Renewed Focus On Evaluations In Recruiting For Buckeyes

The makeup of the Ohio State football roster is undergoing some changes.

With the scholarship limit removed by the pending House vs NCAA settlement, the Buckeyes will be moving from 85 scholarships to 90. The overall roster number is still a question mark, however, but it is expected to be around 120 just as it was last year. The number will gradually whittle down to 105 in the coming years.

Part of the House settlement also allows schools to directly pay players, but not all players will be paid equally.

In recruiting, the nation’s top prospects will be able to command top dollar should they choose to do so. There is only so much in Ohio State’s budget, especially when you consider the bulk of that budget is going to be spent on keeping current Buckeyes on the roster. As such, it is going to behoove Ohio State to find some diamonds in the rough in recruiting.

“Yeah, I think we have to do a better job now than ever of evaluating,” head coach Ryan Day said. “I think maybe in the past we’ve selected, quite honestly, but we’ve got to evaluate now more than ever because of the way things are structured.”

Some of that evaluation is taking place right now as the Ohio State assistant coaches are out on the road recruiting and watching players taking part in spring workouts. It is key time in the development of a recruiting class because the Buckeyes don’t want to miss out on somebody that they just didn’t evaluate well enough.

The OSU coaches aren’t necessarily searching for just the blue-chip prospects anymore. The late bloomers or under-the-radar guys are targets as well. But in order to see the kind of traits they’re looking for, the coaches have to make sure they’re evaluating players better than maybe they have in the past.

“This is a very important time for our staff,” Day said. “We’ve got to get out there and make sure that we’re evaluating these guys at a high level to come in and play all types of different roles. You may have a guy who’s coming in to make an impact day one. You may have a guy that’s coming in to be a developmental guy that maybe we’re expecting to see on the field in year two or three. All just as important. Just like when you’re in the NFL draft and you’re drafting a guy in the sixth and seventh round. Those are important decisions.”

Anybody can recognize and recruit a five-star prospect, but it takes more than that to see the potential of a developmental prospect. Both players are important and both have a place in this Ohio State football program.

“We all know that we’ve got to hit on the first rounders, but then there’s all these other guys along the way,” Day said. “And so that’s kind of how we’re looking at it. It’s becoming more and more like the NFL. So evaluations are critical, and we’ve got to make sure we’re on point with that.”

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