Kyle Dodson chose Ohio State over USC, Miami, Michigan State.

Ohio State fans accustomed to mostly uneventful signing days were in for a bit of a treat this year.  The previous regime under Jim Tressel largely pursued prospects they believe could commit before the signing day hoopla, making signing day rather standard fare for Ohio State football fans.  The current regime under Urban Meyer made today far more exciting, getting two commitments on top of the 23 the Buckeyes already had entering today.  Jamal Marcus — a linebacker from Durham, North Carolina — and Kyle Dodson — an offensive tackle from Cleveland, Ohio — announced their decisions to enroll at Ohio State today, totaling 25 commitments for Ohio State in 2012 and securing the school’s position within the top 5 nationally for all recruiting classes.

Marcus was not a name I had anticipated to select Ohio State.  A late addition into Ohio State recruiting circles, I expected Marcus to stay closer to home and sign with East Carolina.  That Marcus was ostensibly choosing between East Carolina and Ohio State suggests a lower end talent, though that is not quite the case.  He is a 3 star talent, but with an intriguing offer sheet from the likes of Southern California, South Carolina, Florida and Auburn, among many others.  Further, Urban Meyer was apparently enamored with his film, putting Marcus on the list of high end prospects like Perkins and Williams.  This is mostly measurables.  At 6’2, 230lbs, Marcus is reported to be a sub 4.6 40, giving him a nice combination of size and speed.  He is certainly a player that will help bolster Ohio State’s outside linebacker rotation, a position that had become fairly thin recently.

Kyle Dodson selected Ohio State today during his high school’s ceremony, which saw the school lead with girls’ lacrosse signees and end with Dodson’s high school football teammates helping him announce his decision to attend The Ohio State University.  This was a curious recruitment, to say the least.  Dodson chose Wisconsin late spring in 2011 as part of the fallout of Jim Tressel’s resignation and the scandal that bogged down Ohio State athletics through the calendar year.  Further, the top flight in-state was curious not recruited very heavily by Jim Bollman, because that’s just how Jim Bollman rolled (see also: Taylor Decker).  Dodson wanted to attend Ohio State, and certainly help Ohio State’s razor thin depth at offensive tackle (thanks again, Jim Bollman), but chose Wisconsin and its well-regarded offensive line development program instead.  However, when Chryst and Bostad left for Pittsburgh, Dodson, now being recruited by Urban Meyer and company, reconsidered.  Though this is fairly standard procedure for most recruitments, it was the presence of an influential assistant coach on Cleveland Heights staff that was trying to push away Dodson from Ohio State.  That assistant coach is Dontez Sanders, a former Wisconsin Badger and brother of former Ohio State tight end Darnell Sanders.  Sanders’ distaste for Ohio State is well-established, even manifesting in a public dance on Ohio State’s Block O after the Badgers beat the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium in 2004.  Cleveland Heights coach Jeff Rotsky had kind words for Ohio State and Urban Meyer, though Sanders remained the “devil in Dodson’s ears”, so to speak.  Undeterred, Ohio State finally secured the commitment of Dodson, allowing his grandmother — who raised him after his mother was killed — more access to see him play.

The turnaround of this recruiting class cannot be overstated, nor can the qualitative difference between the “Loyal Eleven” and Urban’s Blue Chippers.  What was a workman class with some nice pieces like Najee Murray, Warren Ball and Bri’onte Dunn has become a star-studded class.  The Buckeyes’ recruiting class would still likely have been #2 in the B1G TEN, though that is not saying much with how the other non-TTUN programs finished their recruiting classes.  It is now, perhaps unarguably, the best recruiting class in the conference and a near consensus top 5 recruiting class nationally.  That is not to discount what the Wolverines acquired, but simply to marvel at what Urban Meyer, Mark Pantoni, Luke Fickell, Mike Vrabel, Everett Withers, Tim Hinton, Ed Warriner, Stan Drayton, Zach Smith, and Tom Herman have done in the past two months.

