^^ The amount of DI lineman in Ohio is unreal. Duane Long wrote a good article about it yesterday....
2012 Defensive Line Class Is One To Get Excited About
Posted by Duane Long on Feb 17, 2011 at 05:35 pm
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I am 51 years old. I have a full head of hair and you need to look hard to find any gray.
If that changes it is going to the fault of this 2012 defensive line class. Just when I thought I had it all figured out a piece of film pops up that changes things. Once was bad enough. Twice? Well, I am mumbling to myself and my dogs are looking at me strange.
First, a question from TJMMBertke last week about Centerville defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo prompted me to go back and review his film. After watching the film I decided to start over and re-watch every defensive lineman on my list. All that just this latest film.
Throw the previous rankings out. Forget about previous film. This was just after seeing Brush's Pharaoh Brown a player that had me looking for his position in my rankings anyway. I was zeroing in on the class again. That is when the other shoe dropped. I just watched a new film of Chris Wormley.
My problem with Wormley, my only problem with Wormley, was he disappeared for stretches. I saw an early season game. He had a couple of sacks but was not involved much in between. But his newest highlight reel shows quite a few more plays.
My top defensive line prospect remains Greg McMullen but Wormley has moved into that must-have group with McMullen and Adolphus Washington. McMullen is as close to a complete package as you will see. His consistency at a high level puts him at the top of the list.
Washington and Wormley are the unstoppable ones. They are the ones that can dominate games. It is a matter of them letting it go on every play. That is what I see missing. If they are coachable kids, and there is every reason to believe they are, a coach can get them to bring it on every play and they will not be around college football for very long.
Wormley is a manchild. His best plays look cartoonish with bodies flying all over the place in his wake. He has such a great frame. He can get so much bigger. I don't think he has been in the weight room much. He doesn't look like it. The word "upside" is everything in recruiting. Wormley is the epitome of upside.
Washington is a physical freak. He does things a 6-4 or 6-5, 245 pound kid should not be able to do -- leaping, spinning one-handed catches and explosive turns of speed that leave quarterbacks who thought they had time to throw the ball learning the hard way that they were wrong.
The new names on the list are Centerville DE/LB Ifeadi Odenigbo and Pharaoh Brown from Lyndhurst Brush.
When I took the time to look at Odenigbo with no consideration of who was ranked where and just looked at his film on its own merit, I moved him ahead of a number of other players whose names you are well familiar with.
I am a believer in edge speed. If you have to get smaller or by blitzing, whatever needs to be done, do it. Odenigbo is
6-4 and 215. He is very long. He has the reach of a full blown weakside 4-3 defensive end.
I don't know if he is going to get that big. He will at least be big enough to play the Leo in an odd man front, a scheme Buckeye defensive coordinator Jim Heacock has turned into a key part of the Buckeye defense and you could call it the base front.
Odenigbo recently ran a 4.62 laser timed forty at the Massillon Nike Combine. That is blazing fast. The rule of thumb is shave .2 off a laser time to get a handheld time. That is plenty fast enough to play linebacker if he does not get any bigger. I think he does get bigger because of his frame and he can carry that speed with him. Ask Braxton Miller about Odenigbo's speed and non-stop motor. He ran Miller down from behind twice in the Centerville - Wayne game and otherwise made Miller's evening a nightmare.
Odenigbo left that Nike combine with a 109.02 SPARQ rating. Buckeye offer Adolphus Washington had a 76.83 SPARQ rating. That gives you an idea of how impressive Odenigbo was. He now has an offer from the Buckeyes. I like the Buckeyes' chances with any kid from Centerville.
Pharaoh Brown is 6-7 and 215. He runs so well and is so long. Right now he prefers tight end, which is very odd as he plays quarterback on offense. The way he plays end I don't know who would waste him at tight end. Yes, I said waste him. I like a good receiving tight end as well as anybody but defensive linemen are what win championships.
That is why I love what I am seeing from the staff with these defensive line offers. There has been another added to the offer list that I am very excited about. We learned that Canton McKinley defensive end Se'Von Pittman has now received a Buckeye offer. As high as I was on Steve Miller, I see Pittman as the better prospect. He has only been playing football for a couple of years. He did not start playing football until high school; whether it was his freshman or sophomore year is something I need to clear up. That inexperience plus his massive frame puts Pittman into my top six defensive linemen in the state. The Buckeyes have offered five of those six with Brown being the only one without an offer. Right now, that does not bother me as much with his stated preference for tight end.
In this class that is going to have a hard time getting to 20 scholarships open, you might think that with what is already here that five defensive linemen is over the top. It is not. As I mentioned above, you win championships in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
You see the top defensive linemen coming out of the SEC. Who has won the last five national championships? Need I remind Buckeye Nation about the Florida national championship game? The Buckeyes got whipped up front badly in that game. We all watched possible number one overall pick in this year's draft, Auburn's Nick Fairley, single-handedly beat Oregon this year.
I think linebacker commit Josh Perry grows into at least a Leo. There is an offer out there to McMullen's Hoban teammate LaTroy Lewis too. Yes, I say take them all. There is no need for linebackers in this class. For 2012, Ohio State will have ten scholarship linebackers. That is plenty in a 4-3 but the Buckeyes are in a 4-2-5 the majority of the time. There is no need of a quarterback, and backs are already taken care of. I like the tight ends in this class but there is no senior on the roster and two freshmen coming in for 2011. Slots can be poached from all those positions.
As far as this class goes, I'd focus on the offensive line, a safety or two, and take advantage of this defensive line class for the ages. The best thing about it is the staff seems to be going in that direction with offers so far.
mella wrote:What's the SPARQ?
^^ The amount of DI lineman in Ohio is unreal. Duane Long wrote a good article about it yesterday....
I still want to see what Wormley does without Hayes this upcoming year. It's a lot easier getting to the QB when you have someone better than you on the other side of the DL. That said, I still think Wormley is pretty good.
only watched 2 minutes or so but looks like he's got some quicks
The QB throws a nice ball in the video as well. Looks like he has good size. He is only a sophomore and his name is JB Woodman.
Hopefully He can get keep Head on straight at OSU