| 05 March 2010
The Buckeyes did not offer Springfield Local product Kevin Williams. When I was first asked about him I said I would not consider an offer to him or Kris Harley without seeing the bodies up close. I don't think we can assume that he will not see an offer but we can assume he did not leap out at the staff when he stood in front of them.
A couple of days ago I said many the staff was going to look at these undersized guys because that was all that was out there. I said you can't not take DTs. Maybe the staff does not see it that way. I got ahead of myself. There is a nice number of DL offers out there but there are only two true DT who has been offered, Michael Bennett from Centerville and
Kevin McReynolds from Maryland. However, there are another three offers that I am aware of to strong side DEs who have the kind of size that you have to think they could be projected to three-technique tackles, Chase Farris, Aaron Lynch, who recently eliminated us, and Jeff Pagan are all players that you have to think they could slide inside and if needed you could push them to add a few extra pounds and move down permanently. Ray Drew is another kid with an offer that there is no sense in trying to project where his body is going to take him. Fans have wondered why Kris Harley does not have an offer with his explosive first step, high motor and Buckeye pedigree but he also has a suspect frame. Now we see another tackle with a similar profile leave without an offer.
Why do this with strong side ends? Because they are harder to find but at the same time becoming more and more crucial because more teams are moving to the 3-4 and so many teams want to play an odd-man front. The Buckeyes are one of those teams. We are in nickle so much, having three bigs on the field is very sound. Even in the NFL teams are running odd man 4-3 fronts. The key to both defenses is the strong side end. He has to be a big enough guy to hold the point of attack but he still needs to be a good pass rusher. With three down linemen you have to be bigger, whether in the 4-3 odd man or the 3-4. In addition you can project them to three-technique tackles and even offensive linemen, likely left tackles. I have mentioned before that Howard Schnellenberger, the guy who saved the Miami program and won a national championship in the process, did not recruit offensive linemen. He moved defensive linemen over. Recruit the strong side end and you can possibly fill three spots. It is the perfect position for the move down theory. What other three positions come with such a similar body profile? You want a tall kid, 6-4 at least, with a big frame to grow more and they need to be athletic bigs but all three positions need a player who must be able to hold the point. Long arms is not as important to a DT but it is an advantage. With Ends and left tackles being long with long limbs is very important. You don't worry about how big he gets. The odds are higher he is going to help you somewhere.
I find it very interesting that we are seeing more talk about Cardale Jones at the same time that I read this about Jerrard Randall:
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/blog?name=southeast_recruiting&id=4956486
For those without access I can sum it up. He talks about several schools but no mention of Ohio State.
I have not heard anyone talking about this kid. Who does he remind you of?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XPEZk1bWrM
Noel Devine is who he reminds me of. We do have an offer out to him. So does Michigan and he has already visited there. Talk about fitting their system.
I found some film of Angelo Mangiro:
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