However, I cannot be completely effusive in praise with how this class developed since a little bit of it must be attributed to the fact that Ohio State has oversigned, so far, by one.  Ohio State will have a max of 82 players on scholarship this year as a result of the final sanctions given to the Buckeyes by the NCAA; it now has 83 on roster.  This number, 83, already considers David Durham’s announcement that he intends to transfer, the fact Roger Lewis will not be signing with Ohio State, and that Jaamal Berry has likely played his last down for Ohio State.  My understanding is that Berry’s legal problems have even kept him from participating in off-season workouts, though I have not confirmed that much.  All else equal, oversigning by one with an incoming coaching staff is not a terribly big deal.  Attrition happens all the time under these circumstances.  However, the widespread abuse of roster management practices like that seen by Alabama, Louisiana State, South Carolina and ArKansas has drawn attention to the fact that leveraging the scholarship maximum is an ugly, ugly thing with very real competitive advantages gained by the coaching staff that engages in this practice.

The B1G TEN has devices in place to prevent this and Ohio State, at just one over 82, will not run afoul of the conference’s extended grace.  Still, even one over the maximum is one too many.  Urban Meyer and Ohio State had its opportunity to officially announce Berry’s departure and has not done so yet, making any movement after February 1st seem forced.  Plus, that still means one other person has to go off scholarship in order to make the numbers cap at 82.  Simply put, this can’t happen again, and it’s curious why it did happen now.  Urban Meyer never came close to oversigning at a school and conference that would allow him to do so, why do it at a school and conference that won’t tolerate it?

Shifting gears to the recruiting class itself, Urban Meyer and company did the program a considerable service by correcting glaring roster deficiencies created by normal attrition and the inadequate recruitment of offensive linemen (and offensive tackles, in particular).  Ohio State did not need a quarterback in this class, but honored the promise to Cardale Jones to reserve a scholarship for him should he attend prep school to up his academic profile.  This is especially noble consider that Jones is probably not a quarterback Meyer and Herman would have offered if they had they chance.  Quarterback is not a position of need for Ohio State; Braxton Miller will enter his sophomore season in 2012.  Still, Jones gives them something, albeit not a quarterback that entirely fits the mold.

Ohio State should be happy with its tailbacks, Warren Ball and Bri’onte Dunn.  Both are top 20 prospects nationally at the position, with Dunn at #11 and Ball at #16.  I’ve indicated this before, but Ball and Dunn will constitute a serious challenge for Urban Meyer.  Meyer never got great production at the tailback position while head coach of the Florida Gators, certainly not between the tackles.  In fact, it was Tim Tebow’s ability to run the ball between tackles through QB Power that compensated for the inability to do the same with the 5’8 “edge guys” Meyer typically recruited.  This needs to change for Meyer at Ohio State.  The state of Ohio is good for producing some of the best tailbacks in the country.  An ability for Meyer, Herman and company to signal to these tailbacks that it knows what to do with them will drive them to rival schools in the conference whose offenses are more traditional.  Ball and Dunn are great talents and Urban Meyer is fortunate to have them.  Now, Urban Meyer will need to get serious and know what to do with them.

As of right now, Ohio State’s wide receiver haul is a bit underwhelming.  A lot of it is simply not knowing how these guys will fit into Ohio State’s system.  Michael Thomas, of Woodland Hills, California in the San Fernando Valley — the BEST valley — is our best get at the position.  He was an Under Armour All-American as a senior in high school, ultimately delaying the college football selection process, going to prep school with Cardale Jones and following him to Ohio State.  Suffice to say, as a fellow valley guy, I’m pulling hard for him.  Beyond Thomas are Frank Epitropolous and Ricquan Southward, two total unknowns in this recruiting class.  In the case of Epitropolous, we do not know if he is ultimately a wide receiver, a safety, or even a punter for Ohio State.  In the case of Southward, we know almost nothing about him.  I think fewer things have been said about Southward than any other person in the recruiting class.  He committed to Ohio State as a surprise and, just as soon as he appeared on our radar with a verbal commitment, he slipped back to the state of Florida to discreetly finish high school.  Ohio State could still secure Davonte Neal or Stefon Diggs; both of whom have deferred commitments.  At this point, I’m more concerned with being oversigned.

