4-Star Offensive Tackle Kyle Dodson Commits To Ohio State

#25 in '12 is a huge one for the Buckeyes

4-Star offensive tackle Kyle Dodson switched his commitment from Wisconsin to Ohio State today during National Signing Day, in a move that was an absolute great grab for Urban Meyer's class of 2012.

Even though he committed to Wisconsin during the summer, Dodson made official visits to Ohio State, Michigan State, USC, Auburn and Wisconsin. Dodson's commitment gives the Buckeyes their 25th commitment for the 2012 class.

This past Sunday he was back in Columbus for an unofficial visit as the Ohio State staff had a huge junior day and the Buckeye basketball team took on Michigan. By far the biggest grab for Ohio State today, Dodson has a lot to like about.

The 6-foot-6 and 310-pound Dodson is one of the country’s premier offensive tackles. He had over two dozen scholarship offers including Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Auburn, USC, Michigan, Illinois, West Virginia, Louisville and Connecticut.

Dodson is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings. He is the No. 12 prospect in the state of Ohio, the country’s No. 24 offensive tackle and the No. 224 overall prospect.

Scouting Report: Dodson has the upper body playing strength to dominate opponents as an inline drive blocker, but also has the size with enough athleticism for the offensive tackle position at the major level of competition. However, defensive speed could become a challenge down the road; if this occurs, a move inside to guard could be in his future. Either way, he's a great asset to any team, and the Buckeyes are grateful to have him.

4-Star Linebacker Jamal Marcus Commits To Ohio State

Marcus is excited to play for the Buckeyes

On signing day, the Buckeyes picked up two excellent recruits. The first was 4-star linebacker Jamal Marcus who was down to East Carolina and Ohio State. I made the prediction for Marcus to attend ECU, based off Ohio State picking up Camren Williams and David Perkins who, like Marcus, are 4-stars.

I can happily say that I was wrong here, as Marcus is now a Buckeye. The OSU staff recruited him as an outside linebacker, giving the Buckeyes their 24th commitment of the 2012 class.

Marcus (Durham, N.C./Hillside) made an official visit to East Carolina the weekend of Jan. 13. He then made an official visit to Ohio State the following weekend.

However, in the end Marcus narrowed his choices down to the two schools he made official visits to and announced moments ago at a press conference in his high school gymnasium that he is headed to Ohio State.Marcus’ mother wanted him to also take one last look at North Carolina State and North Carolina.

The 6'2" and 225-pound Marcus led Hillside to an 11-2 record this season. He made 89 tackles including 17 sacks playing a combination of outside linebacker and defensive end. Marcus is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings. He is the No. 8 prospect in the state of North Carolina and the country’s No. 151 overall prospect.

Scouting report: Marcus was a first-team all-state pick as a senior as he tallied 89 tackles and 17 sacks as a defensive end. Because of his body size, he may project as a linebacker at the college level. As a junior, he registered 45 tackles and 14 sacks. 40 time: 4.6

Wednesday's Buckeye Bits

Depsite being seven months away from the first game of the 2012 season, today is one of the most important days in college football. It is national signing day, the day where recruits can officially sign a Letter of Intent to play at their school. 

Urban Meyer has added several high-profile recruits since his hiring in November, and is looking to add at least one more today in Kyle Dodson.

At least 23 will commit the next four years to Ohio State.  As of this morning, Ohio State had 23 commitments, with 15 players being from Ohio.  The Plain Dealer made an interactive map where you can see where the recruits are from.  In a landmark move, all players signing with Ohio State will be given four-year scholarships, rather than the renewable one-year scholarships that had been handed out in the past. 

B1G Commissioner Jim Delany encouraged all conference schools to offer the four-year scholarships. The four-year grants were made possible in October by a rule change by the NCAA, but are not required.

National Signing Day Updates

Here's our National Signing Day dump post. You can find all of the latest Ohio State commitments here, as well as full recruiting posts later on today. For now, we wait and see who will be the last couple of recruits to sign to Ohio State after months of waiting.

