Better Know a Buckeye: Josh Myers

The Better Know a Buckeye series continues with a profile of Josh Myers, an offensive line prospect from Miamisburg, just south of Dayton.

Myers will have at least a footnote place in Urban Meyer's illustrious coaching history as the first freshman offensive lineman to whom Meyer extended a scholarship offer. This is true even for Meyer's previous coaching stops at Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida. Ohio State forged a relationship with Josh Myers starting with that freshman-year offer and into the 2014 game against Michigan. That game largely made up Myers' mind about committing to Ohio State. He finally pulled the trigger on a junior day event on January 25, 2015.

This feature will proceed in the usual fashion familiar to long-time readers of these features. I start with his recruitment, even discussing his interest in programs like Kentucky (where his father and brother played) and Tennessee. Thereafter, I discuss the reasons for his commitment. I next provide a scouting report of Myers that details his strengths and areas for improvement. I close with a projection of a redshirt in 2017 and some highlight film for the reader to watch at the end of the feature.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Josh Myers' star was always going to rise higher than his father and older brother, both of whom played at Kentucky. Josh concluded his freshman season with offers from two Big Ten schools already. Illinois and Indiana were first-movers. Cincinnati, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Tennessee were interested as well. Myers' freshman year film was impressive and his frame suggested his ceiling was high.

Ohio State finally committed itself to a scholarship offer on March 27, 2014. This was no small gesture. Coaches of marquee programs are reticent to extend offers to freshmen since their development is difficult to project, in general. This is especially true for offensive line prospects, whose adjustment from high school to college is steeper than prospects at almost every other position. Still, Myers became a footnote in Urban Meyer's illustrious coaching history when he became the first freshman offensive line prospect to whom he gave a scholarship offer.

Myers' eyes looked south early into his recruitment. Ohio State's offer was meaningful, but hardly the first major offer he had. Tennessee offered earlier in the month and got him to visit Knoxville just two days after Ohio State offered. He followed that with a trip to Gainesville the next week. That resulted in an offer from Will Muschamp's Florida program. He concluded his spring unofficial visits with a trip down I-75 to Lexington to see the program for which his father played and his brother was a redshirt sophomore.

His recruitment shifted to the Midwest during the summer, largely for camps. Michigan State offered during a June 21 unofficial visit. Notre Dame offered two days later. Myers visited Ohio State for Friday Night Lights and traveled to Ann Arbor two days later. Only the mid-July visit to Tuscaloosa is conspicuous in this timeline. Myers camped at Alabama and left with a scholarship offer even if Alabama would not be a factor in his recruitment to follow.

The fall of 2014 gave Myers opportunity to take unofficial visits at his convenience with scholarship offers in hand. These included trips to Notre Dame for its game against Michigan and to Tennessee for its game against Kentucky. The turning point in his recruitment may have been his unofficial visit to Ohio State for the game against Cincinnati. Myers left Columbus with high remarks for the atmosphere and how well the coaches treated him.

"The visit went really well. Everything definitely lived up to the expectations... The Buckeyes always treat me really well, and we've got great relationships with the coaching staff there... I would say there's a different comfort level [right now] with Ohio State. I enjoyed getting the chance to watch them coach up close."

This visit induced Myers to return to Columbus for the Michigan game. He returned in January 2015 for a junior day event at Ohio State. That visit was sufficient for Myers to end his recruitment.

HIS COMMITMENT

Josh Myers committed to Ohio State on January 25, 2015 as the second member of what became Ohio State's 2017 recruiting class. He chose Ohio State over competing interest from Notre Dame and Tennessee as well as offers from Alabama, Michigan, and Michigan State, among others.

Myers cited several factors that led to his decision, namely that Ohio State was a great program and close to his Miamisburg home. He also cited the hospitality of Ohio State's coaches during unofficial visits. Myers could not mention one specific reason that pushed him to make this decision, thought he felt he had made up his mind after his experience at the Michigan game.

WHERE HE EXCELS

Ohio State fans already aware of Josh Myers know him for his various feats of strength. For example, here is Myers doing a one-hand power snatch with 155 pounds of weight.

Why use two arms when you only need one... (via @BR_TheFuture)https://t.co/fxfX0W4uWO

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 10, 2016

Here he is benching 435 pounds.

Ohio State OL commit Josh Myers (@joshmyers58) throws up 435 lbs. in the bench press #GoBucks https://t.co/vcZLj5MoWt

— B/R The Future (@BR_TheFuture) May 17, 2016

Here he is flipping a thousand-pound industrial tire.

Scouting reports of Myers start with a discussion of his herculean strength before proceeding to more football-specific features of his portfolio. That said, he pinches and pulls well for a player at his position. This makes him capable in run-blocking and a bad dream for opposing linebackers who may have scouted Myers' natural strength.

MUST WORK ON

Myers is an intriguing prospect for several reasons. This feature would be incomplete if it did not mention that more recent scouting reports have turned negative on where Myers is as he starts his collegiate career. He was a five-star prospect for almost all his recruitment before the final scouting reports downgraded him to a four-star before signing day.

This almost entirely hinges on the type of instruction that Myers got in high school. Miamisburg is a Wing-T offense. Watching his film reminds me of a passage I wrote for Kyle Trout in 2014, another high four-star prospect who enrolled early at Ohio State.

One reason for the deliberate use of the word "intriguing" in describing Kyle pertains to his limitations right now. Though Trout shined in Lancaster's Wing-T offense, the design of the offense is not conducive to a seamless transition to Ohio State's offense. For example, Lancaster's offense included a lot of shoulder blocking, which is as vintage Wing-T as it gets.

I could copy that section of Kyle Trout's feature and drop it here. After changing the proper nouns, everything I wrote about Kyle Trout would translate well to a critique of Myers. His hand placement is raw. Myers himself acknowledges he has a long way to go on technique. This matters a great deal. Myers is far stronger than Trout, but that comparative advantage of strength shrinks at the collegiate level. Even defensive linemen at lower-tier programs will overcome strength disparity with better technique.

The opposition Myers faces will be better-coached than the competition for Miamisburg. Recruiting analysts who saw this at practices for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl may have factored that into their collective decisions to downgrade Myers to a four-star.

Though less a critique, Myers strikes me more as a guard than a tackle. 247sports compounds some of the confusion by listing him as both an offensive tackle and the No. 2 offensive guard prospect in the country.

REDSHIRT?

I think this is a certain redshirt in 2017, no matter Myers' early enrollment. The ceiling is still high for Myers. A redshirt year in addition to his early enrollment will help him get there.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are senior-year highlights of Josh Myers.