Ohio State offer leaves big-time tackle speechless
When it comes to the class of 2020, offensive tackle prospect Turner Corcoran is starting to gather a lot of momentum as a potentially elite recruit. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound prospect out of Lawrence (Kan.) Free State is beginning to land some big offers, the latest coming from Ohio State.
The Buckeyes offered the athletic tackle prospect on Monday.
"It kind of blew me away," said Corcoran. "I was at a loss for words. I never would have thought that Ohio State would offer this early in the process, or ever to be honest with you."
What is it about Ohio State that resonated so much with Corcoran?
"Ohio State is always a national championship contender," he explained. "They are a very well known football team around the country and they are always on someone's bucket list to get offered by them or to be recruited by them. That I was blessed to be offered by them as a sophomore, it's pretty surreal for me and my family. I'm still having a little bit of a hard time reacting to it, it's still pretty surreal to me."
The next step for Corcoran is to head to Columbus to check things out. Plans are already being made to do that in the near future.
"I was talking to (Mark Pantoni) and he told me that they would love to have me and my family come up in like June so that they could get to know us better and we could get to know them better," Corcoran continued. "Also to get to know the campus, and that's what I'm planning to do is to take a visit to Ohio State in June."
Corcoran is already drawing comparisons to former Kansas High School star Braden Smith. Smith was a national recruit coming out of high school, signed with Auburn, and was just drafted No. 37 overall in last week's NFL draft. There are people in the area who believe Corcoran may be ahead of Smith at the same point in their development.
"Braden Smith, he's easily one of the best offensive linemen to have ever gone through the state of Kansas," he said. "I look up to him a lot and it's really crazy to be compared to him and know what level he is playing at and is going to play at. I can't really wrap my head around it, but I also can't let that type of stuff go to my head. I have to stay down here on planet earth."
But offensive linemen are typically slower to develop than other position groups. It's a position that requires a lot of physical maturation and can take years to master the technical aspect. Corcoran knows he still has a long way to go but he seems ahead of the curve mentally with his ability to just focus on one play at a time.
"I kind of always make myself play in the moment and not focus on the previous play," he said. "I don't think about what's going on the next play, just worrying about the task at hand and what I have to do on this play to help my quarterback and my running back make the play that they need to make. I need to improve on my pass-blocking and definitely getting in the weight room more and getting stronger, you can always get stronger."
In addition to Ohio State, Corcoran holds offers from Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Notre Dame.