Wins on Saturdays are often determined by signed letters of intent over Februaries past. This piece is an in-depth look at the composite ratings of the defensive players that signed on the dotted line for Oklahoma and Ohio State.
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| POSITION | PLAYER | COMP. RATING | POSITION | PLAYER | COMP. RATING |
| DE | GREG WARD | .941 | DE | TYQUAN LEWIS | .898 |
| DT | NEVILLE GALLIMORE | .962 | DT | TRACY SPRINKLE | .859 |
| NG | MATTHEW ROMAR | .858 | DT | DRE'MONT JONES | .938 |
| JACK | OGBONNIA OKORONKWO | .866 | DE | SAM HUBBARD | .923 |
| SLB | CALEB KELLY | .984 | LB | DANTE BOOKER | .972 |
| MLB | KENNETH MURRAY | .877 | MLB | CHRIS WORLEY | .868 |
| WLB | EMMANUEL BEAL | .808 | LB | JEROME BAKER | .969 |
| CB | PARNELL MOTLEY | .945 | CB | DENZEL WARD | .903 |
| FS | WILLIAM JOHNSON | .869 | S | DAMON WEBBB | .982 |
| SS | STEVEN PARKER | .947 | S | JORDAN FULLER | .938 |
| CB | JORDAN THOMAS | .871 | CB | DAMON ARNETTE | .860 |
| AVERAGE | .902 | AVERAGE | .919 |
Ohio State's comp. average jumps to .935 if Nick Bosa (.997) is substituted for Tyquan Lewis and Kendall Sheffield (.931) is substituted for Damon Arnette. The players above are listed as or on this week's depth chart.
DEFENSIVE RECRUITING NOTES 2013-2017
- Oklahoma's highest rated defensive starter is strong-side linebacker Caleb Kelly (.984)
- The largest gap among the defensive starters is the 161 point difference between Ohio State's LB Jerome Baker and Oklahoma's WLB Emmanuel Beal (.808).
- The average of Ohio State's defensive starters is 17 points better than Oklahoma's defensive starters.
DEFENSIVE RECRUITING COMPARISON 2013-2017
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| PLAYER (YEAR) | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | PLAYER (YEAR) | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | |
| RICKY DeBERRY (2015) | 6–2 | 240 | .958 | RAEKWON McMILLAN (2014) | 6–2 | 242 | .989 | |
| LEVI DRAPER (2017) | 6–3 | 222 | .945 | TREY JOHNSON (2013) | 6–2 | 218 | .949 | |
| NICK CONNER (2015) | 6–3 | 225 | .912 | |||||
| AVERAGE | 6–2 | 231 | .952 | AVERAGE | 6–2 | 228 | .950 |
Both Oklahoma and Ohio State have been stingy with their scholarships to inside linebacker prospects. Both schools are picking up high quality players, but have signed a combined five ILBs since 2013. Neither team will have a signed inside linebacker starting on Saturday.
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| PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | |
| CALEB KELLY (2016) | 6–3 | 215 | .984 | BARON BROWNING (2017) | 6–2 | 229 | .993 | |
| BRYCE YOUNGQUIST (2016) | 6–1 | 215 | .914 | JUSTIN HILLIARD (2015) | 6–0 | 225 | .985 | |
| KENNETH MURRAY (2017) | 6–3 | 225 | .877 | MIKE MITCHELL (2013) | 6–4 | 222 | .973 | |
| ARTHUR McGINNIS (2015) | 6–2 | 226 | .869 | DANTE BOOKER (2014) | 6–3 | 212 | .972 | |
| CURTIS BOLTON (2014) | 6–2 | 215 | .865 | KEANDRE JONES (2016) | 6–3 | 210 | .954 | |
| K'JAKYRE DALEY (2017) | 6–3 | 220 | .852 | KYLE BERGER (2014) | 6–3 | 215 | .929 | |
| TAY EVANS (2014) | 6–3 | 200 | .850 | PETE WERNER (2017) | 6–3 | 220 | .897 | |
| KAPRI DOUCET (2016) | 6–3 | 225 | .847 | TUF BORLAND (2016) | 6–2 | 225 | .893 | |
| JORDAN EVANS (2013) | 6–3 | 205 | .845 | |||||
| DEVANTE BOND (2014) | 6–3 | 230 | .840 | |||||
| EMMANUEL BEAL (2016) | 6–2 | 215 | .808 | |||||
| AVERAGE | 6–2 | 217 | .868 | AVERAGE | 6–2 | 220 | .950 |
Where inside linebacker was lacking, outside linebacker is where these programs are loading up. The schemes of today's offenses is putting an emphasis on the linebacker who can cover space.
