Our Honor Defend

Much to Matt’s liking, I’m finally able to get back on track with these features.  In the 15th installment of the second edition of this now 25 part series titled Better Know A Buckeye, I review the case of Corey Linsley.  Corey, likely an offensive guard prospect from Boardman HS, was a Buckeye fan his whole life.  When Ohio State finally offered, it didn’t leave much to the imagination about where he would end up.  That said, the Stanford Cardinal, and Illinois to a much lesser extent, made a run at Ohio State for his services.  Ultimately, it was all for not as Corey committed about a week after the Spring Game.  After recapping his recruitment and commitment, I discuss strengths and areas for improvement.  After the miscellany section, I conclude that Corey is better known.  He is then put on “the board” accordingly.

Height: 6’4
Weight: 275lbs
40: 5.2
GPA: 3.0
High School: Boardman HS; Youngstown, Ohio

His Recruitment: Like most Ohio kids, Corey only appeared on Ohio State’s list of outgoing offers after registering a few MAC offers.  The first two such offers came from in-state schools Akron and Bowling Green by the end of his junior year.  However, like many Ohio HS football players, that doesn’t mean that the coaching staff hadn’t heard of him or talked to him before.  In 2007, Corey took two visits to Ohio State.  One was introductory visit to Ohio State, along with teammates Pat McFall, future Buckeye JT Moore, and several members of the Boardman Spartans coaching staff.  An earlier visit came in the Spring of that same year.  While recruiting wasn’t necessarily on the docket for these visits (consider them more community-building exercises that the coaching staff does), it may have been the 800lb gorilla in the room.  Corey, naturally, asked questions about the recruiting process and, specifically, Ohio State recruiting and, more specifically, Ohio State possibly recruiting him.  The coaching staff obliged with the questions, informing him of how they handle the process and what he should expect everywhere else.  Corey left impressed with how thorough the coaching staff was and how amazing the facilities were.  Corey, a lifelong Buckeye fan with family in Columbus, was more than interested in Ohio State as long as the coaching staff was interested in him.  He started to wonder if they were.

Corey had to wait a few more months before the interest from Ohio State was earnest.  By that time, he added offers from the likes of Pitt, Illinois, Stanford, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, and Connecticut.  However, he also began to wonder if Ohio State was truly interested in him.  An unexpected visit from Tressel in early February had him wondering just that.  If Tressel took time out of his busy schedule to visit him, then there had to be a sincere interest in him (and JT Moore… naturally).  However, it had been several months since Linsley had heard from Ohio State.  He was hearing from everyone else in the Big Ten except Ohio State, and That School Up North.  He was starting to review his other offers, and letting the chips fall where they may regarding Ohio State.  He had no shortage of options.  Still, he was wondering as he was at the end of 2007.  Was Ohio State interested?

It took another month before Corey knew for sure.  Ohio State had formalized their interest in Corey by way of a written scholarship offer that Corey received during that freakish blizzard of March 7-8 2008.  The offer turned Corey’s world upside down and he swears he’ll remember the chain of events forever.  His head coach called him and left him a voice mail advising Corey “you need to call me immediately”.  When Corey got around to calling his head coach, said coach recounted to Corey “I about jumped out of my skin when I heard Coach Heacock called me and told me that he wanted to offer you a full scholarship”.  Corey called Jim Tressel, joked around a bit with him before Tressel ultimately confirmed that a scholarship offer is in the mail.  There was Corey, stuck in a blizzard, having received his scholarship offer to Ohio State while on a bus en route to Columbus for an indoor track meet.  At long last, he had his offer.  Nothing about his comments following the scholarship offer indicated that he was going anywhere other than Columbus for college.  It was difficult for him to not commit immediately.

A decision did not come so quickly, however.  In the time that Corey had to question if he was truly Ohio State material, he began to consider other offers and take visits throughout March.  He expressed strong interest in Illinois, culminating in a visit that was cut short because Corey felt under the weather.  However, in spite of Illinois’ recent attempts to poach what it can out of the Buckeye State, it was actually Stanford that presented the greatest obstacle to Ohio State securing the Boardman lineman.  While I think anyone in their right mind would be intrigued about a free education at Stanford University, the presence of former Boardman Spartan DJ Durkin on the Stanford coaching staff may have been the impetus for Corey to cultivate a serious interest about heading west to play for the Cardinal.  It didn’t hurt that the visit he took at the end of the month was better than advertised.  He got to eat lunch with some professors, have dinner with the coaching staff and got an extensive trip of the campus and football facilities.  Afterwards, Corey said he was prepared to prolong his recruitment to consider his options.