Keep in mind WR's Davonte Neal and Stefon Diggs are not announcing today.

Joel Caleb: 8:30 am Prediction: Ohio State
Bam Bradley: 8:45 am Prediction: Pitt
Jamal Marcus: 10:30 am Prediction: East Carolina
Kyle Dodson: Ceremony starts 12:15 pm Prediction: Ohio State


National Signing Day Commits
Jamal Marcus 
Kyle Dodson

Tuesday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning Buckeye fans. Welcome to your Tuesday Buckeye Bits. Unfortunately we are entering the worst month on the sporting calendar tomorrow. February is the worst.

College basketball is still weeks away from the greatest tournament on earth, the NFL will be coming to a close with this weekend’s super bowl, pitchers and catchers are still a couple weeks away from reporting and it’s COLD.

Don’t fret Buckeye fans! I am here to scour the internet in hopes of finding some interesting tidbits for you to read. Let’s get to it.

Buckeyes continue their hot streak- National signing day is only a few days away and the Buckeyes continue to pull in the blue chippers. The latest commit was corner Armani Reeves out of West Roxbury, MA. Depending on what recruiting site you look at, Reeves is listed anywhere from the 17th to 8th best corner available. It came down to OSU and Michigan in the end and I think we all know he made the right choice. It probably didn’t hurt that his high school teammate Cam Williams signed on last week but we’ll take them any way we can get them.

Monday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning Buckeye faithful, and welcome to your Monday edition of the Buckeye Bits. It's National Signing Day week, and that means the last couple of pushes, nudges, and full on shoves from coaches to recruits to sign with their school. As for the Buckeyes, they sit with 23 commitments, and hope to add to that number with a couple of big players.

I personally love the recruiting game. It's an interesting thing to watch a kid toy with coaches and fan bases with a simple tweet or even rumors that are started about said recruit which aren't true. Now all of that comes to the boiling point Wednesday, but might continue on for a couple of the recruits seriously enjoying the recruiting process.

Anyways, on to the Bits.

23 You Say? Not So Fast My Friend. As I mentioned above, the 2012 class stands at 23 commitments, but as we told you yesterday, wide receiver commit Roger Lewis is no longer a verbal to the Buckeyes, after not meeting the entry grade on his test. This opens up another scholarship, yes, but also puts on some serious pressure for Urban Meyer and his staff to lock down a commitment from another receiver. That can come in the form of Stefon Diggs or Davonte Neal.

'12 WR Recruit Roger Lewis Not Expected To Be A Buckeye

Pickerington Central's Roger Lewis

According to the Dispatch, 2012 Buckeye commit Roger Lewis might not be a Buckeye based off of what his high school coach has told the media. According to the coach, Lewis is not expected to sign his national letter of intent to Ohio State on Signing Day, due to not having the requisite pre-enrollment test scores and that he now is exploring other options.

Lewis's coach also stated, Lewis visited Ohio University this weekend, and said he also is considering Marshall and Bowling Green.

That leaves the OSU 2012 class, the first by new coach Urban Meyer, at 22 members, including the six players who enrolled at the start of the winter quarter.

Roger Lewis is a 3-star wide receiver commit, and with the recent struggles at wide receiver, the coaching staff made a priority of trying to get some athletes that can play the receiver position. While losing Lewis is not a huge deal, it does put a bit more pressure on Meyer to land either Davonte Neal or Stefon Diggs.

It sounds like Lewis doesn't have the test scores, and there's no chance anything can change. Especially coming from the coaches mouth, it looks like Lewis's time as a Buckeye commit will end short.

Friday's Buckeye Bits

Good Friday morning, Buckeye Nation! As we continue to slog our way through another monsoon season here in Seattle Columbus, we inch closer to what has become quite the eagerly awaited holiday around these parts.

No, Ned Ryerson, the day before that...National Signing Day! No new recruits have been picked up in the last day or so, but it doesn't mean that Coach Meyer and his staff haven't been out pounding the pavement.

