Tops of the class: Part Two

Over the course of the Rivals.com-era (2002-current) the Ohio State Buckeyes have been a force on the recruiting scene, even if it feels like recruiting success has been only a recent phenomenon.

Approaches have changed from the days of Jim Tressel to Urban Meyer to Ryan Day but landing top players is nothing new.

Between the classes of 2002 through 2021 (the most recent signed class) the Buckeyes have landed 122 members of the Rivals100, meaning that a little bit more than 6-percent of all Rivals100 players have signed with Ohio State out of high school.

While that may sound like a small number off the top of things, remember that Division I-FBS has always had between 115-130 schools, all vying for those top recruits, and while most of these players will gravitate towards a smaller group of 20-25 schools on the regular, Ohio State is landing more than its fair share of these top players through the years.

The Buckeyes are well on their way with the 21st class of the Rivals.com era, the class of 2022, with six commits already in the fold and the opportunity to add several more come December and February signing days.

As we were pouring through the classes and the numbers, it got us to thinking about who the top-rated player in each class was. Now, this does not mean the player that went on to have the most collegiate or professional success. Rather just the player who ranked the highest in each Rivals100 class for the Buckeyes.

We started our lookback at the very beginning of the era, the 2002-2005 classes, we now turn our attention ahead for 2006-2009, Ohio State signed a pair of top-three recruits in these classes including the No. 1 overall player in Terrelle Pryor, something that the Buckeyes have never done before and hope to match with class of 2022 quarterback Quinn Ewers, who current sits at No. 1 in the current class.

I remember this one well as the 2006 season was my first at BuckeyeGrove.com and while Beanie committed before I took over the site, the excitement around his pledge was as big as things got.

Wells would burst on to the scene as a freshman and score a big touchdown early in the "Game of the Century" when No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan would match-up with a berth in the National Championship game on the line. Beanie would rush for 576 yards as a true freshman with seven scores. He would top that with his best season in 2007, 274 carries for 1,609 yards and 15 scores. 2008 would see a little less work with just 207 carries for 1,197 yards and eight scores.

It was still good enough for a first-round grade as Wells would go No. 31 overall to Arizona.

Wells' NFL career was filled with durability concerns as he would only play for four years, all with the Cardinals. He would put his best year together in 2011 where he would carry the ball 245 times for 1,047 yards and 10 touchdowns. 2012 would see Wells play in just eight games and his career would come to and end after that season.

After the conclusion of his career, Wells would go on 97.1 FM in Columbus to talk about concerns of suffering a traumatic brain injury during his playing career.

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2006: Robert Rose (17), Connor Smith (55), Raymond Small (88)

The recruitment of Brandon Saine did not have the same following of his predecessor in Beanie Wells, but he would go on to a four-year career with the Buckeyes where he would end with 301 carries for 1,408 yards and nine rushing touchdowns while the multi-faceted back would also haul in eight receiving touchdowns, five of them in his final season of 2010.

There were reports of Saine busting out a 4.2 40-yard-dash in high school and while he showed plenty of speed at Ohio State, he never quite lived up to the lofty expectations that fans had placed on him as being one of the fastest players on the field.

Saine did eclipse the 100-yard mark in three games including the 2010 opener against Marshall where he did it on just nine carries and had two touchdowns in Ohio State's 45-7 win over the Herd. The Piqua product would never see more than 12 carries in a game the rest of the season, nor would he see a major role in the offense as Beanie Wells would rush for 1,609 yards on 274 carries.

That never stopped Saine from focusing on the task in front of him and he did not left going undrafted by the NFL stop him from playing in the league. He would get signed by Green Bay and would be part of the Packers over the course of two seasons but saw limited action with just 18 carries for 69 yards and was kept out of the end zone over the course of his career.

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2007: Eugene Clifford (60)

Where to begin on this one? Terrelle Pryor was not the first or the last player to take his recruitment beyond National Signing Day, but he might be the first to ever have a press conference to announce that he is going to have another press conference.

But once he was finally signed, it was a whirlwind for Pryor, the No. 1 overall rated recruit and the Buckeyes. Pryor was used sparingly in Ohio State's opening games of the 2008 season before coming out and throwing a then freshman record four touchdowns against Troy in a 28-10 win. Pryor would end year one throwing for a 60.6-percent completion rate with 12 touchdowns against four interceptions as he threw for 1,311 yards.

The numbers would go up each year as he would throw for 2,094 yards in 2009 along with 18 touchdowns and then 2,772 yards in 2011 with 27 touchdowns. Interceptions were there in both seasons with 11 a piece.

What made Pryor special was his ability to run the ball and he would rush for 2,164 yards over the course of three years, along with 17 scores. Pryor wanted to show that he was a passer, more than just a runner, but times called for Pryor to call his own number and scamper to move the chains.

Pryor was one of several players who were caught up in "Tat-gate", allegations of trading autographs and memorabilia for benefits, something that led to the ultimate dismissal of Jim Tressel and the suspension of five players. Pryor withdrew from Ohio State after that and declared for the NFL Supplemental Draft.

Pryor would go in the 3rd round of the special draft to Oakland and would play in three games, attempting only 40 passes. 2013 would be Pryor's most prolific passing season with 11 games, completing 57.4-percent for 1,798 yards but the TD/INT ratio was bad, with seven scores to 11 interceptions.

Pryor would go through a position change and would move to wide receiver with stops in Cleveland, Washington, Buffalo and the NY Jets. Pryor would score seven touchdowns as a receiver along with 1,563 yards.

There will always be questions about what if Pryor would have accepted a position change in college, what could have been. The debate will continue as Pryor had limitless potential and had moments (including a Rose Bowl win over Oregon) where he really started to scratch the surface, only to come crashing back down to Earth.

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2008: Mike Adams (3), Michael Brewster (12), DeVier Posey (21), Lamaar Thomas (33), Etienne Sabino (46), Garrett Goebel (64) J.B. Shugarts (87)

Ohio State appeared to pull the two-fer in landing both Corey Brown and Dorian Bell from Gateway high school in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, things did not work out as hoped with Bell transferring out and "Pittsburgh" Brown playing some meaningful minutes but just maybe not living up to being the No. 31 player in the 2009 Rivals100.

For the young guys and gals out there, why do we call him Pittsburgh Brown? That is because the Buckeyes landed another Corey Brown the following year and tell them apart, Monroeville (Pa.) is a Pittsburgh suburb (hence Pittsburgh Brown) while the other Brown played on offense and was from the Philadelphia-area, and was called Philly Brown.

2013 would be Brown's biggest year with 48 tackles and an interception from his safety position for Urban Meyer's Buckeyes.

Pittsburgh would go undrafted by the NFL and did not catch up with the Steelers after a workout.

Brown would find his way into coaching and after a stop at Slippery Rock, now is on the staff as a GA at Toledo

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2009: Dorian Bell (33), Marcus Hall (52), Jaamal Berry (56), Jamie Wood (74), Duron Carter (90)