Our Honor Defend

Update: It’s official. Just as Kurelic noted last night, Hyde made the call today and issued his verbal.  The reasons for the verbal remain the same, though apparently Dick Tressel got the news as he was in the middle of moving furniture and was ecstatic over the commitment.

The second Florida prepster domino appears ready to fall. All recruiting eyes were on Columbus in anticipation of the possible tidal wave of commitments that may follow from the advanced camp, further considering the shrinking number of spots in the class. Duron Carter, as expected, secured his spot. Another heavy Buckeye lean, Carlos Hyde, looks ready to do the same tomorrow.

Bill Kurelic brings the news from his contact with Carlos Hyde. Hyde, originally from Cincinnati, had been in Cincinnati for the past week to visit his family. He grew up idolizing the Buckeyes, but moved down to Naples, Fla to be with grandma. Hyde had the Buckeyes practically at the top of his list when they offered, and may have committed earlier in the week if not for the delays in actually taking a tour of campus. Indeed, by spending a whole week in Cincinnati, he was in no particular rush to make it to Columbus. Hyde felt he had seen everything he needed to see upon finally making it to campus, specifically remarking how Tressel takes care of his players. He noted he would talk about it with his family, and since everyone agreed to Ohio State as the top choice, Hyde says he set to commit tomorrow. He explicitly stated he wants to let Jim Tressel know before heads back to Florida.

Carlos Hyde has a lot of people excited, myself included, over what he could bring to the table. The Buckeyes didn’t take a tailback in 2008 in the fallout of DeVoe Torrence, and with Beanie a possible candidate for entry into the NFL and Rasta Wells losing his eligibility after this year, the Buckeyes appear to have their sights set on two more backs to compliment Jordan Hall, who is arguably more of a receiving threat than rushing threat. For all intents and purposes, the Buckeyes only have two targets, with Hyde being one of them. I’ve encountered a lot of comparisons of Hyde, who Scout.com has listed as the number one fullback prospect in the country. These comparisons range from Jamal Lewis to our very own Beanie, which I don’t think is particularly accurate nor fair to Hyde. Hyde doesn’t have the breakaway speed of either and Beanie is Jim Brown incarnate, but Hyde shows a nimbleness of footwork and power running style that compares favorably with PJ Hill of Wisky fame. If Hyde is the power back of the two targets, Jaamal Berry is the home run hitter/lightning in a bottle target. I’ve been calling for a Dr. Berry and Mr. Hyde tandem in this class for awhile, and it looks like a very real possibility. With Mr. Hyde ready to enter the fold, the Buckeyes are one step closer to such a tailback tandem in 2009 to compliment other studs like Brandon Saine and Boom Herron.

The embarrassment of riches that comes with being a Buckeye these days.

:beer: