Drew Thurman (9:08 pm)

Earlier this morning I talked about the possibility of Jeff Heuerman becoming the next Buckeye commitment in 2011, and this evening that became a reality. Heuerman is a tight end at Barron Collier in Naples, Florida, currently listed at 6-5 240 pounds. His offer list included Rutgers, Kansas, Tennessee, Michigan, Purdue, West Virginia, and South Carolina.

This commitment came on the heels of his visit to Columbus for the spring game. This is what he had to say:

“I just knew,” Heuerman said. “When I got off (Ohio State's) campus, I just knew I wanted to be a Buckeye. There's really no sense waiting. When you know something you know it, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger.”

This was a big commitment for the Buckeyes, who needed a tight end desperately. After coming up short in the 2010 class, it was the biggest position of need in 2011. Nick Vannett and Ben Koyack are both still on the board, and the Buckeyes could easily grab one of them.

Source: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/apr/26/barron-collier-tight-end-jeff-heuerman-ohio-state/
 
 
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Heuerman is high on OSU after Saturday (Photo via marconews.com)
Drew Thurman (11:03 am)

The Buckeyes have started the 2011 recruiting class with some major momentum. Nine prospects have already committed, and the Buckeyes have done a great job thus far of locking down the state of Ohio. With a good start in place, the Spring Game on Saturday gave the staff (and fans) a good idea of where the Buckeyes stand with other important pieces.

The most vital of those pieces is at tight end. After coming up empty in 2010, tight end talk will surround this class. The staff is going after a few different guys, a few of which were present on Saturday. The first was Nick Vannett, a 6-6 230 pound prospect from Westerville, Ohio. This was an important visit from Vannett, who was expected to attend Notre Dame's spring game instead. Luckily he showed up on a day where Pryor and the staff did a great job of utilizing Jake Stoneburner. Vannett was impressed, which makes you wonder what kind of tight ends the Buckeyes could pull in if they threw to them once in awhile.

The other tight end visitor was was Jeff Heuerman (6-5, 240) from Naples, Florida. Heuerman had been on a Midwest swing visiting schools like Michigan and Notre Dame, and Ohio State was the last stop on the road trip. His trip went well enough to name the Buckeyes the leader at this point. In fact, it would not surprising if he was the next commitment in this class. If that does indeed happen, it will be interesting to see what happens to Vannett and blue-chipper Ben Koyack, who has narrowed his list to OSU and Notre Dame.
 
Cash in Hand 04/18/2010
 
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Safety Jeremy Cash
Dave Thurman (7:22 PM)

The 2011 class grew by one this weekend with the addition of Plantation, Florida safety Jeremy Cash, long thought to be an OSU lean.

This is a big get for a number of reasons:

1) Ohio State has struggled some in recent classes to sign highly ranked safeties.
2) It is always big to get talent out of Florida and keep that door open for the future.
3) The kid can flat out play as evidenced by his offer list which included Miami, Florida State, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Michigan, and Nebraska.

Welcome aboard Jeremy!
 
 
Could Ohio products Trey DePriest (LB) and Braxton Miller (QB) end up heading to SEC country? Well, Alabama's version of Bucknuts, called Crimson Confidential, is posing that question. Their case is built upon the fact that DePriest didn't grow up an Ohio State fan, and doesn't feel the need to stay in state (much like Jordan Hicks). It also sounds like he is pretty impressed with Alabama.

"I like Alabama," Trey said. "It's pretty sweet. I saw the academic set up and I liked it. I got a chance to look at everything on my visit. I met with coach Sunseri and I like him quite a bit."

Obviously, Alabama will be a player until the end for DePriest. What about Braxton Miller? Well, Justin Hopkins of Crimson Confidential wonders if the close friendship between Miller and DePriest could result in them heading to the Crimson Tide together (they both have offers). Ohio State experts have been pushing this idea of them playing together for awhile.

"Yeah me and Braxton could play together in college," Trey said. "You never know. He's my boy, it could happen." 

Should be interesting since these two are both premiere targets for the Buckeyes. Any good news? Well, Braxton Miller was spotted Thursday watching the Ohio State practice decked out in Buckeye apparel. Better believe the staff is putting on the full court press, and then maybe the Buckeyes can tap into the Miller-DePriest relationship.

Source (full article is premium): http://crimsonconfidential.com/news/story.php?article=3434
 
 
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Seantrel Henderson who? // Photo courtesy of ESPN.com
Drew Thurman (10:09 pm)

Today the Buckeyes received their eighth commitment in the class on 2011, as offensive lineman Tommy Brown jumped on board. Brown hails from Akron Firestone HS, and had offers from West Virginia, Michigan State, Ball State, Duke, Toledo, and Ohio. At 6-5 300 pounds, he is literally another huge edition to this class. Interesting enough, seven of the eight Buckeye commitments are offensive or defensive lineman.

Tressel and staff appear to be wasting no time making up for their losses in 2010. They went after some of the best linemen in the country a year ago, and would miss out on guys like Seantrel Henderson, Sharrif Floyd, and Chaz Green. In the process the Buckeyes passed on in state prospects Andrew Donnal, Christian Pace, and Skyler Schofner.

If you are like me, you started to wonder what the staff was doing in 2010. The Buckeyes have had poor depth at times in the trenches, especially on the offensive line, and bringing in one offensive lineman didn't seem to make sense at all. Well, I wonder if they knew something about the 2011 class that we didn't. That, or they are just making up for the major debacle from the last class. Regardless, the staff is stock piling some of the best big men the state has to offer.

