Thoughts from the weekend
Another long list of visitors at Ohio State over the weekend. But a bit of a different vibe compared to what we saw last weekend and perhaps to what we're looking at ahead the rest of the month. What I mean by that is many of this weekend's visitors were situations where I think we all had more questions than answers coming into the weekend.
Are guys like Gavin Sawchuk, Joe Brunner, and Jihaad Campbell *really* in play?
Are guys like Ernest Cooper, Carson Hinzman, Wilfredo Aybar and Jaylen Early Plan B guys?
There were not a lot of guys on the list this weekend who seemed to fit the profile of being at the top of the wish list *and* Ohio State being in a major position of strength. So in that regard, this was probably one of the more interesting an unique visitor weekends as there seemed to be a mixture of guys who are leaning elsewhere and guys where maybe Ohio State is leaning elsewhere at their position.
That being said, coming out of the weekend, here is where I have things..
- On Gavin Sawchuk: I fully expect the Top 100 prospect to end up at Oklahoma. You can read his update with Alex Gleitman on the front page. One thing that does give me at least a little pause is that even when things seem to be quiet between Sawchuk and the Buckeyes, there is always some type of positive information that comes out, from setting up the visit to the comments he gave Alex coming out of that visit so he never really vanishes from the radar, he just kind of flies under it. But all of the intel I trust here is that Oklahoma is going to win this one.
I think that right now the back most likely to be in this class is absolutely Dallan Hayden and that if there is going to be a surprise detour with running back recruiting, that it would probably be North Carolina standout Omarian Hampton who I know a lot of people inside the Woody really, really like.
I do not think there will be room for a second back, but I concur with Bill Greene that there are certainly people, perhaps a certain running backs coach, that would love to sneak a second one
into the class. So while I don't think it is particularly likely, it does continue to bear watching to see if they can make that work.
- I've got four-star offensive lineman Joe Brunner in a similar spot as Sawchuk in that the Buckeyes have done well to stay in the mix here but that it just doesn't look like it's going to go their way. I think Wisconsin is the spot with Notre Dame second and Ohio State third. Nothing really to change my stance on that at this point but Brunner is notoriously quiet so we'll keep digging on that one.
- Four-star Denton (TX) Ryan cornerback Austin Jordan was perhaps the most interesting visitor this weekend from where I stand. With a top three of Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Texas, Jordan is legitimately in play for the Buckeyes and with a need to continue recruiting corners/defensive backs, there could certainly be room here. I've also had a couple of Texas sources tell me throughout this recruitment that if the Buckeyes push they could be a thorn in the side of the two Big 12 powers here.
I'm told the visit went pretty well this weekend but there has been a good bit of optimism lately on the Oklahoma side of things. Oklahoma has geography in their favor and probably the numbers as well as the Buckeyes are looking at bringing in a pretty staggering number of defensive backs in the 2021 and 2022 classes combined. So I'd stick with Oklahoma right now for Jordan, but I do think that is one to watch here in the coming weeks as these visits are digested.
- Going to mostly defer to Alex on four-star defensive end Wilfredo Aybar and OSU's chances, but I think he's going to need some "help" in the form of some other guys going elsewhere to really work his way into realistically being part of this class.
- The sudden decision to visit Ohio State for Jihaad Campbell was interesting. I know the Buckeyes love the four-star edge rusher and would take him, but I just have a hard time believing this thing flipped on its head basically over night. I wouldn't expect him in the class at this point but the decision to pick things back up with the Buckeyes after it really looked like this was a situation that was fading bears watching.
- No offer yet to Landon Samson, three-star receiver in 2022 and teammate of Quinn Ewers. As I mentioned above, I do believe the Buckeyes will push this receivers class to four and I also believe they'll let the Kojo Antwi visit play out before making a big push for anyone else. I think this search will get fairly broad if Antwi goes elsewhere but certainly Samson will be on the short list of names to know.
- Four-star Arlington (Texas) Martin defensive end Ernest 'RJ' Cooper IV has a really interesting mix with his top five of Ohio State, Notre Dame, Stanford, Oregon, and Texas A&M. I continue to hear that the academics component is going to be really big here and would be inclined to stick with my pick of Stanford for now with Cooper.
I spoke with Cooper coming out of his visit this weekend and I know he really likes and respects Larry Johnson and the "culture" that Johnson has in his room as well as the culture that Ryan Day is promoting in the locker room.
I think Ohio State is still waiting to see how things shake out with some other targets, however. Kenyatta Jackson's visit at the end of the month will be telling. The Buckeyes are, in my opinion, in the driver's seat for Omari Abor and will probably want to see that one through as well before going too far down the list of targets. Enai White is probably a longer shot at this point but is scheduled to make his visit at the end of the month as well.
Now with that said, if Cooper is leaning more toward Stanford, that could actually help the Buckeyes as Stanford generally fills up later due to getting kids cleared academically. If he's willing to wait, he may find a seat at the table eventually. But for now, I think Stanford and Notre Dame might be the best bets.
- I think four-star defensive tackle Curtis Neal is probably in a similar boat as Kenneth Grant in that the home run of a visit this past week with Hero Kanu wasn't ideal. Neal is definitely "in the mix" but I could see him ending up at Wisconsin, just not sure the green light is there at this point and I think this is a kid that doesn't want to wait.
- I would concur with Alex's sentiments that I think the Buckeyes have a pretty solid shot at four-star Duncanville (Texas) offensive lineman Jaylen Early. But Early is probably an interior guy and right now the priority is tackle. Would he have the green light? I think the answer to that was no heading into the weekend and not sure anything has changed there just yet. I would think they at least let the next two weeks play out. They have some major OL targets coming in and specifically they have a major interior OL target coming in very soon that we'll touch on below.