It didn’t take too long for Ohio State to become his leader again.  He said as much to Bucknuts by the end of March.  But when it came up in conversation, Corey indicated some hesitation.  The lead for Ohio State was always slight as Corey was “leaning” towards Ohio State.  Depending on who was doing the writeup, Corey would be committing by the end of the school year or in December.  With new offers from Michigan, Miami (FL) and Notre Dame, was Corey really going to prolong his recruitment?

His Commitment: Not really, it seems.  The same day he told Bucknuts that he was working towards a commitment, but still a little bit away from his decision, he committed to Ohio State.  When all was said and done, he was still an Ohio kid.  Good Ohio kids aspire to play for Ohio State.

“Ohio State was my No. 1 choice from the beginning,” he said.  “It swayed from time to time as to how heavily, but for the most part, being from Ohio, Ohio State was my dream school.”

He elaborated further that he could perceive no negatives to playing for Ohio State.  While it did not come up in the commitment article, the previous article published that same day brought up the issue of proximity.  Where dad was agnostic to the issue, mom was really keen on Ohio State because Corey had cousins that live there.  In essence, Ohio State would be a home away from home where Stanford is ultimately miles removed from family.

Corey, the 12th commitment in the 2009 recruiting class, committed to Jim Tressel and Jim Bollman over the phone.

Where He Excels: Corey has the reach block down pat.  Check him run blocking in the footage embedded below to see what I’m talking about.  Not only does he line up and make the first contact exceptionally well, but he maintains leverage and keeps his feet moving.  The end result is the defensive end being escorted to either the ground, or the secondary.  Nicely done, young man.

On that note, he run blocks generally well and I’m hopeful that’ll translate well as he moves from right tackle (where he played in high school) to the guard spot (either left or right, remains to be seen).  He pulls and traps well, which is obviously important in run blocking.  Watch him move at the second level too.  He doesn’t register the fastest 40 time you’ll see for the position, but he gets to the second level in a hurry.  He maintains speed and balance in the process, allowing him to eat up linebackers and defensive backs.  Nice.

He also brings a nastiness to the field too.  This is always good.

Must Work On: Corey is a capable run blocker right now.  This means, yes, he struggles in pass protection.  Corey has already identified this weakness and wants to start working on it.  It’s not his fault, really.  Most high school football is rush heavy, so most offensive lineman matriculating to the college ranks have a lot of work to do here.  Corey is no different.

He’s also never played in the interior of the line, though this will be his destiny at Ohio State.  This will amount to a position change for Corey, who is still working on his footwork.  There definitely is a difference from tackle to guard.

The only other thing I picked up from watching his highlight film involves the difference in his frame at the second level on different type of running plays.  On sweep plays, or other outside running plays, Corey maintains a level frame when approaching the second level.  When pulling off a double team to meet a linebacker on a rush up the middle, Corey’s frame is uneven.  As a result, he doesn’t get the best shot possible on the linebacker.

Redshirt? Maybe.  Corey has already mulled over the possibility.  While almost no high school football player wants to redshirt (and Corey is no different), Corey recognizes that this may happen considering the depth chart.  As it is, Corey will maintain an open mind entering summer camp.  However, given that our two-deep consists of walk-on and worst case scenarios, hey may not have to redshirt.

Highlights: Finally, the YouTubes has something for us to consider.  As I mentioned earlier, he moves very well at the second level.

