OSU Buckeyes

Two weekends ago, it looked like Ohio State might get the chance to lock up a wide receiver.

Corey Smith (Akron, Ohio/East Mississippi CC), Cornelius Elder (Nashville, Tenn./Ensworth) and Shelton Gibson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) were on campus on official visits.

Ryan Timmons (Frankfort, Ky./Franklin County) was scheduled to come as well, but backed out at the last moment. Incidentally, Timmons picked up an offer from the Buckeyes on Tuesday night so that could change things again.

Smith is a Mississippi State commitment, but still loves the Ohio State. Elder has the Buckeyes and UCLA in his final two. Gibson has committed to West Virginia.

While Timmons is still in play -- Ohio State visited him Tuesday -- Oregon commit Dontre Wilson (DeSoto, Texas/DeSoto) is scheduled to come to town this weekend.

Incidentally, James Clark (New Smyrna Beach, Fla./New Smyrna Beach) could be a late add to this weekend’s official visit list as well. He has an in-home visit with the Buckeyes tonight.

The following weekend another Duck, this one -- Darren Carrington (San Diego/Horizon) -- has an official visit lined up as well.

Tyree Robinson (San Diego/Lincoln) and his twin brother Tyrell Robinson were scheduled to make an official visit this weekend, but have parted ways with Ohio State.

If they can lock up Wilson it might push things along in the process with others.

Wilson likes Oregon’s promotion of former offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, but still wants to look around. He has always liked the Buckeyes, so a complete sell job could be the difference.

A wide receiver commitment could also hurry the process along a bit for other targets.

With Urban Meyer and Co. filling up another spot in a class with so few precious ones remaining, a commitment from a lineman like Dan Skipper (Arvada, Col./Ralston Valley) or Cameron Hunt (Corona, Calif./Centennial) could come sooner rather than later.

It won’t likely affect ESPN 150 safety Vonn Bell (Rossville, Ga./Ridgeland), who will wait until signing day, but maybe it brings one of the aforementioned receivers to Columbus, Ohio.

Either way, a pledge this weekend should get the ball rolling. Otherwise, expect an insanely hectic final week for the Buckeyes as they wrap up their 2013 recruiting class.

Patience is paying off for Ryan Timmons as big-time scholarship offers keep coming in.

Ohio State offered the ESPN 300 athlete during a visit to Timmons' school on Tuesday. Timmons has long expressed interest in the Buckeyes, but coaches there had yet to extend a scholarship offer. Timmons said head coach Urban Meyer explained the situation and that there were no hard feelings about the delay.

"He said he's not a guy that's going to offer a guy and take it away," the athlete prospect from Frankfort (Ky.) Franklin County said.

The Ohio State offer came two days after Florida offered the 5-foot-11, 180-pound prospect. Former Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips visited Timmons on Monday. He is now the receivers coach at Florida.

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Maybe it's a reflection of a lousy Big Ten season, but the league sent a smaller-than-normal contingent to the Senior Bowl. The group already has been reduced by three as injuries have prevented Michigan State cornerback Johnny Adams, Ohio State offensive tackle Reid Fragel and Ohio State defensive lineman John Simon from participating.

As for the Big Ten players on the practice field, the reviews haven't been overly favorable.

The ESPN Scouts Inc. crew cited several issues with Purdue defensive tackle Kawann Short on Tuesday, noting that the Boilers standout took off plays during practice and was "loose with his arms" during drills. Short clearly has the size and ability to succeed in the NFL, but he'll need to answer the effort questions going forward. There are a lot of similarities between Short and former Michigan State defensive tackle Jerel Worthy.

Not surprisingly, Michigan's Denard Robinson is attracting plenty of attention this week. The record-setting quarterback for the Wolverines is working primarily as a wide receiver and trying to show that his unique talents can translate to the NFL at several potential positions. But Robinson also is banged up and is still waiting to be cleared for contact drills. He had several dropped passes during noncontact drills Tuesday and muffed two punts at the end of practice.

Illinois offensive lineman Hugh Thornton drew mostly positive reviews Tuesday, while it seemed like an up-and-down day for another Big Ten offensive lineman, Wisconsin's Ricky Wagner.

We'll see if things improve for the Big Ten group today.

Be sure and track our Senior Bowl coverage throughout the week.

The work for the 2013 season is already underway for Ohio State with the strength program in full swing, but the first moves that started shaping the potential encore effort from a perfect campaign began almost two months ago. BuckeyeNation is counting down the five biggest early developments for the team since last season ended and how they will impact the Buckeyes moving forward.

