Roderick Smith is a Buckeye
Indiana RB Roderick Smith surprised the staff Wednesday when he committed during an unofficial visit, becoming the 7th member of the 2010 class.
This setup looks familiarA Rivals and Scout four-star, he’s the former’s 5th-rated running back prospect, while the latter has him 6th at his position.
ESPN has this to say about Smith:
Smith may be one of the more impressive backs in this class in terms of a size to speed ratio. He’s tall with great bulk but still lean enough through his waist and lower-body to remain fluid with some wiggle.
After piling up 3,580 rushing yards in his freshman and sophomore seasons, Smith was on pace to challenge the state record for career rushing yards (7,560), but was held to just 1,475 yards his junior year. Outside shot of still getting the mark, but he’ll have his work cutout for him.
His negatives: supposedly goes down low a lot and does not posses child-bearing hips suitable for running back greatness.
Still, he’s a pretty big win for the staff and at 6-2/220, the comparisons to Beanie are out there and valid, especially when you check out his film. He hits the hole quickly and shows nice acceleration on longer runs, while showing the shake needed to make a man miss up close. He might not have Beanie’s love for mangling opponents’ facemasks just yet, but that can be acquired.
Said film:
(The stutter-step around 0:48 is sick.)
As exciting as the above clips are, advanced party commenters have correctly pointed out that he might not be facing elite competition in Fort Wayne. And while it’s true that the state of Indiana isn’t exactly regarded a a running back factory, I like what I see. A lot.
Sorry, handsome!The Buckeyes won his services over other offers from the likes of Tennessee, Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa. In fact, the Spartans were his 2nd choice, further highlighting the excellent job Dantonio and his staff have done on that front lately.
There are rumors of potential academic hurdles to overcome, but Smith seems to think he’ll be fine. Assuming he will be, Smith might have the good fortune of being the only running back in the 2010 class, though Erick Howard lurks. Boom is just a soph and probably not a candidate to leave early, while freshmen Berry and Hyde are new arrivals providing quality depth going forward.
Random trivia bit: Smith also plays basketball in the same conference as Buckeye 2010 hoops recruit Deshaun Thomas.
“His negatives: supposedly goes down low a lot”….That’s what she said…
Yeah, I would’ve just stuck w/ “First”.
haha..said that i saw that in the same light…? i think not
…….. look what a good offensive line can do for a RB. Please take note people!
“As exciting as the above clips are, advanced party commenters have correctly pointed out that he might not be facing elite competition in Fort Wayne. And while it’s true that the state of Indiana isn’t exactly regarded a a running back factory, but I like what I see. A lot”.
Don’t know elite competition. I would say he plays in a tough conference; Fort Wayne isn’t exactly a small red neck town out in the middle of no where.
Indiana High School Football programs turned out 41 BCS recruits last year.
(Dakota Tyler and Morgan Newton (Mr. Football)). just a few notables
Rivals list this year James Hurst as the #2 OT
These schools in Smiths conference are good take a look http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_Luers_High_School
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Nelson_Snider_High_School
I am just saying, I live in Indiana now I moved from Ohio. A lot of people migrate here. There are some great ball players, Trust me Smith has seen Div 1 High School Competition, not to mention a state title run.
Smith is going to be a beast behind our future line!!!
Way to rep your hood Duran. If you’re good comp. doesn’t matter, just look at TP, they said the same thing about him.
Also, Curtis Enis played in a very small division and he was pretty good.
This kid looks like a beast, might be a total sleeper, Im glad to have him.
With this guy lining up in the same backfield with guys like Carlos Hyde, you can be sure opposing defenses will be very tired after facing us.
Exactly. I know Fort Wayne’s a big town — guessing it’s the 2nd largest in Indiana, but the state doesn’t exactly have a history of cranking out football talent like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, etc.
Not to say he’s a slouch, because I really, really like what I see on that clip.
Oh yes, the booming metropolis that is Ft. Wayne with all of it culture and night life. I’m just kidding, my aunt used to live near there and they would always talk about going into town for this or that. I don’t care what state it is, or what high school you go to, if you’re good, you’re good.
I live in Northern Kentucky and when Shaun Alexander was in high school people said yeah but who did he play against? Guess what it didn’t matter, that dude was awesome. Also, he put on about 30lbs of muscle from his senior year in high school til his sophomore year in college. If they have the talent, regardless of who they play in highschool, they can be built into awesome college running backs.
Yep, and OSU has the system and resources to develop guys, which will help. Smith excites me more than Berry and Hyde do right now. That’s not to say I know which one of the three will go on to have the best career, but if Smith destroys some teams this season and gets that 5th star, it might be justified.
Duran makes a lot of goodpoints.
Fort Wayne has some of the best football players in the entire state.
Smith put up 202 yards on Class 4A runner-up Bishop Dwenger and he had a bum knee. Dwenger sends 10-15 guys to college every year and sent two guys to Notre DAme the past two seasons.
I see Smith about every week and I can tell you he’s not playing patsies.
Hardly a ringing endorsement for Bishop Dwenger. However, this Smith kid looks like the real deal, and glad to have him with the Buckeyes.
The guy who pushed him out of bounds at the 2:29 mark is ND recruit Tyler Eifert.
Eifert’s ability plus Smith’s bum knee was the only reason he didn’t get that corner.
“”Then early in the fourth quarter, Smith galloped for 41 of his 202 yards to get the Hawks to the Saints’ 29-yard line. If it hadn’t been for Eifert, the free safety, angling across the field and nudging Smith out of bounds, the running back likely would have scored to give Harding an 18-17 lead.
“I was just thinking, ‘If I let him score, he just outran me and embarrassed me,’ and I didn’t want to let that happen,” Eifert said.”
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080830/SPORTS/808300313
When Welch committed, I was hoping that ND would think about moving Eifert to Safety- where he has a very nice skill set… but then Fauria must have said a naughty word and was suspended for a semester and then transfered to UCLA. Bad both ways for the Irish.
Like what I see. Very fast at getting to top end speed and then a very smooth runner with great strides. Clip does not show him getting hit at all though..is that because he goes down every time?
He is… untackleable. We hope.
I like the way they used him as a receiver. It’s nice to have that versatility in a guy his size.
ha, well with that speed he is untackable that’s for sure. Agreed, could be a great athlete.
interesting that he would decide to pick ohio state with 4 good backs here already. He brings alot to the table. The comp may not be that great but he was running away from it pretty easy. Who redshirts this year hyde or berry?
I think Berry might be more likely to redshirt because of his size and his recent trouble with the law.
This is a very good pick up for the Bucks. I live in the Fort Wayne area- and this guy is a stud. I wish the Irish could have offered him, but I think he may have had an academic speed bump or two. (I really hate that shit). Fort Wayne has had some very good talent in the past 10-15 years, and Smith may be the best of that group.