Andrew Norwell commits to Ohio State a year too early
The early commitment comes as no surprise to those recently following Norwell. Earlier, a Bucknuts blog entry by Matt Natali suggested that such a commitment would soon be forthcoming. However, it’s a pleasant surprise when other things are considered. First, Ohio State’s presence in Cincinnati recruiting as not as strong as its presence in other parts of the state, such as Cleveland, Youngstown, and, especially, Dayton and Columbus. Indeed, Cincinnati Cincitucky is often characterized a little city state to itself, where the Buckeyes are, at best, the 5th most important sports brand. It might be fair to say that, in Cincinnati recruiting, Ohio State is on level playing field with Notre Dame, Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky. Second, Norwell’s older brother is Chris Norwell, a former Fighting Illini.
Norwell, the third commitment for 2010, should be a name to watch as next year’s recruiting class develops. He may well be the best offensive line prospect in the state of Ohio for his class. He also had offers from Notre Dame, Stanford, and Cincinnati.
:beer:
I’m interested to hear some stats on this kid – I mean, he appears to be about 8 feet tall and weigh about 450, given the degree to which he’s dwarfing Mark Gastineau in that picture you’ve got up.
Right now he is given at 6’7 275 and a given 40 time of 5.3. That 40 time is pretty good for a junior of that size and it may get a little better next year. It’s not everything of course (Alex Boone ran a 5.1 coming out of HS, but his 40 time since got slower… I know… I know…), but it’s still interesting. For a point of reference, Andre Smith clocked in at 5.2 his senior year and Mike Adams registered a 5.3.
My first take on watching some early clips of him is that the mean-spiritedness is obviously there, but, unlike Mike Adams, I don’t see enough pass blocking. What made Mike Adams such an obvious 5 star is the reps he got in pass blocking with that Dublin Coffman passing blitz. I don’t think Anderson’s offense is in that same mold. Granted, most of what I watched was sophomore year, but I think he plays a little too high. The shoulders are square to be sure, but I think he can play a little lower from what I’ve seen. My understanding is that got corrected in his junior year.
Preliminary discussion has him as the best in-state at OL. I’ve heard, but I’m a tiny bit suspicious of, the claim I encountered that had him as the best offensive lineman this year regardless of class. Marcus Hall and Matt James seem to pose obvious barriers to that. Ohio should be in great shape with offensive line products and we may have gotten the best one. He could be a five-star All-Everything Something-Bowl invite next year.
Here’s a great write-up by Oller. It is IMO dead on. Especially the part about “developing” these big guys.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/02/05/oller_2-5.ART_ART_02-05-09_C1_BFCQ766.html?sid=101