| 19 December 2010
The class of of 2011 has been over for me for some time. This is one great haul no matter where the class is ranked, though the consensus it is is a top five class. The only thing left as far as I was concerned was Doran Grant. I think an elite corner is a great need.
That all went to hell in a hand basket with decision by Urban Meyer to resign. It gave the Buckeyes the chance to land one of the elite players in the country and Jim 'He can't close" Tressel got Ryan Shazier here and brought him into the warm embrace of Buckeye football. Talk about a coup.
Shazier is one of the elite players in the country this year. A national top 100 player on everyones list. The buzz is he was Ohio States top rated linebacker in the country. I am not sure about him as a linebacker. Look as his film. You will see an edge rusher. I am a firm believer in the move down principle. Not such a fan of the move back theory. Shazier has been going forward his entire life. Linebackers have always needed some degree of coverage skills but the way the game is played now it is even more important. He brings some attributes that give me reason to believe that he could be a good linebacker though. His read-react-run is as good as I have seen this year. He has that uncanny ability to find the ball, he does it quickly, then gets there quickly. Outstanding tackler. That is something that gets overlooked. He hits and wraps. No yards after contact with Shazier. There seems to be some conversation about his speed. I am not going to try say forty times don't matter. I just think more and more talent evaluators are looking at football speed just as much as stop watch speed. I have no question about Shaziers game speed. Another thing I was impressed with is Shaziers ability to get off blocks. Finally the kid has a motor that will not quit. If he does not pan out at linebacker I am sure he can fit the Leo. Great get for the Buckeyes.
It was a massive recruiting weekend for the Buckeyes. Last weekend it was the committed players. This weekend it was the top rated uncommitted players on the Buckeyes board. I think it would be a good idea to mix in some committed Buckeyes but that is not the way they did it. I was very happy to see outstanding Maryland athlete Darius Jennings come in for a visit. Another name to keep in mind is super defensive back Byron Moore. He is from California and signed with USC. I don't know what happened but he ended up at Harbor Community College. His film is very impressive. He could play anywhere in the defensive backfield. He has no visits set for the state of California. There is a sense the Buckeyes have a real shot at him. Doran Grant was here this weekend too. I like these three defensive backs coming in together like that. They can plot and scheme on how they would be the defensive backfield of the future. Ejuan Price and Curtis (I got his name right this time) Grant are both in this weekend. I don't like that Ohio State is first on Grants visit list. Price should be at the end of his visits. We should know something soon on him. He has been to Iowa. I can't imagine he is happy with disarray going on there.
Hopefully we will have good news on a couple more of these prospects. I am very much interested in hearing from the defensive backs.
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