Grading Jim Tressel's Recruiting Efforts at Ohio State By Position

Dave Thurman (9:07 pm)

As winter drags on and little news comes out of Columbus concerning the 2009 Buckeyes, let's take some time to look back over the past eight National Signing Days and assign grades to Jim Tressel's recruiting efforts thus far, position by position. Individual player rankings are based off of a consensus arrived at by combining and averaging the ratings from various recruiting services (such as Rivals, Scout, SuperPrep, etc.).

Quarterback

Highest Ranked Signing: Terrelle Pryor (consensus No. 1)

Biggest Surprise: Troy Smith—brought in as an athlete at the last minute, he merely went on to win the Heisman Trophy!

Biggest Flop: Justin Zwick, who was tagged as a superstar before he even started shaving.

Overall Position Grade: B (Some excellent recruits here, although a few transferred out.)

Running Back

Highest Ranked Signing: Pick between Maurice Clarett and Beanie Wells (both No. 1s).

Biggest Surprise: Antonio Pittman

Biggest Flop: Lydell Ross, but he could soon be passed by Brandon Saine if he doesn't get his act together.

Overall Position Grade: B+ (Brought in some great ones but also suffered through the Ross and Maurice Hall era.)

Wide Receiver

Highest Ranked Signing: If you don't count Teddy Ginn, who came in as a cornerback, then it would be DeVier Posey.

Biggest Surprise: Santonio Holmes, considered a three-star recruit.

Biggest Flop: Roy Hall—thought to be a superstar but failed to contribute until late in his career.

Overall Position Grade: B- (Saved by Teddy and Gonzo, who were recruited as defensive backs, but overall filled with many three-star recruits.)

Tight End

Highest Ranked Signing: Probably Jake Ballard, unless you consider Jake Stoneburner a TE as some services did.

Biggest Surprise: ? (Maybe Brandon Smith who wasn't highly recruited and did contribute at TE and FB.)

Biggest Flop: Chad Hoobler, who was highly ranked, then switched positions, then left school.

Overall Position Grade: C (Some decent recruits were hurt by the offensive strategy, but overall the numbers brought in at this position have been low.)

Offensive Line

Highest Ranked Signing: Alex Boone (consensus top five lineman)

Biggest Surprise: Nick Mangold, who became a star though he wasn't a huge national recruit (honorable mention to Kirk Barton).

Biggest Flop: You pick! Honestly, it has to be Kyle Mitchum, who averaged out as the No. 6 ranked recruit at OL in the '04 class but failed to develop partially due to injuries (Connor Smith is on the prowl to unseat him, however).

Overall Position Grade: C (Guys like Mangold, Rob Sims, and Barton help the overall grade, but too many guys have not performed, and it is obvious that Jim Bollman has done a poor job in developing this position.)

Defensive Analysis: coming tomorrow