Ohio State was on the verge of having an offensive line haul that would make us arguably the worst at the position in the entire damn conference.  Fortunately, that was the old regime that hung its hat on in-state “reaches” and minimal offers to the most important damn position on any college football team.  What was once going to be only Pat Elflein and Jacoby Boren (interior OL at that, mind you) has rounded out to include Taylor Decker, Joey O’Connor and Kyle Dodson.  O’Connor is likely a tackle/guard, or “move down”, prospect that will start as a tackle and finish as a guard.  Decker and Dodson, both “flips” from Notre Dame and Wisconsin respectively, give Ohio State much, much needed depth at the offensive tackle position that Jim Bollman kinda, sorta forgot to recruit.  Decker and Dodson are well-regarded prospects — #23 and #16 nationally among all offensive tackles — but this position is notoriously difficult to project.  It is why you have to give the team options to safeguard against the prospect of recruiting a bust.

I don’t have much to say about the lone tight end in the class other than to note Blake Thomas could perform quite capably in the new offense.  At 6’4, 240lbs, Thomas is more flexible as the “H-back” than he is as a conventional tight end.  This could end as a favorable signing for Ohio State in the grand scheme of things.

The strength of the defensive signees, and perhaps the entire recruiting class, is on the defensive line.  Ohio State hit home runs across the board with the likes of Se’von Pittman, Noah Spence, Tommy Schutt, and Adolphus Washington.  Schutt is the lone defensive tackle in the class and should compliment a guy like Mike Bennett rather nicely.  He is a space eater and will play at over 300lbs, something Ohio State fans have wanted for some time and now finally have in Hungry Hungry Hankins.  Schutt won’t be the best defensive tackle signed by a B1G TEN team; that goes to That Team Up North with Ondre Pipkins.  Still, Schutt is a nice addition.  The names that get your attention are all at defensive end: Pittman, Spence and Washington.  Pittman, a “flip” from Michigan State, was another guy, like Kyle Dodson, that committed to a rival B1G TEN school in the wake of the Tressel scandal, but ultimately came back to the Buckeyes.  Both Spence and Washington are the marquee names, both being our only 5-stars (per Rivals.com) in the recruiting class.  Both excel at different things.  Spence is a pure speed guy to pass rush off the edge.  Washington is a little more wide-bodied and gives the Buckeyes are more “power” option at the position.  We are obviously excited to see what both can do in Columbus, Ohio.

If defensive line is not  what you would consider the strength of the recruiting class, then linebacker probably is.  I didn’t think the need at linebacker was as great as the coaching staff felt it to be, but the coaching staff added several great prospects.  Luke Roberts is the middle linebacker of the group, a straight-forward downhill guy with the obvious athletic limitations that follow.  David Perkins, Josh Perry and Camren Williams are all exceptional athletic talents that will contribute to the outside linebacker rotation.  Adding any one of those to the two-deep with a guy like Ryan Shazier makes for a potent group of linebackers.  With that in mind, Josh Perry is a bit of a wild card in the group and could matriculate to the LEO spot in Ohio State’s defense.

Ohio State has four defensive backs to complete the recruiting class.  After booting Dominic Clarke and Derjuan Gambrell from the team, Ohio State needed a few cornerbacks to add to the team.  Travis Howard will graduate after this year and Ohio State can probably build around next year sophomores Doran Grant and Brad Roby.  Still, the Buckeyes needed depth and got it with Armani Reeves and Najee Murray.  Reeves is a tried and true cornerback whereas Murray will be moving from high school safety to cornerback.  Murray is another one that intrigues me, namely in that he hits with extreme prejudice.  Neither Reeves nor Murray have someone like Howard or Roby’s imposing size at the position, but both are good enough hitters to be a factor at corner.  De’van Bogard and Tyvis Powell, true members of the “Loyal Eleven” who committed or stayed with Ohio State through the scandal, will factor into the safety rotation for Ohio State.  Powell is probably the name you know — the most vocal member of the Loyal Eleven and already a fan favorite.  Bogard is the Tarblooder in this class, continuing the tradition of Tarblooders who find their way to Ohio State.

Minus the new emphasis on wide receiver depth at Ohio State, and finding a suitable playmaker for that “A-back” position in Meyer’s offense, Ohio State has signed a great class in 2012.  I would never have expected in May and June to be this excited to better know the new Buckeyes.

