I really cant wrap my head around whats going on with this situation. Ohio State is an elite football school that puts players in the league and yet still can not get one linebacker to commit when there is a glaring need. In reality, a freshman could come in and start but this intruiges no one? Most of the other elite programs, and some not so elite, have 3-5 LB's verbally commited at this point. What the hell is happening here?
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Because we're going to get them during the AA games? It's not like we didn't being in good ones last year...Perry, Williams, Roberts, and Perkins was a good class.
shhhhhhhh. Trey Johnson and probably Mike Mitchell will be here soon, not to mention the absolute absurd number of highly ranked 2014 LB recruits that have us very high on their list right now.
Well technically, we did get Anzalone to commit, but that's semantics.
Look at how many of our serious targets have committed so far, excluding Anzalone. Jaylon Smith was a serious target. Jonathan Allen was a semi-serious target, marginally. Courtney Love was a guy that got sick of waiting for a committable offer. Can you name anyone else that we seriously pursued during the cycle that committed elsewhere?
On the other hand, we presumably lead for Mitchell and Johnson, who will be committing in two weeks. Step back from the ledge.
I like when I-8 is on break
ben gedeon
O'Deez330
stark county football
We didn't heavily pursue Gedeon until it was too late. By the time we offered, he had already visited UM and had them as his heavy favorite, due understandably to academic draw, and the momentum that the class had at the time.
he was uncommitted and being heavily pursued by the bucks and committed to scum. They may have had an early lead but he does fit as an example of what you asked for. I aways forget about him lol
O'Deez330
stark county football
I should've clarified to include Lbs that we didn't get in on late. But either way, it's not as if we pushed hard for large numbers of propects that we missed on. We rather slow played the LB position, and are still in good shape to end up with Lee, Worley, Lewis, Mitchell, and Johnson, all of whom fit under the LB umbrella in one way or another.
for sure agree 209% lol upvote for ye'
O'Deez330
stark county football
Take a deep breath and step away from the ledge. There's really no point in getting worked up about who has/has not committed until NSD...too many things can happen. Plus, even if you only loosely follow OSU recruiting you would know we are in good shape with 2-3 LB recruits right now and 2014 look to be a GREAT year for LB recruits. We will be fine. Trust in Urbs.
Ya, this will matter more if we miss on Mitchell/Johnson/Worley. As of now we seem to be in good shape.
The oline issues are a far bigger problem.
Oh I don't think it looks so bad. Lisle looks like a quality player, Gardner certainly has size, and either Price/Munger will probably end up switching over (especially considering the 2012 DL haul). That's 3 above average guys right there. OL just has to be a priority in 2014, and I have all the faith in the world Meyer can go out and find some beef. Chill Brah.
P.s. - Go take a look at Alabama's OL recruiting over the past few years. It's not bad, but it certainly isn't on par with the way they've recruited other positions. It's all about the coaching.
"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways." - Buddha
Relax my fellow buckeye, we will snag a couple good ones.
PATIENCE
It's a virtue.
Because Ryan Shazier will play all three positions next year. And I challenge you to tell him otherwise...
All 3 positions at the same time. We'll be running our new 5-1-5 defensive scheme.
it's to better align with the B-1-G conference marketing scheme.
“The teams that don’t respect their coaches and don’t trust their coaches are the teams that go .500"
~Zach Boren
5-1-5? Please. The only guy we need in the box is Shazeir. We'll debut the 0-1-10 next year.
I fully trust the coaching staff and am in no way panicing. I just dont understand it. This is Ohio State after all.
...Also, I remember a month or two back that tOSU had finally, officially, offered Tim Kimbrough. Has there been any chatter at all about that? I know the guy is commited to Georgia but wanted badly to be a Buckeye. Did we string him along too long and now he is loyal to the Bulldogs?
We brought in a large LB class last year. We only want 2-3 LBs. Anzalone didn't work out for whatever reason. Tommy Sanders is going to A&M but there is still confusion if he had a commitable offer and my guess is no, he didn't. Beyond him Mitchell has been our go to LB the entire time and should still commit. Worley, most believe, is a silent commit and will play STAR or OLB. And we haven't been pursuing too many others. We still are waiting on Johnson too. If we get Mitchell, Johnson, and Worley we have as good of an LB hull if we could have asked for. The fact that it comes in January instead of June doesn't matter.
