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Analysis of the 2005 Recruiting Classes (mega-merge)

Tedford has done an outstanding job in recruiting...he's getting quite a few juco guys in this years class...and they can flat out play(top recruits out of HS). Oregon will be a tough game in Eugene, it is for every team it seems...

I just don't see Cal being able to replace what they lose on the DL and Rodgers and Ariington, plus losing their top-4 wr's will be too much to overcome...Plus, the 2005 SC team will without a doubt be Pete Carroll's best.

I won't ever worry about ASU as long as Koetter is there coach.

That being said, I have no clue how teams might surprisingly come together....I just don't see any potential tough games as of now.

btw DeSean Jackson will be catching passes for SC next fall.
 
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BGriffBuckeye said:
AZ St has to replace Andrew Walter, and I am not sure who they had backing him up.
Sam Keller had a solid bowl game for Az St against Purdue. 25-45 for 370 yards with 3 TDs.

I agree with you about Marshawn Lynch, he could be a real stud at Cal.
 
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CaboWabo said:
I just don't see Cal being able to replace what they lose on the DL and Rodgers and Ariington, plus losing their top-4 wr's will be too much to overcome...Plus, the 2005 SC team will without a doubt be Pete Carroll's best.
This may be a little off topic, so my apologies -

Cal already have a guy on campus, Marshawn Lynch, who will fill in just fine in place of Arrington. You're correct though, you don't lose an 1800 yard back and just move on like nothing happened. Maybe some of Arrington's success was owing to defenses worrying about where Rodgers was going to throw. Lynch won't have that same luxuary. But, that aside, Lynch is very very good. Can he carry a team? I don't know. He may be asked to next season, considering all the loses Cal will be replacing on the O.

Still, Cal has had either 3 or 4 straight years - I think it's 3 - with a 1,000 yard Back. They've also been producing some decent QB's of late. I don't think they'll be on par with USC, don't get me wrong.
 
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Class Grade/National Best position classes

I do this every year so here goes-my thoughts on the Buckeyes recruiting at each position and a grade for the job done, plus, IMHO, the best collective position group signed nationally

The Buckeyes
QB-Schoenhoft They needed one. They got an Ohio kid w/ a rocket arm who camped at the Elite 11. Can't ask for more. A+

RB-Mo Wells Wells is great, but they needed one more quality back. B- job overall. If Anderson Russell turns into a stud, I'll give them an A

WR-Hartline, Washington, Amos, Robiskie All kids w/ great potential-Amos and Hartline sound scary good w/ their skills-hopefully production will match. A

TE-Coulda used one,IMO, but the staff didn't think so. Incomplete

OL-Cordle,Boone Boone will be a AA, Cordle is getting more positive reviews than any other OL Tressel has recruited besides Boone. I'll give them a B+ because they obviously wanted more than 2 guys, given that they had 3 commits. Good job of just waiting for next year, tho, if there wasn't anyone else they really thought would fit their needs instate. B+

DL-Worthington,Wilson,Denlinger,Williams Keep the pipeline filled w/ studs. A+

LB-Spitler, Laurinaitis, Lenix Solid group, Lenix might be a Rohan Marley/Demorio Williams type. Needed another stud OLB,IMO. B/B-

DB-O'Neal, Jenkins, Russell This grade really dpends on A-if O'Neal is da shizznit right away, and B-if Amos or Hartline switch over and become studs.
B+ for right now

Overall-B+, w/ an admitted asterisk for the Mo C mess. It really would have been nice to see another RB and OLB. Can't criticize talent, only #'s

Best position classes in the nation

QB-LSU No one signed more than one stud QB this year, so you might as well go w/ the school who signed the biggest stud. Give credit to USC for getting Sanchez with gobs of talent in front of him.

RB-Nebraska Marlon Lucky, Leon Jackson, Cody Glenn As much talent as anyone else signed at the RB position. Lucky's grades are shaky, but he might be the #1 back in the nation. The other 2 guys are Top 20 types for their position nationally.

WR-?? Again, no one signed a boatload of super stud receivers-press clipping wise. Florida-David Nelson, Nyan Boateng and FSU-Fred Rouse and (I'm sure) a speedy supporting cast have great classes. USC could be #1 if they get DeSean Jackson to go w/ Turner

TE- Miami-DajLeon Farr and A&M-Martellus Bennett signed the 2 best in the country

OL-Iowa Doering,Richardson, a stud from Minnesota-name escapes me Raphael something, plus a few more guys

DL-USC Walker Ashley,Averrell Spicer,Kyle Moore-all Top 100 types, plus the #1 JUCO DT in the nation. OSU and Oklahoma could make a case also.

LB-USC Cushing,Maualuga, and Luther Brown each could make a case for being the best LB in the nation. Did I mention I hate USC.......

DB-Again, kind of a crap shoot Miami-Kenny and Randy Phillips, Oklahoma-Reggie smith-#1 or 2 DB in the country, USC-3 very good ones could make an argument. No clear cut winner
 
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stx, I am gonna argue with you a little on the D-line on one point: the players we got are OUTSTANDING, however that's 3 DE's and only one DT. Granted, one of the DE's could move over, but as of right now I'd have to reserve the A+ for one more stud DT, and drop that to "just" an A. :)

Then again, maybe I'm being a hard grader. :biggrin: Of course, I would also rate the RB position a little higher. Mo Wells is going to be awesome, and I think the "need" for a big back in this class is mitigated a little by the possiblity of Beanie Wells being in the '06 class. Give Tress and the boys at least a B+ if not an A- for pulling MW out of Florida and beating Ol' Petey, would ya? :p

I'm with you on the rest of your grades, though. Good work. :)
 
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The Dispatches Take on '05

http://www.dispatch.com/football/football.php?story=dispatch/2005/02/03/20050203-D1-00.html

Buckeyes end with splash
Akron lineman completes OSU’s recruiting class
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Jim Tressel kept asking whether the fax was in.

Everyone present knew Ohio State had just capped its recruiting season on a high note with the signing of highly rated defensive end Lawrence Wilson of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. But per NCAA rules, Tressel couldn’t talk about him until the school received a faxed copy of his national letter of intent.

The formal news conference came and went, and Tressel was holding court with a small group when offensive coordinator Jim Bollman walked up to him and whispered, "It’s here."

Tressel smiled and said loudly enough so everyone in the room could hear: "Lawrence Wilson is a Buckeye."

Not that Wilson’s choice sent a shockwave through the recruiting world, though Notre Dame and Florida probably were disappointed. But it was good news for the Buckeyes not only because he became the 18 th and final member of the class of 2005, but because it showed they could land a prospect on the final day.

They had been left hanging by two prized recruits in the previous 24 hours. Running back Jason Gwaltney of North Babylon, N.Y., on Tuesday picked West Virginia over Ohio State and Southern California. Defensive tackle Walker Ashley of Eden Prairie, Minn., chose Southern Cal over Ohio State and Minnesota yesterday morning.

Even with several blue-chip prospects already signed, including offensive lineman Alex Boone of Lakewood St. Edward, running back Maurice Wells of Jacksonville, Fla.; defensive back Jamario O’Neal of Cleveland Glenville; and defensive end Doug Worthington of Athol Springs (N.Y.) St. Francis, the Buckeyes wanted to finish with a flourish. It is a class that includes 11 in-state players.

"We always talk about finishing plays, and finishing seasons, and finishing bowl games, and that’s huge for us," Tressel said.

So they finished by signing Wilson, considered the 12 th-best weakside defensive end prospect in the country by Rivals.com and ninthbest overall prospect in the state by Ohio Football Recruiting News. Wilson said he didn’t make up his mind until 2 p.m. yesterday after a talk with his parents, when they revealed they wouldn’t mind seeing him go to Ohio State, where his brother Eugene is a business student.

