Our Honor Defend

The 2009 season is fast approaching, and I’m well aware that there are still a few players out there who have yet to be better known.  Accordingly, in this 22nd installment of the second edition of this now 25-part series titled Better Know A Buckeye, I introduce whoever reads this blog to Sam Longo.  Sam Longo — an offensive lineman from Belbrook, OH — is the second Buckeye legacy of the class.  His father, Gene, was a Bruce-era alumnus.  This family connection to Ohio State naturally made the Buckeyes high on his list early into the process, though no offer was immediately forthcoming.  When Ohio State finally did offer Sam, he didn’t take too much time to finally accept the offer.  Below, I review his story and his commitment.   I then proceed in normal fashion through strengths, areas for improvement and miscellaneous things that I think you should know about Sam.  Afterwards, I conclude he is better known and put him on “the board” accordingly.  I think that means there’s only three left to consider after him in this class (Berry, Guiton, Hall).

Height: 6′6
Weight: 280lbs
40: 4.89
High School: Belbrook HS; Belbrook, Ohio

His Recruitment: Sam Longo isn’t that different from a typical football-playing kid from Ohio: he aspired to play at Ohio State.  For Sam, however, that desire took an added significance.  His father is Gene Longo, a former outside linebacker for the Buckeyes from 1981-1984 who resumed his playing career at Ohio State as a walk-on after a one year stint at Miami of Ohio.  Longo was trying to get noticed, and had even been to some camps at Ohio State.  By this time, no offer was coming.  Even then, no offer was coming in from anyone, though he was getting interest from places like Iowa, Rutgers, Indiana and others.

Longo’s recruitment begins in earnest around the end of February.  Miami (OH) and Bowling Green offered.  Two months later, he had accrued offers from the likes of Cincinnati, NC State, Central Michigan, Purdue, Louisville, Stanford and a couple others.  In order to get his name out there, Longo embarked on something of an exhaustive tour of college campuses.  The more he put himself out there, the better the odds he could put together an impressive offer sheet and provide himself options for a comprehensive choice.  In the process, he visited numerous campuses, including USC, UCLA, Stanford, Purdue, Nerdwestern, Iowa and Nebraska.  It ended with places like Penn State, NC State, Maryland, Virginia, Wake Forest and WVU.  Nebraska stands out, since it was arguably his most prestigious offer outside of Ohio State.  The qualifier “arguably” holds here because Florida State’s offer excited him.  The offer from Nebraska constitutes another instance of Nebraska coach — and former Ohio State player — Bo Pelini recruiting his home state hard.  On his end, Longo was impressed with what he saw in Lincoln.  Both father and son were impressed with Nebraska’s claim of having more academic All-Americans than anyone else in college football.

Afterward the Nebraska visit, Longo finally made his way to Ohio State for camp.  Camping at Ohio State was a necessity if Longo was going to get an offer from Ohio State.  Bollman had told him that they liked what they saw on tape, but they wanted to see what he could do under the direct supervision of the staff.  His nationwide tour seemed to indicate he was no longer interested in doing that, but father and son made the decision that camping somewhere was necessary and decided to do so at Ohio State.  He impressed at that camp, but was told by the coaching staff that they would reassess their recruiting priorities after the Senior Advanced Camp to be held a few days later.  Meanwhile, Sam continued on his “Longo Tour” with Penn State.  At this time, Sam was intent on making a college selection and he began to evaluate his options.  He wasn’t sure if Ohio State was going to offer, but was going to proceed with his decision-making process nonetheless.

It was some surprise, then, that news broke on July 3rd that Ohio State had finally extended a scholarship offer to Sam.  The timing of the story is curious, since he actually received his offer shortly after the Senior Advanced Camp.  However, Longo and his father were “on tour” and did not receive word of the offer until later.  There are more curiosities for me regarding the offer.  At the time, I thought it meant that Chris Watt let the Buckeyes know, however subtly, that he was not coming to Columbus.  This turned out to be the case on July 13th, to the surprise of very few.  At the time, Chris Watt was apparently still in the picture.  With offers still out to Marcus Hall and Chris Watt, Longo a likely “yes” and with verbals from Corey Linsley and Jack Mewhort already, the Buckeyes were willing to take 5 lineman in the class.  That seems like a lot, but the Buckeyes wanted four in 2008 but were rebuffed by Josh Jenkins at the last minute.

