| It’s no secret that we here at tBBC owe a lot to Buckeye Planet– several of our team learned our craft there, and the connections we have with insiders from BP help guide and direct our coverage. It’s a great community of fans, and I encourage every Buckeye to get involved there if they have the time and energy.
So, when I read this article by user Lord Jeff Buck, I knew it’d be something that I wanted to share with the rest of Buckeye Nation. LJB has “guest posted” here before, and his work is always amazing- I’m glad that he’s given us permission to post his work here again. As a note- this is just the introduction to a much MUCH larger piece. I’ve included the links to the review of each individual class, as well as a summary of “Bests” and “Busts”. Enjoy!! |
In this article, I review every player who signed a Letter of Intent (or equivalent) to play football at Ohio State during the Jim Tressel era, which covers the recruiting classes of 2001 to 2011. I also review a few walk-ons and transfers who made some impact during their Buckeye careers.
Overall, Jim Tressel signed 222 recruits in his eleven years at the helm (an average of just over 20 per class), and the average “star” rating for his recruits was 3.61* according to Rivals, and 3.67* according to Scout. Overall, according Rivals, Tressel signed 15 five-star prospects, 118 four-star prospects, 71 three-star prospects, 15 two star prospects, and 3 unrated prospects; and according to Scout, he signed 26 five-star prospects, 94 four-star prospects, 67 three-star prospects, 12 two-star prospects, and 23 unrated prospects.
I have re-ranked each signee based on how well he performed (or is performing) at Ohio State. In my ranking system, a five-star player is one of the all-time Buckeye greats, and a four-and-a-half star player is not too far behind. A four-star performer is usually an All American, or some other player who has distinguished himself in a special way. A three-and-a-half star performer is a borderline great player, while a three-star performer is an above average player (usually a multi-year starter). Two-and-a-half star performers are spot starters, key reserves, role players, and special team standouts, while two-star performers are career back-ups who rarely saw the field. The one-star ranking is reserved for those players who suffered career-ending injuries, or who transferred out of Ohio State after four years in the program.
Zero star performers are outright busts, players who accomplished very little while at Ohio State and then left the program early due to transfers, academics, ineligibility, or criminal activity. A very few early departees received higher ratings because they made significant contributions to the program before they left (Terrelle Pryor, Maurice Clarett, and E.J. Underwood).
After I determine an initial rating for a player, I sometimes adjust that rating up or down based on intangibles or character issues. For example, Terrelle Pryor was a five-star performer during his three years at Ohio State, but I docked him one full star due to his involvement in TatGate and his other off-the-field transgressions, all of which caused him to be kicked off of the team, and which were factors in Ohio State’s being put on probation, in Coach Tressel’s being fired, in the program’s being dragged through the mud by the media, etc.
On the other hand, defensive tackle Joel Penton was a 2.5 star role player who saw limited action, but I increased his rating by half-a-star because he won the Wuerffel Trophy, one of college football’s “good guy” awards.
To date, I have given final grades to each of the 165 Tressel signees who have left the program, either through using up his eligibility, or transfer, or injury, or dismissal; the remaining 57 signees have been given partial or incomplete grades. Of the players with final grades, 6 received five stars, 6 received 4.5 stars, 12 received 4 stars, 20 received 3.5 stars, 28 received 3 stars, 17 received 2.5 stars, 15 received 2 stars, 12 received 1 star, and 49 received 0 stars; thus, the current average star rating for the Tressel signees is 2.08 stars.
There are two reasons why this overall rating is so low, especially compared to the recruit ratings of Rivals (3.61 stars) and Scout (3.67 stars). First, 23 of the busts (zero or one star ratings) were from the recruiting classes of 2008 to 2011; these players have already received their final grades, while almost all of their classmates are still waiting to receive theirs. In other words, the busts are counted first, and this artificially lowers the overall rating at this early stage. As the remaining players from those classes use up their eligibility, then the overall rating will undoubtedly increase.
Even still, the final overall rating for the Tressel signees will be significantly lower than their collective recruit ratings, probably by a half star or more. The recruiting services are looking at finished products – they analyze each player’s high school body of work, determine which ones were the best, and grade them accordingly. However, the recruit ratings do not necessarily determine who will be the best college prospects. The recruiting services cannot, and do not try to, accurately predict which kids will bust out at the college level – there is simply no way to know who is going to suffer a career-ending injury, or who will get into trouble with the law, or who will transfer, or who will flunk out, or who will be unable to learn the playbook, or who will not develop physically, or who will turn out to be typical college students, namely more interested in drinking beer and chasing girls than doing work.
In other words, the recruit ratings look backward to high school, and not forward college. Obviously, my ratings look at what actually happened at Ohio State, and they include all of those kids who busted out for whatever reason (61 to date, or 27.5% of all Tressel signees), and at is why my ratings will necessarily be much lower.