Then he kept the secret for another 100 minutes before announcing it on ESPNews from a remote studio set up in an Akron newspaper office. That’s when he said he felt the impact of an in-state kid picking Ohio State.

"The people there in the newsroom, they all just erupted with cheers and applause," he said. "It was a great feeling."

The Ohio State coaches cheered then, too, and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. This recruiting season had been different, because not only did they have to answer questions about their offense, defense, business school and weight-room expansion plans, they had to deal with questions about NCAA probation.

The school and the NCAA have been conducting an investigation in the wake of allegations that were made by former running back Maurice Clarett in ESPN The Magazine in November and that have been mentioned on ESPN since. No findings have been revealed.

Tressel said he and his assistants were as forthright as could be with prospects. He also said they stopped short of saying nothing is going to happen because "no school can say, ‘Hey, Johnny, I promise you in the next four years there won’t be any problems at my school.’ You can’t make that promise."

Despite that cloud, the Buckeyes still pulled in what the recruiting services are rating to be a top 10 or 15 class, though the experts will wait awhile to make their final rankings.

"They might have missed out on a couple of guys down the stretch, but they got some guys in Jamario O’Neal and Doug Worthington and (quarterback) Rob Schoenoft and Maurice Wells and Alex Boone who are considered among the top 10 in the country at their particular positions," analyst Bill Kurelic said. "This is a very strong class."

[email protected]
http://www.dispatch.com/football/football.php?story=dispatch/2005/02/03/20050203-D1-03.html
ANALYSIS
Key to Ohio State’s success was its early commitments
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Ohio State football coaches are like squirrels gathering nuts. When the weather is warm, they scurry busily around, stockpiling tasty morsels.

Then when the cold winds blow and the pickings get slim, they don’t fear going hungry.

Fans and recruitniks pay inordinate attention to how schools do in landing commitments in January. There’s a lot of talk about how a team "closes," as if there is a save to nail down in the recruiting game-within-a-game.

And it can be argued that OSU has not dazzled in recent years with high-profile eleventh-hour commitments.

But to denigrate the Buckeyes’ closing is to ignore how well they open, for lack of a better term. And there is no better example of this than the 2005 class announced yesterday.

The two top players in the class — offensive lineman Alex Boone of Lakewood St. Edward and cornerback Jamario O’Neal of Cleveland Glenville — committed in 2003.

O’Neal’s decision was announced in February 2003, before he had finished his sophomore school year.

"That was huge," coach Jim Tressel said of O’Neal’s commitment. "You knew he was going to be a great one. And a guy like Alex Boone, who everyone in America had on the top of the offensive linemen board, for him to be on board so quickly, I think that’s obviously a great boost to establishing a great recruiting class."

O’Neal is lauded as a stellar athlete, good-sized for a corner (6 feet 1, 180 pounds) and fast (4.4-second time in the 40-yard dash). Boone is that rarest of commodities: a manmountain (6-8, 315) who can move, the earmark of a star left tackle.

It’s a bit of a stretch, but it can almost be said that Ohio State could have signed O’Neal, Boone and 16 average Joes and still had a decent recruiting class.

In the end, the Buckeyes landed six players that Rivals.com ranked in the top 10 nationally at their positions: O’Neal, Boone, quarterback Rob Schoenhoft, offensive lineman Jimmy Cordle, running back Maurice Wells and defensive end Doug Worthington.

Of those six, five committed by last September. Wells announced in January.

So when a player such as running back Jason Gwaltney, linebacker Rico McCoy or defensive lineman Walker Ashley chose to go elsewhere in recent weeks, it’s probably wise for Buckeyes fans to remember pre-September.

"This happens every year," recruiting analyst Bill Kurelic said. "People forget how highly recruited some of the players were that committed early."

Kurelic mentioned Schoenhoft, of Cincinnati St. Xavier, who Tressel practically drooled over yesterday, calling him "special."

