The Hurry Up: Previewing Safety Commit Jaiden Woodbey's Final Decision and Recapping College Football's First Early Signing Period

By Andrew Lind on December 20, 2017 at 6:50 pm
Jaiden Woodbey
Jaiden Woodbey
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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.

SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING

For the first time since 2007, the consensus top-rated player in the state will not sign with Ohio State after Fairfield five-star offensive tackle Jackson Carman committed to Clemson this morning.

And shortly after his ceremony, the 6-foot-6, 330-pound Carman told reporters in attendance Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney's claim that Urban Meyer might not stay with the Buckeyes much longer played a rather large role in his decision.

“We might have had a lot of conversations,” Swinney said. “I cannot recall specifically, but it sounds like something that might have come up when we were maybe talking about coaches. I’ve been a guy that’s been here for 15 years. There are obviously differences when you compare coaches and things like that. Obviously different stages in life and things like that. But in recruiting, you talk about anything and everything that a recruit wants to talk about that seems relevant.”

Meyer, 53, is just five year older than Swinney. And though he did cite health issues when he left Florida in 2009, Ohio State is recruiting at an all-time level, and it doesn't feel as if he's going to hang up his headset anytime soon. But Swinney used Meyer's past against him, and it worked on a prospect who was looking for an excuse — any excuse — to leave the state.

After all, Carman suggested this spring if the Ohio State football program wasn't in Ohio, he'd have already committed. That feeling never went away, and there was nothing the Buckeyes could do about it.

There's no denying this is a huge loss for Ohio State. Even with four-star offensive tackle Max Wray coming in, there is a significant lack of depth along the offensive line. And Carman, being an early enrollee, could have pushed for playing time as a true freshman.

Then again, the Buckeyes are in the process of signing one of the nation's top-ranked classes, and one recruit's decision isn't the end of the world. The staff will just now focus its efforts on landing signatures from the likes of Maryland four-star offensive tackle Rasheed Walker and Florida four-stars Nicholas Petit-Frere and William Barnes in February.

TRENDING AWAY

In a little over an hour and a half, we'll learn the fate of Ohio State four-star safety commit Jaiden Woodbey, who will either stick with his pledge of 10 months or flip to Florida State or USC.

Rumors of a flip have followed the 6-foot-2, 204-pound Woodbey from the time he committed to the Buckeyes in February. And following official visits to Los Angeles and Tallahassee, it now seems as if those fears are about to come true.

The Trojans, naturally, have been the main threat to Ohio State. After all, the USC campus is only an hour away from Woodbey's home and his father, Donnell, played there in the early 1990s. But sources close to Woodbey have indicated to Eleven Warriors the Seminoles will likely be his pick this evening.

If that happens, Woodbey will be choosing a program that didn't offer him a scholarship until last week over the staff with whom he's had a relationship with for nearly two years. If it weren't for an offhand comment on Twitter about how the previous staff never offered him a scholarship, Florida State and new head coach Willie Taggart may have never entered the picture.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

Though Ohio State made the final cut for several top-rated prospects, the Buckeyes weren't expected to land anyone beyond the 21 prospects they signed this afternoon — Woodbey excluded. However, I want to do a quick rundown of where those players landed.

Though Ohio State stopped recruiting him in September amid maturity concerns and his relationships off the field, Pennsyvlania five-star defensive end Micah Parsons included the Buckeyes in his Top 6. On Wednesday, he recommitted to Penn State eight months after reopening his recruitment.

Georgia five-star defensive end Brenton Cox, meanwhile, decommitted from Ohio State earlier this month following an official visit to Alabama. The Crimson Tide made a significant push, but proximity was the key factor in his decision to play for the home-state Bulldogs, instead.

Cox will be joined in Athens by Tennessee five-star offensive tackle Cade Mays, a Volunteer legacy who included the Buckeyes in his Top 3 earlier this month. He gives Georgia a nation-high six five-star commits, three more than Ohio State — Taron Vincent, Jaelen Gill and Jeremy Ruckert.

And last but not least, Texas five-star cornerback Anthony Cook also opted to stay home. His pledge gives the Longhorns commitments from 10 of the Lone Star State's top 15 prospects, a stark contrast from last year when the Buckeyes stole three of the top six.

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