Drew Basil
The 2010 recruiting class wasn’t supposed to be on the same kind of caliber that the 2008 and 2009 class was, given scholarship limitations, available Buckeye targets and a few other things. Still, I think we were all left wanting when Michigan and Penn State tallied commitment after commitment and all was quiet on the Ohio State recruiting front. We weren’t in a bad position; we just wanted more presents. In the past week, Ohio State fans have started to get their wish.
Taylor Graham was the second verbal commitment for the Buckeyes in a 4 month window, but the arrival of
Drew Basil and
Roderick Smith this week alone has matched that.
The most recent addition came by way of Drew Basil, a kicker from Chillicothe. Kickers and punters are something of a necessary evil in recruiting. A precious scholarship would much rather be used on a more high-profile position, but doing so runs the risk of relying on walk-ons to lead the special teams. Do so at your own risk. In Ohio State’s case, the team loses Thoma and Pettrey to graduation after 2009, leaving RS freshman Ben Buchanan as the lone scholarship player at either kicker or punter. Offering Basil became necessary and it paid immediate dividends, given how much of a Buckeye lean Basil is. The Buckeyes may not be done with special teams either; they have an offer out to Will Hagerup as well.
Roderick Smith
It seems that the highest profile commitment yet came from Roderick Smith, a tailback from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Duane Long went so far as to say
he’s the best tailback in the 2010 class and that he may be better than Beanie coming out of high school.
Bill Kurelic offers a similar sentiment. High praise indeed for a guy consistently in the top 5 of running back prospects in the country, and fantastic if the Beanie comparison was true. Both Beanie and Rod Smith are tall backs, contra the shorter, shiftier mold of tailback we have in Jaamal Berry. I’m skeptical of the Beanie comparison immediately, for no other reason than it would not be fair to expect Rod Smith to be that caliber of running back. Still, the measurables are intriguing. 6’3, 220lbs already, and he will likely put on more weight in college to become more capable of dispensing justice on the gridiron. The 6’3 frame is tall even for a tall back, and may have Buckeye fans thinking of Eddie George or even Darren McFadden. Most importantly, he has the breakaway speed that Beanie had, fueling these comparisons. There are things Rod has to work on at Ohio State to get there, including picking up his feet a little more at the line of scrimmage — lest he get tripped up low, but the Buckeyes certainly have a great haul at tailback already and are still wanting to take another one. This is where
Corey Brown from Pennsylvania — no, not that
Corey Brown from Pennsylvania — comes up in conversation.
All things considered, it’s good to read the Buckeyes back in the recruiting news.
Written by: Vico |
Buckeye fans need to chill. We have only 17-18 schollies to give and JT and staff are taking their time! Good news, we are hitting Florida hard. Tony Grimes said he wanted an offer from us and got one. We are in the running for Lamarcus Joyner and a couple of other guys from the sunshine state. Garrison Smith has our written offer hanging up on his living room wall. We will do better the closer we get to the season and signing day!
I love our chances with Corey Brown! He is atop the Florida Gators list ya know!!!!!
I’ve also seen Rod Smith listed at 6’2″. He looks like a great talent, but his running style is a bit odd and unorthodox. When he gets into the open field, he bends a strange way at the hips; almost like he’s leaning down to do a deadlift. It gives an awkward appearance, but I can’t say that it helps or hinders his running ability. I’ve also heard that he could start at WR, so it will be exciting to have a RB that can actually catch the football out of the flat. We haven’t had that since Mo Clarrett; I remember watching him in the Shoe in 2002, picking up first downs against Michigan that way.
Rod Smith looks really good. I like how he really explodes to the line after getting the ball, he doesn’t dance around. He also looks very accustomed to cutback run plays ( ala Beanie ) . He is a big kid 6’3 -6’4 225 lbs and you just know thier gonna add to that frame in the weight room. I am looking forward to seeing this kid.
Good write-ups, thanks Vico. This recruiting news is good to see, coming in the doldrums of July.
WOOO Roderick Smith! Chad’s point that 2010 is a small class is well-taken; worrying about whether we’ve got the numbers at this early stage that some other programs do doesn’t make much sense – a class of <20 is never going end up in Rivals’ or ESPN’s top five, or maybe even top ten, anyway. It’s a banal but still valid observation that it’s more important for Tressel & Co. to focus on areas of real need, do their homework, and pick their spots – but I’m not concerned; offering a kicker a valuable slot in a small class is evidence to me that they know what they’re doing.
OT #1: Why is it so hard for people to spell “Clarett” correctly? Or “Terrelle”?
OT #2: Vico, I call false advertising on your link to NittanyWhiteOut, and on NWO itself – if there was anything in that post that amounted at all to an anti-playoff argument, even a bad one, I couldn’t find it. It was just sniping at an exceptionally large and slow fish in an very small barrel. How shocking – shocking! – that a politician turns out to be making a parochial, disingenuous and self-serving argument.