The two big guys left to reel in are Michael Bennett (Centerville) and Aundrey Walker (Cleveland Glenville). At 6-5 355 pounds, Walker is labeled the most intimidating and gifted lineman in Ohio. Bennett may be the second best lineman in the state behind Walker, and his versatility at either DL or OL makes him very attractive. Landing both of these guys is not out of the question, and doing so would put this class over the top.

Best offensive line class in Ohio State history anyone?   
 
 
Just when we thought the 2010 class was done, Tressel signs RB/DB Adam Griffin from Columbus DeSales. It probably doesn't hurt that he is the son of Buckeye great, Archie Griffin! Here is what Tressel said:

"Adam Griffin has a passion to be an Ohio State Buckeye," says Coach Jim Tressel. "He will add a great deal to our football family on the field, in the locker room and on our campus. Adam clearly understands the privilege of being an Ohio State Buckeye."

Source: http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17300&ATCLID=204885382
 
 
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It's our tradition here at The Silver Bullet to breakdown the players in each class as things wrap up. Some of you still may be holding your breath for Mr. Henderson, but at this point things seem finalized. So, check out our reviews as we beat the 2010 recruiting horse one last time.
2010 Recruiting Class: Player Breakdowns
 
 
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Baldwin is one of the potential stars of this class. (Via Cleveland.com)
Drew Thurman (2:49 pm)

Yesterday capped off a disappointing month in recruiting for the Buckeyes, with the only positive being the fact that none of the 17 unsigned players backed out. Rather than sit around and complain more about who the Buckeyes didn't get, I want to breakdown the players that the staff did indeed reel in. Obviously, Henderson or Anderson could switch their minds, but at this point it appears that will not happen, so let's go ahead and grade out every position. By the way, I'm not the first to do this (as I found out after writing this), but here is my spin on the class:

Quarterback: Taylor Graham (Possibly Verlon Reed)

The staff made the decision early in the process that they wanted a pro-style quarterback in 2010. I'm not sure why they made that decision, because Tressel has proven he is much better with dual-threat QBs, but they did. They struck out with Nick Montana and Cincinnati product, Andrew Hendrix, and would end up grabbing up Graham. He does have a solid arm and good size, but the injury problems he has struggled with are concerning. I personally wish they would have gone after Devin Gardner or another great athlete here. Honestly, I even think Dominique Brown would have projected as a better quarterback in Tressel's system. Grade: C+

Running Back: Roderick Smith (and technically Carlos Hyde)

I really only count Smith in this class, at least for the grade, because Hyde was recruited in last year's class. Anyways, Smith is a player that should excite everyone in Columbus. At 6-2 220 pounds, he fits the mold of some of the most successful Buckeye runners in Beanie Wells and Eddie George. He joins a stable of runners at Ohio State, which should be the deepest position on the field for Tressel. With that said, I expect him the ascend the ranks very quickly because of the style of running back he is. Grade: A-
 
 
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Dave Thurman (8:54 am)

In the movie Groundhog Day Bill Murray keeps waking up to face the exact same day over and over again in Punxsutawney, Pennslyvania.  According to the calendar Groundhog Day came this Tuesday, February 2nd, but for Buckeye fans it sure seemed like Wednesday's National Signing Day was deja vu all over again.  And, one wonders if it will result in six more years of bad offensive line play!

Three years ago, OSU fans waited with anticipation for the announcements of a number of big time players.  But at the end of the day we struck out with the "Big Three," Ben Martin, Joseph Barksdale and Anthony Davis, along with other possibilities like Josh Brent and Devon Still.  Three years before that (class of '03) the final day 0-fer included Shawn Crable, Turk McBride, and Michael Bush.  When it comes to Signing Day it seems Ohio State can't reel in the big names, but comes in second over and over again.  It's Recruiting Groundhog Day. 

In our disappointment let's not forget about the 18 young men who did sign on the dotted line to don the scarlet and gray. Drew and I will share our comments on each very soon. We celebrate this fine group of players, even as we admit our disappointment at the ones Tressel and crew could not bring in. 

I offer two bits of commentary before moving on:

1) JT simply will not ever prostitute himself to get recruits so this will happen over and over again. 

2) The staff needs to cast a bigger net, especially with lineman, as solid players leave Ohio and succeed elsewhere.

With that said, I'm ready to fast forward and leave Signing Day behind!
 
 
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Update #1 (8:30 am): Sources out of Richmond are saying that Morgan Moses is expected to stick with his commitment to Virginia and sign with them today. We'll see...

Update #2 (8:37 am): James Louis has signed with the Buckeyes despite all the drama. I guess you can't blame the kid for a joke after all the questions he has been asked about it. Many other signees at this point, check them out here.

Update #3 (9:28 am): It looks the news on Moses is legit, and also word is that Matt James is going to be going to Notre Dame. Great start...

Update #4 (9:35 am): Tom Luginbill just said on ESPN that all signs point to Henderson signing with USC. Not official just yet, but it appears that National Signing 2010 is going to be more disappointment for fans.

Update #5 (9:45 am): Only three players left to sign per Ken Gordon. At least the staff is locking up who already committed.

Update #6 (10:22 am): Moses will officially sign with UVA around noon. I have seen multiple sources saying he wanted to sign today rather than waiting to be qualified. I guess his head coach won out in the end. That means the Buckeyes are 0 for 2 so far for offensive lineman today, and most feel it will be 0 for 3 when the dust settles with Henderson.

Update #7 (10:33 am): All 17 commitments have signed to come to Ohio State (Hyde already enrolled). So now we all sit and wait to hear what Mr. Henderson will do!

Update #8 (5:35 pm): Seantrel Henderson picks USC. I hope he enjoys playing for a shady coach who hasn't won anything in his head coaching career. Anyways, I don't want to be bitter. Congrats to him and also to the 18 guys who actually signed on the dotted line.