The Hurry Up: Getting Defensive About the Buckeyes Defensive Line Recruiting

THE JACKSON JIVE

Well, that sucked.

The real trouble with failing to land a player like Antwuan Jackson isn't just that Ohio State (or whatever school you follow) spent months recruiting him and his family and it didn't pan out, although that isn't ideal of course. No, the real trouble when you put so much time and energy into a player that you don't land is that by doing so you hurt your ability to recruit and get to know a player who you might need to turn to late in the process.

The Buckeyes–for months–have felt good about where they were with Jackson. He's a great kid from a good family that wasn't interested in playing games with his recruitment. He said he wanted to visit Ohio State twice over the summer, and he did. He took an unofficial and official visit to Columbus (September, November) on top of the June and July visits, so the interest and the relationships with Larry Johnson, Urban Meyer and the rest of the Ohio State recruiting class were legitimate and sincere. There was no "dropping the ball" with the Buckeyes in this recruitment, they just couldn't compete with the Tigers and the familiarity that Jackson and his family had built there over the course of almost a dozen visits to Auburn.

If there was a moment that things started to feel less secure, it was following Jackson's official visit last weekend because–unlike his visits to Columbus–the entire family (including his mother) visited Auburn with Antwuan, although his mother was completely on-board if the Buckeyes ended up being the choice. 

LARRY JOHNSON SR. AND THE FORGETFUL FAN

There is a growing sentiment among Buckeye fans that Larry Johnson is failing to live up to reputations as a recruiter, but that comes from people who conveniently ignore that five-star defensive ends Nick Bosa and Jonathon Cooper credit Johnson as the primary reason they chose the Buckeyes. Five-star defensive end Terrell Hall, who committed to the Buckeyes in February (before decommitting under bizarre circumstances in August) credited Johnson as a driving force in his commitment as well. Johnson's efforts yielded not one, not two, but three different five-star defensive ends in one recruiting cycle.

But–I can hear the dissenters say–sure Bosa from Florida but he has Buckeye ties. Cooper is from Columbus and would have been a Buckeye anyway, right? Not necessarily according to the Gahanna Lincoln star.

"Coach Johnson is amazing," Cooper told Eleven Warriors Thursday night. "Yeah, he's a coach on the field, but off the field he's just a different kind. He is just a great guy and a friend. If he wasn't at Ohio State, I don't know if I would be going to school there. He's already helped me become a better player, teaching me to use my hands and my hips more. He's so much more than a coach, he's a mentor to me."

John Bosa, the father of Buckeye All-American Joey and his brother Nick, couldn't say enough great things about Johnson and his role in Nick's recruitment and Joey's development.

"Nick didn't choose Ohio State to follow Joey," John Bosa told 11W. "He chose Ohio State because of Larry Johnson Sr."

"Nick was willing to go to other schools, but the reason he chose Ohio State was to coached by Larry Johnson. Yes, there's a stability and trust in (Urban) Meyer and Mick Marotti for how he transformed Joey physically, but if you prioritize how Nick made his decision, how he knew in his heart he wanted to go to Ohio State? Number one was Larry Johnson. There’s no overstating his importance." 

Bosa, a former NFL first-round pick who played at Boston College, says that without Johnson, his All-American son wouldn't be the player he is now. 

"As for Joey? His career has been directly impacted by Larry Johnson," the elder Bosa continued. "Yes, Mike Vrabel got him on a path to success, but there's no question that the player he’s developed into is directly attributed to L.J. on-and-off the field. His mentorship as a role model, as a human being - he’s an amazing man. In-game techniques like hand placement, pass rush moves and playing in the defensive scheme? That is all Larry Johnson." 

For anyone to imply that Johnson hasn't lived up to his reputation is laughable and displays a complete disregard for reality.

LOOKING TOWARDS LAWRENCE

So, where do the Buckeyes go next? There's no doubt that the primary target moving forward will be Monroe, Louisiana's Rashard Lawrence. It's not my intention to minimize the efforts that were put into Jackson, but Lawrence has definitely not been on the back burner since his first trip to Ohio State in June, even if he's been discussed less often. On Ohio State's recruiting board, the top of the defensive tackle "list" has been more like a depth chart with an "or" between the names Jackson and Lawrence than there's ever been a discernible "favorite" between the duo. Jackson has been the most commonly talked about recruit because he has made more visits to Ohio State, talks a bit more easily to the media and because Urban Meyer has never landed a recruit from Louisiana in his coaching career. Ever.

Lawrence, a five-star prospect, has made two visits to Columbus, one unofficial and one official, and he's regularly expressing interest in the Buckeyes on his social media accounts. The Buckeyes have confidence that Lawrence really "likes" them but, as is the case with any southern prospect and even more so with a kid from Louisiana, is that enough to get him to consider leaving the comforts of home? That's the question and more often than not the answer is no, but "more often than not" isn't "never."

There is going to be, sometime soon, a defensive tackle prospect of Lawrence's stature that leaves the loving confines of SEC country and heads north. Jim Harbaugh and Greg Mattison went to Houston to reel in four-star Jordan Elliott, and it's naive or ignorant to suppose that Urban Meyer, Larry Johnson, Greg Schiano and Luke Fickell are incapable of doing the same with Lawrence if he's truly open to the idea of leaving home.

There is going to be someone who sees the opportunity for playing time, a chance to play alongside incredible talents like Cooper and Bosa and the chance to be coached by Johnson, Meyer and co. that places the those things above staying close to home. It's not every year that you pull a Vonn Bell or Raekwon McMillan from the teeth of the south, but it's not impossible.

RASHAN GARY REALITY

Now that I've tried to infuse some optimism, let's talk about Rashan Gary, the nation's top-ranked defensive tackle and the number one overall prospect in the country for 2016.

Earlier in the week, we updated the situation with Gary. Therein, we speculated on how the hiring of Greg Schiano may impact the Ohio State's pursuit of the 6-foot-5, 295-pounder, which, for all intents and purposes, has been over for a while. 

Regardless of that slight glimmer of hope, it's hard to imagine that at this point there's any reason to be optimistic about the Buckeyes' chances in the chase for Gary. Right now, it's simply a pipe-dream.

Are the Buckeyes giving up? Of course not, Gary is a phenomenal football player and the type of prospect that you chase until the last minute if you're capable. Still, he's not made any plans to make an official visit to Ohio State, despite their regular and consistent requests for him to do so, and even though he's got a month before he'll make any more visits, the Buckeyes are going to need a serious push to get him to pick a mid-January trip to Columbus over USC or Bama or LSU.

If Gary comes back to Ohio in January, then allow yourself to think there's a chance, but until then, don't waste your time or breath believing there's any possibility he ends up in the recruiting class come February.