Our Honor Defend

After a brief work-related and Confederations Cup-related hiatus, the second edition of Better Know A Buckeye returns with the 19th installment in the 25 part series.  Here, I continue moving chronologically with the case of Carlos Hyde.  Hyde — a tailback from Naples, FL — is an interesting case in Ohio State recruiting.  He grew up most of his formative years in Cincinnati and dreamed of playing for the Buckeyes.  However, he moved to Florida to be with grandma, finishing up in Naples.  Fortunately for Ohio State fans, the passion for Ohio State football came with him to Florida.  Below, I recap his recruitment and commitment briefly, noting who else was interested in Carlos.  Afterwards, I discuss strengths and areas for improvement in usual fashion.  I conclude with miscellaneous things about Carlos that you may find interesting and, of course, the More You Know graphic and the board.

Height: 6’1
Weight: 225lbs
40: 4.5
High School: Naples HS; Naples, Florida

His Recruitment: Ohio State was one of the first programs to figure out that there’s something to this Carlos Hyde.  Florida State was his first offer, but the Buckeyes followed suit at the end of February.  Other offers eventually came from the likes of Clemson, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisville, USF, Pitt, NC State, Miami and our dearest friends in Gainesville.  However, the Ohio State offer almost immediately vaulted the Buckeyes into the lead.  After all, it was his dream offer.  Knowledge of his back story is helpful in understanding why.  Though residing in Naples, Florida, Carlos is originally from Cincinnati.  He grew up a devoted Buckeye fan and remained one even in Florida.  Further, his parents and most of his extended family remained in Cincinnati while he was in Florida.  Carlos was sent to Naples by his parents in order to live with his grandmother and uncle.  Though I don’t know what part of Cincinnati Carlos is originally from, there was fear in his parents that Carlos could get caught with some bad elements if he did not get a change of scenery.  His parents recognized he had a talent for football and wanted him to cultivate it in a distraction-free environment with grandma.  It doesn’t hurt that he was developing his game in the football-rich Sunshine State either.

Most important in his brief recruitment phase was the long interest Carlos had in Ohio State.  Even as other offers came in, there was little variation in the words Carlos offered about Ohio State.  They were a regular in his top 3, which also usually included Florida State for the most part.  As his recruitment progressed, his parents kept reminding him how nice Ohio State was and how he would have a support network available for him while he was in Columbus.  It’s not just his parents that wanted him to return to Ohio.  Carlos expressed that he just wasn’t feeling the southeastern heat.  He missed that he could get all four seasons in Ohio, but suffers through the year-long heat and humidity on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

With so much interest in Ohio State, the only thing holding Carlos back from a commitment was his inability to see Ohio State for himself.   It was his dream school, but he recognized it wasn’t wise to buy site unseen.  Fortunately, he planned a visit back to Ohio to see his parents at the end of June.  At that time, he and his family would make the trip up to Columbus to take in what they could.  If all went well on that visit, Carlos said he’d commit while there.

His Commitment: It took a few days before Carlos eventually visited Ohio State.  Since he was spending the whole week in Ohio with his family, there was no rush.  After finally making the trek to Columbus, Carlos saw first hand what several other recruits who have signed with Ohio State have noted before him.  He remarked about the family atmosphere of the program, how the players and coaches interact and how the coaches vow that they take care of their players.  Having seen everything he felt he needed to see, Carlos said he’d likely commit the next day after talking it over with his parents.  It became official on June 22nd.

Carlos’ commitment was the 19th of the class and came on the same day that Justin Green committed to the Buckeyes.  Green eventually opted to play for Illinois.

Where He Excels: Carlos Hyde is a nimble-footed powerback in the mold of PJ Hill of Wisconsin fame, and I know I’ve said that before elsewhere.  Comparisons to Beanie are premature since Beanie had the breakaway speed that Carlos simply does not have.  So while the top-end speed is missing, Carlos makes up for it with an obviously punishing frame.  The mass itself makes him a hard fellow to tackle, but the manner by which it’s concentrated in the lower half of his body makes this task especially difficult.  He shows great leg drive getting through the line of the scrimmage and does a good job at running low.  Ankle-tackles and arm-tackles (at the second level) won’t be an issue for Carlos.  However, tackling Carlos will be an issue for opposing defenders; he knows how to absorb contact and will be hard to wrap-up when he’s moving on a straight line.

