Looking Back: Recruiting Misses 2008
Terrelle could use Michael Floyd this seasonAs Chris mentioned in his post yesterday, we are going through the dry season of Buckeye hoops and football and thus have to “create our own jump shots”. Since I don’t have Big Z or Dwight Howard setting screens for me, I figured I would begin a new segment over the next four weeks looking back at the last four recruiting classes.
This new segment will look at the recruiting classes of 2005-2008, but in a different view than most of you are used to seeing. Instead of looking at the players that the Buckeyes landed in these classes, we will look at the players they offered and missed on. The three categories we will be looking at in each class are: The Ones That Got Away (players from Ohio that turned down OSU), Wish You Were Mine (players that panned out well elsewhere), and Glad We Passed (players that turned out to be busts either on or off the field).
With that being said, here’s our first crack at “Looking Back”, as we start with the most recent of the recruiting classes we’ll be looking at, the class of 2008:
The Full List of Culprits
TE Blake Ayles (USC), LB Brandon Beal (Florida), DE Quinton Coples (UNC), RB Aundre Dean (UCLA), WR Michael Floyd (ND), WR Jeff Fuller (Oklahoma), LB Steve Gardiner (MSU), LB Steven Filer (ND), LB Shayne Hale (Pitt), CB Brandon Harris (Miami), WR Josh Jarboe (Oklahoma/Troy), OL Josh Jenkins (WVU), OL Ben Jones (Miami), TE/DE Kevin Koger (Michigan), DE Corey Liuget (Illinois), OL Kyle Long (FSU-baseball), S Dan McCarthy (ND), DT Moses McCray (FSU), TE Kyle Rudolph (ND), WR Cordale Scott (Illinois), WR Kenny Tate (Maryland), DT Brandon Thompson (Clemson), DT Justin Thompson (stayed in JC, now Memphis), RB Richard Watson (Georgia Tech), LB Christian Wilson (UNC), CB DJ Woods (Cincinnati), and LB Mike Zordich (PSU)
The Ones That Got Away
Kevin Koger (Toledo Whitmer), Steve Gardiner (Dublin Coffman), Dan McCarthy (Cardinal Mooney), Kyle Rudolph (Elder), Cordale Scott (Glenville), DJ Woods (Strongsville), and Mike Zordich (Cardinal Mooney) all decided to turn down the Buckeyes and play at other schools of their respective choices. The most shocking choice of this bunch was Scott, who was considered a “shoe-in” by some to continue the Glenville-Columbus pipeline and sign with the Bucks. Cordale bucked the trend and shocked Buckeye Nation by joining Ron Zook at Illinois. On the other end of the spectrum, both Dan McCarthy and Mike Zordich of Youngstown Cardinal Mooney had strong ties to the schools they chose to attend. McCarthy’s brother, Kyle, played for the Irish and those roots were too strong for the Buckeyes to overcome. Zordich’s father played for Penn State, and was a lock for Happy Valley once an offer came his way. The best player to come out of this class so far is Rudolph, who registered 29 receptions for 320 yards and 2 touchdowns in his freshman season and is widely considered the best tight end in his class. The toughest battle lost may be with Kevin Koger. Not only did the Toledo prospect spurn the Bucks, but he went to the dark side, heading up to Ann Arbor, where he showed a lot of promise in his freshman year. Overall the Buckeyes were able to compile a phenomenal class in 2008, so the players they missed on from inside the state didn’t effect the recruiting results too much.
