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Written by Duane Long
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Friday, 07 August 2009 13:05 |
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Thanks to DuaneLongReport friend DaveB for the heads-up on the Chad Hagan film. It is from YouTube and can be found in the BuckeyeVision section of this blog. The film is not extensive but I ver much like what I see. Most of it is Hagan as a running back but there are a couple of plays that stand out, that give us some insight to what he can do as a defensive player.Look at the play at the 40 second mark. Keep in mind where the ball is on the field. Near hashmark. He is probably lined up on this side of the field. He makes the play on the far side. Gets to the runner so fast he has little time to react and really sticks him. On the few defensive plays that is something I noticed. He is a good tackler and packs a punch. The next play is at the 54 second mark. It is an offensive play. He wheels out of the backfield and just blows by a couple of kids who are trying to cover him. He has a reported 4.4. I don't care. I am much more impressed with football speed. Makes a good catch too. There is a very nice run of 5 plays in a row starting with a play at the 1:36 mark. Watch the react and the break on the ball. Again, solid tackle and a jolting hit. The very next play is what you want to see out of any linebacker, and any strong safety. Read, react, run. Beautiful. Stoned him on the tackle too. Very next play he comes up and makes a stick. The next play is a very athletic pass breakup. Another big hit follows that.You are not going to find better measurables than you are with Hagan. He is big and fast. Whether he is 6-1 210 or 6-2 230, there seems to be no question about his speed. The size is the interesting part. At 6-1 210 he is likely a safety or maybe a Star. At 6-2 230 as a kid just now starting his senior year, I have to think he is at least a Star and is likely to grow into a full on linebacker. After seeing this film I am very much at peace with this offer.
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Written by Duane Long
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Thursday, 06 August 2009 11:42 |
I could have swore I did something on the Big Tens coaches. I thought I did it recently. I was so convinced that I had already done a breakdown of coaches that I spent so much of yesterday looking for it that I did not make a post at all. I was just about to re-type it when I finally found it.
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We talked about the conference being down. I would say the level of coaching has something to do with it. The conference was hurt badly by the untimely deaths of a couple of young guys who were showing they had the juice in Randy Walker and Terry Hoeppner. I think we could see some change soon, and it would be a good thing. Get some new blood in here. Several high profile guys are starting into the get it done or get out point in their tenures. Purdue has a new coach this year so I will only rank the other 10 schools.
1. Jim Tressel - Hands down the best coach in the conference. Ohio State is dominating the Big Ten in a way that you don't see one school dominate a major conference very often.
2. Joe Paterno - So past his prime that he does not seem to do much coaching anymore but because of the mediocre level of coaching in the conference right now he is still #2.
3. Mark Dantonio - Looking like a star in the making. He is hitting Ohio hard again, something that has been key to Michigan State success as well as Michigan in the past. Class act all the way around. The next Buckeye head coach after JT retires? I think his odds are quite good.
4. Tim Brewster - From 1-11 to 7-6 in one year speaks volumes. He is recruiting really well, and smartly. Bringing in all those JUCO players to jump start the program was a great idea. His offense looks like it could be as dynamic as any on the conference.
5. Pat Fitzgerald - 4-8 to 6-6 to 9-4. A couple of years from now we could see him a few steps up this list. I saw a shaky start beyond the 4-8, specifically with recruiting, but he recovered nicely. This year he is not off to a good start. He is young and has much to learn in this area but the guy can coach.
6. Kirk Ferentz - Once the darling of the conference, Ferentz is under fire. 7-5, 6-7 and 6-6, before putting up a 9-4 last year to shooed away the vultures for the time being. Off the field incidents are piling up. Still recruiting well enough but not like he was 3-4 years ago.
7. Rich Rodriguez - I can hear the accusations of homerism with this ranking but I am still unsure of the changes he brings to the conference with his read option and 3-3-5 defense. Neither looked good last year. I know he does not have the players in place to fit his system right now. I think he goes out quickly or changes the conference.