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| PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | |
| JUSTIN BROILES (2017) | 6–0 | 175 | .961 | JEFFREY OKUDAH (2017) | 6–1 | 190 | .994 | |
| PJ MBANASOR (2015) | 6–0 | 176 | .939 | SHAUN WADE (2017) | 6–1 | 177 | .988 | |
| TRE BROWN (2017) | 5–11 | 178 | .937 | DAMON WEBB (2014) | 5–11 | 180 | .982 | |
| JORDAN PARKER (2016) | 5–11 | 180 | .928 | ELI APPLE (2013) | 6–1 | 185 | .975 | |
| LJ MOORE (2013) | 6–2 | 185 | .903 | MARSHON LATTIMORE | 6–0 | 175 | .973 | |
| PARRISH COBB (2016) | 5–11 | 178 | .902 | CAM BURROWS | 6–0 | 195 | .972 | |
| WILL JOHNSON (2015) | 6–0 | 185 | .869 | ERIC GLOVER-WILLIAMS (2015) | 5–11 | 165 | .952 | |
| ANTOINE STEPHENS (2015) | 6–1 | 187 | .865 | AMIR RIEP (2017) | 5–11 | 185 | .940 | |
| MARCUS GREEN (2014) | 6–0 | 178 | .858 | MARCUS WILLIAMSON (2017) | 5–9 | 180 | .935 | |
| TITO WINDHAM (2014) | 5–10 | 175 | .857 | GAREON CONLEY (2013) | 6–1 | 172 | .932 | |
| TRE NORWOOD (2017) | 5–11 | 168 | .852 | KENDALL SHEFFIELD (2017) | 6–0 | 185 | .931 | |
| DAKOTA AUSTIN | 5–11 | 160 | .832 | DENZEL WARD (2015) | 5–11 | 165 | .903 | |
| WAYNE DAVIS (2016) | 5–11 | 190 | .891 | |||||
| JAMEL DEAN (2015) | 6–2 | 195 | .891 | |||||
| JOSHUA NORWOOD (2015) | 5–10 | 175 | .870 | |||||
| DAMON ARNETTE (2015) | 6–2 | 185 | .860 | |||||
| RODJAY BURNS (2016) | 6–2 | 6–2 | .853 | |||||
| KAREEM FELDER (2016) | 5–11 | 170 | .851 | |||||
| AVERAGE | 6–0 | 177 | .892 | AVERAGE | 6–0 | 180 | .927 |
Bob Stoops put a priority on picking up wide receivers, Urban Meyer's position of choice is corner back. Over the past five signing days, Meyer added 18 corner backs to Ohio State's roster. Not only has he brought in a shit-ton of CBs, but he has recruited some of the best in the country.
Consider this, Oklahoma's top-rated corner back since 2013 is Justin Broiles (.961). The Buckeyes have signed six players with higher ranking in that time span. Ohio State's average of .927 is higher than seven of the 12 signed Sooners.
Nick Bosa (.997) is the highest rated player on either team, yet he is not a "starter" for the Buckeyes.
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| PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | |
| ROBERT BARNES (2017) | 6–3 | 194 | .957 | VONN BELL (2013) | 5–11 | 193 | .987 | |
| STEVEN PARKER (2014) | 6–2 | 188 | .947 | ISAIAH PRYOR (2017) | 6–1 | 195 | .973 | |
| WILL SUNDERLAND (2015) | 6–3 | 195 | .929 | ERICK SMITH (2014) | 6–1 | 185 | .967 | |
| HATRARI BYRD (2013) | 6–1 | 195 | .928 | JAYME THOMPSON (2013) | 6–2 | 190 | .912 | |
| CAHLIL HAUGHTON (2015) | 6–2 | 175 | .897 | |||||
| CHANSE SYLVIE (2016) | 5–11 | 226 | .851 | |||||
| PRENTICE McKINNEY (2015) | 6–2 | 180 | .875 | |||||
| JORDAN THOMAS (2014) | 6–1 | 175 | .871 | |||||
| AHMAD THOMAS | 6–1 | 205 | .867 | |||||
| VONTRE McQUINNIE | 6–2 | 190 | .855 | |||||
| AVERAGE | 6–2 | 188 | .901 | AVERAGE | 6–1 | 191 | .960 |
Stoops put an emphasis on the sizeable safety. 60 percent of his safeties are at least 6'2" tall. Meyer took a quality of quantity approach and signed four highly rated safeties.
