There are 25 oral commitments in Ohio State's 2009 recruiting class and 12 starters departing the Buckeyes' 10-3 Fiesta Bowl team.
In doing the math on what's arriving and what's leaving Columbus, the equation that matters most is whether X + Y = 28, when X and Y are two freshmen running backs and 28 is the jersey number of future first-round NFL pick Beanie Wells.
While any number of athletic defensive backs could work into the open competition at cornerback, Florida running backs Carlos Hyde (X) and Jaamal Berry (Y) are the recruits with the greatest chance to influence the 2009 Buckeyes on the offensive side of the ball.
Hyde, at 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, is the Buckeye in 2009 who will most physically resemble Chris "Beanie"
Wells, who was listed at 6-1 and 236.
"He's thunder and lightning I guess,"
said Bill Kramer, Hyde's coach at Naples High School. "He's two guys in one. He can pound it inside and he can still run away from people."
Hyde lived with his grandmother while attending high school, but both his parents live in Cincinnati, so he was long considered to be headed to Columbus.
"It's his dream,"
Kramer said. "He's an Ohio kid through and through. Don't get me wrong, the Florida schools, they take note that he's leaving the state. They would have loved for him to stay in state and play, but that was never really an option for him."
Hyde rushed for 1,647 yards this season and scored 10 touchdowns while averaging 10.6 yards per carry. He's ranked as the No. 1 fullback in the country by Scout.com and No. 2 by Rivals.com, but he's coming to Ohio State to carry the ball.
As is Berry. At 5-10 and 185 pounds, he's ranked as the No. 5 running back in the country by Rivals and No. 8 by Scout. He battled injuries during his senior season, but ran for 1,033 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior.
"He's able to stop and start and make people miss,"
Larry Coffey, Berry's coach at Palmetto High, said. "He's got great vision and he runs very well in traffic."
Berry didn't have an Ohio connection, but was swayed by the Buckeyes, calling Coffey to say he ready to commit even before he made an official visit. Coffey managed to hold him off, but he still made his pledge on Sept. 1.
"He never wavered,"
Coffey said. "It was never anyone for him but Ohio State."
According to Coffey, Berry still has some work to do to qualify academically and plans to take two more runs at raising his standardized test scores.
"He's taking courses to prepare himself every day,"
Coffey said. "Coach Tressel is monitoring things for him, and we are a top school academically, so it's going to be something that's done legally, but I think ultimately he'll make it happen."
Assuming that Hyde, Berry and fellow 2009 recruit Jordan Hall, a former teammate of Terrelle Pryor at Jeannette High in Pennsylvania, all reach Columbus, they'll battle sophomore Dan Herron (439 yards in 2008) and junior Brandon Saine (65 yards in 2008) for carries.
None of the freshmen are expected to step in and match Maurice Clarett's freshman total of 1,237 rushing yards in 2002. But they may need to contribute at least in the way that Wells did in 2006, when he rushed for 576 yards and seven touchdowns while backing up Antonio Pittman.
"I've known Coach Tressel a long time,"
Kramer, Hyde's coach, said, "and he and I are of the same opinion that no one would suggest to an incoming freshman that he's going to play right away."
Maybe it hasn't been suggested. But it sure would help.
Green out: Buckeye Sports Bulletin reported Tuesday that former Ohio State oral commitment Justin Green, a defensive back from Kentucky and the brother of former Buckeye Marcus Green, has changed his mind and is planning on signing with Illinois. That would drop Ohio State's class from 26 players to 25.
