Well Scott was expected to be 1st team. The following from his bio seems to indicate he was rated preseason as one of the top three DL in the MAC. "Scott was among 35 players nationally and just three players throughout the Mid-American Conference, who were selected to the Watch List for the 2012 CFPA Defensive Lineman Trophy." Last season Neal Huynh  was dominant inside and was as good as any until his injury. Mr Crutcher will represent quite well.  Ben Russell was rated by ESPN as the top recruit in the MAC in 2011. I like the athletes who will be third year players next year.  I have hope.

I think for us to be better on defense some changes need to be made.

The mlb spot needs some help....Moore is a great player and person but with his smaller size I think he's better suited for the outside....a place where he excelled when Keller was mlb.  It may be Russells time to step up.....but other mlb's like Edmond and Schany should also get a chance.

At olb (if Moore moves to one of the vacant spots) we still need a speedy hard hiiter.....A.J. Grady and Jovon Johnson both fit the mold....but true freshmen last year Brown and Blair are highly athletic.

CB looks ok with Carrie...but if you watched Ball States bowl their safeties were constantly being burnt in pass coverage....maybe we need to move an extra corner there....if we have one (as  he crosses fingers and toes).

Agree that the D Line is our main worry.  But, I coached football for 21 years and I really trust this coaching staff to bolster it up.  I believe the Cats have the people.   And defensive linemen may be the easiest position to develop players.  First,  the coaches need to instill a real-real nasty-nasty kick a$$ attitude in their hearts and minds.  Then build the body strength levels (legs and upper body) to big giant levels.  Develop quickness with drills and drills and don't forget conditioning.   Motivate on game day - have 4 crazed maniacs.  Our coaches will do these things and teach technique and develop great game plans.GO CATS !!!

Actually Bristol did get honors, but he got them under a different name, Durrell Wood. I have edited it to show them.

So, does this mean that Carson is not going to be with OUr team?

Whoops, a little research:

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?ReturnTo=&sid=&script=content.asp&cid=1384770&fid=&tid=&mid=&rid=

Doesn't look like he'll be a Bobcat.

Alright, I updated the list with everyone signed. Sorry it took me so long guys. What are everyone's thoughts on this class?

I don't know the facts, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that his name used to be Bristol, but now is Wood since in older material he was Bristol, and in the announcement and post-season honors he was Wood.

Yeah...they all come in with good credentials.

The guys I'm most excited about are the ones that may need to contribute early depth wise or starting  wise.

The 2 positions that worry me the most are D-line and cornerback.  If a few guys get hurt in the next couple of  years we could be hurtin especially in the depth department.

If I had to pick one guy from those 2 positions then it would be Casey Sayles. Why Nebraska passed on him I have no idea.  If he truly runs a 4.7 he could possibly play next year....of course redhirting is always a goal and hopefully he can end up in a few years as a quick 6'4"-290 pound D-linemen. Also next year are the 2 juco's....Tuautuiaki and McLeod and it looks like one or both could be in the rotation next year.

Since we signed only one cornerback that  pick was easy though I do think Dyquan Stewart can play there as well.  Jarid Brown could be steal at CB.  Someone on here mentioned they didn't like him since he threw 6 interceptions.....correction...he intercepted 6 passes.  Also think he was signed by Temple and ended up in the juco.

I'm excited about this class. I may be the only one but that's OK.  

Yeah....6 seems like a bunch for the interior line rotation but man you never know.  It seems the boys in the trenches always get caught up in the scrums.

Another possible inside guy is Senior John Taylor.  He was highly regarded coming out of high school and seemed to sort of disappear on the bench.  He has had some pt so I'm not ruling him out completely.

By the way.....thank you for providing some respite from the Chicken Little Sky is Falling bunch.

Haha - even if no one else liked this class, you should. It's loaded with Big Manz, tight ends, and disruptive defensive tackles.

Seriously, for the last 8 years the one position where Ohio has struggled the most is defensive tackle, and because they have been thin there, when there have been injuries, seasons have gone south.

In 2005 (4-7) Yates got hurt (as did the offensive line), and the season went south, but he got a 6th year
In 2006 (9-5) with Yates back, and Cohen, it was a good season.
In 2007 (6-6) Cohen was solid at DT, but NG was a tag team. Brett Sykes, a converted DE tried to play, but it wasn't ideal.
In 2008 (4-8) they converted Hodge to NG, but with Cohen gone, the rest of the inside rotation was Jacob WIlliamson, or even Hartke, another DE, helping out, and Oxley also helped.
In 2009 (9-5) you had a better rotation, with Marcellis Williamson and Ernie Hodge, along with a true freshman Carl Jones, and a redshirt freshman, Neal Huynh. It had been expected to be even better, but Oxley had off-the-field issues.
In 2010 (8-5) M. Williamson/Hodge/Jone/Huynh was a solid rotation.
In 2011 (10-4) It started off great, with Huynh and Jones, backed up by King and Corey Hastings, but King went down in pre-season, and then when Huynh went down, you ended up with Hastings and true freshman Crutcher playing a major role. After some losses while they adjusted, they turned in a good season.
In 2012 again injuries played a major role.Early on, when Jones, Huynh, and Tremayne Scott were healthy, the defense was a lot better than it was later when they were all playing hurt, or were out.

In the early years the offensive line was hurt with injuries,year after year, too, but more recently they have so many good linemen, that there hasn't been a big step down when someone was hurt. Look for example at the Independence bowl where Dietz and Lechner didn't miss a beat. Now it's time for the defensive line to reach the same level. If I am correct, the new defensive line coach has a good eye for talent, and he has recruited wisely. If so, then Ohio will have the depth that they will be solid at this position for years to come.

As I pointed out, next year there should be a 6-man rotation (7 if you include John Taylor), which should allow the true freshmen to redshirt, and develop. Then in 2014, all but Taylor will return, and they can fill in as redshirt freshmen. Then, in 2015 the rotation should include Purdum, Haser, Porter, Sayles, and Aloese, two seniors and three redshirt sophomores, plus perhaps some additional recruits. I'm sure they will add more recruits each year, but finally they are in a position where they should be solid at this position every year, even with an injury or two.

He could be.

I like the 3 true freshman DT's we got.....all are big scrappers.

He could be a special teams beast as well.

Corey Quallen was mentioned by one of the coaches as a possible special teams star......but they might want to redshirt him.

Basham might have the maturity, though, if he is a true fr. I would expect his fifth year in the proram to far excede his first so redshirt him.