Jalin Marshall

Cam Burrows has some company in Ohio State’s 2013 recruiting class.  Two weeks after Ohio State secured a verbal commitment from Cam Burrows, the Bucks get another blue chipper who wants in.  Jalin Marshall, an athlete from Middletown, Ohio, committed to Ohio State over regional offers from the likes of Notre Dame, Indiana, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and Tennessee.¹ The 2013 class of prospects promises to be deep in the Buckeye State and, to that end, Ohio State is already off to a great start.  Burrows and Marshall are 1-2 in preliminary rankings for 2013.

Marshall is listed as an athlete and will certainly finish top 10 nationally — maybe top 5 — in that “catch all” category among the recruiting services.  With that in mind, it is unclear what position for which he projects for Ohio State.  He is the quarterback for his Middies program and, apparently, will get his first look there.  Failing that, or if Meyer and company want a way to get him on the field sooner, he could project as a slot receiver (or “A receiver/back” in that language).  With Marshall as just one of a handful of 5-stars this early into 2013, it is clear that Marshall projects as a player that should have his hands on the ball routinely.  That type of “all-purpose back” in a Percy Harvin-type role, however unhelpful it is to make those comparisons, is what we hope to get from Jalin Marshall in a Buckeye uniform.

Marshall’s commitment is a bit premature, in that he wanted to hold off this announcement until tomorrow morning.  January 31st is his father’s birthday.  Marshall wanted the announcement of his son going to college to be a birthday present of sorts for his dad, though local media outlets and the ubiquitous tweets and message boards spoiled the fun.  Still, we’re happy.

Junior year film comes after the jump.

1. Yes, Tennessee is a bit “regional” these days given their northern push for talent.

Armani Reeves

Under Jim Tressel, Ohio State was rather notorious among Buckeye recruitniks for having very uneventful buildups to signing day.  The approach by Ohio State was mostly satisfied with recruiting players (and good players) they felt could credibly commit early in the process.  Further, many of us just assumed that those that would hold out until the 11th hour perhaps wanted to hear something in particular that Tressel and company just couldn’t tell them.  So, Buckeye fans are not terribly accustomed to getting good recruiting news so late into the process.  The verbal commitment of Armani Reeves — via Twitter, no less — is peculiar for Ohio State fans, but certainly welcome.

Reeves is yet another former Penn Shtate verbal that Ohio State has snatched from the Nitts, joining Joey O’Connor, Tommy Schutt and high school teammate Camren Williams.  That said, the recruiting battle that emerged late was between Ohio State and That State Up North.  Reeves had already formally decommitted from Penn Shtate, though well after we knew he was going to be shopping for a new college.  Though Camren Williams, whose father is Reeves’ godfather, had firmly committed to Ohio State in advance, there was a real threat of the Wolveereenies getting him.  That Team Up North even sent Greg Mattison to his West Roxbury home, no small gesture considering Mattison might be the Wolvereenies’ best recruiter (in addition to being far and away their best assistant coach).  Still, Reeves to Ohio State seemed like the safe pick to make and it was the one that Reeves ended up making.

Though a bit undersized, Reeves is well-regarded as a cornerback prospect.  Scout.com is more keen on him (#6 overall CB) than Rivals (#17 overall CB), but the Buckeyes get a quality cornerback to factor into a rotation that lost Dominic Clarke and Pee Wee Gambrell to team rules violation and will lose Travis Howard to graduation.  With Camren Williams also in the fold, it appears Ohio State will have more players on scholarship next year from Massachusetts than it probably had in the past 40+ years.

Film is below.

Camren Williams will no longer need Penn Shtate gear.

All the cool kids are doing it, right?

Camren Williams joined a pretty good list of one time Nittany Lions commitments or strong Penn Shtate leans to flip and commit to Ohio State.  That includes Noah Spence, Tommy Schutt and Joey O’Connor.  Right now, Williams, a linebacker from the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is the 23rd commitment in Ohio State’s 2012 recruiting class.  He announced the decision via Twitter, which is the cool thing the kids are doing these days with their rock and/or roll music and their baggy jeans and their not calling their gram-grams more often.

