Analysis of the 2005 Recruiting Classes (mega-merge)

[jimotis4heisman]

http://www.dispatch.com/football/foo...01.html&chck=t

Recruiting 2005: Buckeyes gain options
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Tim May and Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Ohio State coach Jim Tressel just completed his 31 st signing day (20 th as a head coach), which means he’s experienced enough not to try and predict too much when discussing new recruits.

‘‘I was mentioning to you a year ago I thought Ted Ginn (Jr.) would come in and really help at corner," Tressel said, referring to his receiving and punt-returning wunderkind. ‘‘He did everything but play corner. . . . So I would say this: If there are 18 guys that step on the field for preseason that weren’t there last year, I’ll bet you half of them help in the 2005 year.

‘‘But I wouldn’t even pretend to know which half."

That’s where pundits and prognosticators come in. Dispatch beat writers Tim May and Ken Gordon will pretend to know:

QUICK HELP




Gordon :
My first reaction to Tressel’s comment is Jamario O’Neal may do this season what he thought Ginn would do last season: help immediately at corner. With Dustin Fox departing for the NFL and E.J. Underwood’s future clouded somewhat, O’Neal will have an opportunity to play right away, opposite Ashton Youboty. From all the reports, O’Neal could be special. So he’s my top vote-getter for ‘‘immediate impact guy." What do you say, Tim?



May :
Two words: Maurice Wells. Maybe the Buckeyes didn’t get the power back they were seeking, but don’t forget Erik Haw is already in the fold. You can already sense the coaches thinking of ways to get the ultra-fast and elusive Wells on the field as part of the Shot-Ginn formation. Ginn, Santonio Holmes, Wells and Anthony Gonzalez could be a 400-meter relay team if they so desired, but they likely will be the fastest four-player combination in the Big Ten next season.

A LOAD ON THE LINE




Gordon :
Alex Boone would be another obvious choice to make an impact in the fall. Suddenly, OSU is almost overloaded with offensive-line candidates. Some good players may not get on the field much, but Boone could be starting by year’s end. Also, don’t forget some of the defensive linemen. The Buckeyes may have some playing time up for grabs, particularly for a pass-rushing end. So I wouldn’t count out Doug Worthington or Lawrence Wilson or even Todd Denlinger seeing the field this fall. Any last thoughts before we get into rating this recruiting class in terms of needs filled?



May :
With Rob Sims a strong possibility to move down to a guard spot to take full advantage of his quick feet, I could see Boone moving into the two deep at tackle. But the coaches liked the progress of Steve Rehring and Kirk Barton at year’s end. The offensive line is stacked higher with depth than at any time in the Tressel era, because you better not sleep on Kyle Mitchum, Jon Skinner and Ben Person from the 2004 class. Still, newcomer Jim Cordle might have a shot to move into the two-deep at guard. Rob Carpenter, his high school coach at Lancaster and father of OSU linebacker Bobby Carpenter, consistently raves about Cordle’s quick feet and willingness to get out and hit somebody. That’s the ‘‘velocity and violence" combo the OSU coaches started to see from their front as last season ended. On defense, you pretty much covered it. But I think with Mike Kudla, Jay Richardson and Vernon Gholston returning at the ends along with others, there is going to be plenty of competition there, even in the spring.

MORE DEPTH IN BACKS




Gordon :
Obviously, Tressel and Co. wanted a second running back in this class. As you wrote in Friday’s Dispatch, with fewer visits and offers than normal, the staff took a ‘‘rifle" approach to recruiting rather than the ‘‘shotgun" method. You can debate the merits of that, I suppose. It’s noble not to offer too many guys and then have to pull back, but it leaves you open for criticism when you swing and miss on a guy like Jason Gwaltney and have no one else waiting in the on-deck circle. I thought it was an excellent class for defensive linemen and defensive backs. Linebacker will be a big priority next year, obviously, as OSU’s current top four linebackers are due to depart.



May :
As for the Gwaltney swing and miss, you’re rarely ever going to have another ‘‘five-star" running back on the B list. And to bring in a body just for a body, which they could have done, is stupid to do these days with the 85 scholarship limit. I was impressed by the way they kept receiver Brian Robiskie and receiver/DB Donald Washington on the line, because indications point to both of those fellows being quality players. You’re right about linebacker being a priority next year, but don’t forget: James Laurinaitis is the son of former professional wrestler ‘‘Animal," so there has to be a wild streak in there someplace; Austin Spitler by all accounts is a beast in Bellbrook clothing; and Fred Lenix — though small — might be the fastest person in the recruiting class. They see him as a possible Cie Grant type down the line.

PLAYERS TO WATCH




Gordon :
Man, you took my sleeper pick away from me! But I’ll go with him anyway. MVP of this class, Boone. Sleeper, Lenix. He’s small for a linebacker, so he may end up as a safety and a special-teams ace. But he’ll play somewhere simply because of his all-around athleticism.