8. Ron Zook - I thought he might be a better coach than his reputation said he was but right now he has one season with more than 5 wins despite recruiting better than anybody in the conference but Jim Tressel. Even there things have started to cool. Juice Williams finding consistency, or Zook finding another quarterback, could right this ship. (NOTE: Since I wrote this Illinois has extended his contract.)
9. Brett Bielema - The bloom is off the rose. The very first year he took over for Alvarez and went 12-1, I heard the talk of what a great hire but on the field they just did not look like the same team. Wisconsin did what they did under Alvarez and they did it very well. I did not see the same readiness and execution under Bielema. Since the 12-1 he has gone 9-4 and 7-6. Of the 7 wins last year, 4 of them came against Akron, Marshall, Fresno St and Cal Poly.
10. Bill Lynch - Indiana has always been the bottom of conference but under Terry Hoeppner things were turning around. After a 7-6 Lynch fell to 3-9 last year and his best player has left the team. |
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Written by Duane Long
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Tuesday, 04 August 2009 13:40 |
I doubt I am going to get any argument that quarterback is the most important position in football. I think there is an argument that it is the most important position in all of sports. I believe it is the most difficult position in all of sport to master. The Big Ten has fallen on hard times. It has been a long time coming. As the game moves toward a more pass oriented and more dynamic kind of game, the Big Ten with its power running teams, has slipped behind.
I was looking over recruiting classes the last few days. I took note of the fact that Penn State looked like it had the best quarterback depth in the conference with Darryl Clark, Kevin Newsome and two outstanding recruits in Paul Jones and Robert Bolden. A poster made an argument for Michigan State with a couple of recent Elite 11 quarterbacks plus Joe Boisture this year. Michigan gets Tate Forcier last year and our resident Michigan fan C_Woodson has put forth a strong argument that Devin Gardner is a much improved passer since we last saw him on film as a junior. One of the more impressive recruits in the Big Ten this year is Joe Brennan, a tall big armed kid from New Jersey. He looks to be the best quarterback recruit we have seen in Madison in many a year. Nathan Scheelhaase is a player nobody talked about much but go over and take a look at him. I am not much for freshman quarterbacks starting but Juice Williams needs to be more consistent this year. This kid is a major talent. Ohio State has Pryor and just got Taylor Graham, with a likely national top 5 kid in Braxton Miller a clear Buckeye lean.
I don't need to go through every school in conference. I have argued for an upgrade in talent at quarterback at Ohio State. For the conference to regain respect, we needed to see an upgrade in talent at the position all across the board. It looks like that is happening. |
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Written by Duane Long
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Monday, 03 August 2009 12:16 |
I watched half of a 7 on 7 event on ESPN. I can't recall the name of the event. Alot of major recruits were there but I focused on two, Taylor Graham and Latwan Anderson. I saw a film from another event like this one on Rivals. I saw Anderson doing just too much celebrating. At this event I noticed that so many of the players were clowning and talking trash. I did not see anybody breaking the spirit of the celebration rule which is about drawing attention to oneself, except Latwan. He is a tremendous player. Fans are up in arms about no offer to this gifted athlete. I have to point out it is not just Ohio State. The fact that 3 of the Big 4 in the midwest, Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame not offering has everything to do with the bad vibe this kid is putting out. He is doing nothing to change that.
Graham is another matter. He throws the ball so effortlessly. Tight spirals and could put the ball anywhere they asked him to. He threw a touchdown pass that was straight out of a highlight film. The receiver made a great play but it took a great ball too. 3 defenders get back. They are arranged so there is a hole. If the receiver does not read it this is an inconsequential incompletion. If Graham throws it anywhere else it is likely to be intercepted. He drops it perfectly in the only spot where his receiver can make the play. Nearly 50 yards in the air with a flick of the wrist. Perfect touch on the ball. Alot of people, including me, are anointing Braxton Miller the heir apparent. What Graham has done since spring is make himself a national top 10 quarterback prospect, and he could be the steal of the class. Anointing Miller is premature. I have been talking about upgrading the quarterback position. This is a definite move to make that happen. Add Miller and I can't say I remember a time when we were in a better situation at quarterback.
