There may be a deeper crop of blue-blood-esque recruiting powers in the modern game, with spending becoming a major selling point for today's high school student-athletes. GBM Wolverine's Chris Peterson still sees the Ohio State Buckeyes' offer as having the most power for in-state recruit Monsanna Torbert, a four-star corner/quarterback at Princeton after transferring from Cincinnati Taft.
Torbert, a recent Indiana Hoosiers de-commit, could be swayed by the traditional pull that a player typically has with their home-state school. Obviously, that is amplified in the Buckeye State with the pull of the Scarlet and Gray.
Peterson conceded that recruiting against Ryan Day and Co. will be tough, not mentioning the same about major Class of 2027 spenders like the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners, the latter of which has the No. 1 class in the cycle and the former of which figures to start adding to a shallow 11-commit group.
"The Wolverines offered back in March. Torbert committed to Indiana in January, but reopened his recruitment two weeks ago after getting offered by Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State, Oklahoma, Auburn, etc. The recruitment really blew up. The Ohio State offer was probably meaningful, and recruiting against the Buckeyes in this race won't be easy," Peterson wrote.
Monsanna Torbert could be a smaller school's Nick Marshall
Cosmically, it feels like Tobert belongs on the Auburn Tigers. AU had the most famous two-way CB/QB in college football history, Nick Marshall, who was converted from a defensive player after transferring from his home-state Georgia Bulldogs and playing at the JUCO level under center. Marshall infamously led the Tigers to the 2013/2014 BCS National Championship Game, the last of its kind, falling short to the Florida State Seminoles after a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback led by Jameis Winston.
Auburn may not have a Marshall-esque story for Torbert, but some school does. While Torbert is taking big offers from blue-bloods, he may want to consider a smaller school that could throw a surprisingly high payday and allow him to try his hand at playing on both sides of the ball.
Who knows? Travis Hunter rode the two-way wave with the Jackson State Tigers all the way to a Heisman with the Colorado Buffaloes. Hunter showed he could handle the snap count at the FCS level, and it became sustainable in the Power 4 ranks.
Talking Heisman is premature for a player who may only play the corner spot, wherever he lands. That goes without saying. For all we know, Matt Patricia, or one of the other Power 4 coordinators who can land him, will do great things with him on defense.
Still, with such an exciting skill set, Torbert should consider maximizing the spotlight while sacrificing his reach and audience. Having the biggest possible fanbase may not be worth it in the end when you have the chance to prove your worth in such a special way, as Torbert has the chance to. Of course, he can always hunt that bigger payday later after becoming a viral sensation.
We'll see if Torbert stays the course and commits to the CB position at a major program or if a smaller school is brazen enough to offer him the pie-in-the-sky scenario this scribe is floating.
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