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Topic: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Topic: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

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Ted Thompson
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Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/17/2018 11:11:30 PM

Jason Arkley is evaluating all of Solich's recruiting classes in his Bobcat Blog. Will put links here as they are posted.

2005 - Solich’s first recruiting class was better than it had any reason to be

2006 - Reality hits in 2006 for Ohio recruiting

2007 - Keller, Brazill, Flading headline 2007 group

2008 - Welcome to 2008, or when the Bobcats finally crushed a recruiting class

2009 - Recruiting wave begins to turn in 2009

2010 - Ohio’s low point, in recruiting, came in 2010

2011 - Top part of 2011 class came up nearly empty for Bobcats

2012 - More issues with the top of the class in 2012

2013 - Bobcats hit a defensive home run in 2013

Last Edited: 7/26/2018 10:04:36 PM by Ted Thompson

Follow Ohio Football recruiting on the BobcatAttack.com football recruiting database.

L.C.
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/18/2018 7:07:11 PM

Here's how I rate them. The number is based on an arbitrary scale, with higher being better:
2005 - 78 (Best=Mitchell, Parson, Turner, Hartke, Rodgers, White, Morsillo)
2006 - 61 (Best=Price, Garrett, S.Jackson, Hodge, Luchsinger, Posey,#Mooney)
2007 - 69 (Best=Brazill, #Braunstein,%T3.Scott, Keller, Flading, Dunlop, Strum, *Notestine, *#Hershey)
2008 - 64 (Best=Herman, Thompson, Carrie, %Tafua, Moore, T.Scott, Huynh, Carlotta, Weller)
2009 - 45 (Best=Lechner, Hughes, Tettleton, Allen, C.Jones, McGrath)
2010 - 40 (Best=#Prior, Foster, #Blankenship)
2011 - 52 (Best=Johnson, Russell, Crutcher, Wells, Powell,*Yazdani)
2012 - 53 (Best=B.Brown, %Branz, %Waters, Seb. Smith, Watson, Laseak)
2013 - 69 (Best=D.Brown, Wood, Sayles, Poling, Porter, Basham, Mangen, Aloese, %McLeod,*C. Moore)
2014 - 66 (Best=Lowery, McCray, P.White, Pruehs, Nelson, *OUellette, *Ellis)
2015 - 78
2016 - 49
2017 - 76
2018 - Preliminary rating 58, but it will go up, because no doubt some of the many new walkons will turn out to be players.

* walkon
# Transfer
% JUCO
The most recent ratings are speculative, and could go up or down after I see the people play. I didn't give favorites as the players are still playing.

The strong classes from 2005-8 led to improving teams up until early 2012. When all the injuries hit, the worse classes of 2009-12 meant that the depth that was needed wasn't there, and also meant a long road back. The generally excellent classes from 2014-2017 is why Ohio is going to be very good the next two years.

Note that if you count Garrett and Steven Jackson as part of 2005, that class was even better, and 2006 was not as good, and if you don't count walkon Dak Notestine at all, that also hurts 2006.

Edit - I continue to revise these ratings, making some corrections in my data as I research differences between my data and Arkley's. In particular, I made sure my data includes all the relevant walkons and transfers in the appropriate year. As a result of the revisions, you can see the reason for the dramatic drop when 19 starters got hurt in 2012 - there simply was no depth because the recruiting classes of 2009-12 weren't very good.

As an additional note, the size of the class matters. One reason that the 2005 class is at or near the top is that it was by far larger than any other class. The official list had 28 players. At the other extreme, the official list for 2010 was 17 players.

Last Edited: 7/26/2018 7:42:06 PM by L.C.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Doc Bobcat
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/19/2018 9:26:25 AM

I think the 18 bunch may be closer to 60....lbers and OL guys look really good.

A decent RB will be essential with two seniors this year.

L.C.
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/19/2018 12:26:25 PM

Doc Bobcat wrote:

I think the 18 bunch may be closer to 60....lbers and OL guys look really good.

A decent RB will be essential with two seniors this year.

We'll just have to see how it works out over the next few years. For example, 2016 was hurt by players like Trotter, Beadle, Mustin-Sherman, and Cree who are no longer with the program, and Miller, who was always hurt, it seems. It also has only a few that moved to starting positions so far. Connor, Popp, and Odom are the only ones I'm sure of, though Evans or Miller may also start.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Doc Bobcat
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/19/2018 4:50:41 PM

L.C. wrote:

Doc Bobcat wrote:

I think the 18 bunch may be closer to 60....lbers and OL guys look really good.

A decent RB will be essential with two seniors this year.

I�m also excited about the 19 bunch....they could be in the 60-70 range...great start for sure.

