Our Honor Defend

At this point I feel guilty for flooding the Big Ten Bloggers feed with individual posts for the tidal wave of commitments the Buckeyes have received over the past two days.  It started with Chris Carter, continued to Antonio Underwood and DerJuan Gambrell, then Brian Bobek and, now, Chase Farris.  Chase Farris (brief video), an athlete from Elyria (!!) HS, is the fifth commitment in two days.

Chase was explicitly a Buckeye lean, and in that category where a commitment would shortly be coming.  However, with the recent “rash” of commitments, one wonders if it truly is contagious.  Again, Ohio State — as with the other recent commitments — got into the Farris sweepstakes when his existing offer set included only Indiana, Duke, and Buffalo.  A standout performer in camp last summer, Farris’ offer sheet now includes almost all the Midwest powers (sans Penn State, but including Notre Dame).  The offer was a fortuitous one.  Chase was a lifelong Buckeye fan, had no real interest in a protracted commitment and flirted with a quick commitment.  The decision was announce in an e-mail from his high school coach.  I list Chase as an athlete for now, as he could play any of four positions in college (defensive end, defensive tackle, tight end or offensive tackle).  Of those four position, it appears defensive end or tight end is most likely.  Chase has a preference for the former.

Getting five verbal commitments in two days, especially in the positions that they come, is great for a variety of reasons.  First, this string of commitments comes before the Spring Game, which is always a huge event in Ohio State recruiting.  As such, more are definitely coming and names like Ron Tanner (Eastmoor HS) and Jeremy Cash (Plantation, FL) are worth noting.  That Ohio State can be on such a recruiting roll and still have this mega event coming soon is really good.

Also, getting the recruits in the positions at which they project is helpful for Ohio State in filling out the 2011 class.  Take the offensive line, for example.  Ohio State already has three quality offensive line commitments in the 2011 class (Bobek, Carter, Underwood), and are seemingly in good position with Glenville’s Aundrey Walker.  As such, knowing that the Buckeyes would probably like to take an additional lineman on top of that, the Buckeyes are now at total liberty to select a top of the line prospect to recruit.  The odds of getting one of these are always lower than staying in-state or staying close to home, but with a bird (or 3) in the hand, they can go for two in the bush with impunity.  I would really like to add an additional tackle into the fold (assuming Walker comes our way).  Even then, if the coaching staff decides to go another route, they will have considerable autonomy in putting on the press on a high quality prospect they would really like to have.

All told, this is all very good news.  So, do enjoy it.