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2018 tOSU Recruiting Discussion

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The 2018 recruiting cycle brought about some changes to the landscape with the advent of the early signing period in mid-December.

For the first time ever, prospects could lock in their college choices before the holidays by signing letters of intent. That historic early signing period began on Dec. 20, 2017. On that day, OSU received letters of intent from 20 players in what became a 26-man class by the time of the standard signing day in February 2018.

Nobody knew it at the time, but this would also be coach Urban Meyer’s last class he would sign as the Ohio State coach. Meyer would cite health issues in announcing his retirement at the end of a turbulent 2018 season, turning the program over to top assistant Ryan Day in December 2018.

There was plenty of star power in this 2018 class with 13 of the players judged among the national top 100 in the 247Sports Composite rankings. That group was led by Florida OL Nicholas Petit-Frere (ranked seventh nationally), Virginia DL Taron Vincent (ranked 20th), Florida DB Tyreke Johnson (21st), Ohio APB Jaelen Gill (30th) and Ohio DE Tyreke Smith (34th).

The class ended up ranked No. 2 nationally, trailing only Georgia in the composite rankings. It marked the eighth straight year Ohio State had a class in the top 10 as well as the sixth top-five class in seven years under Meyer.
 
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I was looking at the 2018 recruiting class which was ranked #2 in the nation: https://247sports.com/college/ohio-state/Season/2018-Football/Commits/

1) There were a some big time "hits", i.e. Nicholas Petit-Frere, Jeremy Ruckert, Tommy Togai, & Chris Olave.

2) In addition to Togai, there were some solid defensive linemen, but injuries held back some of them: Taron Vincent, Teradja Mitchell, Tyler Friday, Antwaun Jackson, and Javontee Jean-Baptiste

3) There were also some "misses" including these guys that just transferred: Tyreke Johnson, Jaelen Gill, Brian Sneed, Max Wray, L'Christain Smith, Dallas Grant, K'Vaughan Pope, Matthew Baldwin, and Alex Williams. Some were actually good players that just couldn't get the playing time that they wanted so they left. If they leave they're no longer contributing to the team so I consider them a "miss".

When 9 out of 26 recruits transfer, you really don't have the #2 recruiting class; which shows (what we all know) these recruiting rankings aren't all that they are cracked up to be.
 
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ScriptOhio said:


The 2018 recruiting cycle brought about some changes to the landscape with the advent of the early signing period in mid-December.

For the first time ever, prospects could lock in their college choices before the holidays by signing letters of intent. That historic early signing period began on Dec. 20, 2017. On that day, OSU received letters of intent from 20 players in what became a 26-man class by the time of the standard signing day in February 2018.

Nobody knew it at the time, but this would also be coach Urban Meyer’s last class he would sign as the Ohio State coach. Meyer would cite health issues in announcing his retirement at the end of a turbulent 2018 season, turning the program over to top assistant Ryan Day in December 2018.

There was plenty of star power in this 2018 class with 13 of the players judged among the national top 100 in the 247Sports Composite rankings. That group was led by Florida OL Nicholas Petit-Frere (ranked seventh nationally), Virginia DL Taron Vincent (ranked 20th), Florida DB Tyreke Johnson (21st), Ohio APB Jaelen Gill (30th) and Ohio DE Tyreke Smith (34th).

The class ended up ranked No. 2 nationally, trailing only Georgia in the composite rankings. It marked the eighth straight year Ohio State had a class in the top 10 as well as the sixth top-five class in seven years under Meyer.
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The class ended up being pretty bad in the end. So far the only recruits to produce in college: Olave, Ruckert, Togiai, NPF, and Matthew Jones. Mitchell has produced for half of a year, and the rest have done next to nothing. 5.5 players out of 26 is not a very good class. I know recruiting is a crap shoot, and you can't predict injuries, but some guys just seemed to peak in HS, or didn't step up in level of competition. Contrast that with the 2017 class which had 12 out of 21 guys produce in their careers. And even 11 of 24 in 2016.
 
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ScriptOhio said:
When 9 out of 26 recruits transfer, you really don't have the #2 recruiting class; which shows (what we all know) these recruiting rankings aren't all that they are cracked up to be.
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Rankings are, by their nature, relative. How can you say it wasn't really the second best class unless you know what happened to other schools classes?

What's the criteria you use to retro grade a recruiting class? Transfers? NFL draft picks? Multi year college starters?
 
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The recruiting rankings continue to be an inexact Science. I have come to the realization that it isn't just about finishing #1, but u have to continue to fill holes and find good fits for your program as well as project further out bc of the portal and early NFL departures.......along with being up in that top 5 consistently helps. More margin of error for misses and projects. Guys do flame out and not live up to their rankings, but there is also a reason we keep seeing the same teams in the CFP discussion every season.

Building depth at certain positions, especially in the trenches is what will keep OSU in the CFP discussion every year. Bama has done an unbelievable job in this area every year, although they look vulnerable in pass pro this year compared to years past.

OSU will continue to recruit the skill positions well in Day's system and with Hartline as WR coach. I also think they will continue to get a couple of really highly touted guys on the DL if LJ sticks around for a few more years. I feel next year is going to be a make or break year for the secondary (Coombs, or whomever else it is) coaches to bring in some high-caliber shutdown corners and for Stud and the OL to see if he can re-stock the high-end talent and elevate some of the projects to become solid contributors.
 
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When 9 out of 26 recruits transfer, you really don't have the #2 recruiting class; which shows (what we all know) these recruiting rankings aren't all that they are cracked up to be.
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I wish one of the services would provide info on where kids ended up - particularly with the new transfer rules. (247 helps by allowing you to click the players name and find out where they are playing now)

As for the case that OSU might not have had the #2 class in 2018, the #1 team that year was Georgia.

The crown jewel of their class? Justin Fields

And FWIW, their #6 player is with Tennessee. #7 is with Florida. #10 with Illinois. #12 with Ole' Miss. #15 with North Texas. #16 with UCF. (Several others are now in the NFL and I didn't research to see if they transferred to another college team before being drafted. But we all know of at least one who did.)

So perhaps I missed your point. Are you arguing that we had the #1 class?

(Fields, BTW, is the top ranked recruit ever signed by Georgia.)
 
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