Rufusbobcat94
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/21/2018 10:29:04 PM

I like Arkley's blog so far re reviewing Bobcat recruiting under Solich's watch. some good perspective on the value of the star system and reinforcing how the Bobcat Coaches prize attributes not necessarily included in the star system. And outside of the evaluation of each class, it is a great walk down memory lane. I havent thought about dudes like Boo Jackson in the longest but it is great to get Arkley's comments on those types of dudes. Blast from the past.

Last Edited: 7/21/2018 10:32:04 PM by Rufusbobcat94

L.C.
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/22/2018 11:01:38 PM

I'm reviewing Arkley's notes, and comparing them to my own. Mostly we agree, but here are a few differences. One difference is that Arkley is very inconsistent as to when he accounts for tranfers who had to sit out for a year:
Hinton - Arrived in 2005, sat out, played in 2006, Arkley lists him with 2006
Bower - Arrived in 2005, sat out, played in 2006 and 2007, not included with any class
Mooney - Arrived in 2006, sat out, played in 2007-8, Arkley lists at 2006
Carter - Arrived in 2006, sat out, played in 2007-8, not included with any class
Flintall - Arrived 2007, sat out, played in 2008-9, not included with any class
Hershey - Arrived 2007, sat out, played in 2008-9, Arkley lists as 2009
Goulet - played in 2008-10, Arkley lists as 2008, not sure where he was in 2007
Blankenship - arrived 2010, sat out, played 2011-13, Arkley lists as 2010
Prior - arrived 2010, sat out, played 2011-12, Arkley lists as 2010

I decided to count them all in the first year they are on the roster, usually the year they sit out. That's how Arkley treated Mooney, Blankenship, and Prior.

2005 - Arkley lists Jackson as a 2005 recruit and 6-year player due to injury. I very distinctly recall him not being on the 2005 team, and my notes from 2005 show that he was not on the roster. Perhaps he was a grayshirt, or perhaps the reason that he didn't join the team was injury related, but he was never granted a sixth year; he just joined the team late. My other comment is that I'm surprised he didn't mention one of the best players in that recruiting class, Mark Parson, who had somewhat of an NFL career after Ohio. Ten 2005 players played as true freshmen: Stuck, Brandon Jones, Jayson White, Brandon Peterson, Parson, Mitchell, J. Meyers, Hartke, Kenkle, Leuck. I totally agree with Arkley that the hallmark of the 2005 class is that there were very few complete misses.

2006 - I have S. Jackson with this class. He mentions that Black never became a starter, but Black had back injuries, and had to quit football. Another lineman from the same class, Bunner, actually made it to starter before having to quit the game. Not mentioned with the 2006 class was that there were four significant walkons that year, AJ Oxley (NG), Ryan Senser (LS), Matt Schulte (P), and Matt Lasher (PK). Again, I agree with his conclusion that there were a lot of misses that year (D'Aguanno, Goff, Karr, Reese, and Mercer were all players that I considered to be misses).

2007 - I have only a few comments. He misses entirely Matt Donahue, who came in and played exceptionally well as a true Freshman, until he injured his thumb, and got homesick and left the program. He mentions one walkon, Notestine, but there were three others who were significant, LB Eric Benjamin, K Barrett Way, and transfer from Toledo, P Paul Hershey (oddly, Arkley lists Benjamin and Hershey with 2009). While Flading and Strum were outstanding, a number of other offensive line recruits didn't work out, though I don't know if injury was the cause. Laudermilch, O'Hara, and Spegal were three that didn't make a lot of impact. Flowers was the starter ahead of Herman in 2009 before his career was ended by injury. The walkons made this class a lot better than it otherwise would have been.

2008 - While this was a small call, it packed a lot of punch. As far as the walkons, he lists McGrath and Hastings. McGrath actually came in 2009, redshirted in 2009, then played from 2010-2013.

2009 - Arkley lists Benjamin and Hershey as 2009 additions, but both were on the 2007 and 2008 rosters, and both played in 2008. Arkley lists Troy Hill as a 2009 recruit, but he was a no show in 2009, and actually joined the team with the 2010 recruits, a year later. The 2009 class had some very good players, but was very small because of no-shows, plus it had a fair number of misses (I count Green, Reda, Taylor, and Kenner).

2010 - Arkley is pretty much dead on. Start with a small class. Add in a lot of players that don't work out (Morales, Kozak, Tarrant, Grady, Jones, Atwell, and Stefanski), then someone that leaves the program because he's behind a star (Snyder), and a couple guys that after becoming starters, get hurt and never play again (Dietz, Mark Smith), and all that is left from the Freshman class is four players, Kristoff, Ingol, Carpenter, and Cochran. The class was boosted a bit by JUCOs (Foster, Leftwich twins, Hill), transfers (Prior, Blankenship), and a walkon (Keith Moore), which prevented a total disaster.