Williams was a soft verbal to Penn Shtate for some time and seemed all but destined to make the switch when Urban Meyer started recruiting him.  As we know by now, Meyer is good and, despite not coaching a game for Ohio State yet, is probably the marquee coaching name of the entire B1G TEN.  That Mike Vrabel is on staff helped.  Mike Vrabel is close with Camren Williams’ father, Brent.  Brent Williams was a long time New England Patriot and remained in the community upon the conclusion of his playing days, which saw him honored on the All-1990s New England Patriots squad.  Vrabel and Williams never played on the same team, but both knew each other through the Patriots organization.  However, this is about Camren, who wanted to play for Urban Meyer in Columbus.

With that in mind, Ohio State is nearing the conclusion of its 2012 recruiting class.  In fact, if my numbers are correct, Ohio State is already at 82 scholarship players for 2012, including Jaamal Berry’s eventual departure.  Ohio State seems bent on adding about three more prospects to the recruiting class, including Williams’ high school teammate Armani Reeves.  So… yeah.  I’m watching this.

Anyways, Williams is the first scholarship player from Massachusetts in what seems like forever.  The last name anyone could identify was Therone McQueen in the 1992 recruiting class, though McQueen was soon declared academically ineligible.

Senior film comes after the jump.

Cameron Burrows

Ohio State recruiting is currently on a considerable roll, not the least of it stemming to Urban Meyer’s hire in late November.  Ohio State picked up three verbal commitments in a four day span recently.  While the 2012 class works approaches a conclusion, Urban Meyer started next year’s class by adding Cameron Burrows to the fold.  Cameron Burrows, a defensive back from state champion Trotwood-Madison High School, will be known as the first commitment in the 2013 class, much like Josh Perry, Kenny Hayes, J.T. Moore, Jordan Whiting and Ben Buchanan were in the previous five recruiting classes.

The addition of Cameron Burrows is quite a coup for Maurice Douglass, head coach of Trotwood-Madison.  He has led a resurgence of the Trotwood-Madison program, reaching the state finals in the past two years and winning the state championship a few months ago.  However, his prospects never got a look from Jim Tressel.  There was rumored to be some tension between Tressel and Douglass, at least to the point where Tressel didn’t trust Douglass. So was the rumor.  It was more likely that a lot of the prospects Trotwood-Madison had in previous classes were marginal prospects or diamonds in the rough, and Ohio State felt comfortable in passing on players like Jordan Paschal and Chris Freeman, among others.  That has since changed with Urban Meyer in charge in Columbus.  Meyer identified Trotwood-Madison as an emerging pipeline of D-1 talent and wanted to secure it.  It starts with Cam Burrows, the first player from Trotwood-Madison to matriculate to Ohio State on a football scholarship since tight end John Lumpkin.

Burrows is a big defensive back, who, at least in frame, already looks like a D-1 player in the middle of his junior year.  He could be a safety, but could very well be a “break-the-mold” type of jumbo cornerback.  Whatever the case, recruiting services are keen on Burrows and the preliminary pick for best in state in 2013.  He already had offers from the likes of Alabama, Louisiana State, That State Up North and Wisconsin, among a host of others.

Junior film is below.

David Perkins

Ohio State received its 22nd verbal commitment in the 2012 recruiting class, and the third in four days, when David Perkins took to Twitter to announce/hashtag his college decision.  Perkins, an “athlete” from South Bend, Indiana and one-time Notre Dame verbal commitment, best projects as an outside linebacker for Ohio State.

Perkins was previously committed to Notre Dame, having selected the Irish on June 7th, 2011.  However, Perkins had second thoughts entering October and entertained the concept of taking official visits to schools like Oregon and Louisiana State.  Therein, he had a bit of a falling-out with Brian Kelly and Ohio State, under Urban Meyer, made moves to secure an official visit and verbal commitment.  The official visit made a significant impact on Perkins, who recounts:

“I’ve been fighting it for about two days, but I just had to wrap it up. Just as soon as I stepped on campus, I fell in love with everything: the place, the people, the academic support. The coaches, they’re all good people there with a lot of knowledge and wisdom about the game and I want to play under people like that and soak it all up.”

