Building a good football team

There are four areas that make the difference in football. Quarterback, defensive end, defensive tackle and the offensive line. We are so focused on the skill positions but it is the four areas that will tell how good a football team, at whatever level that you have. Be solid in these areas and every year your opponents will look down their schedules and say, that is going to be a tough game. Just how well has JT done in there areas.

Quarterback - B+. I know I am going to get feedback that that is too high. Well, I almost gave an A. Two factors determine most recruiting races. Love of school and NFL success. We have no NFL success but the bigger problem is the lack of homegrown talent. The overwhelming majority of kids who grow up loving a school grew up in that state. Ohio is not producing homegrown talent. I know the argument is going to come back around to the MAC showing so much success. I think we need to overhaul the quarterback recruiting template but that is for another blog. Right now the template is what it is and those kids ended up in the MAC because no other Big Ten programs saw them as Big Ten caliber.

Defensive End - A. A couple of years ago I would have said B but right now I see so much talent stacked that the staff has the luxury of being able to tell a talent like Keith Wells to go home and gets his priorities in order, if they choose to do so. We are seeing 4-3 base ends as well as edge guys. We want to switch to the 3-4? The players are here, and it is going to get better. Steve Miller is the best I have seen in this state at his age. Better than Ben Martin and Melvin Fellows. We are so loaded that a talent like Kenny Hayes from Toledo Whitmer is not being recruited yet.

Defensive Tackle - B. I know some are going to disagree with that but I am again factoring in the talent level available. These big boys are the rarest of the rare. Just as rare if not moreso than quarterbacks. They are even more rare here in Ohio. If there are 10 elite DTs with size in the country every year, it is a great year. We just don't see them around here and with little NFL talent out there to draw the national kids, I think the staff is doing the best that they can with what they have to work with. I think a different strategy could be something to consider.

Offensive line - D. I am sure there are some that would say F. A couple of years ago so would I but the last couple of classes give me hope. The recruiting strategy is not working. The talent in the state has been outstanding the entire time JT has been here. John Cooper would give up a major organ to have had half the talent in the state that Jim Tressel has had. To recruit these small classes means having to have a very high level of success, and have that success at a place where lower success rates are the norm. Development of talent is another matter. We could be Wide Receiver U. We could be Cornerback U. There is a strong argument for Linebacker U. We are not even in the discussion for Offensive Lineman U.

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