Wish You Were Mine
This list compared to the other three classes we will look at in this segment is short because it is hard to judge a class after just one year on the field. The players I will put in this category are Josh Jenkins, Michael Floyd, Brandon Harris, and Kyle Long. Jenkins was openly deciding between his home-state school in West Virginia or driving the short distance over the border to become the fourth member of “Block-O” with Mike Brewster, Mike Adams, and JB Shugarts. It seems Jenkins ticked off a few of his classmates with his choice to become a Mountaineer, but his decision (which was based on the depth chart supposedly) seemed to have paid off as he saw action in 5 games as a freshman and has a good chance of starting as a true sophomore. Michael Floyd is the stud of this group and notched 48 receptions for 719 yards and 7 scores in his freshman campaign. Floyd has the ability to become one of the top pass-catchers in the nation this season and the Minnesota native was a great get for Charlie Weis and the Irish. Harris played the media game during his recruiting process and lead many people to believe he might end up in Columbus. His father’s relationship with Randy Shannon, the opportunity to play early, and the fact that he lived in Miami all lead him to the Hurricanes where he played in all 13 games as a corner back and kick returner. The final player on this list, Kyle Long, was supposed to be the fifth member of “Block-O” before choosing to pursue a career in baseball at Florida State. It is widely believed the younger son of Howie Long (brother of Chris Long of the Rams) would have been a Buckeye had he chosen football and it may have been a wiser decision as Long has since left Florida State, enrolled in community college close to his home in Virginia, was arrested for DUI, and now apparently is trying to transfer to UVA to play football. Kyle could have had one solid career anchoring either side of the line in Columbus this year and would have competed to play at multiple positions.
Glad We Passed
This list, like the last, consists of far less players than the classes of 2005, 2006, and 2007, as we cannot judge who will make an impact at the next level. There are two players who stand out to me on this list and they are Steve Gardiner and Joshua Jarboe. I shouldn’t be so hard on Gardiner, as he is a good player who wanted to be a Buckeye, but turned down his gray-shirt offer to get a regular offer from the Spartans. I am happy Gardiner chose this route as a scholarship would have been burned for the past class just signed and one of the members of the class of 2009 would not have been able to become a Buckeye. Sometimes things happen for a reason and I think this was a blessing in disguise. As for Jarobe, if you haven’t seen the video of him rapping yet, you now know why he was dismissed from the Oklahoma program. Jarobe has since joined Troy and was in attendance at The Shoe to witness Terrelle Pryor’s debut against the Trojans last year. Josh was widely regarded as one of the top receivers in the nation coming out of high school, and while he can still save his football career, his character issues make it seem best that he didn’t end up in Columbus.
Jenkins made the wrong choice. He could have played on a team with other great offensive lineman to make himself look better. He would have been part of block ‘O’, instead he will be a spread offense guard with very little chance to go pro. Even the buckeyes bad linemen get tryouts, Rehring? really? The bottom line is he choose WVU and when he doesn’t get called on draft day b/c they made him go down to 295 lbs and run around instead of learning how to block in a pro system tOSU will be the one that got away.
not to be too snide, but when did we start teaching our linemen how to block? I’m surprised that we still garner interest from OL prospects with our terrible track record in recent years.
does blocking really require alot of teaching? Just move the guy infront of you its pretty simple.
It’s not simple for Alex Boone…
dunno why it made me anonymous for that one :p
Totally agree on jenkins, how in the world did OUR depth chart on the o-line scare him away?? I realize the coaching isnt the best, but west Virginia? I dont understand going into a system that is not used by the NFL.
I’m glad we passed up on Navarro Bowman, he had a crap ton of tackles for Penn State last season but he can’t stop smokin the herb.
I’d take him anyway. It’s not like he’s taking hits right before kickoff.
Even if it brings the negative attention?
Gardiner and DJ Woods didn’t exactly have offers when they made their decisions, fyi. DJ Woods did at one point but he took too long. Gardiner only ever had a greyshirt offer, which basically no one would take when they have other Big Ten offers on the table.
Montana will go to Stanford if he decides to stay on the west coast and Ohio State if he wants to leave the west coast in my opinion, it all depends on how far away he wants to go
Alex,
How has Ben Martin fared at Tennessee? I couldn’t believe we lost him, and i see they already have a 5star DE for 2010. how do they do that? Is it the whole Reggie White thing?