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| PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | |
| NEVILLE GALLIMORE (2015) | 6–2 | 330 | .962 | HASKELL GARRETT (2017) | 6–2 | 288 | .968 | |
| MARQUISE OVERTON (2015) | 6–1 | 301 | .917 | MICHAEL HILL (2013) | 6–2 | 315 | .924 | |
| KERRICK HUGGINS (2013) | 6–4 | 282 | .904 | BILLY PRICE (2013) | 6–4 | 300 | .916 | |
| DILLON FAAMATAU (2017) | 6–4 | 290 | .878 | JERRON CAGE (2017) | 6–1 | 275 | .909 | |
| QUINCY RUSSELL (2013) | 6–3 | 305 | .873 | MALIK BARROW (2016) | 6–3 | 270 | .899 | |
| CHARLES WALKER (2013) | 6–3 | 280 | .866 | DONOVAN MUNGER (2013) | 6–4 | 285 | .898 | |
| MATT ROMAR (2013) | 6–3 | 276 | .858 | ROBERT LANDERS (2015) | 6–2 | 295 | .872 | |
| ZACCHAEUS McKINNEY (2017) | 6–4 | 300 | .857 | DAVON HAMILTON (2015) | 6–3 | 285 | .829 | |
| COURTNEY GARNETT (2014) | 6–2 | 280 | .851 | |||||
| TYREECE LOTT (2017) | 6–3 | 270 | .837 | |||||
| AVERAGE | 6–3 | 291 | .880 | AVERAGE | 6–3 | 289 | .902 |
Both programs understand the importance of winning the line of scrimmage and recruited the defensive line accordingly. OU signed 24 D-lineman and Ohio State 22.
The Sooners believe in a strong middle and added 10 defensive tackles. Of those players, 6'2", 330 pound Neville Gallimore stands out.
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| PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | PLAYER | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | |
| DJ WARD (2013) | 6–4 | 242 | .941 | NICK BOSA (2016) | 6–4 | 265 | .997 | |
| AMANDI BLEDSOE (2016) | 6–5 | 263 | .929 | JOEY BOSA (2013) | 6–5 | 270 | .981 | |
| MATT DIMON (2013) | 6–4 | 255 | .898 | JASHON CORNELL (2015) | 6–4 | 260 | .956 | |
| GABRIEL CAMPBELL (2015) | 6–6 | 250 | .870 | DRE'MONT JONES (2015) | 6–3 | 266 | .938 | |
| AUSTIN ROBERTS (2015 | 6–6 | 265 | .868 | DYLAN THOMPSON (2014) | 6–5 | 270 | .872 | |
| KENNETH MANN (2015) | 6–4 | 240 | .853 | JOSHUA ALABI (2015) | 6–5 | 295 | .866 | |
| TROY JAMES (2017) | 6–4 | 275 | .845 | TRACY SPRINKLE (2013) | 6–4 | 250 | .859 | |
| BRANDON GLENN (2014) | 6–4 | 254 | .840 | DARIUS SLADE (2014) | 6–5 | 240 | .846 | |
| AVERAGE | 6–5 | 256 | .881 | AVERAGE | 6-4 | 265 | .914 |
The Buckeyes offensive line will need to account on DJ Ward and his counter part Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. Looking at the averages, Oklahoma goes after a slightly taller and slimmer SDE than Ohio State.
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| PLAYER (YEAR) | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | PLAYER (YEAR) | HGHT | WT | COMP. RATING | |
| ADDISON GUMBS (2017) | 6–4 | 220 | .941 | CHASE YOUNG (2017) | 6–5 | 251 | .992 | |
| MARK JACKSON JR. (2016) | 6–2 | 221 | .919 | JONAHTON COOPER (2016) | 6–2 | 234 | .980 | |
| ISAIAH THOMAS (2017) | 6–5 | 230 | .898 | JALYN HOLMES (2014) | 6–5 | 225 | .962 | |
| OGBONNIA OKORONKWO (2013) | 6–2 | 220 | .866 | TYQUAN LEWIS (2013) | 6–4 | 227 | .898 | |
| JON-MICHAEL TERRY (2016) | 6–4 | 225 | .864 | RASHOD BERRY (2015) | 6–5 | 240 | .857 | |
| DWAYNE ORSO-BACCHUS | 6–5 | 255 | .809 | RASHOD BERRY (2015) | 6-5 | 240 | .857 | |
| AVERAGE | 6–4 | 229 | .882 | AVERAGE | 6-4 | 235 | .938 |
Ohio State has three weak-side defensive ends ranked higher than Oklahoma's best. Freshman phenom, Chase Young will be the highest-rated of all the WDE's in Ohio Stadium Saturday night.
Oklahoma also has two talented young players in Addison Gumbs and Mark Jackson Jr., but they are playing behind a senior beast, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. Not only does Okoronkwo have the best name on the Sooners, but he is also a stud player.
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| POSITION | NO. OF PLAYERS | POSITION | NO. OF PLAYERS |
| SDE | 8 | SDE | 8 |
| WDE | 6 | WDE | 6 |
| DT | 10 | DT | 8 |
| OLB | 11 | OLB | 8 |
| ILB | 2 | ILB | 3 |
| CB | 12 | CB | 18 |
| S | 10 | S | 4 |
| TOTAL | 59 | TOTAL | 55 |
Like last year, the players will determine which coaching staff did a better job recruiting on the field. Hopefully Ohio State will finish the game with a similar result as last year.
ICYMI
The Rundown: No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 2 Ohio State
Know Thy Enemy: Comparing Oklahoma's and Ohio State's Offensive Recruits
