Though the real fun begins tomorrow with the lineman challenge and pool play of the 7-versus-7 tournament, Saturday night at The Opening Finals in Beaverton, Oregon, offered an exciting glimpse at the days ahead.
Prospects participated in a training camp and one-on-one drills, and the evening culminated with various individual and team competitions. After a brief interview session, players broke off into their position groups and went through individual drills — much like what quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers have done for the past two days.
Running backs, linebackers, defensive backs and offensive and defensive linemen arrived at the Nike World Headquarters on Friday afternoon, and Saturday's events marked the first time they hit the field together.
With three of the eight Ohio State commits in attendance playing in the secondary, I spent most of training camp following four-star safeties Jaiden Woodbey and Josh Proctor and four-star cornerback Sevyn Banks. Five-star cornerback target Anthony Cook and four-star cornerback targets Tyson Campbell and Houston Griffith were there, too, quite possibly making this the most talented position group from top to bottom.
Woodbey, as I fully expected, was leading the pack through drills. He was very attentive and looked eager to learn from his coaches. He was something else in one-on-one drills, too, shutting down top-rated tight end target Jeremy Ruckert on numerous occasions and showing off his closing speed if beaten off the line — which, to me, means
Woodbey against Jeremy Ruckert, the nation's top-rated tight end: pic.twitter.com/uhNRODulcM
— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) July 2, 2017
Ohio State safety commit Jaiden Woodbey shows off his closing speed: pic.twitter.com/mUn4YBT9Ze
— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) July 2, 2017
Things were chippy throughout the night, as you can expect with a group of extremely talented teenagers trying to one-up one another. Miami five-star cornerback commit Al Blades Jr. was the main antagonist, but Cook and five-star wide receiver target Amon-Ra St. Brown nearly came to blows during one drill.
Beaten off the line but the speedster St. Brown, Cook latched onto his arm and the two came tumbling down to the ground in the process. When they got up, Cook's shirt was ripped and the two exchanged some words.
Getting feisty out here in 1-on-1s pic.twitter.com/nfEqZDgyHE
— Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) July 2, 2017
Cooler heads prevailed, of course, and Cook went on to dominate thereafter. Shirtless, he shut down California five-star receiver Jalen Hall and Nebraska four-star commit Joshua Moore, among others.
Banks and Proctor were locked at the hip for most of the evening, and you can tell they've really started to bond at the event. I spoke with both ahead of the night's festivities, and they're both excited to show fans what they can do despite being the lesser heralded recruits in Ohio State's top-ranked class.
When the sun went down, the players came together for a showcase at midfield that included the fastest man competition, power ball toss, longest throw, tug-of-war and make 'em miss — Nike's rendition of the Oklahoma drill.
Campbell finished second in the fastest man competition after qualifying for the finals with a 4.27 40-yard dash. California four-star cornerback target Isaac Taylor-Stuart, who plans to visit Columbus for the first time this fall, was the champion — though he false-started, causing Campbell to run twice. Regardless, there was a lot of speed on the field this evening.
Ohio State cornerback target Tyson Campbell just ran a 4.27 40-yard dash. Second lane from the right: pic.twitter.com/7M7tDISnBP
— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) July 2, 2017
Four-star linebacker commit Teradja Mitchell competed in the power ball toss, but his 44-foot throw was just short of Clemson five-star defensive end commit Xavier Thomas' 47-foot mark.
Mitchell teamed up with fellow Team Vapor Speed members Woodbey, five-star defensive tackle commit Taron Vincent and five-star offensive tackle target Jackson Carman for the tug-of-war. The group defeated their three opponents with ease, after which they all declared it was only the beginning of their success in the Pacific Northwest.
Unfortunately, four-star linebacker target Solomon Tuliaupupu and four-star running back commit Jaelen Gill were unable to complete the task in the make 'em miss competition. Team Hyper Strong's Patrick Surtain Jr. kept Gill and the five other running backs in check, and Tuliaupupu's lone miss on Penn State five-star running back commit Ricky Slade proved to be the difference.
Ohio State running back commit Jaelen Gill shakes his defender: pic.twitter.com/HlVGzrgGVZ
— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) July 2, 2017
Team Buckeye, I mean, Team Vapor Speed will have a chance to bring home the real trophy, though, beginning with the first round of the 7-versus-7 tournament at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. I'll be on hand, of course, so stay tuned for more from Oregon.