No. 3: Buckeyes land pledges at a critical position

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Miller Safrit/ESPNThe commitment of Trey Johnson on Jan. 4 gave Ohio State a much-needed shot in the arm at linebacker.
• Development: For the better part of a year, the biggest hole on Ohio State's 2013 recruiting class was the same as void that can be found on the current roster. The Buckeyes were thin enough at linebacker, but heading into January, they didn't even a single pledge at the position. It only took two days for Urban Meyer and his coaching staff to fix that this month, with a pair of ESPN 150 recruits making their intentions to sign with the Buckeyes public, as Mike Mitchell and Trey Johnson helped boost a class that's currently ranked No. 4 in the country.
• What it means: The demands of the position can make the transition from high school to the Big Ten a bit more challenging for a linebacker than it might be at a few other spots on the field, so it's difficult to project exactly how much the talented tandem might contribute right away for a team that is likely going to start the season among the top 5 programs in the country. That certainly doesn't mean Mitchell or Johnson can't be a factor, but the best-case scenario for the Buckeyes would be that they find two starters to pair with Ryan Shazier out of the group they signed a year ago -- or one guy to match with Curtis Grant if he's ready to live up to his billing coming out of high school. With Jamal Marcus, Camren Williams, David Perkins and Joshua Perry all having gone through a season, spent time learning the defense and benefitting from the upcoming work in spring practice, there are plenty of options already on hand for defensive coordinator Luke Fickell. But just in case a reminder of the importance of depth was needed, all Ohio State has to do is look at the situation it was in last season.
• Numbers game: The high school resume doesn't always offer a true reflection of the potential for a recruit, so it has to be taken with at least a couple grains of salt. But the statistics Mitchell and Johnson put on paper are hard to ignore. As a senior at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas, Mitchell piled up 186 tackles, with 32 of them going for a loss. At Central Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Ga., Johnson was credited with 140 takedowns. The two potential Buckeyes combined for 14 sacks.
• He said it: "At this time, we like our class. As with most classes, how you finish is what determines if you love the class. You have to hold on to what you have. There’s a lot of chaos with a lot of new staffs, new coaches trying to take your players and all that kind of stuff. We just have to keep recruiting our players and get going." -- Meyer on the homestretch for the 2013 recruiting class

The work for the 2013 season is already underway for Ohio State with the strength program in full swing, but the first moves that started shaping the potential encore effort from a perfect campaign began almost two months ago. BuckeyeNation is counting down the five biggest early developments for the team since last season ended and how they will impact the Buckeyes moving forward.

No. 4: Johnathan Hankins declares for the draft

• Development: The Buckeyes certainly weren't blindsided by the decision, but that doesn't mean it still didn't sting when Johnathan Hankins officially announced he was forgoing his senior season and making himself available for the upcoming NFL draft. The stout, skilled defensive tackle had been projected as a first-round pick all season long, and with his stock unlikely to climb much higher even with another productive campaign for Ohio State, the program was always anticipating there would be a hole to fill in the middle of the defensive line.
• What it means: If it were simply a matter of just plugging one guy in the rotation up front, the Buckeyes wouldn't have much to worry about. But with the other three starters all exhausting their eligibility, the loss of Hankins effectively tipped the scales. It turned a position group that could conceivably have been young, but still deep, into an inexperienced unit that could deal with some growing pains without that veteran presence around. That's not to suggest the Buckeyes don't have the talent on hand to pick up where the departed players off last season, particularly since Noah Spence, Tommy Schutt and Adolphus Washington all picked up some valuable experience off the bench and have tremendous upside. There's no doubt that trio would have benefited from having Hankins back for another season, but with options such as Michael Bennett or J.T. Moore still around, the Buckeyes still figure to be in good shape.
• Numbers game: Replacing four starters is daunting enough on its own, but the bar is set just a little higher considering the contributions up front last year. Combined between John Simon, Nathan Williams, Garrett Goebel and Hankins, the first-team line chipped in 182 tackles -- 31 of them for a loss -- and 13 sacks. The torch has been passed to the rising sophomores, and the pressure is now on to live up to that standard or surpass it.
• He said it: "For me to say we have to get [to the championship] next year, that's like talking about having to go fly to the moon. We're nowhere near having that conversation. You know what we really have to do? We have to find out who can play defensive line for us. We lost some really good players." -- Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer