The Hurry-Up: Observations from Thursday’s All-American Bowl Practice, Cormani McClain to Visit Ohio State

By Garrick Hodge on January 6, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Devin Brown
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SAN ANTONIO – Thursday’s All-American Bowl practice for the West team was much more lighthearted than Wednesday afternoon’s joint practice with the East. 

Between the practicing of trick plays and a lower-than-usual intensity level just two days away from Saturday’s game, there weren’t as many observations to be gleaned from Thursday, but Eleven Warriors was on hand for practice, nonetheless. Here are several observations from Thursday’s practice:

  • It’s easy to understand why two of the players on the West team would be distracted, at least. OSU offensive lineman commitment Carson Hinzman and signee George Fitzpatrick both learned of Greg Studrawa’s firing halfway through the practice, and were noticeably shocked by the news. Both remain committed to Ohio State, however.  
  • In non-Studrawa news, Devin Brown remains as impressive as ever with his arm strength. Even Hinzman raved about him after practice concluded. “He launched a 50-yard bomb, that’s nuts. I’m from Wisconsin and a school that runs triple options, so that’s like watching a spacecraft take off for the first time.”
  • The West team worked on installing lots of throwback screen plays in Thursday’s morning session. Brown threw at least four or five. 
  • There were also trick plays galore. First was a wide receiver reverse pass downfield, and Ohio State 2022 four-star signee Kyion Grayes was given the honor of throwing the first one. 
  • Brown showed he’s got some hands too, apparently, on another trick play.
  • Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but in 11-on-11 drills, Caden Curry beat his man on the play and would have sacked Brown if he was allowed to hit him, but the All-American Bowl practices are minimal contact with no contact allowed on quarterbacks. 

McClain to visit Ohio State

Ohio State could be hosting a five-star 2023 cornerback in a few weeks. 

Cormani McClain, rated the fourth-best player in the 2023 cycle and the top cornerback per 247Sports’ composite rankings, told On3 this week he plans to visit five schools soon: Ohio State, Alabama, Miami, Michigan and Oklahoma. That list is somewhat different than the top five McClain put out in November, which consisted of Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Alabama and Miami. 

Obviously, landing a talent of McClain’s caliber would be monumental for OSU, but its top cornerback target for 2023 remains AJ Harris, who recently delayed his original commitment date of Jan. 11. But if the Buckeyes could somehow land both, if you want to dream, the Ohio State coaching staff would certainly be happy to have them.

Aguero flirts with Buckeyes

One of the top safeties in 2023 seemingly has Ohio State on his mind. Joenel Aguero, a four-star recruit rated the second-best safety prospect in the 2023 class, posted a photo of him in an Ohio State uniform from his visit in June.

The Buckeyes already have one safety committed in the 2023 class in Cedrick Hawkins, but they’d gladly take another, especially one of Aguero’s caliber. Aguero’s lead recruiter from Ohio State was Matt Barnes, who recently left to become the defensive coordinator at Memphis, so it will be interesting to see how his relationship with OSU evolves. But if one tweet is any indication, he’s still considering them as an option.

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