Ohio State held its annual Friday Night Lights camp tonight. Usually open to the public and the media, the weather moved the festivities from Ohio Stadium to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, which forced them to close the event to the public. Once they closed the camp to the public, by NCAA rule they also had to keep the media out.
So while nothing was seen, several players did speak with reporters as they left for the night. Others, merely with their presence, created news.
For instance, Michigan State quarterback commit Dwan Mathis was at the WHAC, making his official visit. He did not work out, as that is not allowed on official visits.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio has a strict “no visit” policy for his commitments, but it would be difficult to imagine him pulling the scholarship offer from the No. 9 pro-style quarterback in the nation, who has also been committed to MSU for nine months.
Florida quarterback Brian Maurer (No. 18 pro-style QB) did not yet receive an offer, but is scheduled to speak with Urban Meyer tomorrow about his situation. Maurer said tonight that if OSU offers, they will move into his Top 5 without a doubt. If they don’t offer, however, he knows that he will eventually have to move on. We’ll have a story with Maurer’s comments this weekend. He sees himself as a very good fit for the Ohio State offense.
By the way, one of the reasons Maurer believes he has fallen through the cracks in recruiting is that he attends a school (West Port HS/Ocala, FL) known more for performing arts than sports. In fact, of the 3,000 or so students, only around 100 partake in athletics.
Asked if Maurer plays any instruments or does any theater, he responded thusly.
2019 QB Brian Maurer attends a school known for performing arts, not sports. Does he perform any arts himself? pic.twitter.com/FDdzUDDwSC
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) June 23, 2018
Before Meyer can tell Maurer what the Buckeyes plan on doing, Meyer may want some kind of answer from Mathis. There are a lot of moving parts here, but right now the Buckeyes appear to be zeroed in on their two best options in the 2019 class.
There was also some 2020 quarterback movement, as Scottsdale, Arizona quarterback Jack Miller (also pictured above) said that the Buckeyes were the team to beat right now.
The Buckeyes are the school to beat for Jack Miller, by the way. pic.twitter.com/5eWl6uU8Mh
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) June 23, 2018
Miller is the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the 2020 class and the No. 49 player overall. As he was leaving the WHAC, he and Ryan Day shared a hug, which left the onlooking media wondering if there had just been a commitment.
Jack Miller left the WHAC with a hearty goodbye to Ryan Day. pic.twitter.com/xXRnLFRykD
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) June 23, 2018
From here, Miller heads to Alabama this weekend. He said he just wants to hear the truth from Alabama and he’ll have his mind set soon after. We’ll have a story with plenty of Miller quotes this weekend.
By the way, he visited Michigan last week, but is already now referring to them as the team up north.
Georgia quarterback C.J. Dixon also visited tonight, but did not work out due to a slight injury. While he does not yet show up in the rankings, he holds offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and others. Dual-threat quarterback Logan Smothers was also in attendance. He is the No. 13 dual-threat prospect in the 2020 class. He was just coming off of a visit to Nebraska, which also happens to be his biggest offer to date.
There were some talented 2020 cornerbacks in attendance as well. Miles Brooks (No. 6 CB) is from Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, which is where Buckeye corners Shaun Wade and Tyreke Johnson came from. Brooks’ teammate and 5-star corner Fred Davis was also supposed to make the trip, but fell ill at the last moment.
Texas cornerback R.J. Mickens (No. 5 CB) was in attendance and worked out. He has trained with fellow Texans Jeff Okudah and Kendall Sheffield, so they talk to him quite a bit about Ohio State. We’ll have a story posted on Mickens soon. The Buckeyes are near the top of his list. The lure of the NFL is something that he cannot ignore.
Three-star defensive tackle (No. 33) Jared Harrison-Hunte out of Middle Village, New York received an offer from Ohio State tonight. He could not say enough good things about OSU defensive line coach Larry Johnson. He said that Johnson already taught him a couple of tricks that he’s going to use this season, so he said just imagine what he could learn over three or four years.
I asked Harrison-Hunte about the combination of Ohio State and Larry Johnson, and he said there is no need for a combination because all you need to say is “Larry Johnson.” He still plans to take a couple of official visits this fall.
Not every player made themselves available reporters, as there were more than one exit to depart from. If he was in attendance, 5-star Ohio defensive end Zach Harrison was not seen, which is how he usually likes it when it comes to the media.
Scottsdale running back Darvon Hubbard (No. 25 RB) was not yet offered, but he should know more in the next week about what Ohio State plans to do. Hubbard is just a 2020 prospect, so there is still time. He is Jack Miller’s teammate.
One last bit on Miller, I asked him if he wants to commit sooner rather than later so that he can start helping out in recruiting, and he said that was absolutely his plan. One of his targets is Florida safety Lejond Cavazos, who will be announcing his commitment next week.
We’ll see who beats who to the Buckeye punch.
Excellent Tony, Good job.
I just don’t understand this schizophrenia between pro-style and dual-threat QB’s. Maybe Urby needs to use his psych degree on himself to solve this. IMO it is a bit of a detriment to have two completely different QB types on the same roster. It creates adjustment problems in the case of injury if nothing else. I wish they would settle on one or the other but it doesn’t sound like they are ready to do that.
You also need to remember that these are labels put on QBs by recruiting sites and sometimes the sites disagree on these labels. Under Meyer, OSU will always have a QB who can get out of trouble with his legs. J.T. Barrett excelled at that, but he was also one of just three QBs in OSU history to throw for 3,000 yards — along with pro-style QBs Joe Germaine and Bobby Hoying. The Buckeyes look for toughness, leadership, competitiveness in their QBs, with some ability to move. In terms of settling on one style or the other, that will depend on how things go this year imo. They don’t put the same worry into labels that others do, however.
3,000 yards. That’s a lot for a QB that sucked – from what I’ve heard.
Pretty amazing. A good quarterback would’ve thrown for 4,500.