Quote:
Originally Posted by green night
Can anyone break down the verbals to this point by position / strengths? Strengths of the class, etc. Very much appreciated!!
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Disclaimer: I'm going to use Rivals as a basis, albeit a crappy, imperfect basis, for some of this analysis. I'll supplement that with anythign else I know about the recruits (like Jamiihr Williams being a 2-star on rivals but a preseason top 30 recruit in ohio
)
Biggest Strengths: DB and WR
DB: Johnny Adams and Charles Burrell are both nationally ranked at CB and Safety respectively. For the star-gazers out there, they are both 3-stars on Rivals, with Rival Rankings (RR) of 5.7, which is the highest ranking that can be given to 3-stars. (For clarification: 5 star = 6.1 RR, 4 star =6.0-5.8, 3 star = 5.5-5.7, 2-star 5.4-5.2). Adams is a case of Ohio State not having enough scholarships to give, he's a great pickup. Burrell was
MSU's first commitment and will be very good at the next level. Add in Brynden Trawick who is a 5.5 3-star recruit and burner Trenton Robinson (RR 5.4, making him a 2-star, but with 4.4 speed) and we have a very nice secondary class coming in.
Summary: 2 CBs, Adams and Robinson, 2 Safeties, Burrell and Trawick. 3 3-stars and 1 2-sar
WR: The star of our class is the 6'2 207lb Fred Smith. Ranked the #24 WR on Rivals, he's a 4 star with a RR of 5.9. Keyshawn Martin is rated the #80 WR on Rivals and has a RR of 5.6, making him a mid-ranged 3-star. Supposedly came on late and is a great talent. Since our O doesn't require a ton of WRs, taking 1-2 a year is all we need. We have 2 good ones in this class
Summary: 3 WRs total, 1 4-star, 1 3-star 1 2 star, Myles White, who might end up being a PR/KR.
We're doing pretty well in 3 other areas: OL, DL and RB
OL: We have 4 OL prospects committed thus far, which is pretty good considering we lose 3 starters (Gyvetai, Masters and Shane). Our best OL is Ethan Ruhland, one of our early recruits and a 5.7 3-star rivals, he's 6'4 270ish already, he'll grow into an OG. Another likely OG is Anthony Woods, at 6'4 305. Long story short about him, evidently he transferred to a really small HS this year which hurt his ranking, he's a 3-star 5.5 RR guy. Our two tackle prospects are 6'6 270 lbs John Deyo and 6'5 260 lb Chirs McDonald. McDonald is another 5.5 RR guy and Deyo could grow into a nice tackle.
Summary: 4 OL, 2 OG both 3-stars, 2 OT, 1 3-star and 1 2-star.
DL: We only have 2 guys on the DL so far, Tyler Hoover at DE ( and a 6'7 265lb DE already
) and Jerel Worthy at DT (6'2 288). Both are 3-star recruits, with Hoover being a 5.7 RR guy and Worthy being a 5.6 guy. Hoover was a 4-star and currently sits as the highest rated 3-star Strongside DE in the country. Worthy is another OH guy who tOSU just didn't have room for. This could be our best group if Nick Perry joins.
Summary: We have a ton of young DL, so we just need a few nice players which we seem to have. Perry would obviously put this group over the top (as has been discussed ad nauseum on this board)
RB: Caulton Ray is in the mold of Ringer at 5'9 185. Not as talented as ringer, but with decent speed (4.47) and seems to be strong. He's a 3-star, with a RR at 5.6. Glenn Winston, a 6'1 213 lb athlete from Detroit may play some of the role that Jehuu played this year, though he's likely to be a LB.
Overall: It would be huge to get Ingram, but we have a lot of RBs already so Ray will be fine if he's the only RB we end up with.
We have work to do in the following areas:
TE and LB
LB: While we have 3-4 LB prospects (depending if you count Winston as an LB), but people on here aren't that excited about it. Our best two are Jamiihr Williams, a 6'2 224 lb guy with 4.65 speed who should be our next MLB. He was highly regarded going into this season, but is only a 2-star guy on Rivals. Somewhere I read he was a top 10 preseason recruit in Ohio, which would make him a 4-star kind of player, not really sure what happened. The other guy that should be a a held is David Rolf, a 6'3 220 lb LB with 4.49 speed. He'll probably play OLB, but could move to the middle. He's a 3-star on rivals with a RR of 5.5. The other LB is Drew Stevens our 2nd lowest rated recruit. He's 6'4 203 and runs a 4.53 40. If he can keep that speed and put on 35 lbs, then watch out. Also considered to be the favorite whipping boy of poster kgbmsu when complaining about LB recruitng.
Summary: No really highly regarded prospects, though Rolf and Williams may suprise. The inability to get a highly regarded LB at MSU (and stay at MSU) has been the biggest gripe on this board regarding recruiting.
TE: Ummm, we have no TE prospects (or QB, but we're not taking one this year). Maybe Drew Stevens is going to grow into one? I have no idea. But we have 2 RS frosh and 1 RS Soph (class standing as if next season has already started) so we'll see. Not much else to say here.
Overall: A solid class with a ton of 3-star guys who should add quality depth and produce quite a few starters in the next few years. Don't expect immediate help out of this class though, as most of these guys are going to take a few years to develop.
IMHO, you'll see Smith, Burrell and Adams next year and maybe Miles White/Trenton Robinson in and a KR/PR. Other than that, expect most of the class to RS and see them again in 2009.
Hope that helps