May :
Sorry about that, Ken, especially because I don’t consider Lenix a sleeper. Players with superior speed always find the field. As for MVP, Worthington intrigues me. He might be from a small private school in western New York, but that school played against great competition, including a win over Cleveland St. Ignatius last season and a loss to Cincinnati Xavier. He’s 6 feet 7, considered powerful, and yet he’ll still be 17 when school starts in the fall. In other words, he’s still growing. As for a sleeper, QB Rob Schoenhoft gets my vote, primarily because there is no pressure on him to play early, now that the Buckeyes have four scholarship QBs. But any kid who has to be told to throw the ball a little softer so his teammates can catch it deserves to be on the watch list. If nothing else, he’ll add some pizazz to pregame warm-ups.



tmay@dispatch.com kgordon@dispatch.com

[BB73]

I decided to look at how many truly fast athletes each of the highly rated 2005 recruiting classes had, and where they got them from. (It beat watching 4 hours of Fox Super Bowl pre-game).

I've listed the number of players for each team in Scout's top-25 2005 rankings, who were listed at Scout.com as having a 40-time UNDER 4.50. I'm doing this because the line had to be drawn somewhere, and I'm only using Scout.com's 40-times in order to have the same source for all. I'm also showing what state the player is from (in the case of a JC, I used the original home state if available).

A few disclaimers -

I know speed alone doesn't make a player. Guys still need to have football skills, like being able to hang onto the ball or make tackles.

I know this excludes Freddie Lenix from tOSU's class, and that he's truly fast and has a 4.47 time on Rivals. Use that fact to feel better about tOSU's class, but most top teams probably have someone in a similar situation.

I know that overall team speed is helped by 4.9 tackles and 4.55 LB's, who aren't factored into this at all, because that gets somewhat subjective and complicated by potential position changes.

Rank..Team......under 4.50...from states
01.....Tennessee.......2.........TN, NC
02.....TSUN..............5.........MI, OH, OH, CA, CA
03.....Florida State....5.........FL, FL, NJ, SC, TX
04.....Georgia...........3.........FL, FL, FL
05.....OKlahoma........1.........SC
06.....USC................2........CA, CA
07.....tOSU..............4.........OH, OH, FL, IN
08.....Iowa...............3........OH, OH, PA
09.....Cal.................3.........CA, CA, CA
10.....Nebraska.........4.........FL, TX, WA, AK (Alaska)
11.....Florida............3..........FL, NY, TX
12.....Miami..............1.........FL
13.....Texas.............3.........TX, TX, TX
14.....Arizona...........1.........AZ
15.....Virginia...........5..........VA, VA, NJ, NY, PA
16.....Alabama..........0.........
17.....Texas A&M......7.........TX, TX, TX, TX, TX, TX, LA
18.....Va Tech..........4.........VA, GA, NC, NJ
19.....S. Carolina.......5.........SC, FL, FL, GA, WA
20.....LSU................1.........LA
21.....Clemson..........2.........SC, FL
22.....Auburn............3.........FL, GA, LA
23.....N.C. State.......5.........NC, NC, NC, NC, SC
24.....UCLA..............2.........CA, CA
25.....Maryland.........5.........MD, MD, MD, NJ, NJ

Just using the top-25 classes above, here are totals by state:

FL - 13
TX - 12
CA - 09
OH - 06
NC - 06
NJ - 05
SC - 05
GA - 03
LA - 03
MD - 03
VA - 03
NY - 02
PA - 02
WA - 02
AK - 01
AZ - 01
IN - 01
MI - 01
TN - 01

Total - 79

Interesting that Miami and Oklahoma each only have 1 player timed under 4.50. Also, all of Georgia's speedsters are from Florida this year, but NC St. got all 5 of their fastest guys from the Carolinas. Only 4 of the 13 Florida guys went to the Big 3 (Miami, FSU, Florida).

FYI, the Ohio guys on this list are Hartline and O'Neal, plus TSUN's Harrison and Manningham, and Iowa's Stross and Rowell.

I will add the other Big-10 teams on another post later, but the Super Bowl is finally kicking off!

[SHAKES2003]

That cracks me up what they said about Schoenhoft having to throw the ball softer to allow the recievers to catch it. Sean got the same speech from his coach this year. Schoenhoft sounds like he's definitely going to be a player to watch in the years to come.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

SCOUT FREE LINK

Ohio State always has a one of the best recruiting classes in the country and ’05 is no exception. This Buckeye recruiting class is led by Alex Boone (right, OL). Alex is a U.S. Army All-American and one of the top tackles in the entire country. Jamario O’Neal was also a U.S. Army All-American and he could help the Bucks on either side of the football. Cleveland-Glenville linebacker Freddie Lenix is extremely underrated. Lenix is a tremendous athlete that could end up playing running back for Ohio State. Rob Schoenhoft is an “Elite 11” quarterback with an extremely strong arm. Akron’s Lawrence Wilson originally committed to Notre Dame but signed with Ohio State.

According to Scout.com:

1. SEC
2. ACC
3. PAC 10
4. BIG 10
5. BIG 12
6. BIG East

[ScarletInMyVeins]

anyone know where we ranked nationally? I haven't seen anything yet.... okay so I haven't really looked either

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

#7 By Scout.com and #12 by Rivals.com