Better Know a Buckeye: Jamel Dean

Eleven Warriors' look toward the upcoming football season continues with the second installment of this year's Better Know a Buckeye series. This week's profile is on Jamel Dean, a cornerback prospect from Cocoa, Florida.

Dean's recruitment was brief and, mostly, all-Ohio State. He earned scholarship offers from many programs across the country, notably in-state Florida and Miami, before becoming enamored with Ohio State after a visit for Friday Night Lights in 2013. He committed to Ohio State on December 1, 2013 and never wavered even as other Floridians in Ohio State's class at that time started to look elsewhere.

I retell his recruitment and the reasons for his commitment below. I follow this with a discussion of Dean's strengths and weaknesses as he gets a jump-start of his collegiate career right now. I conclude with a projection whether he redshirts in 2015 and a brief highlight film you can watch.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Jamel Dean made his first visit to Ohio State for the Friday Night Lights camp in 2013. Though it was only the summer before his junior year, Dean had already attracted considerable attention from programs across the country. He listed scholarship offers from programs like Florida, Miami, Mississippi State, and Temple in addition to the Ohio State offer that merited a trip to a mid-summer camp trip to Columbus.

What was at first a two-horse race between Miami and Florida became all Ohio State after the Friday Night Lights camp. He was quick to name Ohio State as his leader after his trip, and he began to say that leaving the state of Florida was no issue. It may even have been a fait accompli considering the state, even the Sun Belt region, has no monopoly on NFL football.

Jamel Dean's recruitment had no real drama for the months following his Friday Night Lights camp and preceding his official commitment. He consistently named Ohio State his leader, and when the time came, Dean felt comfortable pulling the trigger.

HIS COMMITMENT

On December 1, 2013, Jamel Dean became the second member of Ohio State's 2015 recruiting class. He selected Ohio State over other offers, notably Florida and Miami.

In a conversation with Eleven Warriors, Dean praised everything about Ohio State and his summer experience on campus. He encapsulated the process preceding his commitment as follows.

"I feel like I fit in at Ohio State," Dean said after his commitment. "I've talked with (Buckeye coach) Tim Hinton once a week, every week since the summer visit. I've talked to Coach Meyer a few times as well, I just feel comfortable. After I went to the Penn State game and saw how the atmosphere really was. I was like 'I can see myself playing on this team and playing in front of thousands of fans. Coach Meyer told me congratulations and that he was going to come down to Florida to see me after the holidays to get know my family and me a bit better. This is the best feeling ever, knowing I am going to be where I want to be."

Early out-of-state pledges tend to be treated with suspicion from Ohio State fans, though Dean, unlike Ben Edwards and Carlton Davis, never wavered in his commitment. The only minor intrigue was a camp visit to Florida in June of last year, though Dean reiterated that this was just a show of support for his Cocoa teammates who were hoping to attract scholarship offers from the Gators. Dean returned to Ohio State for his second Friday Night Lights camp later that summer.

WHERE HE EXCELS

247Sports listed Dean as 6-2 and 195 pounds on the recruiting trail. When he enrolled at Ohio State this January, he was listed at 6-1 and 185 pounds. Rivals lists him at 6-0 and 205 pounds. His high school coach lists him at 6-2.5 and 201 pounds. Again, take measurements with a teaspoon of salt.

I know Buckeye fans will enjoy this. Ohio state commit @jamel_dean15 has gained 23lbs of muscle and is now 6'2.5 201 pic.twitter.com/LGVGiTpUWp

— Coach T-Rone (@TRONE2) July 17, 2014

Whatever his exact measurements, Dean is a large cornerback prospect. His frame is ideal for defending larger wide receivers that are vogue in the collegiate and professional ranks. This length will allow Dean to win battles at the line of scrimmage in press situations, and it will also afford him better opportunities to break up passes at the collegiate level.

MUST WORK ON

Dean's footwork is a little messy. This is most visible in his backpedal, which is where great athletes tend to get messy at the high school level if they can afford to get away with it. If Ohio State's secondary coaching is transitioning toward pattern-matching, this is less an issue. Whatever the case, Dean does take a few false steps in coverage.

Dean's size makes him ideal for defending larger wide receivers on the outside. Smaller wide receivers would be more difficult for Dean to defend.

It's conceivable that Dean gets too large for the position and grows into a safety. In any case, Chris Ash tends to like converted cornerbacks at safety positions.

REDSHIRT?

Dean enrolled in January to get a head start on his college career, and he appears to have recovered fully from an ACL tear that cost him the end of his junior year. Given this, his frame and his natural position make him an ideal candidate for special teams duty if he is unable to crack the two-deep at the cornerback rotation. I think Dean will play as a true freshman.

HIGHLIGHTS

A compilation of Dean's abbreviated junior season is available on YouTube.