I have been asked privately by several fans about what is going on with Raymond Small and Rose. I don't know. I think it is a matter of time with both. We have depth at both positions. I don't think Smalls absence will have an impact because we are so deep at the flanker/slot spot and he has not been at practice for so much of his career that he has not come along like he should have. Someone will step up. Look at all the time he has missed with suspensions and having to miss time to focus on his grades. I know Ted Ginn personally. You know he said Small was the best receiver he ever had. That was not something he said just for public consumption. He said the same thing privately too.The kid could be a special talent. He lacks the discipline and focus to be the player he could have been, and should have been. We have operated without Rose for some time. I don't think his absence hurts at all. He has never been the player he was as a freshman. He has injuries? I don't care. I am not angry at the kid. There is no venom whatsoever in that statement. It is just fact. Why he has been out only matters when you ask why has he not helped this football team. He has not helped this football team since he was a freshman. Why he has not helped is incidental. All the injuries mean is he can't be thrown on the "bust" heap.
The freshman that is consistently getting hype is Longo. He looks the part. He has some way to go but the raw materials are impressing everyone. |
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Written by Duane Long
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Sunday, 02 August 2009 14:39 |
A number of e-mails about looking at the rest of the Big Ten recruiting classes so I will comment on them. My original intent was to do the entire conference but I got rather long winded on the top 3 and was so underwhelmed at the rest of the conference that I called it a day.
Michigan State is a clear #4 with a top 50 get in William Gohlston. He is a bigtime athlete. He has all the tools to be an early entry type defensive end. It is all in his head. Last I heard he preferred linebacker. The sooner he gets that out of his head the sooner he will start making himself a star. Joe Boisture is a great looking player. Moves around very well for a big kid. Alot to like there. All Max Bollough does is make tackles. I think Michael Dennis is a very nice prospect. Hope the Buckeyes stay in touch. I think they could get back in there with him. Might have been the plan all along. Isaiah Lewis is a good looking prospect. Surprised he does not have a better offer list.
I know this is a surprise but if I were ranking the rest of the conference Indiana would be next on the strength of Jibreel Black, Harrison Scott, Tim O'Conner and Antonio Banks. Harrison Scott is so good they need to stay on top of him. A bigger name school will try and talk him out of this verbal. High school DE with a high motor and great body. Likely grows into a DT. O'Conner too. He should have waited. He has bigger name offers in his future. Smooth and very athletic. Great hands. Better speed and the Big Four would be involved. Logan Young is an athletic big body with great hands. Ishmael Thomas is a great looking athlete. Great body. Beat Iowa for Thomas. That is significant. Indiana beating Iowa for a player from out of state is impressive. We saw this program coming to life before the tragic death of Terry Hoeppner. This is a really nice recruiting effort.
The new Purdue staff is off to a really good start. Remember the name Sean Robinson. We will be seeing him soon. He is really something. 6-5 but so athletic he has a future at tight end if he blows out his arm. He can chuck it awfully well too. Very dynamic player. Beat Boston College, Syracuse and Kansas for him. They got Charles Torwudzo. I see why the Buckeyes took a look. He has major skills. Speed is not as important for big receivers but for the big boys to offer he needs to be faster than that. Josh Davis is one of those big athletic kids who can run. A program takes him and just lets him find a spot. Don't worry about where. Get another level of athleticm in your bigs no matter where. Jeremy Cornelius is a player I thought I would have seen Pitt offer and maybe Penn State. Syracuse offered him.
Minnesota is doing a very good job of keeping the few regional talents at home. Henderson is going to be too big for the state. They did keep Jimmy Gjere. Any other year he is a much celebrated lineman. He just happens to come out the same year as Henderson. Likely national top 10 OL in his own right. Great frame, runs well. Needs alot of work on his technique. Needs to get s better base and not stand straight up. Lamonte Edwards is a very physical kid with a great body. Good running back but I think DE.
Wisconsin has a nice get in Warren Herring. I don't think he is going to be a defensive end but he is a big kid that moves well. Joe Brennan is a really nice looking quarterback. Big ol' arm on him. Bryce Gilbert is a nice looking nose tackle. He does not have ideal size but he anchors well and flashes a burst. Konrad Zagzebski is a nice looking player. I had quit looking at tape before I saw Wiskys class. Not bad so far but not as good as we are used to seeing. I think the excitement about Bielema is premature.
Illinois is not off to their usual good start. C.J. Fiedorowicz is the only big time kid. I like Mark Wilson. I think Corey Cooper is a great looking player but I can't put him on the field anywhere for certain. I need to be able to project a player to a position. One that I am sure he can play. He might be able to play others but here is where I am sure he can play. I can't do that with Cooper. His best position is receiver but he is going to outgrow receiver. I think he could get caught between strong safety and linebacker sizewise.
Iowa has Donnal. That is the only player on that list that I like. Not a good class so far. Alot of buzz about Poggi. I have not seen him. I notice a couple of losses that I believe significant. They lost out to Purdue for a Pennsylvania player, to Indiana on a player from Michigan and to Minnesota on a player from Wisconsin. Those are not good recruiting losses. A few years ago you would not see an out of state player choosing any of those schools over Iowa. I can't see a player for Northwestern to hang its hat on. Maybe Rashad Lawrence. |
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Written by Duane Long
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Saturday, 01 August 2009 12:58 |
Penn State. I am hearing so much about the Penn State class. I went around and took a look. Paul Jones is a player I am surprised there is not more chatter about. Penn State is putting together a nice stable of athletic quarterbacks. They get this kid and Robert Bolden, a better quarterback than Devin Gardner, in the same year. Last year they get Kevin Newsome. That is the best stable in the Big Ten. Adrian Coxson is a bigtime receiver. He has good size and knows how to use his body. Strong and has good speed. Tom Ricketts impresses me. Miles Diffenbach doesn't. I have not looked at the DTs nationally but seeing Evan Hailes down at #18 on the Rivals rankings makes me want to look at them soon. He is a nice player. Explosive and strong. Finds the ball very well. Size is what prevents Mike Hull from being a five-star. He has the game of an inside linebacker, run and hit, but is not ideal sized. I think he is a little tight to be an outside linebacker. Kyle Baublitz is the 2econd best tight end in the region. Better than Alex Smith and Alex Welch. Dakota Royer reminds me of Nate Williams. It is a great looking class. It is the kind of class that will help the Big Ten rid itself of the out of conference/bowl demons.
Ohio State is #2 but I think it is much closer to an argument for #1 than most do. I think the Ohio State class is undervalued. I think Penn State and Michigan are both pretty accurate, with the few exceptions I noted. Rod Smith is a five-star kid. The best back in the country. Andrew Norwell is not a five-star kid? This is not shaping up like a great year at tackle now that I am looking at more players. Some good top end guys but not alot of depth. Norwell is one of those elite kids. David Durham is not a three-star end. He might not be an end at all but he is surely a four-star kid no matter where he lines up. It has been pointed out that the best quarterback gurus in the college game offered Taylor Graham. I have seen more of Scott McVey than others in this business. He is such a great player. Top drawer instincts and much underrated quickness. I think he has the potential to change the Star position here because he is bigger. He is not a player you are going to be nervous about him being on the field on third and three. He can stand up to it but is such a natural in pass coverage. He can do it all, and he is a player that you must block every down or he will make a play. Numbers are a bigger problem than talent. Ohio State has 9. Take Penn States best 9. I think we match-up.
I liked Michigans alot early on. Still do, but they have gotten out in front of themselves a bit. I really like D.J. Williamson but I don't know if he is a Michigan player right now. He might be after this season but right now he is not. That could be an offer that makes it worthwhile to secure a foothold in Ohio with a program that has put a few players in maize and blue. Christian Pace is another player I would put in that category. I am not sold on Gardner as a passer. He is not a four-star kid in any other system. He is a run first quarterback. When in trouble he tucks it and goes. Watching Pryor in a full game as a senior is where I became convinced he is a quarterback. When the pocket broke down he still kept his head up, looking for a receiver. In the Michigan offense the QB tucking and running is not plan B. On the other hand I think Antonio Kinard could be a steal. He is a big athletic kid who can run. I think it more likely he makes his mark as a DE than an LB. He is highly likely to get a good deal bigger. Courtney Avery is a steal. flat out. No could be in there for him. Ken Wilkins is not the most athletic kid but he has really good straight line speed, strong and has a great body. He is a really good looking strong side DE prospect. Ricardo Miller and Jerald Robinson are big time athletes. Rivals has a four-star on both and it is well earned. |
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Written by Duane Long
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Friday, 31 July 2009 11:56 |
Now that the excitement of landing a great prospect like James Louis is over it is time to look at the fallout. It is over Buckeye fans. I understand the angst. It is not without merit. I am saying you have to look at the big picture and the big picture tells us that Florida has a number of verbals and are in good standing with several others who are at least as good and could be better. It is easier to convince a kid who is on the fence to come your way than it is to soothe the ruffled feathers of a player who is committed to another school that has showed him the love. They are also looking at 17 verbals with only 3 linemen on both sides of the ball committed. They have the attention of several players you just don't say no to. Louis is ours, Buckeye fans. But I digress.
Coming down from the high of nailing a verbal from a great looking player, we see the number staring us in the face. We have 16 scholarships. Stop counting the ones we may get. You cannot recruit like that. We have 16 and are looking at 9 verbals. I threw out my list of players who I thought we would get. Someone was going to be left out when I made that post. Now we have a surprise verbal. We are getting uncomfortably close to needs only list. I see Christian Bryant as in. He will not make a verbal until later but we know he is coming. Chad Hagan is likely to make it official before the season starts. We wait until signing day for Jordan Hicks. That leaves 4 spots. I wanted 4 OLs in this class. That is not going to happen. I accepted that some time ago. I think we need 3 but we have to have 2. I will believe we only take 1 when I see it, so one spot for another OL. That leaves Ty Williams, a TE and Will Hagerup from my list. I think that is where we see a player dropped. Recent news has me leaning toward Ty Williams or TE.
Gary Hosteau's recent news was not what we wanted to hear on Williams test score but I can't believe that we would back off him this early. When a kid is having trouble making a test score you make a decision about him, wait or not to wait. I have to think a really special athlete at this position would have to emerge for us to back off. I think the staff sees a special talent who wants to be here and are not having to put alot of time into his recruitment. Little pressure from other schools on Williams. Drew Basil verballed. That would have been the time to end our recruitment of another punter/kicker. We still did not back off Hagerup. The staff has thus far refused to offer another tight end in this class but have rolled out the red carpet for 2011 tight end Ben Koyack. He is the one with the Buckeye offer. Tight end is where I think we see us shave off a scholarship.
I hope we are doing this again soon. It means that we have gotten Corey Brown. |
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Written by Duane Long
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Thursday, 30 July 2009 07:31 |
I was concerned when I first heard about James Louis commitment. I do not recall an offer to the kid. The first thing that hit my mind was, another off the board safety. Here we go. I was still surprised when I saw that he was listed as a flanker/slot or a corner. Not exactly need positions. When I saw the film I see why there was an offer. Special talent. Not surprised at all that there is such an offer list. A little puzzled that a kid with offers from Ohio State, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Miami and Tennessee is not a few notches higher in the Rivals rankings. He is an explosive player with great quickness. He is better on the ball than most inside receivers in the fact that he makes plays on the ball in the air. I like him after the catch. He has the instincts of a back once the ball is in his hands. I knew there were some real concerns about Chris Dunkley getting past admissions. Talk about a great fallback situation. He is even more versatile than Dunkley in the fact that he is big enough to be a corner. He seems to go at tackling with a passion. Other than grades my only concern about Dunkley is the size. He is listed as 5-10 165. The kid I see on film is not 5-10. Whether Dunkley is that big or not, Louis is just a more substantial looking kid. I don't know if Louis is a better receiver or cornerback. Most of the time there is something about a player that stands out. Something that makes him likely to play one position or another. I can't project Louis and that is at the top of my list of reasons I love this get. We are in good shape at corner and at flanker/slot. An elite kid who could step in and play at either is a coup as far as I'm concerned.
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Written by Duane Long
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Wednesday, 29 July 2009 11:24 |
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I have a friend that I communicate with regularly by e-mail. The friendship developed from our mutual love of the Buckeyes. He is actually a member of this community. He has something to say sometimes, and once he chimed in on the topic of this blog post over on Bucknuts so maybe he will come in on it again.
Do you enjoy watching the Buckeyes? Everyone that comes here is a Buckeye fan. If you were not a Buckeye fan would you watch the Buckeyes? Does the fun factor matter? I have no position on the matter. I am an old school smash mouth kinda guy. We have not been effective with it so far but if we were, I would be the staunchest defender you will find of our offense. It is not about the style for me. It is the lack of effectiveness. Being able to run right at people, run it right down there throats, is a highly effective way of playing the game of football. You tire the opposition out. You take their heart by just running it right at them. They know what you are going to do but can't do anything about it. That is very demoralizing. It saps your energy. Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." It saps clock. Hard to score when you don't have the ball. In my mind there is a brutal beauty to it when done effectively.
I know some do not agree with that and they have an argument. Forget about the Buckeyes. Look at sports in general. We watch sports to be entertained. We watch sports for the spectacular. I only watch SportsCenter in the off-season for the highlight films. I am no baseball fan. I call it basebore but I still like catching the great plays from the games from the preceding night.
There are fans out there, alot of them actually, who do watch to be entertained. They do not see the beauty in the old school game. The fan sitting in the stadium is one thing. He can stay home. Someone will fill that seat. For most of us the prettiest thing there is is a another notch in the win column. With the teenager who is sitting at home thinking about what school to go to, it matters a great deal. Kids want excitement. They want to be dazzled. We are seeing it with tight end recruiting right now. They don't want to play in this offense, and they are saying it openly. Does it matter if we are boring? It depends on who might be watching. So far I say it has had very little impact.
Where it really hurts is in national perception. We don't impress. We are in a period where the Big Ten is down. Outside of the conference too many people are ready to say we are overrated. The polls have some impact on the BCS system. That the people who vote are not impressed by us, that is where our style has the potoential to hurt us most. |
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Written by Duane Long
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Tuesday, 28 July 2009 11:27 |
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I have gone on rants about the quarterback recruiting template being broken, out of date, what have you. I know the way we recruit quarterbacks is just not working. This is not another rant about how we recruit quarterbacks. I reserve the right to go back to that issue but that is not what this is about. This blog post is about what is happening with the safety position. The classic safety is the best all-around athlete on the field. He is long and lean and athletic. He is 6-0 or better and in the 200 lb range like Adrian Wilson of the Cardinals and Kerry Rhodes of the Jets. Let me ask all of you. Put a list together in your minds. Who are the top 5 safeties in the NFL? I bet every list might have a few different names but I am sure that most every list would include Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu and Bob Sanders. None of them are over 5-9. I am not saying that there is no place in the game for the classic safeties. I am saying that we need to broaden the thinking on who can play safety. In the state of Ohio this year the 2 best safeties are corner sized. I don't see either of them, Christian Bryant from Glenville and Latwan Anderson also from Glenville being good candidates to play corner. Both are too aggressive. They would end up getting beat alot on pump fakes. Play action would leave them needing to show their makeup speed trying to run down their man after he catches the ball. They are both tacklers as well as hitters. LaMarcus Joyner is coming off a showing at Friday Night Lights that likely makes him the best corner in the country. His film shows him to be the best safety in the country too. I know he has the tools but why ask him to start learning how to cover at this stage when he is already such a dynamic playmaker at safety? He can have just as much an impact on the game from the safety position.If they were more classic size we would not be having this conversation. The NFL is where we see the best of the best play and right now the best of the best are guys about this size. |
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