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I am going to start rolling out my top players in the class of 2011. I will put out the best by position then put together a top 100. I wanted to comment on the class overall first, as well as talk about the process a little.
Evaluation is about what players are going to be,
not what they are now. That is why being athletic and fitting the position templates outweighs what you see on film. The best of the best are going to look great on film as well as be athletes and fit the template. The next players on t he list are the ones with the measurables. That is how most of the college football staffs look at talent. It is the way I look at talent. It works. Templates work, well, other than quarterback they work. There is only one question when looking at film, is hegoing to be able to do what he is doing on that high school film at the next level against superior football players and athletes. He has to be the same kind of athlete.You have to look at who has the best chance to be bigger, stronger,faster in 3 years.
This class is as deep as any in recent memory. National level talent at QB, DE, DT, CB, S, LB and WR. It is so deep I see Ohio top 100 lists having some variety to them in this class.
It seems 2011 would be defined by this great quarterback class on first blush.If you told me we would see three Big Four quarterbacks in Ohio in thesame year I would have bet you that would not happen. We have three this year. Fans keep forgetting Cole Stoudt. He is a bigtime kid. Ask me who top my list of players that I can't believe have not been offered by the Buckeyes and I will say Cardale Jones. Ask me who I can't believe does not have a better offer list and I will say Cole Stoudt.
As good as the quarterbacks, are this is an even better defensive line class. It seems every year since 2006 with Robert Rose, then in 2007 with Ben Martin and Sol Thomas, that Ohio has been producing nationallevel DEs. Buckeye fans have learned the importance of elite defensive linemen over the past few years being on the wrong side of them in a couple of national games, then being the one doing the schooling in the Rose Bowl with a deep, talented, veteran unit that dominated an offense many were projecting to hang 40 points on us. It seems every year since 2006 I have said I only hope we see another line class like this one. Never has that statement been more accurate than this year. It is not even close for best DL class I have seen in Ohio. That we are seeing this kind of talent coming out of the state every year is huge for the program. Defensive linemen and quarterbacks are the most important players in the game. Wait until the end of the year and look at how many DLs end up going to Big Ten, Big East and ACC schools. I predict you will be slack-jawed.
I see a very strong but top heavy class of defensive backs. The Buckeyes have already offered three instate DBs, none of the three would be in my top two. I am not saying the staff is reaching. I was one of the first people talking about Ron Tanner, and Doran Grant is a no-brainer. I see a top six or seven right now but the bottom drops out of the class after that. It is not a good offensive line year. Not by my standards. It is all about tackles and there is not one kid who is lining up at tackle right now that projects to the Big Four. Chase Farris has some tools and looks great as an OL but bigs that athletic are going to get a shot on defense first. I think Brad Carrico could be a fine tackle. He does not play there right now. I don't see the off the snap explosion that marks an elite DE prospect. Fine guard class. No question about that.
Mark Porter and I look at film just about daily. We agree on so much when it comes to player evaluation. This year the one disagreement we are having is with the receivers. Mark thinks it is a really good class. I see too many question marks. We agree that Devin Smith is big time. After that red flags start to come up. There are size questions, Washington, Wynn and A.J. Jordan, then a number of big athletic guys that everyone is waiting on 40 times to make a determination on. There is not one back in this class that I see rating a Big Four offer. I may not have a back in my top 50.
The only back I am confident will likely make the top 100 is Trayion Durham. To think this class has no big time kids and 2012 has at least three kids that are odds on to be five-star national kids.
The position fans should look at is the linebackers. I think we have at least five Big Ten caliber kids in Ohio. I will roll out names here soon. Great class. Going to be a lot more fun than last year but that just might be a problem.
So much talent means Ohio kids coming back to beat us.
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