Welcome to The Crootletter (sign up to get this in your inbox every morning!). I'm Bud Elliott, SB Nation's National Recruiting Analyst, and in this space I'll be sharing news, rumors and musings on the world of college football recruiting as well as the occasional gambling column.
Ohio State had a huge recruiting day Monday, landing a commitment from two five-star receivers in Trevon Grimes and Tyjon Lindsey.
I previously discussed why I believe Lindsey is more appropriately rated as a four-star. But both are certainly top prospects.
Now, let's focus on Grimes.
Comparisons of high school and NFL players are often flawed, but if the comparison of style (not necessarily talent) fits, it can be helpful tool to describe a prospect others have not seen. And when I look at Trevon Grimes, I see a lot of former Texas A&M receiver and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Evans.
#Buckeyes get blue-chip WR @TrevonGrimes7, one of the country's top red zone, deep threats https://t.co/hHMJY4kKqepic.twitter.com/6Q67d2AEla
— SB Nation Recruiting (@SBNRecruiting) August 22, 2016
At 6’4 and 202 pounds, Grimes is within an inch and 10 pounds of Evans’ high school size. Both have the top-end speed to be big-bodied deep threats, and both are builders, in that they are more fast than they are quick. They both take time to get up to top speed. This is a common trait seen in bigger deep threats. Both are at their best when asked to win using their deep speed or size on routes like fades, nines, in-cuts and posts. Neither is as good at running routes that require them to stop and then quickly re-accelerate to top speed. And both suffer from lapses of concentration at times.
Very few corners Grimes faces have the ability to press him, but on the few occasions when I have seen him against elite prospects, I've thought he could stand to beat them with more technique than just his size. I am also not sure Grimes has the frame to reach 235 pounds, which is where the Buccaneers currently list Evans, whom they drafted seventh overall in 2014.
If Grimes can come anywhere close to that accomplishment, Ohio State fans will be very pleased. I believe Grimes profiles as a similar player with perhaps better speed and less physicality than Evans.
Land Grant Holy Land’s Matt Brown hopped on Facebook Live to discuss what the two commitments mean for the Buckeyes.
Quickly
Where do college football players come from? How about elite players? It’s fun with maps!
Michiganlost a commitment from Georgia defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon Monday. He cited Michigan misspelling his name and sending a thank you card from an event he did not attend, though many who follow Georgia and the SEC felt the decommitment was coming for a while. A four-star guard in the class of 2018 also decommitted Monday.
Previously
For the last decade-plus, the national champion has signed more four- and five-stars than two- and three-stars in its previous four classes. This year,13 teams meet that the mark, and there are some surprise inclusions. It’s the annual Blue-Chip Ratio piece.
With the help of some Las Vegas and offshore oddsmakers, I attempted to answer a question: Which group ofhow many teams would we be comfortable taking to win the national title against the rest of college football?
Ultimately, the oddsmakers settled on a few groups of five teams that could present equal odds against the field.
Monday, I asked those same oddsmakers to give odds on the 13 Blue-Chip Ratio qualifiers winning the national title against the field.