If anything, Sam Longo took Vlad Emilien’s scholarship.  Emilien was originally a Buckeye lean (eventually signed with the Wolvereenies), but seemed to find himself on the outside looking in after Corey Brown’s commitment.  By that time, the Buckeyes had commitments from six defensive backs¹ and still had Eugene Clifford.  That changed when Clifford was finally released from his scholarship, owing to complications associated with not being able to put away the weed.  When Watt eventually verbaled to Notre Dame, Emilien was back in the picture… briefly.

Getting back on track from this non sequitir about this really interesting period in the formation of the 2009 recruiting class for Ohio State, Sam Longo was about as much of a lock as you can get without actually having to go to Home Depot and buying one for yourself.

His Commitment: Four days after word of his offer went public, Longo committed to Ohio State.  The commitment on July 7th capped off an unlikely journey to Ohio State, that saw him enter camp the year earlier at 230lbs and saw him almost unable to schedule in the visit to Ohio State’s camp.  To be clear, Sam was a bubble recruit.  Without performing well at camp, it doesn’t seem plausible that he’d be offered².

After receiving the offer from Ohio State, Longo described it as “a dream come true.” He might have committed to that dream sooner, but his dad asked him to make sure he was making a logical decision; not an emotional one.

With his two final schools being Penn State and Ohio State, Longo said, “There were a lot of thoughts going through my head. It was a rough nine days. I had to do a lot of thinking; sitting down and thinking, ‘what’s best for me?’ I realized that I didn’t want to miss out on Ohio State and I didn’t want to wait around anymore.”

Of course, Longo added the sentimental, or “emotional”, reasons as well.

“I committed to Ohio State,” Longo said moments ago. “I did it for all the right reasons. The people at Ohio State are great. They treat you great. It’s always been my dream to play for Ohio State.”

The July 7th commitment was the 22nd of the 2009 class.  He would later be joined by Marcus Hall, giving the Buckeyes four offensive linemen in the 2009 class.

Where He Excels: Sam intrigues me.  I see things I like, things I don’t like and things that fascinate me.  However, I don’t know what Jim Bollman has in mind for him.  He was a tackle (sometimes left, sometimes right) in high school, but is mentioned as a guard candidate for Ohio State as well.  Bollman even mentioned center as a possibility, though the idea of Mewhort being a tackle and Longo being a center will invariably have me question where Bollman’s head is at.  However, his mobility and footwork has me wondering why Rodriguez didn’t go after him harder.³

Longo’s speed is real, and it’s great that a guy can carry around a 280lb frame and run a sub 5 40.  I believe that speed is unmatched of any of the offensive linemen signed by Ohio State in the past two classes (including Brewster and Adams).  You see the real “speed” at the second level, where Longo is often escorting his blocking assignment into the second level, third level, and eventually into the stands (if you’ll permit me to use some hyperbole here).  He has the balance necessarily to operate on the balls of his feet, shows great leg drive and it made him a terror at Bellbrook.

He makes good first contact as well, especially on his reach block.  Given his speed, and his ability to make good first contact, I think the reach block has to be his “best block”, if you will.  Sam gets outside his man, quickly, and will spin him around, right round… like a record, baby, right round round round.  His drive block looks just as impressive, but I think I’m more intrigued by his reach block.  Naturally, the speed makes him a viable option for pulling and trapping and effective on double teams.

I think I’m most interested in his frame.  Sam attended a camp at Ohio State entering his junior year where he was written off after showing up weighing 230lbs.  He’s now around 280lbs, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at him.  The weight is there; it’s just hidden very well and there seems to be little fat on him to account for it.  It leads me to wonder just how much weight he can put on and still maintain his speed and that frame.

I think my favorite adjective I use for offensive line prospects is “ill-tempered”.  You’ll see from his highlights what I mean, and why it’s appropriate for Sam.

