The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
HERE COMES THE BOOM
Seeing as he suffered a shoulder injury last October that cut short his junior season, you'd think Emory Jones might try to avoid contact this fall.
But that said, the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder could be seen in Heard County's nationally televised game on Saturday lowering his shoulder and running through an opposing running back while playing safety.
Now it's fairly common, especially at smaller schools that aren't oozing with Division I talent at every position, to play their best athletes on both sides of the ball. But given the severity of the injury — though now fully healed — and how important he is to the Buckeyes' future plans, perhaps head coach Urban Meyer wasn't too thrilled to see the following hit.
Football's version of a goalie fight? Emory Jones at safety with a shot on the opposing QB. pic.twitter.com/qNcf4rtITS
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 26, 2017
“No, I love that,” Meyer said at Monday's press conference when asked indirectly about Jones' hit. "That means he's a tough cat."
Meyer, or any other coach for that matter, can't actually discuss commits until they sign their financial aid award or National Letter of Intent. But he understood the hypothetical line of questioning nonetheless.
"I think I know where you're headed because I saw it," Meyer said.
You could understand, though, if Meyer called up Jones' coaches at Heard County and was critical of their game plan. But that's not something he recalls ever having done.
“I personally do not [reach out to the coach],” Meyer said. “We follow them very closely, though, because there's an expectation level of sometimes people think they are committed and they just shut her down for the team. We'll eventually try to walk away from that player, too.
“That's why our relation with high school coaches is so strong," he contined. “I've never been in that situation where I would say, 'Why are you doing that?' I don't think I would ever do that. However, I have called coaches before and said, 'Is this guy doing everything that we all agreed that he should do? Is he going to class? Is he being a great teammate?'"
That certainly wouldn't be the way to handle Jones' recruitment anyway, especially with Alabama continuing to push for the four-star signal caller, who admitted he took a visit to Tuscaloosa last month and didn't first make the staff aware.
"Everything is all good [with Ohio State],” Jones told SEC Country after the game. "I talk to them every day. Our relationship has grown so much more over the last year. I’m good with them right now.”
Jones, of course, was in Columbus one week after that visit for Friday Night Lights, at which time he and the Buckeyes' staff had a heart-to-heart discussion.
"They didn’t like [the trip to Alabama]," Jones said. "They said they were disappointed in me and wanted me to talk to them about everything I do. They want me to shut it down, to be their quarterback for the class, but I might take some [visits]. I’ve not decided yet."
Jones has repeatedly said he'd like to take trips elsewhere to make sure he's making the right choice.
"It’d take a lot for me to de-commit from Ohio State," he added. "It’s my dream school. It’s what I’ve dreamed [of doing] for so long and I’ve got that opportunity.”
AN UNLIKELY PULL
Though the staff is undoubtedly focusing all of its attention right now on Thursday's game against Indiana, Ohio State offered a scholarship on Sunday night to Amite, Louisiana, four-star wide receiver Devonta Lee.
Blessed to Receive an offer from the University of Ohio State .#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/mlx8jbAUNY
— Devonta Lee (@DevontaleeLee) August 28, 2017
The 6-foot-2, 212-pound Lee is considered the ninth-best wideout and No. 42 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, as hauled in more than 900 reception yards and 13 touchdowns for the Warriors last season. He holds double-digit offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
The Buckeyes have only landed two prospects the Bayou State ever, the last being Nader Abdallah in 2004, so pulling Lee will be a difficult task. And with wide receivers Trey Knox, Theo Wease Jr. and Ja'shawn Sheffield all ahead of him on the priority chart, it's hard envision the staff giving him much attention.
RECRUITING THE NATION'S BEST
The 2017 high school football began in earnest this past weekend, with several of the nation's top games highlighted in the aforementioned GEICO ESPN Kickoff event. And following the games each week, USA TODAY Sports will release its Super 25 rankings, with the top-ranked team at the end of the year dubbed the mythical national champion.
Here's the breakdown of teams you may be interested in.
- No. 2 – IMG Academy (Five-star defensive tackle commit Taron Vincent)
- No. 5 – St. John Bosco (Four-star safety commit Jaiden Woodbey)
- No. 13 – Allen, Texas (Four-star quarterback target Grant Tisdale, Wease)
- No. 16 – Grayson, Georgia (Five-star linebacker target Owen Pappoe)
- No. 25 – American Heritage (Four-star defensive end decommit Andrew Chatfield, five-star cornerback target Tyson Campbell)
Among this coming weekend's notable games, third-ranked Bishop Gorman hosts No. 1 Mater Dei and IMG travels to No. 11 Centennial, California.