"He had offers from Michigan and many others," Kurelic said. "Had he waited until now to commit to Ohio State, it would have been huge news."

It’s a good thing Ohio State landed some good early commitments. With the NCAA investigation and other negatives swirling around the program from November on, coaches had to work hard to keep their committed kids in the fold, let alone land more stars.

They did well to limit defections to one (lineman Kevin Bemoll of Mission Viejo, Calif.) and still land some late plums such as Wells and defensive end Lawrence Wilson.

Former Ohio State recruiting coordinator Bill Conley recalled several stellar Buckeyes who committed early, including offensive tackles Korey Stringer and Orlando Pace and linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer.

Said Tressel: "Sometimes, if you don’t get a guy or two at the end, it overshadows the extraordinary guys you got at the beginning."

It shouldn’t.

[email protected]
http://www.dispatch.com/football/football.php?story=dispatch/2005/02/03/20050203-D7-03.html
OSU NOTEBOOK
Center will start school early
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Ken Gordon and Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


The player who might be in line to replace Nick Mangold at center in 2006 will get an early start to his Ohio State career.

Incoming freshman Jim Cordle of Lancaster will enroll for spring quarter and participate in spring practice, coaches announced yesterday.

Lancaster coach Rob Carpenter said Cordle finished his high-school coursework in December but has not officially graduated. Cordle could not be reached for comment.

Cordle is the only member of this year’s recruiting class to enroll early, but others who did in the past have earned significant early playing time.

"I think in the past it has helped," offensive coordinator and line coach Jim Bollman said. "It gives someone a chance to learn some things in the heat of the battle."

Bollman projects Cordle as a center because he played there early in his high-school career.

"You don’t get a lot of guys of his caliber who have grown up as centers," Bollman said. "A lot of times, you’re teaching guys (the position)."

Short on backs


It’s no secret the Buckeyes were targeting two running backs in this year’s recruiting class. They came up one short, landing Maurice Wells but missing on Jason Gwaltney.

Now, Ohio State has just three scholarship tailbacks: sophomore Antonio Pittman, redshirt freshman Erik Haw and Wells.

"It’s going to be a top priority for next year, for sure," coach Jim Tressel said.

Several signees penciled in for defensive duty played running back in high school, including Anderson Russell and Freddie Lenix.

But running backs coach Dick Tressel said that barring injury, he would prefer to stick with the present trio and not move someone just to be the fourth-string back.

Schoenhoft admirer


Rob Schoenhoft of Cincinnati Xavier, the only quarterback in the class, is considered a diamond in the rough. But the coach of defensive end Doug Worthington from St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, N.Y., said Schoenhoft shined the day Xavier beat St. Francis 27-0 last season.

"He was the difference in our game," Jerry Smith said. "He made four big throws that enabled them to win the game. All four resulted in points. He definitely has a big-time arm."

Where are they now ?


Jim Tressel confirmed that two current players — defensive back E.J. Underwood and defensive tackle Brandon Maupin — are suspended while they take care of personal matters.

Freshman receiver Albert Dukes is not in school this winter and is back home in Belle Glade, Fla. He is preparing for a hearing later this month on a charge of lewd and lascivious battery brought against him by a minor female for an incident that occurred last summer.

He has been told to concentrate on his legal situation. After that, Tressel said, they would talk about his future with the team.



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[email protected]

http://www.dispatch.com/football/football.php?story=dispatch/2005/02/03/20050203-D1-04.html
Thursday, February 03, 2005
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Thursday, February 03, 2005
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TWO BUCKEYES
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AROUND THE B10
Thursday, February 03, 2005
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BTownBuck said:
As much as I hate to say it, you have to consider scUM for a top DL as well. They got a few 4* and 5* types.
Germany and McKinney are both big time, agreed. However, both seem to be academic problems/headcases-we shall see. The big kid from Philly is a stud but A-could very well play O-line, and B-has horrendous grades.
 
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