An Ohio State Perspective on Recruiting

[OhioStateFan]

Greetings Ducks Fans...

First... I'm not a troll... and I apologize for the OSU punk-ass-kids who were trolling your site around the time of "The Game". They make me sick too.

Second... I'll root for the PAC-12 when they are not playing the BIG10 and we are ALL tired of hearing SEC every year.

I just wanted to run some recruiting thoughts by some of you

First... today... OSU announced the signing of the #3 Running Back in the country to the 2016 class:
http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Article/ ... -223615817

If you cannot see this link... here's the scoop:

North Ridgeville (Ohio) High Top50 running back Demario McCall has committed to Ohio State, he tells 247Sports.

The Buckeyes led the entire process for McCall, the No. 3 ranked running back in the country according to 247Sports.

"It felt like home man, every time I come here it's all love and like they say there's no place like home," McCall said.

Ohio State's class in 2016 just got more dynamic with McCall joining the country's No. 1 running back and No. 4 running back in Kareem Walker and George Hill.


This means that Ohio State has the #1, #3 and #4 Running Backs in the country for the 2016 class... which even I think is a bit much... given the fact that we have a load full of underclassmen already (see the TURNOVERS from the GAME - all underclassmen).

So... now the Ohio State Recruiting class has moved up to #4:
http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Footba ... amRankings

Team Ranks - 2016 Recruiting.PNG

But that's deceiving as the teams above Ohio State just have more players committed... not better players. Believe it or not... Ohio State has not offered any 3-star recruits... and the AVERAGE player ranking is the highest in the country at 94.69. It appears that Ohio State is headed towards a #1 recruiting class. Ohio state is pursuing many of the 5-star recruits from all over the country... and of course... most elite players in Ohio.

Of course... most programs in the country are built around 3-star athletes... and in many cases... these guys can be developed into elite football players... in some programs... or maybe they were just underrated to start with. I know from following college football for decades that many high school football players from the Great Lakes area are underrated compared to players in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. I also know that teams can win Championships with 3-star players (Michigan State if full of them).

Here's a chart that you have probably seen showing how some football programs are deemed to develop talent:
http://regressing.deadspin.com/chart-wh ... 1640831522

I think that Ohio State will move up... straight up... above Alabama... and off the chart for this year... as the chart was from late 2014.

And here's few charts that show where the playoff teams get their players:
http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/in ... a_sta.html

Oregon - 6 from Oregon - 18 from California - 2 from Ohio
Florida State - 5 each from Alabama and Georgia - 28 from Florida
Alabama - 16 from Alabama - 11 from Georgia - 5 each from Texas and Florida
Ohio State - 30 from Ohio - and 2 or 3 from a few other states

Recruiting by State - Oregon.PNG

Recruiting by State - Ohio State.PNG

As you can see... Ohio State depends heavily on Home Grown (Ohio) football players... more so than almost all other schools.

Why is this? Well Ohio is only 7th in population... but when it comes to putting high school football players in Division I programs... Ohio is up there with Florida, Texas and California.

Since there is only ONE "power five" university in Ohio... Ohio State should get the cream of the crop every year. Of course... Michigan and Michigan state are also heavy in Ohio players... as are most Big10 programs.

For the past few decades... we've been screaming at the coaching staffs for not landing all of the elite Ohio guys. Some staffs just weren't able to get it done. We also screamed at Urban Meyer for coaching in Florida! Now we're not screaming very much... just eager to see how things go from now on.

So Urban Meyer's goal is to land as many elite Ohio recruits as possible and supplement them with elite players from other states. So if Meyer is going for 4 and 5-star players... you would think that there will be a void in the demand for 3-star Ohio guys.

There was an article on Cleveland.com on Breaking Bama where Nick Saban has started to recruit heavily in Ohio... but I'm not sure that many Ohio guys are going to be more impressed with Alabama than Ohio State... or be willing to go to the dark side.

So my point is... why does the Oregon Ducks staff not pursue more Ohio guys? It seems that this year would be a good year to do it.. with more availability of 3-star Ohio Guys who Ohio State has not offered... yet. I would rather see Oregon get more Ohio guys than Alabama...!

[OhioStateFan]

These are charts that I could not attach above - 3 file limit...

Recruiting by State - Alabama.PNG

Recruiting by State - Florida State.PNG

Recruiting by State - 4 Playoff Teams.PNG

[OhioStateFan]

Finally... the last chart...

Expected and Realized Talent iv.png

[Phenom]

Great post. We have gotten Stanford and Brown from Ohio lately and they've both been good contributors. I do think we should recruit there as our rainy weather won't be a detriment there since Ohio weather is much worse.

