I’m really interested to see how we use these last 11 Scholarships. I had posted a few weeks ago who I thought we would ultimately end up with. At that time I did not have Minor on board or Judge with the hints it sounds like we should expect him to jump on board within the next few days as well. So that would take the count to 10. In my previous projections I had us signing Jack Lamb, which now seems to be doubtful and Kwantel Raines who also seems to be leaning away from the Nittany Lions. We also seem to have a commit coming right after the Lasch Bash with Isheem Young.
So with the final 9 spots we have a few intriguing situations: one is the quarterback, do we sign one or no? Franklin has mentioned he wants to sign at least 1 every class. Wide Receiver, is it possible we take 5- Shorter, Enis, George, Dotson, and SAB. If not who is the guy we say can’t commit. Defensive Line we have several key guys still out there- Parsons, Oweh, Mustipher, Friday, Anoma, Hawkins, Smith and Earlington. Then Offensive Line- Walker, Bradley, and Scruggs.
Franklin early on said we would have to turn away four and five stars. This is shaping up to be one of those years where we will have to turn away four stars. I know some on the board have very strong feelings toward Micah Parsons, and by all accounts he is absolutely loving the recruiting process and attention. I mentioned a few weeks ago my father-in-law is in the know with Buckeyes recruiting and I don’t try to bug him too often about tidbits but over the Holidays he did say he would be absolutely “shocked” if Tyreke Smith didn’t end up as a Buckeye. Smith was wearing buckeye gear at the opening and is a strong favorite to end up in Columbus. The other note he did share was about Parsons and he said Parsons is as elite as a prospect as there is in the country, but as of today they don’t see him ending up as a Buckeye and would say he thinks he ends back up at Penn State with outside chances of Alabama or Florida State. I also know some don’t think taking SAB would have an impact, but from being a high school coach that can definitely help. So if we do take SAB I think that would definitely be a play to help get Parsons. SAB is a very solid player but I could see that as luring in the big fish. Then Oweh gave his final 3 but he mentioned this would only be a 2 team race Penn State and OSU.
Another note on Aeneas Hawkins, I mentioned I coach basketball in Cincinnati. The talk around Hawkins is he wants to stay local and join UC. I asked around to a few football coaches to see what they have heard. They said he is a little torn on staying close to home and potentially able to start from day one and trying to turn around UC under Fickell or trying to go to a big time school and compete for Big Ten Championships and Titles. They ultimately both still thought he ends up at UC just with distance and playing time being the trump card in the end, which is a tad surprising because you don’t go to Moeller to lose. The GCL are powerhouses and I could see him wanting to play big time football.
Assuming we have no decommitments, which you never can really forecast for sure and if SAB truly is a take here’s my best guess at our 9 open scholarships.
QB- Leary or someone we target later
WR- SAB, Enis and Dotson
OL- Walker and Bradley
DL- Mustipher, Parsons
Last Scholarship- we battle for Raines, Anoma, Friday, Oweh and a few others. I’m going to pick Anoma as of today. That would allow Hardy and Judge to potentially move inside to DT if they fill out like some think they will.
So with the final 9 spots we have a few intriguing situations: one is the quarterback, do we sign one or no? Franklin has mentioned he wants to sign at least 1 every class. Wide Receiver, is it possible we take 5- Shorter, Enis, George, Dotson, and SAB. If not who is the guy we say can’t commit. Defensive Line we have several key guys still out there- Parsons, Oweh, Mustipher, Friday, Anoma, Hawkins, Smith and Earlington. Then Offensive Line- Walker, Bradley, and Scruggs.
Franklin early on said we would have to turn away four and five stars. This is shaping up to be one of those years where we will have to turn away four stars. I know some on the board have very strong feelings toward Micah Parsons, and by all accounts he is absolutely loving the recruiting process and attention. I mentioned a few weeks ago my father-in-law is in the know with Buckeyes recruiting and I don’t try to bug him too often about tidbits but over the Holidays he did say he would be absolutely “shocked” if Tyreke Smith didn’t end up as a Buckeye. Smith was wearing buckeye gear at the opening and is a strong favorite to end up in Columbus. The other note he did share was about Parsons and he said Parsons is as elite as a prospect as there is in the country, but as of today they don’t see him ending up as a Buckeye and would say he thinks he ends back up at Penn State with outside chances of Alabama or Florida State. I also know some don’t think taking SAB would have an impact, but from being a high school coach that can definitely help. So if we do take SAB I think that would definitely be a play to help get Parsons. SAB is a very solid player but I could see that as luring in the big fish. Then Oweh gave his final 3 but he mentioned this would only be a 2 team race Penn State and OSU.
Another note on Aeneas Hawkins, I mentioned I coach basketball in Cincinnati. The talk around Hawkins is he wants to stay local and join UC. I asked around to a few football coaches to see what they have heard. They said he is a little torn on staying close to home and potentially able to start from day one and trying to turn around UC under Fickell or trying to go to a big time school and compete for Big Ten Championships and Titles. They ultimately both still thought he ends up at UC just with distance and playing time being the trump card in the end, which is a tad surprising because you don’t go to Moeller to lose. The GCL are powerhouses and I could see him wanting to play big time football.
Assuming we have no decommitments, which you never can really forecast for sure and if SAB truly is a take here’s my best guess at our 9 open scholarships.
QB- Leary or someone we target later
WR- SAB, Enis and Dotson
OL- Walker and Bradley
DL- Mustipher, Parsons
Last Scholarship- we battle for Raines, Anoma, Friday, Oweh and a few others. I’m going to pick Anoma as of today. That would allow Hardy and Judge to potentially move inside to DT if they fill out like some think they will.