So, when Perkins announced that his college decision would be among Ohio State, California and Illinois, and Ohio State was the only school that he had visited of the bunch, this decision was not terribly surprising.

What is surprising is the extent to which Urban Meyer and company continue to recruit with limited space.  By my count, there is one spot left on the roster after accounting for the departures of Jeremy Cash, Dominic Clarke, Derjuan Gambrell and likely, basically unofficial, departure of Jaamal Berry.  This obviously does not account for possible/likely departures, something the staff would know a bit more than me, but I get uneasy projecting non-senior attrition from the roster.  With one spot open by my count, Ohio State continues to recruit as if it has anywhere from 3-5 spots available.  Worth watching.

Senior (!!) mid-season (ohh…) film is below.

'Sup? I'm Joey O'Connor.

Ohio State’s 2012 recruiting class — and truly a tale of two recruiting classes — took one step closer to completion upon the verbal commitment of Joey O’Connor this afternoon.  O’Connor, an offensive lineman (guard, likely) from Windsor, Colorado, might be considered the first Meyer offensive lineman.  While we (curiously) did not recruit Taylor Decker, we obviously should have.  O’Connor’s commitment was one largely spurred by the more national net Meyer cast on the recruiting trail with such limited time.

O’Connor is an interesting addition for a variety of reasons.  For one, he’s from a state that Ohio State barely recruits traditionally.  Indeed, the last Buckeye from Colorado that I can recall is Chris Sanders, a wide receiver who you might remember as “the other guy not named Joey Galloway” on those 1993-1994 squads.  Second, interior offensive line is not a position need.  O’Connor may start in the tackle picture, but is clearly a guard or center prospect.  Ohio State already has plenty of those and, indeed, it’s all Bollman cared to recruit before the transition from Tressel/Fickell to Meyer.  Alas, his addition fits what I’ve said previously until I’ve been blue in the mouth.  Offensive linemen need to be platooned moreso than other positions on the roster because the bust ratio is too big from high school to college and the position is too damn important to take likely.

The process of committing is actually a story Buckeye fans loved reading under the previous regime with Jim Tressel.  Namely, O’Connor — and parents — were so blown away by the total package at Ohio State, from athletic legacy/prowess to academic potential, that O’Connor was bound to commit and his parents were all for it, in spite of the distance.  O’Connor thought of considering Iowa and California shortly thereafter, but decided against it.  In the case of California, ace recruiter Tosh Lupoi transitioning to Washington possibly had a role in that as well.

O’Connor, a one time Penn Shtate commit (before the Sandusky scandal), is the 21st commitment in the class. Junior year film is below. You should probably hit the mute button, because… really… seriously…

I couldn't find a picture of Taylor Decker that I liked, so here's Brian Kelly in his natural state. (via MGoBlog.com)

Urban Meyer hired away Taylor Decker‘s connections at Notre Dame: his would-be position coach Ed Warinner and his primary recruiter, Tim Hinton.  Both Warinner and Hinton, the latter especially, were the people responsible for recruiting the state of Ohio for the Fighting Irish.  They left for Ohio State shortly after the Champs Sports Bowl and, two weeks later, Taylor Decker decided to join them.

Decker was a prospect we should have recruited under the previous regime, but curiously decided not to do.  It could be that he was too good of a prospect for lowly Ohio State, who surely couldn’t compete with the big boys in the Midwest.  It could be because with only one real offensive tackle returning in 2012, we were probably set at both left and right tackle for the indefinite future, maybe into the 2021 season.  Whatever it was, we passed on Taylor Decker — a 6’8, 310lb true tackle prospect from Vandalia, Ohio.  He ultimately found his way to the Irish in March, 2011.

Urban Meyer’s arrival in Columbus changed that and Decker was one of the first people Meyer called when he started recruiting.  Credit Decker, though.  A lifelong Buckeye fan (which doesn’t mean everything on the recruiting trail, but means something), Decker had already committed to Notre Dame and was not the kind to renege on a verbal commitment so easily.  It appears that it was really Warinner and Hinton arriving in Columbus that did the trick.  He relented to a visit this weekend and flipped to Ohio State.