2011 - Again, Arkley is dead on. There were a few good players, and quite a few misses. I think they recruited a lot of players with hidden injuries that year, players who arrived with injuries, and were unable to ever contribute. I think that after that, Ohio got better at evaluating the health of players they made offers to, though no doubt they still get some people with hidden injuries. The only player that he misses was Dereck Roback. Originally a QB recruit for Notre Dame in 2010, he came to Ohio in 2011, and played TE. Most people remember him for his 26 yard TD catch in the Spud Bowl. Another excellent walkon that arrived in 2011 was Yazdani.

2012 - Once again I agree with Arkley's thesis. It wasn't a great class because of no-shows and players who arrived with injuries. I note that he includes Yazdani, but Yaz was actually a walkon that arrived and redshirted in 2011. He then misses a few players. William Johnson was a late recruit at LB, who redshirted in 2012, then played as a backup in 2013 before leaving the program. Two other walkons in 2012 later won scholarships. Blake Scipio, like OUellette, won a scholarship immediately, and played as a true freshman in 2012, but his career was later terminated due to injury. JD Sprague was another arrival in 2012 who later won a scholarship. There was also a transfer that year, Kendrick Smith, a DE walkon that transferred from LSU, who started some games in 2013 before losing the job to Basham.

2013 - Significant players added in 2013 who were not in the recruiting class were transfer TE Anthony Talbert, and walkons Jerrid Marhefka, Chad Moore, and Cody Grillot. Arkley again gets the main point exactly right; this was a great class for the defensive line, TE, and LB. The TE group was even better if you include graduate transfer Anthony Talbert, who Arkley misses, and who teamed with Mangen as the #1/2 tight ends in 2013. He includes Grant Cunningham and Brad Ellis in this group, while I show both appearing on the roster in 2014 as Redshirt Freshmen. Neither player's bio shows where they were in 2013, which qualified as their redshirt year:
http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/fball/2017-18/bios/cunn...
http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/fball/2017-18/bios/elli...

2014 - Significant additions in 2014 not on the recruiting list include walkons OUellette, Grant Cunningham, Bo Hardy, and Brad Ellis.

2015 - Bonus additions for 2015 include Kyle Robbins, Austin Clack, and Keith Heitzman.

2016 - Extra additions include Tyler Gulliet, Nick Sink, and Tom Strobel

2017 - It's hard to know in the long run which additions will be of the most value, as it sometimes takes a few years before their value is known. In any case, additions include Jarren Hampton, David Burroughs, Dylan Wear, Markel Davis, Wyatt Shallman, Cole Irland, Brody Rodgers, Jake Neatherton. Also, there is a subtraction, since Juan Watkins, who was originally supposed to be in the 2017 class, is arriving with the 2018 class.

Last Edited: 7/27/2018 1:40:50 PM by L.C.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

GoBobcatsGo
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/28/2018 12:27:55 AM

Grant Cunningham and Bradd Ellis both joined the team after spring walk on tryouts.
Grant was known to the staff bc connections through Ken Conatser.
Bradd was recommended by Chase Cochran as a good spring walk on.

Bo Hardy was also a tryout guy after he transferred from Capital. He couldn�t make the tryout time but worked out early and ran fast.

L.C.
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/28/2018 9:03:20 AM

GoBobcatsGo wrote:

Thanks, and welcome to BA.

That would be Spring of 2014. I found on Bobcatattack these threads from March of 2014 for the additions of Cunningham and Hardy, when their names first appeared on the roster:
http://www.bobcatattack.com/messageboard/topic.asp?FromPa...
http://www.bobcatattack.com/messageboard/topic.asp?FromPa...
and this Post article on Ellis:
http://www.thepostathens.com/article/2017/09/bradd-ellis-...

It would seem that they enrolled in 2013, and did winter conditioning with the team, but didn't appear on the roster until March. They counted 2013 as a redshirt year, rather than treating them as a grayshirt. So, do you count them as 2013 additons, or 2014? I don't suppose it matters, but they were all three good to have on the team.

Last Edited: 7/28/2018 9:05:35 AM by L.C.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Rufusbobcat94
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RE: Arkley reviews Ohio's recruiting classes

Posted: 7/31/2018 8:05:37 PM

2013 was a special class in my mind. If we could get a Moore at LB every 4 years, wow! Chad and Keith were SPECIAL players: tough, very smart, hard-working. The Moore's represent everything I would want for Ohio Football. For those who dont remember Keith Moore (unlikely), check the Independence Bowl from 2012: Keith Moore and Tremayne Scott were a two-man wrecking crew that day. We coached and played very good D that day overall but Keith and Tremayne were awesome.

The thing that struck me from reading Arkley's 2013 article is how many D-lineman were recruited. Unusually-high number (?) and may reflect the recruiting deficiencies from the previous years, probably not a change in philosophy?

Last Edited: 7/31/2018 8:26:27 PM by Rufusbobcat94

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