded with prospects that Ohio State would love to land.
Of course at the top of the list is class of 2016 defensive end Nick Bosa. If you saw our video interview with Nick, you'd know that a decision isn't too far off in the distance as he'll visit Florida and Florida State before making a choice between those two programs and the Buckeyes at some point before his senior year starts, probably in July.
Nick's comments both on and off camera about UF and FSU are pretty telling. He really doesn't know that much about either school so these visits are to get a close look at both. Take his older brother out of the equation for a moment and look at this objectively and you'll still come to the same conclusion.
When a kid has three schools as finalists, has been to one of them a million times and doesn't know much about the other two, I think it's pretty obvious where he's going. I fully believe these in-state visits are simply him and his family doing their homework so that when they make a decision they can look back and say they checked out some other options and did their research.
We've seen some crazy stuff happen in recruiting but it would take something entirely unforeseen, beyond just having a really good visit in Gainesville or Tallahassee, for Nick to not be a Buckeye by the end of the summer.
Nick's classmate Sam Bruce on the other hand is going to be a much, much tougher battle. Bruce in his words is somewhere between 70 and 80 percent committed to Miami (drives some people nuts that he puts that way, makes me laugh hysterically). Ohio State will hold a spot for Sam because he is a special talent and they'll have to because nothing is going to change with his Miami pledge before the football season starts.
Getting to know Sam a bit, he is very much a diehard South Florida guy and while his interviews may not show it, I think he's probably more solid to Miami than people think. I think that is definitely where his heart is at.
The wildcard here though is the coaching situation at Miami. It certainly seems like Al Golden needs to show some progress this season if he wants to keep his job. If he is fired at some point before Signing Day, I think that changes things a bit here. I don't think it would guarantee that Bruce would go elsewhere but I think it would open the door quite a bit wider for teams like Ohio State, Florida State, and Alabama and it would then come down to how Miami handles its search, who it hires, and how the new staff meshes with Sam once hired. We're getting a few steps ahead of ourselves there, however, so for right now I think the best bet is that he sticks. I do think the Buckeyes are in a good position to get an official visit however.
That brings to 2017 five-star receiver Trevon Grimes. STA had a pretty intense practice on Friday so we got a pretty good look at Trevon and he certainly did not disappoint. He is big, fast, freakishly quick for someone his size and has the body control and sure hands to go along with all of his other physical attributes.
What we also got to see out of Trevon is that he is a very good practice player. He worked extremely hard out there whether it was drills and going through the route tree or one-on-one's, the jersey scrimmage STA had, or pushing the sled with his position group, he really got after it for two hours and showed a lot of leadership for someone who is still a younger player.
This is an extremely gifted prospect. It is hard for me to envision another receiver in this class surpassing him in the rankings, for my money he is the best high school WR prospect in the nation, regardless of class.
On the recruiting front, nothing much has changed here and that is very good news for the Buckeyes. The Florida schools have all come in with offers now, two very recently, and those haven't derailed things for Ohio State who is still very much the favorite. I still believe if he makes it back to campus over the summer that he could very well leave a committed prospect.
More on the Coconut Creek duo
We spent Friday morning checking on two very talented class of 2016 prospects at Coconut Creek High School in South Florida. Rivals100 defensive back Trayvon Mullen and Rivals250 wide receiver Binjimen Victor are both still looking at Ohio State and we spent a lot of time with each of them on Friday morning.
I think the odds are that both of these guys stay somewhere in Florida, but I think at this point that chances would be better with Victor than Mullen. Ohio State is in Mullen's top ten and may very well get another visit from him (the two will likely come up together) but I don't get the vibe that they are definitely in the top 3 or 4 within that top ten and I also don't get the vibe that he is being recruited quite as heavily as guys like Damar Hamlin, Nigel Warrior, and Wayne Davis.
As for Victor, I think Florida and Miami are the two teams to beat here but he definitely likes Ohio State a lot. Much of what happens here will be dictated by how things go with Donnie Corley and Nate Craig-Myers. Right now I think Corley is probably leaning towards Michigan State but OSU certainly hasn't thrown in the towel yet. While momentum hasn't been great with Corley, as we talked about the other day it is going in the right direction with NCM.
If something were to happen where OSU landed a summer commitment from Corley or NCM, I think it would become difficult to find room for Victor in this class. Until that happens, they are going to continue to recruit him hard and I think he's probably the next guy that would be preferred if OSU strikes out on Corley and NCM.
I personally like Victor more than some of the other receivers that are being talked about such as Ahmir Mitchell, Ruben Flowers, etc. All of these guys are outstanding talents so it's not a knock on any of them as any program would be glad to have them but Victor is such a smooth athlete at his size and has some untapped potential playing at just around 175-pounds on a frame that can carry well over 200-pounds. He also has some of the biggest hands I think I've ever seen. He is the poster child for having a large catch radius.
More from the Peach State
We wrapped up our Southern Swing back where it began, in Atlanta (Ga.), on Saturday as we hit the Peachtree Ridge spring game. Unfortunately five-star defensive back Deangelo Gibbs was not there but we did catch up with Rivals100 safety Nigel Warrior and class of 2017 athlete Connor Heyward.
Heyward will visit Ohio State again over the summer and will again camp as he hopes to earn an offer. He told me that the most likely date will be at the end of July for Friday Night Lights as he feels that could maximize his chances for an offer given the talent level that will surely be on hand. He is pretty much hoping to do the 'Darron Lee' thing and show the staff that he is a versatile athlete that could potentially help at multiple positions. He will try and work out both at safety, outside linebacker, and wide receiver.
As for Warrior, he'll also be up over the summer. He doesn't have a date set at this point but it wouldn't totally surprise me if he came up with Heyward for FNL. Nigel's recruitment continues to be a slugfest. SEC powers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee all have him as a major priority in addition to the Buckeyes so this one will likely be a long drawn out battle that will come down to official visits.
While I definitely think the safe bet right now is on Warrior to stay in the South, he does seem to be pretty enamored with Ohio State. The Buckeyes being first to offer has helped them stay in the mix despite not yet getting a visit and both Kerry Coombs and Chris Ash are making him a priority. We spoke with a Georgia based source who was at the school recently and told us that Warrior was really talking up Ohio State so I don't think they're just a placeholder on the list.
The upcoming visit will be really important. We should know a lot more about OSU's chances with Warrior once he has seen campus.
