Then there were 16....

I know that there were some here that didn't think last year's class was that good, but on paper it appeared to me to be one of the best yet, if not the best. Add in that this year also has an outstanding group of preferred walkons, and it almost certainly will end up being the best class yet, though 2014 may end up even better. The difference is that the last two years they filled most of the class from their first choices, from the initial offers they sent out, and didn't have to go searching for hidden gems. They have found a lot of hidden gems over the years, but there have also been some that didn't work out.

Another sign that it was a very good class is the number of them that are likely to play this year. Both Juco players, Tautauki and McLeod will play significant roles. At least 4 true freshment will play, Morgan, Mangen, Basham, and Sebastian Smith.  Sayles probably will, too. Aloese is possible. Other possibles seem to me to be Justin Wyatt, Cedric Brown, Jerrid Marhefka, Dyquan Stewart, Dorian Brown and Tony Porter, depending on injuries and needs. In the past it has normally been 1-3 true freshmen that played. The last time I remember this many playing was back in 2005, and in that class it was for a very different reason, a lack of depth above them.

I agree with you regarding Mangen and Morgan - they are being called into action primarily because of a lack of depth at that position. Ideally it would have been Tanner and Davon Henry playing, instead, and they could have redshirted. Lack of depth was the reason so many Freshmen played in 2005, but that year it was an across the board problem.  Really though, Mangen and Morgan are the only ones on my list being called into action because of depth issues - the others are just very good players, it seems.

Here's a list of true Freshmen that have played in the Solich era. Some were played due to the lack of depth, especially in the early years, but most of these were just really good players, and I note that except for Eric Herman, it includes most of the players that have been drafted, or gone on to play professionally.

2005 (10) - Stuck, Brandon Jones, Jayson White, Brandon Peterson, Mark Parson, Michael Mitchell, Jordon Meyers, Hartke, Eric Kenkle, Josh Leuck
2006 - (5) Christopher Garrett, Taylor Price, Steven Jackson, Ernie Hodge, Kris Luchsinger
2007 - (5) Vince Davidson, LaVon Brazill, Noah Keller, Curt Meyers, Matt Donahue
2008 - (2) Travis Carrie, Brandon Weaver
2009 - (6) Skyler Allen, James Davis, Tyler Tettleton, Gary Fortune, Jelani Woseley, Carl Jones
2010 - (1) Mark Smith
2011 - (5) Lorenzo Fisher, Ian Wells, Crutcher, Tony Davis, Landon Smith
2012 - (2) Daz Patterson, Blake Scipio

The last number from Solich was 16 verbals. With Murray now listed as a verbal by ESPN, there are 2 unknowns. Could they be Clark and Roger Lewis?

Edit - from the Roger Lewis thread, it doesn't sound like Ohio is on the radar anymore.

This may have been stated elsewhere, but someone told me that at least 3-4 of our commits from the state of Ohio are considered very good prospects.  Shaping up to be a very fine class.

Web article from The Post on the verbals we have so far.  Looks like it is shaping up nicely, hopefully all our top recruits stay with us and maybe we get to pick up a few late in the process that don't get the big time offers they were waiting for.

Nice find, TRMD.

https://twitter.com/maleekirons

462 yards on 15 carries?.... That's an average of over 30 a carry. damn

L.C. knows how much I covet those 3-star guys so let's bring 'em in.  He also knows I think the new Candian running back looks like a faster Kalvin McRae

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE DEFENSIVE LINE.

Ohio had a long list of Nebraska players they were watching, but only made 5 offers to Nebraska players. Foster, Gifford, and Stoltenberg all got offers from Nebraska, too, and accepted there. Phillips ended up choosing Stanford. The only other Nebraska offer Ted shows was to Kenzo Cotton, who also shows offers from Kansas State and Wisconsin. The story for Oklahoma is similar. Only three offers were made. Oliver chose NTSU, Oliver chose UTSA, and Bowling chose Tulsa.

The state that surprises me is Pennsylvania. That's been a huge source of players in recent years, with guys like Troy Hill, Lewis, Harden, and Huynh. They only made 6 offers to the state, and have come up empty so far:
Terry Swanson - RB Accepted Toledo
Ronald Brown - RB - has Ga. State, Kent St, ODU, Temple, Toledo, UCF offers
Greg White - RB UMass, ODU, Temple offers
Coyle-Nicolas - TE - Accepted Harvard
Butts TE - Accepted Virginia
Fields DT - Accepted West Virginia

Georgia is another state that has been strong of late where Ohio has come up empty this year.
Rodney Smith RB - offers from ECU, S. Alabama, Minnesota, S. Miss
Josh Boyd RB - Accepted Appalachian State
Corey Keel WR - Accepted Indiana
Werts TE - Accepted Ga State
Harris OT - Accepted Duke
Tucker S - Accepted Stanford
Franklin Athlete - Accepted Stanford

In almost all of these cases Ohio lost the players for one of three reasons. Most were lost to a home state school, or at least one that is closer. Some were also lost to various BCS schools. One was also lost to a highly regarded academic institutions, i.e. Harvard (of the Charles). Only one was lost to a non-BCS school that wasn't significantly closer, Swanson of PA that chose Toledo.

Thus, Ohio may come up empty from all these states, but given the exceptional success in Ohio itself, that isn't all bad. Of course, at this time Ohio scours these states again, and uses contacts with the high school coaches in those areas to find players that were special cases, such as late bloomers, players that changed positions and excelled in their new positions, or players who were hurt last year, and had a great Senior season. Thus, we might yet get some surprises from one or more of these states.

Well, there are 19 graduating Seniors, but Ted's list shows only 82 on scholarship, so there are perhaps 22 openings. In most years a couple players leave the program for various reasons, such an injuries.Thus we might see a class as big as 24-25. Of course, some of those might go to walkons (I'm thinking Yaz, for sure), so it might be a bit less. On a position basis, places that would be good for more additions would be QB, CB, and LB, but really, this class is very good, so at this point taking the best available players regardless of position makes a lot of sense.