Still would have been nice to have them sewn up so that:
1. We could have persuaded them to enrol in the Spring
2. They could have helped recruit
3. We had more clarity in numbers to recruit other guys and other positions
I don't think a college coach does or should persuade people to enroll early. If they want to by all means encourage it, but I personally don't think it is a good trend in college athletics.
YES, this IS Ohio State. We went after the biggest fish and it just so happens that we missed this year, but since this IS Ohio State we STILL LEAD for other big fish. JUST CHILL BRO
Because when you target the best of the best all the time, you lose a lot more recruiting battles. We wouldn't have even been in the running for some of these guys under the previous regime because we would have had commits from every 3* and above in Ohio. So you just have to get used to the fact that when you recruit top talent, across the nation, we're going to lose a lot more battles. Because we're fighting a lot more battles.
Tressel and staff were of the philosophy that you fight the fights you can win (aka kill Ohio recruiting, cherry pick a few other big time recruits that like us and focus on them). Meyer and staff fight the fights that need fighting, regardless of the outcome (aka we will recruit every player across the country we think can help us win a NC, regardless of where he's from or what our chances with said recruit are).
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
Patience young Jedi... You don't take players based on who will say yes first. Many, if not most of the Blue Chip/ 4 and 5 star guys like to wait and have a lot of options. Thrust in Urban. He has a really good idea if he's getting Mitchell/Johnson etc and has guys waiting to commit if he misses on one or both of them...everyone says Urban is the most (or one of the most) through person they know. He's got this.
D. Anthony
"thrust in urban"
-couldn't help but laugh at that
In jest, I would like to push everyone over the same ledge that I am told to step away from when they use that phrase. That statement ranks right up there with the age old classics, "It is what it is" and "Keeping it real" ect....
I kept it real once, just once.
My favorite one to mock is, It's always in the last place you look. well no kidding why would i continue to look once I had found it.
~Because we couldn't go for three~
Relax...we are going to be fine. Just because we don't currently have a commit at LB doesn't mean that we won't in a month and a half. We have 2 guys in Mitchell and Johnson who are pretty much asured of being Buckeyes in about 2 weeks when they announce and Worley sounds like he has been for awhile and really only needs some peripheral things that need to be worked out.
Also, as noted, we are in the lead for some monster recruits next year. With the reduction in scholarships, it was looked at as grab 2-3 LB's that are playmakers this year and score big next year in what could be one of the greatest LB hauls we could see.
Edit: It sucks that I wasn't quick enough to start off with it but I'm sure a "Frankie Says Relax" would still be rather funny to open with...
That's a bit of a paradox isn't it?
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
But a great paradox it is...
Quality, not quantity
Patience grasshopper. Your concern will be relieved when one or two or three of the young LBs like Perry step up next season and all of a sudden we're flush with a great LB corps. Then you can panic about how weak the secondary is which is what panickers do. They panic.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Guilty.
I've already moved to the DBs.
Why didn't we see more of Doran Grant after the mid-early part of the season? Injury? Doghouse? I thought he looked pretty good
I think Orhian Johnson just played too well and he wasn't going to take Roby or Howard's spot. He'll definitely get a shot this year though.
Orhian played Star and safety while Grant only played outside corner. We don't play a traditional slot nickel corner but instead play basically 3 safeties in the nickel with at least one of them on the slot or in the box. Grant got in only when Roby or Howard was hurt or resting.
I think its a fair question myself. More than a few top Ohio high school LB prospects over the past several years have opted to go somewhere other than OSU, i.e., Trey DePreist ('Bama), Luke Kuechly (BC), Jordan Hicks (TX), Greg Jones (MSU). In addition, I feel Ohio State has misjudged a few of their top out of state LB commits, i.e., Crutis Grant (so far), Dorian Bell, Etienne Sabino, Andrew Sweat. To state the obvious, Urban Meyer didn't have a chance to recruit any of these guys to Ohio State, but it wasn't as if Coach Tressel's teams weren't dominant, and a desired destination for most of the top kids in Ohio in particular and the Midwest in general. Linebacker recruiting has been SOMEWHAT weak recently IMO. Players OSU missed out on and players whose ability they've misjudged have hurt the position and team. They were so thin at LB this year that moving a senior FB who hadn't played LB at all in his college career was deemed to be the best option for a position lacking both talent and bodies. The top LB prospects nationally this year have all been made well aware of Ohio State's glaring need for talented LB's. They all know OSU is a place where they can both win a national title AND play immediately. That's a unique circumstance. So why the trouble getting top LB's to commit? Again, I believe it's a fair question. Hopefully, after the All Star games, the question will be answered...