Im also afraid Jordan Hicks might be on the “ones that got away” list one day, what do you think?
Would you rather take Jordan Hicks or LeMarcus Joyner?
Oh and I would rather have Lamarcus Joyner because we need more help at DB than at LB
Ben Martin has done well at Tenn. As a soph he played in all 12 games, registering 18 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, and 5 QB hits. He was certainly a player we would have loved to have at tOSU and I will have him on the 2007 list.
Hicks will decide between OSU and Texas in the end, but don’t be surprised if UC creeps in. A couple of his friends and teammates are headed there and it is local. In the end I think he stays in the state of Ohio as per the location factor and we will hold a spot for him. LB U is the place for Mr. Hicks…..
I think we will end up with Joyner but it will be a battle with FSU until the end. His official visit will be to the USC game in the Shoe so I think that will lock it up for him.
I just love the hype that surrounds OSU recruiting wise, especially lately. I’m from NYC and I went to prep school in Pennsylvania. I graduated from OSU in 2007 and I now date a PSU grad. I seriously cannot see how people are attracted to that school. Ohio State will always be one of the few jewels in college football. Buckeyes forever…
The real key between OSU and PSU is this…OSU just has that swagger and that gusto that PSU just doesn’t…Its just a feeling about the program when your on OSU’s campus that you don’t really feel when at PSU. Ohio State also gives you the ability to see the best of both sides of things; There’s campus and then there’s downtown C-Bus (two different atomosphere’s in one great school IMHO). At Penn State you don’t really have much but downtown State College, whooptie freakin do!! So there you go, do the math, recruit. Its up to YOU!
Great point…I couldn’t have said it any better myself brother.
Not to mention the fact that the kids who go there are the type of people that like throwing cups of urine at trombonists.
Losing Michael Floyd was huge…. We could have covered that loss with Marlon Brown… but alas, we lost him too.
Slight thread jack, but do that many of you really believe Montana ends up in Columbus (see poll).
I’ll be shocked if we get him.
I don’t think so. I think his name is making him a little better than he may really be, of course now he’ll end up winning the Heisman and going no.1 overall. Alabama would be a good fit, but daddy Joe doesn’t seem they type to want him to play for Nick Satan.
Even if he comes here is a chance he never sees the field. TP could stay four years and Braxton Miller will step in as the new starter after that.
I actually think we have a very good shot at Nick. What people don’t know is that Joe and JT have built a solid relationship and the whole religion thing is a positive here as Nick has mentioned before.
I think Notre Dame can’t be counted out until the end and Stanford and Washington are in there too, but the Bucks have as good a shot as anyone. Braxton Miller in 2011 wont be a bad consolation prize.
I think Braxton could end up being the deal breaker when it comes to Nick. The fact that he will be sandwiched between Pryor and Miller (who, IMO and maybe I’m reaching, seems like a much more polished overall QB than Pryor – but isn’t the physical freak). I think playing time and being lost on the depth chart will have the Montanas looking somewhere else come February…. also keep in mind just how honest Tress is when it comes to recruiting – Its not going to be a secret that Miller is going to be the number 1 Target for ‘11.
We need a QB in this class however… I’m not down playing how good Nick is, but I honestly think I would rather have a kid like Andrew Hendrix, Phil Sims or Dwight Macon. I’m not saying any of them are heads above Nick at all, but each one of those guys could at least have a shot at another position unlike Nick and would make them the better pick-up in the long run with Braxton in the ‘11 class or just as extremely solid depth.
Again not saying I don’t want Nick on this team… but if we don’t land Nick but find a way to get Hendrix, Macon or Sims…I’d be perfectly fine and think we’ll be as deep if not deeper at QB than I have seen Ohio State in a LONG time!
Another one who we wish we had – Eric Berry. Dude is a stud, and I thought we had a legit shot.