The nimble-footedness is most important here.  He shows deceptive fluidity for a guy his size.  When moving north-south, Carlos can make that subtle move to get a defender out of position and then punish said defender with a stiffarm.  He shows good shiftiness at the line of scrimmage and it should allow him to develop quite nicely as a “thunder” to someone else’s “lightning” down the road.

Must Work On: Deceptive change of direction abilities at the line and strength to spare are the obvious positives for Carlos, but a few things come to mind.  First, Carlos can bounce a play to the outside fairly well and has the vision to recognize when he needs to do it, but it’s at this point where he’s most vulnerable to be tackled.  He doesn’t turn a corner as well, so pitch or sweeps will likely do little good at the next level.  This is odd, since a lot of the running plays for his Naples Golden Eagles had him running wide.  The lateral quickness is there; the second gear necessary to cut back in and up isn’t quite there.  Second, I read that Carlos is capable of being used in the passing game, but I’ve yet to see demonstrated how exactly he’d help coming out of the backfield.  The highest praise I’ve read of his abilities here describe his hands as “adequate”, though he has 10 receptions for 164 yards and 3 TDs to his credit as a senior.  It appears that a lot of his catches came in the flats.  I’ve also not seen what he could do in pass protection, and it’s something he will definitely need to do if he’s going to be a featured back at Ohio State.  Carlos swears his HS coach has made him work on it, but that it’s something that needs improvement nevertheless.

I mention that Carlos is shifty and nimble-footed for a guy his size, but every now and then, he’ll find himself dancing around hoping for something to open up when it’d be in his best interest to slam forward.  This is most pronounced when he’s moving east-west.  Plays designed to get Carlos wide, behind pulling linemen and fullback, featured prominently in what I’ve seen of Naples’ offense, but Carlos will be doing more straight-ahead running at Ohio State… and he should do it well.

Highlights: Carlos is #34 in the clips below.  There’s only one play here where catches a ball out of the backfield and basically trucks a few people in the process.  He trucks a few people in these clips.

Miscellany:

• Carlos’ Naples Golden Eagles¹ play Immokalee yearly.  Immokalee is where Brian Rolle went to school.
• He played a leading role in an unrelenting 91-0 beatdown of Estero.  In that game, Carlos only had to rush 4 times for 80 yards, but had probably the best catch of his HS career: a 55yd touchdown grab.  The wide margin in favor of Naples attracted some national media attention.
• Carlos’ junior year team went undefeated, winning the 3A state title in the process.  The average margin of victory for Naples was rather lopsided.
• In that year, Naples beat Glades Central in the playoffs.  Glades Central is where Santonio Holmes went to school.
• He averaged 126.9 yards per game and 10.51 yards per carry as a senior.  He had 3 games in 2008 where he tallied over 200 yards.  Full stats are available.
• Nickname is apparently “C LOS”.
• I guess it goes without saying that Carlos is a Bengals fan.  I can’t say I approve of that, but I’ll look beyond it because some things are more important.
• 11w caught up with Carlos Hyde.  He admitted that he needs to hit the weight room because he spent the spring playing basketball for his HS team.  His team finished 10-16.  Carlos averaged 5ppg and 4.3rpg in his senior season.
• Teammate is Nick Alajajian, a Florida commit and Army All-American offensive lineman in the same 2009 class.
• Naples News had footage of signing day at the HS.  Carlos comes in at about the 1:40 mark.
• Carlos spent his first year of high school at Princeton HS in the Cincinnati area.  Princeton is where quasi-celebrity-person Carmen Electra attended high school.
• Lantern article: here.
• Carlos was named the area’s offensive player of the year in 2008 and won the Daily News Broxson Award as well.
• Pre-compiled stats, courtesy of Bucknuts:

* Vital Statistics: As a senior, Hyde rushed for 1,656 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was first-team all-state and also won the Naples Daily News Broxson Award as the area player of the year. He is considered as either a tailback or fullback prospect. As a junior, Hyde rushed for 943 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior.

* Rankings: He is rated as the No. 61 overall prospect in Florida by SuperPrep. ESPN.com ranks Hyde as the nation’s 31st-best running back prospect.

I think I’ll consider Carlos Hyde better known, I guess.  It’s always good to have people playing at Ohio State who aspire to do so.

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	05.26	Carlos Hyde	RB	Naples, FL	06.29
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	06.03	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	05.18	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

1. I’m not sure where exactly you see golden eagles in the wild.  I think you see them on sweatshirts, though. [↩]