| 28 April 2011
The one position that I am happiest about coming out of spring is cornerback. Going in all the talk was about Travis Howard and Dionte Allen as the starters. You know I found that disturbing. That a kid could transfer in from a lesser program, sit out a year, and still be the starter was not something I wanted to hear. Dominic Clarke has taken the confidence he found from his solid performance in the Sugar Bowl and is ready to claim the job opposite Howard. I say ready to claim, not already claimed, because Brad Roby had a great spring. He could be the starter too. Allen is there in the mix. Howard is ready to be a superstar. He seems to get better with every rep. Going into spring I saw corner as a weakness. I now see a strength in both talent and depth.
I see a ray of hope with the incoming freshmen offensive linemen. Tommy Brown did not have a good day in the spring game. Some earlier film of a practice that Bucknuts got hold of showed he did not have a good day there either. Tommy Brown is 18 years old. He is 5 months removed from high school. He may even still be 17. I was not 18 until August after I graduated. I knew quite a few others in the same boat. He is out of position at tackle. As frustrating as it is we might as well get used to it. Jim Bollman is going to try to play guards at tackle in his desire to have versatile linemen. What I like is the different body I saw out of Brown compared to the body I saw at the end of the football season last year. I like that he showed the kind of commitment to get into a college program early and to get his weight down. Yes, he got whipped pretty good when I saw him but I never saw him loafing. He was playing hard.That commitment and his willingness to work, along with moving him down to guard, could produce dividends in time. I also saw film of Chris Carters senior year. He is clearly a better player than he was as a junior. I had reports that he looked overweight too. I can't see any of that in the film. He is carrying 330, or whatever his weight is, very well. He was moving well. He is the rawest of the incoming freshman but he has the most upside. If he works hard I could see this being the one kid from this class who has a shot at making an impact at right tackle. I also heard that Antonio Underwood played all season with an ankle that would have sidelined anyone else. He played through it to help his team. All good news.
We are hearing that Brionte Dunn has opened up his recruitment. He has already visited Michigan. He is concerned about what he is hearing about the future of coach Tressel. Some are trying to argue with me that this is overblown. They cite the verbal of athlete Frank "Frank E" Epitropolous. I cannot take that seriously. This is a kid whose Dad and his Uncle not only went to Ohio State, they played at Ohio State. His sister is currently at Ohio State. Frank E was going to get an offer from Ohio State and say no? Come on, man. This is a problem. The NCAA needs to make a decision so the Ohio State powers that be can get on with whatever they are going to do based on the NCAA penalties. It is hurting beyond the penalties that may be levied. This is a class for the ages in Ohio and Ohio State is getting pounded with negative recruiting.
It looks like the Buckeyes have landed a fullback recruit. I have always been a fan of in-roster recruiting. I noticed David Durham on the scarlet sidelines in the first half. I saw him wearing #33. I was not sure if that was always his number. Odd that would be for a recruited DE/LB to be on the offensive sideline no matter what his number was but a number change would be a significant development. I forgot about the issue but it came up on the Bucknuts board. I never noticed him in the game. Others said they saw him in the game at fullback. I did not notice him in the game. Both Zack Boren and Adam Homan are juniors. It was time to start looking for a fullback again. I hate to spend scholarships on fullbacks. A couple of years ago the Buckeyes had three scholarship fullbacks. That kept me up nights. Durham is a talent but he was buried on the depth chart at end. It was going to get worse when Farris, Hayes and Miller arrive. This is an opportunity to salvage what amounts to a lost scholarship.
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