Note on recruit ratings: The on-line data bases for both Rivals and Scout have player ratings beginning with the recruiting class of 2002. Although I have been able to find most of the Rivals ratings for the class of 2001, I have not found any Scout ratings for that class.
Links to Class Reviews
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2001
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2002
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2003
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2004
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2005
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2006
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2007
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2008
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2009
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2010
- OSU’s Recruiting Class of 2011
Other Reviews
- Recruits by State
- Recruits by Position (wow- no 5* OL careers in Tressel’s history)
- Recruits by Star Rating
- Top Recruits, Busts, Overachievers, Etc.
All-Tressel Team: Offense
- QB Troy Smith (QB; Class of 2002; Cleveland Glenville; Rivals 4*, #12 dual-threat QB; Scout 4*, #15 QB); Heisman Trophy
- RB Chris “Beanie” Wells (RB; Class of 2006; Akron Garfield; Rivals 5*, #1 RB, #3 overall; Scout 5*, #1 RB, #1 overall); fourth leading rusher in Ohio State
- FB Zach Boren (FB; Class of 2009; Pickerington Central; Rivals 3*, #78 ATH; Scout 3*, #45 MLB)
- WR Santonio Holmes (WR; Class of 2002; Belle Glades (FL) Central; Rivals 3*, #38 WR; Scout 4*, #13 WR); fifth leading receiver at Ohio State
- WR Brian Robiskie (WR; Class of 2005; Chagrin Falls; Rivals 3*, #61 WR; Scout 2*, NR); two-time Academic All American
- TE Jake Stoneburner (TE; Class of 2008; Dublin Coffman; Rivals 4*, #3 TE, #120 overall; Scout 4*, #4 TE, #65 overall)
- OC Nick Mangold (OC; Class of 2002; Kettering Alter; Rivals 4*, #3 OC; Scout NR); All American
- OG Michael Brewster (OC; Class of 2008; Orlando Edgewater; Rivals 5*, #4 OT, #12 overall; Scout 5*, #1 OC, #23 overall); All American
- OG Rob Sims (OL; Class of 2002; Nordonia; Rivals 4*, #20 OG; Scout 3*, #38 OL); All Big Ten
- OT Kirk Barton (OT; Class of 2003; Massillon Perry; Rivals 3*, #60 OT; Scout 3*, #101 OL); All American
- OT Mike Adams (OT; Class of 2008; Dublin Coffman; Rivals 5*, #1 OT, #3 overall; Scout 5*, #2 OT, #11 overall); All Big Ten
- PK Mike Nugent (PK; Class of 2001; Centerville; Rivals 2*, #8 PK; Scout NR); two-time All American
- KR Theodore Ginn, Jr. (ATH; Class of 2004; Cleveland Glenville; Rivals 5*, #1 CB, #2 overall; Scout 5*, #1 CB); two-time All American
All-Tressel Team: Defense
- DE Cameron Heyward (DL; Class of 2007; Suwanee (GA) Peachtree Ridge; Rivals 4*, #13 DT; Scout 4*, #20 DT)
- DE Vernon Gholston (DE; Class of 2004; Detroit Cass Tech; Rivals 4*, #11 WDE; Scout 3*, #39 DE); All American
- DT Quinn Pitcock (DT; Class of 2002; Rivals 4*, #5 DT, #72 overall; Scout 4*, #7 DT, #46 overall); All American
- DT John Simon (DL; Class of 2009; Youngstown Cardinal Mooney; Rivals 3*, #36 DT; Scout 5*, #5 DT, #27 overall)
- LB A.J. Hawk (LB; Class of 2002; Rivals 3*, #30 OLB; Scout 3*, #32 LB); two-time All American
- LB James Laurinaitis (LB; Class of 2005; Plymouth (MN) Wayzata; Rivals 3*, #28 MLB; Scout 3*, #45 LB); three-time All American
- LB Bobby Carpenter (LB; Class of 2002; Rivals 4*, #13 OLB; Scout 4*, #22 LB)
- CB Malcolm Jenkins (CB; Class of 2005; Piscataway, New Jersey; Rivals 3*, #61 CB; Scout 3*, #28 S); two-time All American
- CB Chris Gamble (ATH; Class of 2001; Fort Lauderdale Dillard; Rivals 2*, #89 WR; Scout NR); two-time All Big Ten
- NB Chimdi Chekwa (CB; Class of 2006; Clermont (FL) East Ridge; Rivals 3*, #45 CB; Scout 2*); All American
- _S Donte Whitner (S; Class of 2003; Cleveland Glenville; Rivals 4*, #3CB, #27 overall; Scout 5*, #1 CB); All American
- _S Kurt Coleman (S; Class of 2006; Clayton Northmont; Rivals 4*, #13 CB; Scout 4*, #14 CB); All American
- _P A.J. Trapasso (P; Class of 2004; Pickerington; Rivals 2*, #25 PK; Scout 3*)
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