| 21 April 2010
There is much chatter about an offer to Glenville athlete Andre Sturdivant. I have mixed feelings about an offer to Sturdivant. I see a body that does not fit any of the positions he projects to but the kid makes plays. I have mentioned that I have seen four Glenville games and Aundray Walker has not stood out to me in any of those games. Sturdivant is another matter. He has stood out in every one. He makes plays. Whether the physical limitations will keep him from being the same kind of impact player in college remains to be seen. He is a high school Mike but last official measurement was 249 pounds. One report has him at 260. Either way he is not going to be a college Mike. He will move down to the line in college. Most of the time the progression is linebacker to rush end to strong end to three-technique. I
think we see him as a strong end right away. He does not have the body of a rush end. You are looking for a long lean explosive athletic guy in a weak side rush end. Sturdivant runs well but is not what I would call an explosive guy. There are two guys that come to mind at comparisons. John Simon and even moreso Darion Scott. Scott was about 6-2 240 coming out of high school as a linebacker but was a DT by the time he was a senior. Played in the NFL for awhile as a DT.
The most interesting thing about this potential offer, the buzz is it will be made official this weekend, is it comes right after Jamel Turner got himself shot. Turner was going to come in a a Leo/DE. Sturdivant will come in as a DE. I have to wonder if this tells us something about Jim Tressels thinking about Turners future.
As far as Turner is concerned, put me in the camp of that is enough. We talk about changing a players environnment. I believe in it and coach Tressel is committed to it. He has been highly successful at doing that with players who have come from challenging home lives.What stands out to me is Turner keeps making the decision to return to a way of life that is not acceptable for a Buckeye football player. Twice he was removed from a situation most of us cannot comprehend. Both times he went back to it. He could be the next Thaddeus Gibson but I fear he is going to be the next Marco Cooper. I am not going to say it is the wrong decision should coach Tressel decide to bring him in anyway. I can understand his decision and applaud him for it but it would not be the one I would make.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
