06-23-2009, 07:33 PM
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Quote:
New Ohio State quarterback recruit shows Buckeyes still open to different styles
by Doug Lesmerises
Tuesday June 23, 2009
Scout.com
Taylor Graham, the sixth OSU oral pledge in the Class of 2010
With Terrelle Pryor leading the Buckeyes and rising high school junior Braxton Miller of Huber Heights looking like a future Buckeye, there was a time when I thought we might not see another pocket passer at Ohio State for a while.
Taylor Graham changes that.
The 6-foot-4 son of former Buckeyes Kent Graham gave an oral commitment to the Buckeyes on Monday, but only after a conversation with Jim Tressel that assured him that he fit into Ohio State's offense. He's much more Todd Boeckman than Pryor, and with the news that he's headed to Columbus, it's obvious the Buckeyes still have room for more than one style of quarterback.
"I just wanted to know if there committed to running a pro-style system that I ran, and they said they were," Taylor Graham said today. "I understand that I'm going to have to run. I understand that, and I'll do whatever it takes to get the first down. But I don't think my talents are best suited running the option. I think I'm a good dropback quarterback."
Graham understands what Tressel has always said - that he wants to do a little bit of everything with his offense and he's tweak the playcalling to fit the strengths of his quarterback.
But as the Buckeyes in the post-Pryor recruiting era chased quarterbacks like Tajh Boyd and Austin Boucher and Nick Montana, all quarterbacks that could do more than a little something with their legs, I thought true pocket passers might be done in Columbus.
Sure, Tressel would never go to an all spread-option attack. Pryor liked the fact that the OSU offense was diversified enough to prep him for the NFL, something he thought an all-spread team wouldn't do as well.
But I thought maybe Tressel had decided that he absolutely needed a quarterback who could really move, no matter the scheme. The Graham offer and commitment seems to indicate that Tressel is sticking to the plan he expressed in that past, that he always wanted different types of quarterbacks on his roster - Troy Smith and Justin Zwick, for example.
"That was the only potential hangup for Taylor and Ohio State," said Joe Wardnyski, Graham's high school coach in Wheaton, Ill. "I think Ohio State was his number one choice from the get-go, and his only reservation was thinking am I going to fit into what they want to do on the field? If he's not a good fit, he's not going to choose to go there. He talked with Coach Tressel and he was confident and he heard what he wanted to hear them."
And so a pocket passer is on the way.
"A lot of people think that Ohio State runs a lot of spread option kind of things, but I don't think they do," Graham said. "I think it's more a pro-style attack, and I think Terrelle Pryor is a pro-style quarterback that can just really run. And I want to become part of that."
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New Ohio State quarterback recruit shows Buckeyes still open to different styles - Ohio State Buckeyes Football & Basketball Blog (OSU) - cleveland.com
Quote:
QB Graham commits to Buckeyes
Ohio State didn't get the first second-generation quarterback it went after, but it just hauled in the second one. Taylor Graham, son of former OSU and NFL quarterback Kent Graham, committed this afternoon to be part of the Buckeyes' 2010 recruiting class.
OSU wanted at least one QB in the class, and when their first choice Nick Montana -- son of NFL legend Joe Montana -- picked Washington a couple of weeks ago, the Buckeyes started aiming at Andrew Hendrix of Cincinnati Moeller and Taylor Graham of Wheaton (North), Ill. Hendrix is expected to announce for Notre Dame any day now, but Graham still beat him to the punch in terms of making a choice.
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QB Graham commits to Buckeyes (Blogging the Buckeyes)
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I think we'll all be happy with him at QB. 
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