Bill Sheridan Joins The Crew.  As Ian told you yesterday, Bill Sheridan is the Buckeye's newest coach. Likely leading the DB corps to replace the departed Taver Johnson, Sheridan most recently worked under Tony Sparano with the Miami Dolphins. He did work under Lloyd Carr in Michigan for a few seasons. Let's hope that he gets a new wardrobe quickly.

Women's B-Ball Dominating. The Buckeye women's team did a number on some Hoosiers last night, specifically the number 18. 18 point margin of victory. 18 points for Samantha Prahalis, 18 for Tayler Hill--all in the second half. Good thing her scoring came alive, as the Bucks were down by one at the half.

National Signing Day Updates

Below we will have current, up to date commitments to Ohio State, as well as the ones that are possible. Feel free to leave comments throughout the day on your thoughts of these recruits.

Update #1: Already getting a good load of recruits. Ejuan Price was choosing between Pitt and Ohio State, and the Buckeyes were able to keep him locked up! Good sign for things to come. Cardale Jones, also is now headed to Ohio State.

Update #2: Ohio State misses out on two big recruits, JaJuan Story and Aundrey Walker chose Florida, and USC.

Update #3: Doran Grant has signed!

Update #4: Curtis Grant, the #1 LB by most, has selected Ohio State

Already Signed LOI Today:
Nick Vannett, TE
Bryce Haynes, LS
Antonio Underwood, OL
Connor Crowell, LB
Chase Farris, DL
Ejuan Price, LB
Evan Spencer, WR
Cardale Jones, QB
Doran Grant, CB/WR
Michael Bennett, DT
Steve Miller, DL

Brian Bobek, OL

Tommy Brown, OL

Devin Smith, WR

DerJuan Gambrell, CB

Kenny Hayes, DL

Ron Tanner, FS

Curtis Grant, LB

Chris Carter, OL, was going to sign with Ohio State but was arrested earlier today. Whether or not he will be able to join the team, is unknown, but we will keep you updated.

Going To Other Schools:
JaJuan Story, WR, Florida
Aundrey Walker, OL, USC
Darius Jennings, WR, Virgina
We will keep you updated throughout the day, so check back often!

Signing Day Predictions Part 3

It's Signing Day! That means it's time for our final predictions for this class. This time around, we will only be looking at Keith Wells and Duron Carter. Both are former Buckeyes, leaving because of academics. 


Duron Carter, the son of Hall of Famer Cris Carter, has been playing at Coffeyville, and has done well. Now, it seems that OSU doesn't want him back, via his Twitter a month or so ago.


Keith Wells is an interesting story. He's got some talent, he's been able to make his grades rise, so there is a possibility to come back for him.


Let's delve into the projections:

Signing Day Predictions Part 2

Can Walker become elite?

In Part 2 of the 3 part series, I will be taking a look at and predicting where Aundrey Walker, Ejuan Price, and Cardale Jones will land. You can see Part 1 here.

These next 3 recruits are pretty important to grab. Ejuan Price committed to Ohio State, but could be having second thoughts after his visit with Pitt. It's possible to change his mind.

Aundrey Walker is down to his final three: USC, Ohio State, and Michigan State. This will come down to the last day, without a doubt in my mind.

Cardale Jones is like a lesser version of Braxton Miller. He would be a nice addition to the class, but this man is not a need as it stands.

On to the recruits, broken down:

Predictions For National Signing Day Part 1

Can Tressel reel in some more recruits?

Wednesday may mark a big day for Ohio State. As you know, 2 days from now, is the National Signing Day this year. This means all the big recruit names that haven't committed anywhere have to make their decision.


The Buckeye's have their eyes on a couple of star studded individuals that would really put the cherry on top for the 2011 Recruiting class. We've gone over a couple, including Doran Grant, Jajuan Story, Curtis Grant, and Ejuan Price. Here they are, and the rest of our predictions as to who is going to be a Buckeye in 2011.