Taylor Decker’s commitment gives Ohio State its lone offensive tackle of the class to date, which just so happened to be the biggest position of need on the whole damn roster.  Why the previous regime decided to forgo the likes of Decker, skip recruiting offensive linemen almost altogether and flirt with only tackle-guard prospects when it did decide offensive linemen were important is ultimately beyond me to try to explain.  I can’t.  Decker is a great prospect and I’m inclined to argue he is the best offensive lineman in Ohio, and not just because we have him.  Decker, Kyle Dodson and Kyle Kalis could all have great college careers, but I’d take Decker if I could only have one of those three.  Projecting a college career is a bit precarious and I won’t anoint him an all-everything yet.  Importantly, Decker’s addition gives an option at offensive tackle, and, seriously, we needed those and we could probably use more.

Junior year film follows.

Noah Spence

Urban Meyer’s recruiting roll continues.  His arrival in Columbus, Ohio has already led to commitments from the likes of Tommy Schutt and Se’von Pittman.  This evening, Meyer padded a stellar defensive line haul in this recruiting class by adding Noah Spence to the mix.  The verbal commitment of Noah Spence gives Ohio State its marquee recruit of the 2012 class, checking in as the #1 weakside defensive end in the country and #9 recruit in the country overall, regardless of position.

Suffice to say, this is all Meyer.  Mike Vrabel was in charge of his recruitment and the retention of Fickell was important in coordinating an effort toward Spence, but Meyer gets a huge tip of the hat for building a relationship with Spence and family on such short notice and locking up a verbal commitment.  It became clear that Spence was high priority for Meyer shortly after the recruiting updates started coming in the wake of Meyer’s introductory press conference.  Meyer, not known as a slouch on the recruiting trail, quickly and clearly communicated what the Spence family wanted to hear from recruiters.  This included the standard spiel on spiritual and professional development and a “family oriented” nature of a college program.  We commonly associate this with Jim Tressel, but, in spite of our reservations when he was coaching Florida in the wake of January 2007, Meyer has a good reputation for this as well.  I thought Spence would eventually be a Buckeye, but the Spence family confirmed that the plan to commit during a hat ceremony at the Under Armour All-American Bowl was scrapped in order to finish the recruiting process here and now.

Adding Spence to the mix is fantastic.  Combined with the commitments of Pittman, Schutt and Washington and a defensive line roster that already includes Mike Bennett, Joel Hale, John Simon, Steve Miller Band, Kenny Hayes and Hungry Hungry Hankins (among others), defensive line should be the strength of the defense into the near future.  That’s always fine.  However, roster spots are disappearing and Ohio State may have only 3 (maybe 4) spots left in this recruiting class.  The hope is that the next additions to the roster ameliorate deficiencies at offensive tackle and linebacker before all spots disappear.  Until then, this is pretty cool.

(Junior) film is below the fold.

Se'von Pittman

The crown jewel of Michigan State’s recruiting class will not sign with the Spartans in February.  Se’von Pittman, a defensive end prospect from Canton’s McKinely High School, will join former high school teammate Steve Miller (Band) at Ohio State next season.  He had previously been committed to Michigan State since June 19th.

The verbal commitment from Pittman, the second such flip from a rival B1G TEN school this evening, is nice, but one that had been a possibility for some time.  Pittman committed to Ohio State on June 19th, a date that coincides with the turmoil created by the increasing scandals involving Ohio State and, most importantly, Tressel’s resignation.  Pittman, at the time, did not think Ohio State was to his liking and opted for Michigan State, who had just won its first B1G TEN title since 1990.  However, he kept looking at Ohio State, however quietly.  Luke Fickell would check in periodically and Pittman even visited Ohio State unofficially on September 24th, though said it was just to see his high school teammate play.  And still, that door was open.  When his long time girlfriend, Ameryst Alston, committed to Ohio State to play the shooty ladyhoops, it seemed like Pittman would eventually follow.  I really think this could have happened without Urban Meyer.  That it happened with Urban Meyer, on the wake of an in-home visit to Pittman, certainly makes it sound nicer.

Film (junior year) is below.