| 24 February 2011
I cannot believe I nearly forgot to look at the running backs. Back when we first started talking about the class of 2012 the first position to give us an idea of how loaded this class is it was the running backs leading the way. We knew about Brionte Dunn as a freshman. Warren Ball and the others followed soon after. They have been around for so long that we have stopped talking about them.
Warren Ball is the test subject. Some are not as impressed with him, surprised when he was the first back offered. If that was you it is time to go back to recruiting 101. Ball is a special back. He has excellent size, ideal as far as I'm concerned, He has such quick feet. He is explosive. He has great vision. Watch how he looks for the hole and picks his way. Patience is something that NFL backs talk about as a thing that takes backs to the next level. Ball already has it. He is very elusive, not giving a clean shot to tacklers even in tight spaces and he runs with power. He has excellent hands. My only concern is with injuries. He seems to have been dinged a bit. With less depth Ball would be an impact freshman at Ohio State. He is so good that he still might be.
Brionte Dunn was the first back on my radar. He was so impressive as a freshman. As a sophmore his film did not leap out at me. I thought that maybe he was getting too big. He would have to consider playing linebacker. Things started to change for the better when he ran so well at a combine, then ran well as a sprinter on the track team last spring. He lit up Ohio when football season started with some massive rushing numbers. I have always loved big backs so it was easy for me to fall in love with him again. He is a power back but he is more than that. He possesses good change of direction and body control. Big backs don't need shake and bake. They just need to get a defender off balance and they blow right through him. Dunn has elite vision and he is a very smart runner. The icing on the cake is Dunn is very fast. Once past the line of scrimmage you might as well get ready for the kickoff. He also possesses excellent hands. Like Ball, if not for the depth at Ohio State Dunn could play as a freshman and he still might.
Everyone is aware of the pair of national backs the Buckeyes have brought in. There are several others that are going to be Big Ten backs and could be Big Five backs.
We are talking about this great class of 2012 in Ohio coming back to haunt Ohio State. William Mahone, 6-0, 200, from Austintown Fitch is one of those players. He has offers from Michigan State and Indiana, amongst others, so the odds the Buckeyes run into him are already going up. He is a great back. Big Five worthy. Such a smart football player whether he has the ball in his hands as a back or strong safety/hybrid. He is an explosive and elusive back but he is a hard hitting defender who is outstanding in coverage on defense. I would offer him as a running back but it is hard to ignore how often Mahone gets his hands on the ball on defense.
My number four back is actually the hardest decision I have to make. In the end I ask myself who would I offer. The answer is Jamire Westbrook. He is so smooth he looks like he is not running hard. He is so elusive that just getting a clean shot on him is a victory, even in tight spaces. That ability is what puts him in my number four spot. Despite being the smallest of the elite runners in the class, 5-10 190, he is so good between the tackles because he makes tacklers miss even in phone booth sized areas. He has excellent balance and is quite strong. He is the best receiver of the top backs.
Darren McGinnis is a new name. He is a 6-0 200 lb RB/LB from Akron Firestone. I went back and forth about putting him on the running back list because he is such a well put together kid with such good growth potential that I think he might outgrow running back. He is a fine linebacker but he is an even better running back. He is a north-south runner who runs with power and has great balance. He has offers from Illinois and Indiana. I doubt they are worried about which side of the ball he plays on.
Mansfield Senior's Terrell Dorsey is the best back that nobody is talking about, or making an offer to. He is a north-south runner with excellent balance and a hard running style. He rarely goes down on first contact and always falls forward. One tackler does not get Dorsey on the ground very often. A very underrated back. I understand no Big Five offers. What I don't get is no offers that I am aware of. He reminds me of Penn States Evan Royster.
Alden Hill is the scariest back out there for me. He is a pure big back who would have more offers if he was a step faster. He is a little more athletic than most big backs and that's what scares me. I have been talking about it ever since this class started to take shape that so many of the class of 2012 will come back to haunt the Buckeyes. Hill is the kind of back who goes to Wisconsin and thrives in that old school power offense. I don't need to tell anybody reading this about Wisconsin and how they are the Kryptonite to the Buckeyes Superman.
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