It's only a fair question if they miss out on one of or both of Mitchell and Johnson. It's safe to say these two are tops on Urban's wish list and have been for awhile. I'm guessing he is at least 90% confident he knows what they will say at the AA game in early January. If he thought they were going elsewhere, I guarantee you Tommy Sanders would have signed with Ohio State today.
One man's "misjudged" is another man's "got unlucky with". We certainly missed a few Ohio prospects, but we recruited enough numbers at the position that we should've been fine, it just didn't work out with several guys all at the same position.
Look I know that C. Grant hasn't turned out well, but when you have a consensus top 5 player in the country, I don't think he's been misjudged. He might not have turned out, but that doesn't mean it was a misjudgement of an 18 year old kid.
Tyquan Lewis was recruited as a LB even though he is listed as a DE. He is to small to play DE at the college level. He is 6'3" 225. From what I understand he is definately going to play at OLB at tOSU. Nice 4* out of NC.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Ty...
I believe we will get Mitchell and Trey Johnson. I live in ATL and I believe Johnson is coming our way. I also very strongly believe we will beat out Bama to get Vonn Bell from here in ATL. That kid is a beast at safety! Things will be fine on the D side for the next 3-4 years!
Because they wouldn't let me go for 3!
Woody Hayes 1913-1987
Lewis is supposed to be the VIPER. he will be a lot like Nathan Williams, role is DE but he will be standing up when he is in pass rush and also will lineup off the line to possibly drop back. I think he will be very good at that spot because Nate was a great pass rusher but slow in coverage. Lewis looks like he can be just fine in coverage as well as a pass rusher.
but yes, another guy who will be available at OLB. the linebacking core will be just fine.
because mostly when OSU is fighting for the best of the best, they are competing with the best of the best. Right now the biggest competitors are Bama and ND and they are both in the NCG right now. OSU isn't. Going to lose some big commits to some of our biggest rivals. Need to relax on "this is OSU" because that means something to us, doesn't mean something to most of the recruits. Because they hear for years "this is OSU", "this is Bama", "this is ND".
Looks like Mitchell will be on board and probably Trey Johnson. If that happens, the LB core is very deep now with talent and will have to develop the talent with experience. Despite whatever recruits do or don't come to OSU, it won't replace experience, just depth. Experience is the possible problem but even still, not as big an issue as it was this year (despite the fact Boren and Sabino were good enough when playing). Next year will have some experience and seasoning in Perry, Roberts, Williams, Perkins and possibly Jamal Marcus (depending where he plays). There is plenty of depth. I really think you are more accurately concerned about middle linebacker because with Shazier and anyone of those guys (and/or whoever comes in with this class) should lock down the outside jobs.
so MIKE is the big issue. The recruits are there. Grant and Luke Roberts. they just haven't developed as expected. Then if Mike Mitchell does come in, that is 3 guys that could very well take control of the position but really only necessary until Reakwon McMillan gets here!
plus I am less concerned this year because the STAR position has depth and talent to take over for a possible lack of linebacker play. Darren Lee should be a stud as well as Corey Brown playing the role. depth and experience at Safety should be a bigger concern going forward. Once either of Barnett or Bryant goes down for a significant amount of time, there is very little depth behind them outside of Brown. then you will see a trickle effect that could be an issue with the whole back 7.
Luke Roberts hasn't developed? He wasn't an elite level recruit and didn't play at all as a freshman, as was expected. Give him some time to get it down before handing down judgement. Camren Williams will be a good MLB.
well didn't really mean Roberts hasn't developed. Meant it more for Grant but also was pointing out that is the histeria thinking is that there are no linebackers that have developed and experienced. Probably because most of what is there are from the past freshmen class. Not enough time to make a judgement like that.
plus he did play some on D and was in special teams too. I also believe Cam Williams will be a great candidate for the Mike but didn't say that because supposedly his labeled position is Outside linebacker. I think he is a MLB.
point being, this crazy linebacker freak out is not necessary anymore, last year it mattered. not this coming year. other positions to worry more about.