Miscellany

• Corey’s junior season ended with a postseason loss to the Glenville Tarblooders, a team that featured future teammates Marcus Hall, Jonathan Newsome and Jermil Martin.
• Corey’s senior season derailed midway through.  The Spartans started 5-0, but were throttled by North Canton Hoover and never regained steam after it.
• When Corey received his offer, he was almost instantly contacted by John Simon and Jack Mewhort.
• Recall that there was a period where Corey didn’t hear from the coaching staff in early 2008.  During that time, Pitt’s coaching staff moved in for the kill.  While I haven’t read anything that indicates Corey seriously considered Pitt, he did say that their coaching staff treated him the best.
• Corey is also effective with the shot put.  He won a county championship recently.  He also comes across Marcus Hall and Sam Longo frequently during these events.  I think I also read that Corey throws discus too, but shot put is definitely his strong suit.  Bucknuts recently caught up with him to discuss track and field.
• Corey will play for the Ohio squad in the Big 33 Game.  He joins future Buckeyes Adam Bellamy, Marcus Hall, Sam Longo, Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet, Chris Fields, and Jonathan Newsome in taking on a Pennsyltucky squad that seems to consist of 1-AA (and by 1-AA, I also mean the Big East), JUCO and prep school players with the occasional Penn State sighting.  If the Ohio squad doesn’t win that game by 50, I’ll be disappointed.
• He is open to a degree program now, but is thinking about a post-football career in either law or medicine.  I think he’s leaning more towards law.
• His parents 86ed any possibility of him graduating early, since they wanted him to finish out the school year with his friends and have a normal HS graduation.
• He admits that he hates cardio workouts.  The only way to make cardio fun for Corey is to center it around basketball, a sport that Corey enjoys.
• He also confirmed my working hypothesis that college football recruits constantly check recruiting websites and message boards to read what is being said about them.  Knowing this, and seeing the explosion of traffic I got from the Orlando, Florida area when I published the Michael Brewster BKAB feature, I try to be nice in these features.  Nothing but fluff here.  They are watching.
• While Corey always had dreams of playing for Ohio State, it doesn’t hurt that Jim Tressel is the head coach.  Here’s what Corey had to say:

“Coach Tressel is one of those people where there are no negatives about him,” Linsley exclaimed. “He’s a proven winner and he does it the right way. I’ve been to practice and he doesn’t do a lot of swearing and cussing. He is a teacher on the football field. His character is unmatched in college football.”

• Pre-compiled stats, courtesy of Bucknuts:

* Vital Statistics: Linsley was considered one of the Midwest’s top offensive line prospects. He could project as a guard or tackle at the college level. He boasts great strength with impressive marks of 415 pounds on the bench and 585 in the squat. He played tackle on both sides of the ball as a senior. Linsley was a Division I first-team All-Northeast Inland District and a second-team All-Ohio pick, according to The Associated Press. He was also a first-team pick on the ONN/Ohio High All-Ohio team. Linsley is set to play for the Ohio squad in the Big 33 Football Classic in June.

* Rankings: He is rated as the No. 15 overall senior prospect in Ohio, according to Ohio High magazine. Also rated as the No. 8 overall prospect in the state, according to The Ohio Football Recruiting News. Linsley is rated as the nation’s No. 12 offensive guard by ESPN.com. SuperPrep considers Linsley as an All-American, ranking him as the 29th-best prospect in the Midwest and the nation’s No. 37 offensive lineman.

I think Corey is now better known.

And, of course… the board:

Class of 2009
Name	Position	Hometown	Better Known?	Name	Position	Hometown	Better Known?
CJ Barnett	DB	Clayton, OH	02.20	Marcus Hall	OL	Glenville, OH
Dorian Bell	LB	Monroeville, PA	04.10	Adam Homan	FB	Coldwater, OH	01.29
Adam Bellamy	DT	Aurora, OH		Carlos Hyde	RB	Naples, FL
Jaamal Berry	RB	Miami, FL		James Jackson	WR	Grand Ledge, TSUN	03.05
Zach Boren	FB	Pickerington, OH	01.22	Storm Klein	LB	Nerk, Ahia	02.02
Corey Brown	WR/DB	Monroeville, PA		Corey Linsley	OL	Youngstown, OH	05.11
Duron Carter	WR	Ft. Lauderdale, FL		Sam Longo	OL	Belbrook, OH
Dominic Clarke	DB	Frederick MD	02.11	Jack Mewhort	OL	Toledo, OH	02.05
Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet	DE	Garfield Heights, OH	04.24	Jonathan Newsome	LB/DE	Glenville, OH
Chris Fields	WR	Painesville, OH	04.02	John Simon	DE	Youngstown, OH	03.26
Reid Fragel	TE	Grosse Pointe, TSUN		Jordan Whiting	LB	Louisville, KY	03.12
Kenny Guiton	QB	Aldine, TX		Jamie Wood	DB	Pickerington, OH	02.26
Jordan Hall	ATH	Jeannette, PA	04.20