Must Work On: I immediately noticed that Sam’s hand placement isn’t very consistent.  Hands are supposed to be inside the numbers.  Sam’s hands end up in a very naughty place: outside the numbers.  That’s typically a flag for holding.  I’ve been told that Sam usually has his hands in the right place, but I didn’t see it often in what I watched of him.  It seems that Sam’s hands end up in said naughty place when Sam is going in for the kill (recall the aforementioned “ill-tempered” characterization) and throws his man to the ground.  It may be catharsis on the field (and really fun to watch), but planting a guy on the turf isn’t worth it if a holding penalty comes in tow.

Sam’s reach block is probably his strong suit, but I see he could use a little more discipline in his upper body when he does it.  He’s so quick to try to spin his man around that it leads me to wonder what’ll happen at the next level when the talent is far better than what he saw in high school.  An experienced, crafty defensive lineman can slip under the block and blow up the play.

Sam also makes solid first contact on a play but, more often than not, his upper body will automatically creep up.  Unlike some other linemen I’ve seen, it doesn’t gradually creep up the longer the play goes, but the immediate pop gets him more upright than I’d like.  I’d like to see him work on that since it’d allow him to deliver better trap blocks at Ohio State.

Redshirt? If I had to guess: yes.  I can’t tell anymore with the offensive linemen, and I’d like scholarship players to be on the two-deep over walk-ons just as a general principle.  However, I think Mewhort and Hall end up seeing the field their freshmen year.  Mewhort has the advantage of spring ball and Hall is also as highly-touted as Mewhort.  Longo (and Linsley too) will have to have great summers to change that.

Highlights: Courtesy of Scouting Ohio.

Miscellany:

• This appears to be his father, Lieutentant Colonel Gene Longo.
• Sam Longo was one of seven Buckeyes to play for the Ohio side in their victorious effort in the Big 33 game.  He was joined by Jonathan Newsome, Corey Linsley, Chris Fields, Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet, Adam Bellamy and Marcus Hall.
• You can watch him be interviewed about it here.
• Sam Longo started that game at left tackle, with Marcus Hall starting at right tackle.  According to John Porentas, Longo looked better than his counterpart and future teammate.  In particular, Porentas was really impressed with Longo in pass protection.
• He has a younger brother, Matthew, who has already come up in recruiting discussions for the 2011 class.
• Totaled 73 knockdowns, 31 tackles, 12 TFL, 3 sacks and 2 blocked kicks in six games as a senior
• He missed some of his senior season with a stress facture in his left foot.
• Bellbrook is the same HS as current Buckeye linebacker Austin Spitler.
• He competed in states in shot put and discus.  He even lost the discus crown to Corey Linsley, his future roommate at Ohio State.  However, he did place 4th in shot put.
• Pre-compiled stats, courtesy of Bucknuts:

* Vital Statistics: Longo saw some varsity playing time as a freshman. He was a starter at either guard or tackle since his sophomore year. He most likely projects as a guard at the college level. Longo was a second-team pick on the ONN/Ohio High All-Ohio team, although he dealt with a stress fracture in his foot as a senior and was limited to six games. He did not allow a sack in the games he played. He is set to play for the Ohio squad in the Big 33 Football Classic in June. He comes from the same high school as current OSU linebacker Austin Spitler.

* Rankings: He is rated as the No. 16 overall senior prospect in Ohio, according to Ohio High magazine. Also rated as the No. 11 overall prospect in the state, according to The Ohio Football Recruiting News. Longo is ranked as the No. 35 prospect in the Midwest by SuperPrep. He is rated as the nation’s 27th-best offensive guard prospect by ESPN.com.

I think Sam Longo is now better known.

And now, let’s put him on 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	07.13	Corey Linsley	OL	Youngstown, OH	05.11
Duron Carter	WR	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	06.03	Sam Longo	OL	Bellbrook, OH	08.03
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	07.22
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. Justin Green and Brad McDougald eventually went elsewhere. [↩]
2. John Martinez probably would’ve been offered instead. [↩]
3. Here is where I’m supposed to make the joke that he’s not 5′8 and 160lbs and, therefore, not an ideal Michigan man for Rodriguez. [↩]