Take Two: Can Ohio State make up ground for Mekhail Sherman?
MORE TAKE TWO: Can Maryland land a top-five in-state player this cycle?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
THE STORYLINE
On April 30, five-star linebacker Mekhail Sherman posted on social media a huge statement - that he was down to only Georgia and Ohio State. He has more than 30 offers, so narrowing his list to only two was a huge step and could be really telling in how his recruitment will end up.
The feeling is that the Bulldogs have taken a distinct edge in his recruitment even though Ohio State has made the Washington (D.C.) St. John’s College High standout a top priority in this class. Sherman’s teammate at St. John’s, five-star receiver Rakim Jarrett, recently committed to LSU over the Buckeyes and many others.
Sherman had planned official visits to LSU, Florida and Texas but after taking recent trips back to Georgia and Ohio State, it’s now a two-team battle for his services.
Ranked as the second-best outside linebacker nationally and second in D.C. behind his teammate Jarrett, can Ohio State make up ground and land Sherman’s commitment or is he headed off to the SEC?
FIRST TAKE: MARC GIVLER, BUCKEYEGROVE.COM
“It’s not really a surprise it’s those two at this point. Ohio State has always been in his top two and Georgia has always been near the top over the past six months or so, if not even a bit longer than that. The Bulldogs leapfrogged Alabama in the past year. Georgia seems to have the momentum right now and would be my pick. It doesn’t sound like Ohio State did enough on the official visit to change that so it looks like it would be Georgia in the end.
“It would be a big pickup for Georgia. His list was more or less the top five or six programs in the country. It could be a huge national win for them. There were some kids who were more affected by Urban Meyer’s departure than others and the St. John’s kids - Sherman and Rakim Jarrett - were two that were more negatively impacted than others.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“D’Andre Swift was not a five-star but he was highest four-star possible and Georgia did a good job getting him from Eastern Pennsylvania. The Bulldogs got Isaiah Wilson from New York. So they’re not new to the area. Getting a kid from D.C. and Maryland is good because it’s really how Florida State kind of did its national recruiting and it helped win a national championship. They would raid the Mid-Atlantic.
“It’s a good spot to get a kid like Sherman, especially since he’s from a power program and that’s something they could build on. I think it’s Georgia and it’s probably been trending that way for at least a month.”