The Hurry Up is your nightcap of Ohio State recruiting news, catching you up on the day’s events with an ear on the ground for what’s next.
BOSA READY FOR COLLEGE, WORKING HARD TO BRING TEAMMATES ALONG
As the country's fifth-ranked 2016 prospect, it shouldn't ever be a surprise to hear glowing reviews about Nick Bosa. Still, I wanted to share a few things from a recent conversation with someone close to the 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive lineman.
"Nick is playing awesome," the source said. "He is college ready. The other players at Ohio State better buckle up next year."
The question about Bosa is exactly what role he's expected or likely to play as a freshman.
"He moves around (the defensive line) depending on offensive tendencies," the source added. "I'm not sure what Larry Johnson will do."
Bosa and his St. Thomas Aquinas teammates are again nationally-ranked and although he's not the most vocal kid when it comes to the media, the five-star talent has been active in helping recruit the stars on his own team: 2016 prospect Sam Bruce and 2017 five-star Trevon Grimes. The pair are expected to accompany Bosa to Columbus in two weeks when he makes his official visit to Ohio State.
In recent weeks, Bruce, who is committed to a Miami Hurricane program wrought with potential coaching and system changes, has been a long-shot at best to flip to the Buckeyes. There's been some "smoke" that he's willing to give Ohio State a sincere look, so we'll see how that plays out once he arrives on campus.
FLORIDA'S PUSH ON THE FIELD YIELDING RESULTS OFF IT
Speaking of Florida, Sunday afternoon the Gators scored what will be an eventual big win when four-star 2017 prospect Bruce Judson decommitted from Ohio State. While Judson may not commit to Florida anytime real soon, there's a darn good chance it happens eventually, and he's not going to be the only playmaker committing to Jim McElwain's offense soon.
This Friday, it's expected that four-star wide receiver Freddie Swain from Citra, Florida, will commit to the Gators and five-star Nate Craig-Myers is still trending that direction as well. Florida has a commitment from another 2017 four-star wide receiver that was receiving Ohio State interest, Tampa's Daquon Green, who listed the Buckeyes as his leader until a summer visit to Gainesville.
So what's happening at Florida? How is McElwain's impact – the Gators are undefeated, ranked and playing good football – making such an immediate difference? Obviously Florida is a talent-rich state and a football program that has been at the top of the mountain recently, but with a dominant program in Tallahassee and Gainesville, how hard will recruiting the Sunshine State be for the Buckeyes moving forward?
URBAN TALKS RECRUITING
During Urban Meyer's press conference Monday, a recruiting question popped up and I felt it was worth sharing. Over the last few years, we've seen players come and go on the Ohio State recruiting "board" and guys that seemed like they'd be a fit that fell away without fanfare. The Buckeyes lost another top tight end target last week (2017 prospect Cole Kmet, who committed to Notre Dame) and one of the primary reasons was because of a perceived inability by the Buckeyes to get the tight end involved in their offense. The question becomes, is the Ohio State scheme ignoring the tight end, or have the tight ends who've been recruited not giving the Buckeye coaching staff a reason to scheme for them?
"I think scheme's overrated," Meyer said. "I think competitive spirit, human spirit and obviously ability overrule all that. And I think it's comical when I hear...'doesn't fit our system.'"
In Meyer's tenure at Florida, he utilized the tight end better than anyone in the country, developing Aaron Hernandez into a first-round NFL draft pick. Has his system "forgotten" how to use the position or is the recruiting at the position not producing the talent? Players like Jeff Heuerman, Nick Vannett and Marcus Baugh are good college football players, maybe even NFL-caliber players, but they're hardly game-changers. What then?
"Well, change your system. I give credit to our offensive staff. We got here and there was no H-backs," Meyer said. "We had a big tailback and a couple of tight ends and a fullback and you went 12-0. And we didn't complain about it and didn't say we don't have this and don't have this. So you adapt your schemes, and I think that's, in my opinion, the good coordinators and those type of guys do a very good job with that. And you'll find out what you got and do it. Make him fit."
With Luke Farrell and Jake Hausmann committed in 2016, it's another chance for the Buckeyes to prove how they'll adapt their system to fit their personnel.
As an aside, it's clear that the coaching staff in Ann Arbor was watching the Buckeyes press conference today.
When a coach tells a recruit they're gonna change their scheme for him... pic.twitter.com/rigTJo8rBv
— Jay Harbaugh (@JayHarbaugh) October 5, 2015
FOUR-STAR DEFENSIVE TACKLE MAKING OFFICIAL VISIT THIS WEEKEND
We've talked at length about Antwuan Jackson and the Buckeyes but it might be time to start paying a bit more attention to another 2016 defensive tackle. He's certainly paying attention to the Buckeyes.
This Ohio State & Indiana game is nice
— Chris Daniels 7 (@clicclac97) October 3, 2015
Good Job Ohio State #OSUvsIND
— Chris Daniels 7 (@clicclac97) October 3, 2015
That is Euless, Texas' Chris Daniels, a four-star defensive tackle who unofficially visited the Buckeyes in August and subsequently named them as a school in his top five. This coming weekend, Daniels will make his official visit to Columbus and give Ohio State a chance to move way up his list. The Michigan native and his Trinity teammates play Thursday so he's got the chance to travel and is heading to the Midwest, where his family is from.
One Buckeye source said things with Daniels continue on a positive arc and that this weekend could go a long way towards really seeing how they see the defensive tackle as a fit inside of the program.
