The Eleven Warriors Web Report comes to you weekly from the Spectrum Sports studios in downtown Columbus, featuring our own Beau Bishop, Dan Hope and James Grega.
On this week's Web Report, the panel discussed what proved to be a busy weekend for both former and future Ohio State football players, as seven Buckeyes were selected in the 2018 NFL draft while three recruits from the class of 2019 – three-star safety Bryson Shaw, four-star linebacker Cade Stover and finally, five-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson – committed to be Buckeyes.
The headlining commitment of the weekend was Wilson, who currently lives in Austin, Texas, but previously lived in Dublin, Ohio, as both Ohio State and Texas aggressively recruited one of the nation's top pass-catchers. Ultimately, though, Wilson decided to give his verbal to the Buckeyes, returning to Central Ohio while reunited with his former teammate from Lake Travis High School, recently enrolled Ohio State freshman quarterback Matthew Baldwin.
"This is a huge win for Ohio State," Hope said. "The success Urban's had in Texas, this is now his 11th recruit he's gotten out of Texas, and this is a list that includes J.T. Barrett, J.K. Dobbins, Jeffrey Okudah, Baron Browning, just to name a few. He's had a lot of success in Texas, and the word on the street is, it's not done yet. He's still recruiting hard in Texas, he's looking to get more guys out of Texas, and that battle between Meyer and his protege Tom Herman, that's going to be an intense battle on the recruiting trail for years to come."
As for the NFL draft, Grega discussed his experience of spending this past weekend in Tarboro, North Carolina, where he watched the NFL draft with Tyquan Lewis and his family as the Ohio State defensive end was selected with the final pick of the second round (No. 64 overall) by the Indianapolis Colts. Grega also wrote a must-read longform feature about Lewis' draft experience, which also went into detail about Lewis' background and how important his family is to him.
"To see a kid like Tyquan, who's done it the right way his entire life and especially at Ohio State, it was a really cool moment to see him share that with his family and I thank them so much for letting me experience that with them," Grega said.
Grega and Hope were also asked which Buckeyes they felt landed in the best spots to succeed, with Grega identifying Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick Billy Price as his choice.
"I think he fits really well with them, I think it's a perfect fit down there and I think he's a guy who could be a starter for 10 years in the NFL if he stays healthy," Grega said.
Hope agreed with Grega's selection of Price, but also identified Cleveland Browns first-round pick Denzel Ward – who went even higher than anyone expected as the No. 4 overall pick – as another Buckeye who landed in a great spot.
"Certainly the Browns carry a stigma with them because of the last couple years, but you look at some of the players on their defense – you've got a pass-rush led by Myles Garrett up front – this is a defense that has the pieces in place to start getting better," Hope said. "Denzel Ward's going to be a huge part of that."
In conclusion, Bishop wrapped up the show by discussing how this year's draft just continued to build upon the NFL factory that Urban Meyer has built at Ohio State.
"(Director of player personnel Mark) Pantoni stars it, he identifies the talent. Urban then goes and gets the talent to come in. Then Mickey (Marotti, director of sports performance) develops them, and then they coach them up," Bishop said. "It is an NFL football factory, and the fact that they're our factory to follow is a pretty damn good thing, and a lot of people are quite jealous of it."
Full episodes of the Eleven Warriors Report air weekly on Spectrum Sports Mid-Ohio. This week's episode, which premieres at 7 p.m. Tuesday, looks ahead to the 2018 Big Ten football season, with analysis on all the conference's projected top teams going into the fall including Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Nebraska.