[greenyellow]

I think a big reason Oregon doesn't recruit there is because of Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and just about every other Midwest school going there already. Getting only one or two when other areas can get them 4-5 using the same or less travel and time resources makes Ohio not as attractive of an area. I have a feeling that since they haven't really been able to crack that area that decided to focus on non-traditional recruiting areas where they've at least pulled a kid or two in the past.

Another overlooked factor has been Oregon's recruiting penalties. They've been limited in the amount of official visits they can use the past couple seasons (luckily this is the last recruiting cycle with penalties) so have been real judicious about which players come out. If Oregon had their full allotment of visits, you'd probably see them take a few kids from more far-flung areas with even only a hint of interest just to take a shot in the dark with them. But with only 38 visits, they've really only been bringing in kids on visits if they feel interest in genuine and they have at least a 50% shot at landing their commitment. I think the 2017 class will be a bit more telling on if Oregon is willing to trip even long-shot recruits for visits or they stick with their methods they've used the past couple classes.

[OhioStateFan]

Didn't know about the penalties...! I'm in consulting... so I spend a lot of time outside of the US.

It's true what you say about BIG10 schools recruiting in Ohio... but look at the number of California schools competing in California... and the number of out of state programs like Oklahoma and Nebraska competing in Texas... not to mention the new wave powers like TCU and Baylor. Poor Texas (University of)... the Longhorns have fallen of of the pace.

I still think that there will be a surplus of 3-star Ohio guys in 2016 and 2017 who would have been recruited by Ohio state... due to OSU focusing on 4 and 5-star players... and I think that Michigan State, Wisconsin and Penn State will benefit... but so will Indiana or Purdue. I'd rather see them go to a good program than basement BIG10 teams.

I still see stories about Nick Saban hitting Ohio every week on OSU recruiting sites... but I just can't see Ohio guys going to the dark side. We're not big SEC fans up here. I spent all of January 1st in 2 sports bars and no one was cheering for the SEC... or ACC either... lots of cheers for the Ducks. If Bama would have beat OSU... we would have certainly pulled for Oregon en mass.

This will be an interesting year. Too bad you can't recruit and then make trades like the NFL or NBA. I would give up a Running Back or two for an elite Linebacker or two. We don't have a Spielman, AJ Hawk, Katzemoyer or Gradisher now... so we made a new position and turned a hybrid LB/DB (Darron Lee) into a SLB... and it worked out pretty good and allowed some defensive schemes that we didn't have before.

On Offense... it was more challenging.

The O-Line that was supposed to replace 4 NFL players didn't work very well... and some of these guys were Meyer recruits. They just didn't play well as a unit... and the coaches had to experiment before finding the right group.

Then the coaching staff spends all year developing plays based on talent... and then they had to purge the playbook twice. When Miller went down... they removed 80% of the plays for TJ Barrett. Then they added plays every week... and when Barrett went down... it was the same deal for Jones. We beat Wisconsin with 8 different plays... added a few more specifically for Bama... then ditched them and added a few more for Oregon.

That was a pretty good result for a team of underclassmen playing with a limited playbook... but we can't wait to see what they can do this year with a full offense that utilizes the talent better... and some new additions to the defensive line and LBs.

I would not mind seeing the Ducks with Braxton Miller at QB... but Meyer keeps insisting that the best of the three will be the starter... and that he still sees Miller as a QB... not a RB or WR. Miller can pass and he's a 1,000 yard rusher.... Barrett is a great passer and was tied with Mariota at 44 TDs when he went down... and Jones is just a beast... but he's never run 80% of the plays with the first team.

Miller is not going to make a living as a QB in the NFL... so what should he do? Play for the Ducks (hate to see him at Bama or LSU)... or change positions at Ohio State?

Spartans win... BIG10 looking good in hoops.

[greenyellow]

I doubt the Ducks go after Miller with them getting Vernon Adams from Eastern Washington. He may not have the accolades or experience at the FBS level that Miller has but has shown he can compete against Pac-12 level teams (albeit bottom-feeders) with a FCS roster. With what he'll have at Oregon compared to EWU, he'll be more than fine if he can pick up the playbook and show he can make the throws needed in the offense.

[lukeyrid13]

In an interview that Adams did he said that the Ducks coaches were after him(Adams) and if he passed then they had another graduate transfer that they were targeting. Obviously that was presumed to be Braxton, but I think with the Ducks getting VA that the Miller ship has sailed.

[woundedknees]

With the potential of NCAA violations currently surrounding Miller, I doubt Oregon would still be interested.