| 19 July 2011
Yesterday on the Bucknuts message board a fan asked who were the must get players for the class of 2013. I started to answer right there but the response became so long I realized I had created a blog.
Lets define "must get." A must get player is one that you offer no matter what. He is so good that no matter how deep and how talented that the depth chart looks at his best position or positions that you still offer because he is so good that he is a talent upgrade.
It is still early. We are talking about players who have not even stepped on the field for their junior year. I believe there will be more players coming into the must get category but at this early stage I see three players.
As soon as I saw his film the first time I understood why Mark Porter was so giddy. Jalin Marshall is one of those players that takes you back to your childhood because the one word that comes to your mind is "wow". This is Ohio. Great players come out of this state. Ohio is consistently in the top five most recruited states in the country. Jalin Marshall is just now coming off his sophmore year in high school. By the time his senior year is in the books I expect to be calling him the best skill player to come out of Ohio in my time evaluating talent in the state of Ohio. I surely expect to call him
the best receiver to come out of Ohio. His performance at the Ohio State camp left everyone I spoke to who was there to say they had not seen anything like him. His quickness and explosiveness are off the charts. He changes direction at speed like a gazelle. I compare him to the Philadelphia Eagles DeSean Jackson, the best flanker in the game right now. Before anyone points out that he does not play receiver right now I would point out Ted Ginn never did either. In fact, he too played quarterback. Verlon Reed is in the mix for a great deal of playing time at receiver this fall. He was a high school quarterback. Not a fan of moving high school quarterbacks to safety. Not a fan at all. The move from quarterback to receiver is looking quite good.
Trotwood Madison cornerback Cam Burrows is another must get player. He is 6-2 or 6-3 and his natural position is cornerback. One of the most coveted players in the game at both the college and the pro level is a big corner. I was looking at a recent top ten list of the best receivers in the NFL. I don't know if I agree with all of them but I agree with most on the list. There were two under 6-0 tall. There were five at least 6-3. You need bigger corners with such big receivers these days. Burrows is the complete package. He can cover like an elite corner and he brings the hurt like a safety. He dazzled this spring at Ohio State with his feet and hips. Athletes Burrows size are not supposed to move like that. I saw him as a freshman and thought he was going to be a Big Five receiver. At first I was hesitant to make this statement. I was going to put Burrows in the same sentence as Eugene Clifford. After his camp performance I have no problem saying it. The worst case scenario is Burrows outgrows corner and moves to safety. Since he is one of the two or three best safeties in Ohio regardless of class, that is nothing to worry about.
If you asked me what is the biggest head scratcher in Ohio recruiting right now I would say the lack of an Ohio State offer to Marlington athlete Dymonte Thomas. He has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Tennessee and as far away as UCLA but he does not have a Buckeye offer. I cannot explain it. Some try to defend the lack of an offer because the Buckeyes have a stable full of running backs. By the time Dymonte Thomas would arrive on campus two of the current stable will be gone. Two more will be seniors when he is a true freshman. Besides, as great a back as Thomas is, make no mistake he is a great back, he may be a better safety. If you held a gun to my head and said choose a position I would say safety. He is a relentless kid with great speed and instincts. He is a great tackler and ferocious competitor. He has an ideal safety frame at 6-2 and about 190. I don't care how good any school is at safety or running back. Dymonte Thomas improves your depth chart at either position.
I mentioned earlier that there are some players who are close to being must have players. I fully expect several of them to move into the must have category by the time the high school season is over. Fitch lineman Billy Price is the first one that comes to mind. I am looking forward to seeing him blossom on one side of the ball or the other. I can't tell you right now whether Price is an offensive tackle or a defensive tackle.
Taco Charlton had a great athlete season. He came away leaving most believing he was the next elite lineman coming out of Ohio. His physical tools are elite. There are times on the field when he looks like an offer player right now. In fact, Charlton can already claim Big Ten offers.
I think the quarterback class will be the best we will ever see. One of the top players at that position is likely to step into the must have category. Right now that is Massillon Washingtons Kyle Kempt but it could be St. Henry's Kyle Stahl. The one I am watching the most will be Kettering Alter's Malik Zaire. He shows very well on film as passer as well as a runner. He holds a unique distinction. In all my years I have never seen a back-up with a scholarship offer. Cincinnati offered Zaire already despite the fact that he was a back-up last year. That is how good he is.
The class is looking good Buckeye Nation. Coach Fickell,.....oops, I mean the next permanent Buckeye head coach, will have a nice instate crop to harvest. Not as good as 2012 but plenty of talent to re-stock the shelves.
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