Ohio State hosted their first of several football camps this summer, attracting some of the top players from not only Ohio, but the midwest region. Along with the players were many of Ohio's college football coaches from all levels. While the weather was not entirely cooperative, the first Buckeye camp of the summer was a success. Today's camp was the one-day position camp, with a handful of other camps taking place throughout June and into July.
While today's camp didn't have the same depth or talent level of last weekend's NFTC camp, it featured multiple top prospects with Buckeye offers including Joey Burrow, Liam Eichenberg, Jonathon Cooper, Grant Schmidt and DeMario McCall. There were also several local and midwest prospects in attendance who are on the Buckeyes' radar and hope to earn offers, including David Edwards, Darrin Hall and others.
Along with the coaching staff getting to evaluate prospects, the camp gave players a chance to be coached by Urban Meyer's staff and gain exposure with other college teams around Ohio - it's really a great event for all parties.
Kerry Coombs leading the defensive backs through drills https://t.co/GezUcg1UbQ
— Jordan Wagner (@JWagner11W) June 8, 2014
During the camp a few names repeatedly stood out among those in attendance. One of those names was Tyler Green, 2015 safety from Hyattsville, Maryland. Green camped at Ohio State last summer and has been on the Buckeyes' radar, but today he got a chance to shine.
Four-star 2015 safety Tyler Green getting plenty of reps in front of Meyer & Ash. The Maryland native is hoping to earn an offer
— Jordan Wagner (@JWagner11W) June 8, 2014
Green earned an invitation to "The Opening" in May, and has been rising a bit recently. The 4-star now holds offers from Maryland, NC State and Virginia, but could walk away with a Buckeye offer when it's all said and done. He certainly got Ohio State's attention today, if an offer were to come it would be hard for him to turn down.
Urban & Chris Ash talking to DB Tyler Green after Green breaks up a pass by stripping the WR. pic.twitter.com/Li3pWEKa9e
— Mike Young (@MYoung11W971) June 8, 2014
Another possible future offer in attendance today was David Edwards. Edwards is listed as a pro-style QB/athlete on 247Sports, but the Buckeyes are looking at him as an H-back or tight end, he also got a chance to work out at receiver today.
ATH David Edwards (http://t.co/mgwKkfbGv7) was working at QB with Tom Herman & just switched to WR, with Stan Drayton directing the drills
— Mike Young (@MYoung11W971) June 8, 2014
This tweet sheds a bit of light on one of the interesting camp storylines. A few players - including Edwards and Elijah Robinson - came to camp intending to earn Buckeye offers, but the recent commitment by Burrow has shut the door on any other quarterback not named Torrance Gibson donning the scarlet and gray in this class. Still, Edwards showed some nice versatility and could be in line for an offer at some point once the tight end situation is more clear. Robinson had a nice day throwing the ball by the way:
Urban seems pleased with the performance of QB Elijah Robinson. Watched him throw about 8 straight passes & clapped a few times
— Mike Young (@MYoung11W971) June 8, 2014
One of the more anticipated matchups came in the trenches, as top 2016 Ohio defensive lineman Jonathon Cooper went head to head with Grant Schmidt. Both players have Buckeye offers and performed well today.
Meyer and Pantoni watched a few reps of Cooper vs. Grant Schmidt. Schmidt is the four-star OL from South Dakota that's holds an OSU offer.
— Jordan Wagner (@JWagner11W) June 8, 2014
Inside, it was a recently offered skill player that stood out. DeMario McCall has wheels, but he also impressed with his versatility, hands and route-running, working quite well with Joey Burrow in what could be a future Buckeye combination.
Offered 2016 ATH DeMario McCall with a nice catch https://t.co/aI7zwxeNAi
— Jordan Wagner (@JWagner11W) June 8, 2014
Ohio State wrapped up the camp with it's now somewhat famous "Smokehouse" races. Ohio OL Hunter Littlejohn took home the offensive line championship and Jonathon Cooper won the defensive line one. Not surprisingly, DeMario McCall won the running back race, then the overall Smokehouse race to be the fastest player at the camp.
More to come from the 11W Recruiting team as camp unwinds so stay tuned for more interviews, pictures, video, and maybe some news on potential offers.
