The Ohio State Football Recruiting (2023) Updates | Predictions

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Right now The Ohio State has the #1 recruiting class in the country and they are in a good spot to keep it that way. Although, it will not be easy with teams like Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia always being a threat.

We will also be making predictions on what players Ohio State might get committed to next. This list will continue to be updated throughout the year.

(The Good) Ohio State is Landing Their In-State Players:

No college football program is immune to losing in-state guys to other schools. However, Ohio State is not losing many of them. The only guy that Ohio State lost—that certainly hurt—was 4-star DL Brenan Vernon to Notre Dame.

(The Good) Ohio State is Becoming TE U:

Ohio State has already become receiver U and they are not showing any signs of slowing up. They pulled in two tight ends in the top 10 in Ty Lockwood and Jelani Thurman.

Ty Lockwood is from Tennessee and even though the Vols are doing much better in recruiting this year they still could not out recruit Ohio State. Tennessee is not happy about losing Lockwood.

With Jelani Thurman being from Georgia and heavily recruited by Georgia it was a huge victory for Ohio State to pull him in.

To take a guy who is the 2nd best (in our opinion) receiving TE in the country out of Georgia with the Bulldogs breathing down your neck is no easy task.

(The Good) Ohio State has the Best WRs in the Country:

Ohio State has three WRs ranked in the top 6 in the country according to 247 Sports. Their 4th best receiver in this class is ranked in the top 30 and is as good as Alabama’s top-ranked receiver in this year’s class.

Truly take in the gravity of this situation, three of the top six in the country will be playing against the same defense at the same time. The likelihood of a defense matching these receivers is slim to none.

Brandon Inness in our opinion is the #1 ranked WR in the country. He played QB as well as WR when his QB was injured.

What was amazing about his whole situation was how smart and athletic his play was at both WR and QB. At Ohio State expect him to only play WR though.

There is not a school close to Ohio State in recruiting high-end receivers at this point. In recent years Ohio State has become utterly dominant in its recruiting trails for receivers and this class just seals the deal.

(The Good) Underrated RB:

Mark Fletcher may not be a 5-star but neither was Zeke. Mark Fletcher can catch the ball, run the ball, and be one of the top backs in college when he hits his prime college form. He is 6’1″ 220 to 225 pounds and has shocking speed for his size.

Wanting to avoid a hit is a foreign language to Fletcher. His future of being behind that massive Ohio State O-line is going to make any defense including Georgia or Alabama struggle to deal with it all game long.

He reminds us of Najee Harris just with a slightly better ability to catch the ball. If he reaches that potential it will not shock us but that is also no easy task.

(The Good) Ohio State is in Good Shape With Their Offensive Line:

Ohio State brought in 4 offensive linemen and 4 good ones at that. Two are legit tackles and the other two are interior guards.

4-star Luke Montgomery is a pure tackle that was offered a scholarship by almost every big-name college in the country. He is ranked in the top 4 offensive linemen in the country and it shows with his high-ranked 4-star rating. He is essentially a 5-star and we believe that he in effect is.

4-star inside lineman Joshua Padilla is a force to be reckoned with. His size of 265 pounds is not a concern, Ohio State is good at bumping up player’s weight

4-star inside lineman Austin Siereveld is the biggest of them all at 320 pounds. He is also going to be the guy who Ohio State runs behind when they need to move a massive Georgia, Alabama, Wisconsin, or Penn State DT. His pass blocking is a concern but Coach Frye should be able to coach him up.

3-star tackle Miles Walker is a very highly ranked 3-star that received offers from Texas A&M, Kentucky, Penn State, and many others. None of those schools would be trying to get him if he was just an alright tackle.

Currently, their offensive line is ranked right up there with Alabama.

(The Good) Defensive Line is Picking up Where it Left Off:

Yes, they lost in-state D-lineman Vernon to Notre Dame which hurt but they already got 4-star Jason Moore who is ranked much higher than Vernon.

They also brought 3-star project player Will Smith on and they are likely not going to stop there. There is plenty of big fish left on the board that Ohio State is in the running for.

Larry Johnson is not fun to recruit against and can always be trusted to pack the defensive line room with top-of-the-country players.

(The Good) Ohio State is Filling Their DB Room With Studs:

Ohio State currently has 6 great DBs committed to their team. With Jim Knowles coaching the defense they will be running a 4-2-5 defense and that is a huge selling point for great DBs.

If they don’t add another DB in this recruiting class they would be more than fine. They also got a cherry on top by getting 4-star DB Kayin Lee to de-commit from Georgia and then committed to Ohio State.

This was a payback move for last year when Georgia swayed Singletary to de-commit from Ohio State and go to Georgia. This is the 2nd player they took from Georgia’s backyard.

T4G’s Player Predictions:

5-star Safety Caleb Downs:

We believe that it is a toss-up between Alabama and Ohio State. It seems like he is leaning more towards Bama at the moment but we believe Ohio State can still find a way to bring him onto the team.

Alabama is closer to home for Downs but we do not fully know how much of a factor that is. Ohio State will run a 4-2-5 defense so Downs can really show off his skills on defense.

Ohio State is currently ranked the highest recruiting class in the class of 2023 and Alabama is ranked 8th. Alabama has very good corners in this recruiting class but so does Ohio State.