Right on the mark. We have a lot of young guys who need seasoning and Grant to continue to mature and learn. Personally, I think we go Grant, Perry, and Shazier at season's start and work in Williams, Perkins, Marcus, and Perkins. Whatever recruits are on board as freshmen will probably be, like this year's bunch, learning and playing on special teams. We'll be fine. Everybody exhale and enjoy the holidays.
Come back on February 6th and repost. If Urban doesn't sign a couple LB's by then, you won't sound like a troll.
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Ive been on here for a year and simply come on to read about Ohio State Football. I dont even know what a 'Troll" is.
This was my first post since the new helmet stickers and I got a -14 helmet stickers for asking a simple question and looking for some feedback. Glad to see the helmet stickers work well. Give a man an inch of power and he will take a mile. Congrats to the Napoleons of 11W.
Think you got smacked around a bit needlessly, personally.
Everyone on this site has, at times, had little to no patience with OSU sports. I think it's fair to be concerned about our LB depth, and therefore be concerned with the recruiting. That's why I responded with a post instead of a downvote.
Welcome!
Also, a troll is someone who posts something sure to cause controversy and outrage. For example, Mark May is an OSU troll. He constantly trolls the fanbase with asinine comments, hoping for us to bite and respond with outrage (get it, troll like when you're fishing looking for bites). Skip Bayless trolls the universe; he might be the best example ever.
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
Thanks for clarifying OSUBIAS.
Rules to avoid negative helmet stickers:
1. Never question anything Coach Meyer does about anything
2. Never point out internal inconsistencies in any of the serial posters' logic
3. Never mention any fact about OSU football that is more than 1 year old, regardless of the relevance or the context it may provide
4. For lots of stickers, just repeat lines that the serial posters have posted and kiss their a** with how funny/clever/insightful it is
5. Start stupid posts inquiring of co-serial posters their favorite gay tap dancers
I wish I could up vote that but I cant vote. Sorry.
Don't worry i got you.
Post lots of funny pictures or photos of hot women wearing OSU garb. that'll cross out half your downvotes by itself
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Or photos of Penny...any photo of her will do!
Very funny and insightful Golden.
Debate is healthy. I think this forum should encourage appropriate debate. We should only down vote when someone is trolling or being a jackass not when we disagree with their opinion.
I agree I think people get downvoted way too much on here.
Well isn't that ironic
Perhaps it was the tone and manner of which you asked? There are plenty of explanations, but downvotes are only supposed to happen due to content.
Also, if you complain about downvotes, you'll only receive more. Don't take pixels so seriously, they mean nothing. Thick skin ftw.
Thankfully the 11W crew patrols the votes and makes sure incorrect use of voting is justified.
Sorry man. If it makes you feel any better I pity upvoted ya
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Things tend to even out eventually. The only thing I'd say is that you should refrain from starting "I'm pushing the panic button" type threads. It comes off as if you're being a little paranoid without any information. People tend to not like paranoid, and that goes for most boards, not just 11W, and given how you can be downvoted here, you'll see consequences for it.
Posting a question to see what other readers think about the lack of depth with the LB's in the recruiting class to this point of recruiting carousel is fine, but I think you came off here like we just finished with NLOI Day and didn't sign anyone when in reality we have a month and a half before that day and have 2 major recruits who have us at the top of their very short lists and are announcing in 2.5 weeks, 1 who is pretty much all Buckeye and we're just waiting on the official word, and a handful of other possibilities if those former 2 don't work out.
Basically, just watch how you word and phrase things. And FWIW, I didn't downvote you for this either...I can just see why some people would.
Unky is right on everything he says here, but there is actually more to it.
See, if you are panicked, it implies that Urban, the son of God, Meyer, might not be doing everything right not only as a football coach, but as a PSYCHOLOGY major.
So don't dare say, for example, that it would not be a great idea to have the first signee of 2014 be an unknown, 3 star WR from Indiana, because, see, Urban knows things you could NEVER know because, see, he is a PSYCHOLOGY major.
anytime I hear somebody use the expression "I can't wrap my head around" something...I suggest trying to wrap something else around it. Works for me; but then again - not everyone is me.
#Joshy_Flex#
:) I agree with that idea Joshua.
Signed,
Josh
Ohio State's band SLAUGHTERED Michigan's band. If this were a football game, it would have been Florida State vs. Savannah State. - SB Nation following OSU vs. UM 2012
No need to freak out or lose our composure
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
Patience Daniel Son...patience.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987