The Hurry Up: Recapping a Big Week and Continuing to Look Ahead for Buckeyes

It was a busy week in Buckeye recruiting, so let's go back to the Independence Day weekend and see what you might've missed.

• The 2017 Buckeye football recruiting class is off to a spectacular start...
• ... and it got even better with the commitment of Jake Moretti
• The 11W Community Interview: Terrell Hall | Drue Chrisman
• The Hurry Up: 07/05 | 07/06 | 07/07 | 07/08 | 07/09 | 07/10
• The Opening: Preview | Something to Prove | Cooper Dominating | Highlights | Mack Lighting it Up
• Wayne Davis is No. 17 for 2016 | What Davis' Commitment Means
• Better Know a Buckeye: Robert Landers
• Tristen Wallace is focusing on Tristen Wallace 
• How Kaleb Wesson will fit into Ohio State's basketball program

MACK, BUCKEYE COMMITMENTS CONTINUE TO DRAW RAVE REVIEWS

We've talked about it a bit this week, but I wanted to to shed a little light on the discussion around Ohio State commitments from this past week in Oregon from people other than myself. 

The media was effusive in their praise of the future Buckeyes on hand, especially wide receiver Austin Mack.

• Damon Sayles, Bleacher Report: 

  Wide receiver Austin Mack was the talk of Thursday's seven-on-seven action, as he used his speed and athleticism to make multiple plays for the Lunarbeast squad.

  Mack, Indiana's No. 2 player and an Ohio State commit, made catches throughout the day that garnered oohs and aahs from the crowd. The 4-star receiver won several battles and looked impressive in goal-line situations.

  At 6'2" and 205 pounds, Mack is a big, physical athlete, and he used his size and athleticism to his advantage. He established himself as a go-to target for Lunarbeast.

• Tyler Donahue, Bleacher Report:

Wide receiver Austin Mack, a 4-star talent who committed to Ohio State in June, came up huge throughout the tournament. His performance featured this phenomenal grab along the sideline.

• Allen Trieu, Scout.com:

He showed he can stretch the field against elite defensive backs and his 4.50 forty he ran in testing showed up on the field. If there is one critique of him, there is an occasional ball here and there that he should catch that gets away from him, but based on what we saw him do in Oregon and over the last three years, that is not a big concern. He looks like he'll be a really good one for the Buckeyes and was one of the top performers from the Midwest during The Opening. He is currently ranked as the #16 wide receiver in the country and #84 player overall in the nation. Those rankings were justified during the week and it is possible he could see upward movement still during the season.

Jonathon Cooper, Jake Hausmann and Demario McCall were all excellent as well.

Donahue on Cooper:

Cooper seemed to be on a mission from the start and took several opponents to school, including 4-star Michigan pledge Michael Onwenu. 

Discussions in The Opening media room about players who warranted elevated star status continued to circle back to Cooper by the end of the week. Notre Dame commit Tommy Kraemer provided rave reviews.

"Cooper is the guy who stood out to me because he really makes you work for everything," Kraemer told Bleacher Report. "He'll take advantage of any mistake, and that combination of power and quickness isn't easy to deal with."

Barton Simmons, 247Sports.com:

“I think Cooper was one of the better players at the event,” Simmons said. “Every time I see him I like that guy more. He’s just got such great burst and explosiveness and a motor, and on top of all that I think he’s really aware technically of what he wants to do when he takes a rep. I think he’s a guy even though he’s been moving up in the rankings for us could probably move up a little bit more. I think he’s one of the unique guys in this class in terms of his motor and in terms of things behind physical traits.”

Simmons on McCall:

“Certainly he gets better in pads but I thought he was really good as a guy when he catches the ball in space, he was pretty dangerous in a two-hand touch setting,” 247Sports Director of Scouting Barton Simmons said. “He was a guy that everyone in the stands was oohing and ahhing about because of his burst and explosiveness with the football. He definitely looked like he, when he got the ball in space, you could see that gear a lot of guys out here didn’t have. He was a really good outlet for those quarterbacks to catch the ball in the flat and get more than he’s supposed to get. I thought he was one of the better backs of the week in that setting.”

Simmons on Hausmann: 

“He became really the big piece of the puzzle for the team that ended up winning it,” Simmons said of Hausmann. “He was a great safety valve, big target for Shea Patterson, they really started to lean on him, particularly in the red zone and down near the goal line. He was just a guy they could really count on and just made a bunch of plays, and the type of guy that has that big frame to where he can just get in front of defenders and put it in his area and complete the catch. He backed up what we think he is, which is one of the top tight ends in the class.”

The Lunarbeast 7-on-7 team that featured Hausmann, Mack and McCall bounced back from an 0-4 day during Thursday's pool play and went undefeated on Friday to win the 7-on tournament.

Running back Demario McCall joined Mack in the offensive attack, along with 4-star tight end Jake Hausmann.

"It was great getting together with my future teammates and showing what we can do against the best in the country," McCall said. "I think we can do some big things together at Ohio State."

Mack shared that sentiment.

"We won a championship here, and I think we can do the same thing in college," he said. "It's been an amazing experience and gave us an opportunity to bond before we all head to Columbus."

Donahue's story has updates on a few other Buckeye targets, so check out this link.

DON'T EXPECT VICTOR AT FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

One of the players discussed by Donahue is Coconut Creek, Florida's Binjimen Victor, the country's 10th-ranked wide receiver. The 6-foot-4, 170-pound Victor had a great week in Oregon and was one primary target for Ohio State's commitments during their trip. Victor was supposed to be in Dublin, Ohio this week for the FBU Top Gun Showcase but it doesn't appear that is going to happen. 

"Me and my coach are going to Atlanta, we're going to visit Georgia and Tennessee on the 16th-18th," Victor said. Those dates coincide with the FBU camp in Ohio. "I'm not sure how I will come up to Ohio for Friday Night Lights, but I want to be there."

Victor added that he's definitely going to take an official visit to Columbus, although he isn't sure which game that will be yet.

MITCHELL AND MOM WILL BE AT FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

One of the more interesting subplots to the 2016 Buckeye recruiting class is the saga of Ahmir Mitchell. The Egg Harbor City, New Jersey prospect is the country's 79th-ranked overall player and one of the country's premier athletes. He's 6-foot-3, 206-pounds, runs well, jumps high and is a great kid off the field as well.

So why don't the Buckeyes know where/how/if to take him in their recruiting class? Are they running out of time to make that determination? Chances are, yes, they are. Still, Mitchell's interest in Ohio State's program is legitimate and apparent. He visited the school a month ago on his way to South Bend, Indiana for a 7-on-7 tournament, and had an excellent visit with the coaching staff, including Urban Meyer. However, the next week he and a New Jersey contingent visited Michigan and, with the Wolverines making him a priority, the crystal ball started to move decidedly in the Maize and Blue's direction.

Today, Mitchell took to Twitter to confirm some big news: he'll be back at Ohio State for sure for Friday Night Lights and he's bringing his mom with him.

So, does this mean Ohio State is going to re-evaluate where things are at with wide receiver recruiting? Maybe. While they expect Donnie Corley to visit for FNL the writing is on the wall seems to indicate that – unless something significant happens – he's not going to be a Buckeye. Maybe the best move is to look closer at Mitchell, who could play defensive back or a number of other positions down the line and then shoot for the moon with Victor or Nate Craig-Myers at wide receiver?

Bold prediction: If Mitchell isn't a Buckeye by the end of Friday Night Lights, I think at that point it's safe to assume both sides have agreed to move on and a commitment elsewhere, likely Michigan, could come soon after that.