Both Alabama and Ohio State are projected to go to the National Championship but that is easier said than done. Plus there is also the possibility that during the season Downs could flip if either school is struggling.

45 Ohio State/55 Alabama

4-star DL John Walker:

This one is very hard because it seems like he wants to go to Ohio State but that isn’t close to his home. Walker would fit in great at Ohio State and they would also be the best place to show the world his skills.

We think it is going to be hard for Ohio State to pull this off but there is a possibility that they could. It is going to come down to the wire. However, we predict that he will go to Ohio State.

4-star LB Avril Reese:

Avril Reese seems like a sure deal for Ohio State but we saw how that ended with Tackett Curtis committing to USC at the last moment.

4-star Edge Rusher Desmond Umeozulu:

It appears that Umeozulu is favored to commit to Ohio State. This would be a massive get for the Buckeyes because he is a trench hogs nightmare. The Buckeyes need to keep the defensive line dominance that they have had for a while now.

We do believe that he will commit to Ohio State.

(The Bad) Ohio State Has No QBs in This Class:

They already have a stacked QB room, but if Stroud goes off to the NFL—and there is likely a strong possibility of that—then they will be down to 2 QBs. They do have Dylan Raiola coming but that isn’t until 2024 and there is no way that Ohio State is going to feel safe with only 2 QBs.

There might be some possibilities to flip a QB that has already committed to another team. We saw that with 4-star CB Kayin Lee, where he flipped from Georgia to the Buckeyes.

That is a possibility but it is still not likely going to be the only avenue for Ohio State to land a QB. We could see the Buckeyes rely on the transfer portal to fill this void.

What QB that is a 5-star somewhere that lost their starting job for a laundry list of reasons not want to get behind that viper of an offense? Talk about launching yourself into a position to get drafted extremely high.

(The Bad) Ohio State is Losing Out on big Named Linebackers:

Tackett Curtis seemed to be a shoo-in and at the last second, it seemed committed to USC. USC of course loved to get back at the Buckeyes for winning the battle for 5-star WR Brandon Inness.

Maybe Ohio State can trade one of their 5-star wideouts to a school for a 5-star linebacker… One would think that Jim Knowles being a linebacker coach that Ohio State would have landed Bowles and Curtis.

Jim Knowles has never had to recruit so heavily against Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame, and the rest of the big 10. He may be called a genius in his defensive coaching but now you have to recruit like one too against the best competition in all of college football.

At Ohio State, they expect a national championship, not just a conference title or a bowl game. It’s championship or bust in Buckeye land.

Jim Knowles is going to have to show the world what he can do on defense. If he can show that he can take this Ohio State team to the next level then the Buckeyes will have a great shot at landing the big recruits and battling Georgia for the king of backers.

If Knowles can produce a top 10 defense then the Buckeyes have a great shot at a championship. Their offense is likely going to be in the top 3 this year so all they need is a competent defense.

Thankfully, the Buckeyes have several amazing backers that are on the roster currently. We could end up seeing Sonny Styles converting to a linebacker in Knowles system. Whichever position Styles plays at it will likely come with an impact felt by everyone who plays them.

(The Bad) Ohio State Needs to Land the Big Out of State Trench Hogs:

Ohio State has been doing a lot better recently with keeping their in-state players and this includes linemen. The state of Ohio produces a good amount of high-end talent at the offensive line position.

They even stole a massive 4-star O-lineman Carson Hinzman from the mighty Wisconsin Badgers who produce big nasty trench hogs every year. There are a lot of good signs for the Buckeyes and their future of landing national championship O-lineman.

The only issue that they have is that they are not landing the amazing 5-star offensive lineman just yet under Justin Frye. Frye is in the exact same situation as Knowles is but with less of the hype around his name.

Jim Knowles produced the best defense in college football with a team of 3-stars. Justin Frye cannot rely on his resume as much as Knowles and he can’t say that he has produced several NFL prospects.

He did good at UCLA but now the game just got more real than ever before. At UCLA Frye was not telling his recruits that they had a real shot at a national championship.

At Ohio State, the recruits expect to hear that and not only that but they want to hear about how you are going to get them drafted in the 1st round of the NFL. The recruits he is talking to had jumped up several steps and are usually deciding between Bama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, and a few other big dogs on the block.

To top it off, Ohio State is the most watched school even over Alabama so the microphones in front of his face doubled. Everything he does is surveyed much more closely and the ridicule is intensified as well.

Justin Frye needs to prove himself to the recruits, the Buckeye fan base, and to the team that is currently on the roster. So far so good, but good is not accepted in Buckeye land.

Frye needs to land some out-of-state 5-star lineman, along with keeping the in-state trench hogs as well. Snagging the best beast in the trenches is the best way to keep landing the best QBs in the country and to win Ohio State a national championship.

DodderyCribb

DodderyCribb, A.K.A. Dodds or Doddery, has been dominating the gaming industry for over two decades. He has defied the odds in Madden by trading for “impossible” players and mastering Madden contracts to name a few. Dodds has made signature content, such as the SAR, SAT, Contract Reset Method, and much more. You can also find him playing and writing content for mobile games.

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