Hold Your Judgement on Ohio State's Handling of Jamel Dean Departure

COLUMBUS, Ohio — From the moment ElevenWarriors.com first reported Ohio State 2015 signee Jamel Dean would be leaving the program after not being medically cleared by the Buckeyes' medical staff, one number has seemed to be at center of the situation: 85.

That's the number of scholarship players Ohio State must possess by the time fall camp opens at the beginning of August. It appeared the Buckeyes would be sitting at 88 without any additional attrition before the news of Dean's departure, causing cries that Urban Meyer had "oversigned" his roster and was now using roster management to get down to the required limit.

And while it's easy to see how one could arrive at that conclusion, that doesn't necessarily make it an accurate one.

Ohio State staff members are not permitted to publicly comment on situations involving a player's health such as Dean's, but a source close to the program insisted to Bleacher Report that this is not a case of Meyer managing his roster. The source said this is an issue the Buckeyes had been dealing with since Dean arrived on campus as an early enrollee in January, which is just now hitting a crescendo as news of his departure has been made public.

Although he has criticized the handling of his former player publicly to multiple media outlets in the past day, John Wilkinson, Dean's high school coach at Cocoa (Fla.) High School, confirmed as much.

“It was a big thing that went on and on and on. I’ve known about it for three months," Wilkinson told Blake Williams of BuckeyeSports.com. "I’ve been working hard trying to make sure my kid is taken care of.”

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If Ohio State was in fact managing its roster to meet the scholarship limit, it would seem strange to do so by starting with a player who hadn't even been on campus for a full month. With plenty of depth in the secondary—including three of four starters—returning from last year's national title team, it's likely that Dean would have been in line for a redshirt in 2015 anyway, regardless of his medical situation.

Only complicating matters is Dean's medical history and signing of a midyear agreement.

Meyer and his staff knew Dean had an injury history when they accepted his commitment in Dec. 2013, less than a month after the former 4-star defensive back tore his ACL during his junior season. The Sunshine State product rehabbed and played in every game of his senior season the following year, but suffered a torn meniscus in his high school finale.

So the Buckeyes knew that Dean would have injury concerns upon arriving for the start of his college career. But this is where the situation gets murky.

Last August, Dean signed a midyear aid agreement guaranteeing his scholarship would be available to him should he choose to remain committed to Ohio State. A lifelong Buckeye fan, Dean's commitment was never in question, and Ohio State offered to honor his scholarship as a medical hardship—meaning he would stay on scholarship, but would be unable to participate and would not count against the 85-scholarship limit—upon not clearing him.

Did Dean's second injury change Ohio State's opinion of him, or did he show up to spring practice more injured than expected? Indications thus far have suggested the latter.

Originally, the Buckeyes expected Dean to participate partially in the spring while rehabbing to full strength by the fall, but according to defensive coordinator Chris Ash, he was yet to take part in practice in any way as of last week. Wilkinson's account to Williams also suggests a discrepancy in what Ohio State was expecting and what it received from Dean when he arrived on campus.

“He went and saw [noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews]," Wilkinson told Williams. "He called me when I left there and said, ‘Coach I’ll be fine by the summer.'"

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

As for accusations of oversigning, Meyer has been outspoken about the practice, which is most commonly associated with the SEC. On signing day, when it was clear the Buckeyes were over the 85-scholarship limit—as they're allowed to be before the start of the season—the three-time national champion head coach was adamant that he doesn't use such strategy.

"How aware am I of the roster? About as well as you can be," Meyer said. "But there's also the truth that you don't know for the next couple weeks, couple months, with these injuries what happens. So you have to prepare. But you also can't do the unthinkable and that's be stuck with 87 scholarship players come June or July."

With Dean's departure, that's where the Buckeyes appear to sit with four months to go until the start of fall camp. As he mentioned, injuries happen, as does attrition by way of transfer, most of which typically doesn't happen until after spring practice.

There's also the possibility that a player or two won't qualify academically, or that a player could "grayshirt," meaning he'd delay the start of his eligibility until the following season. Ohio State may seemingly be over the scholarship limit at the moment, but per NCAA rules, it's allowed to be at this point in time.

Which is why accusations of Dean's departure being related to an oversigned class don't currently add up. The Buckeyes aren't in any rush to get to the 85-scholarship limit without natural attrition, and even if they were, Dean wouldn't seem to make sense as a place to start.

"There's a couple guys that you're just not sure can continue playing," Meyer said on signing day. "You have to just to be aware."

In Ohio State's opinion, Dean qualifies for that category.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.