Thanks for doing that research L.C. I didn't know there were rankings for estimating HS teams relative strength. it is not scientific ,of course, but may be useful in this case.

After watching Maxwell's 2014 video, it seems like Ohio Div V, or Div VI is about right. He was dominate because of his size and relative speed in high school.

It's hard to project his future at OHIO, but the coaches see something that prompted them to offer.

Judging different areas of the country is always hard for me. The biggest difference I notice from the really good programs and everyone else is depth. More kids who aren't twigs. Less kids going both ways.
The great athletes will dominate weaker competition just being bigger or faster. That isn't to say that doesn't make a great recruit... We need great athletes here.

From the video, it was clear he had the size and speed to beat a lot of kids running. Pretty elusive too.. What really impressed me was this kid's arm in his video. He was completing some pretty big passes.

Billy would be correct. However, NIU currently has 6 Missouri players on their roster. Just saying.

Still, you aren't recruiting the whole team, so you just need the one player you take to be good. When you are looking at top teams, remember that so is everyone else. When a really good player is in one of those not-so-good areas, he's more apt to be overlooked, or not heavily recruited. Look at AJ as an example. Had he played in Cleveland or Cincinnati, he'd have probably had multiple offers, but coming from Covington, he ended up a walkon, albeit not for long.

I have no idea if Maxwell will turn out to be a stud or a dud, or somewhere in between. In the meantime, I'll hope he turns out to be the next Kaepernick.

We're in complete agreement.

I have to admit, I wasn't that thrilled with Maxwell due to his stats or lack thereof, but after seeing his highlights, it hit me: looks like he would have been the biggest OL on his team.