Yesterday, the combined 11W coverage on Nick Bosa's commitment got something along the lines of 700 total comments across several different stories. When the news broke that Joey Bosa's younger brother was going to descend upon Columbus in 2016, you, the readers of this fine sporting news site, promptly broke it in half with a combination of feverish F5 refreshings and celebration .gifs.
All of which is perfectly acceptable behavior when your team snags a recruit that most place in the top three in the country. It's normal to want to get on the ground floor of the next Shruggalo convention, and it's equally normal for the website that hosts it to collapse under the weight of its own excitement.
It's weird though; I've been writing for 11W for over five years now, and it's only recently that we've had to deal with these considerations, despite the fact that big time recruits have been rolling into Columbus since forever. That may be the humblest of brags implying how much we as a site have grown over the last few years, but it also brings up an interesting question: what happened to all of those gigantic names in the recruiting game once all the uproar had died down? Sports fans have a ridiculously short memory, and someone clamoring for a glimpse of Jamario O'Neal on the first day of camp easily may have been the same people calling for his head a year later. A skeptical Buckeye booing Beanie Wells for fumbling as a freshman might've been the same one furious that he wasn't given the ball 45 times against LSU in the National Championship.
So for this blessed occasion of the signing of a consensus five star football player, let's take a walk down memory lane and see how the very highest rated players in the last ten seasons fared as Buckeyes, and where they are now. Only players ranked 25th or higher overall in the country according to Scout.com will be considered. If that seems like a high bar, consider that a similar article on a Purdue or Illinois site would be about 75 words long and end with a big frowny face.
2005
The aforementioned Jamario O'Neal (17th overall) never really found his footing. Though he started out making some solid contributions on special teams, his game never really took off. A two game suspension later on didn't help, and neither did this:
"Just thinking about all the times I could’ve done extra film, gassers, time in the weight room, I had talent but didn’t work hard. You had guys like Malcolm and Donald who worked hard and had talent.”
His classmate Alex Boone (15th overall) had a slightly more distinguished but still disappointing career, marred by excessive drinking and a sense that he never lived up to his potential. Being the physical specimen that he is, however, Boone found a home in San Francisco, sobered up, and has now made a name for himself despite being an undrafted free agent out of college.
2006
Beanie Wells (1st overall) turned out okay, I guess.
2007
Safety Eugene Clifford (25th overall) was a major disappointment, which is a polite way of saying that he got kicked off the team for threatening to shoot up a bar after punching two people in the face. Clifford ended up at Tennessee State and earning an acceptable level of relative obscurity.
2008
The 2008 Ohio State recruiting class was, on paper, one of the best in the history of the program. Mike Adams (11th overall), Michael Brewster (23rd overall), DeVier Posey (15th overall), and good ol Terrelle Pryor (64th overall... in basketball) formed the core of a ridiculous class that appeared to set Jim Tressel up for life with the tears and lamentations of the rest of the Big Ten.
And to be sure, there were no true busts here. While Posey was never the game breaker that Ohio State fans wanted him to be, he was a consistent wideout who always seemed to be good for 50-60 catches a year and about 800 yards. Adams and Brewster in particular were solid offensive linemen, and while I think history will not be particularly kind to TPeezy (especially after the likes of Braxton and J.T. Barrett), Pryor was a talent the likes of which hadn't been seen in Columbus in a very long time.
Ultimately though, absent a national championship that many expected, this class will always be remembered for their role in the tats-for-memorabilia scandal that ended up taking down Jim Tressel. Adams and Brewster have struggled to find a place in the NFL, Posey has had a cup of tea in a few places around the league, and Pryor is trying to stick with the Browns as a WR. A disappointing group.
2009
The Eleven Warriors staff was very, very invested in the Melvin Fellows, Safari Planet nickname, and when injuries derailed his career before it could ever really get going, we mourned the former 22nd ranked recruit as if our weird looking dog had just died.
2010
19th ranked overall Dorian Bell had instant NFL measurables coming out of high school, but his involvement in Tatgate plus some other pretty egregious rules violations plus generally performing under expectations led him to transfer to Duquesne, where he was fairly successful but anonymous.
A much better story is that of Bell's classmate Andrew Norwell (8th overall). Norwell was extremely solid throughout his Ohio State career, being both extremely skilled (twice All-Big Ten) and extremely consistent (played more downs as a junior than any other player on the team). Signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent, Norwell played extremely well in 2014 and is now considered one of the better young offensive linemen in the league.
2011
Over the years, 11W has written a lot on the subject of Curtis Grant, (19th overall) mostly about how the incredibly hyped linebacker failed to live up to expectations despite numerous chances to prove himself.
And while many might characterize him as a "bust," he remains one of my favorite players from the 2014 because his steady if not amazing play in addition to his leadership made him exactly the kind of player that you need on a team that wanted to win a national championship. And ultimately, despite all of the criticism, Grant has a ridiculously gaudy ring that makes him something that all the other players on this list that came before him can't claim to be.
2012
2012 is a tale of two linemen. Noah Spence (5th overall) flamed out at Ohio State due to drug problems, but now finds himself at Eastern Kentucky and receiving gushing accolades from his coach despite continued run-ins with the law. Spence may still evolve into an NFL player, given his natural talent, but it's a shame we didn't get too see that at Ohio State.
Adolphus Washington (10th overall) has evolved into one of the most slept-on players in the country. Considered by some to be a bust early on, he's evolved into one of the most disruptive players on the defensive line, and if it weren't for Joey Bosa, Washington would likely be the focal point of the defense in 2015. His steady improvement is a great indicator of what his ceiling as a player might be.
2013
Vonn Bell (25th overall) was a coveted defensive back, and we're starting to see why. His 2014 campaign was a great indicator of the kind of safety that he can become, a true game changer that plays with the intelligence that is required of one of the more cerebral defensive positions.
Overall, these big time recruits turned out... okay? Most media outlets will tell you that rankings are a genuine predictor of player skill in college, but Ohio State has had its fair share of booms and busts.
For his part, Nick Bosa might be more concerned about living up to the legacy of his brother, but as fans it's difficult to avoid signing up to be the founding Shruggalos and Shruggalettes for the Insane Sack Posse.
