New Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer earned plenty of headlines with his staff's huge recruiting surge to transform a lackluster incoming crop of recruits into one of the nation's best classes. Yet, buried within his comments about his new signees -- as noted by Prep Rally's excellent college football brotherly blog Dr. Saturday -- was a comment about a North Carolina linebacker.
When asked about Durham (N.C.) Hillside High outside linebacker Jamal Marcus, a relative unknown to most in-state focused Buckeyes fans (he was deciding between the likes of North Carolina, Auburn, North Carolina, East Carolina and Ohio State on signing day), Meyer mentioned that one of his highlight reels was "borderline ridiculous."
"Borderline ridiculous," especially for a straight shooter like Meyer, is about as glowing an endorsement of a recruit's athleticism as you'll ever find. Now we know why he was so enthused; just check out the video above.
In fact, "borderline ridiculous" might be a nice understatement. Marcus is in on every single play, no matter what side of the field he starts on. Naturally, that's only fitting for a highlight reel, but Marcus' athleticism almost makes him look like he's playing at an entirely different speed. He creates a handful of fumbles, registers sacks and creates havoc of the highest order throughout. In short, the kid appears to be quite a player.
Be sure to check out Marcus' other highlights from Rivals.com right here. He has quite the body of work, not to mention his impressive body for work on the field; Marcus stands 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, and he runs a 4.6 40-yard dash.
That dynamism and natural athleticism should serve him well at Ohio State, whether he finds his way on to the field in his first season or two or not. Given Meyer's enthusiasm for the southeastern import, something tells us he might see the field sooner rather than later.
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