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Dan Hope and Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors bring you inside the Ohio State beat every Wednesday with a podcast covering everything you need to know about the Buckeyes.
Note: This transcript was AI-generated and has not been edited for errors.
[Dan Hope]
Welcome into RealPod Wednesdays. Dan Hope joined by Garrick Hodge and Andy Anders as Ohio State has had a very busy month on the recruiting trail. Since the start of June, Ohio State has landed 11 commitments.
Those commitments coming from running backs Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, wide receivers Quincy Porter and Bod Penn Miller, tight end Brody Lennon, center Jake Cook, defensive end Zion Grady, defensive tackles Maxwell Roy and Trajan Odom, linebacker Riley Pettijohn, and safety Faheem Delane. Ohio State now has a 20-point lead over Alabama in the composite team rankings for the 2025 recruiting class, and Garrick, the Buckeyes chase for the number one class is really starting to feel more and more real.
[Garrick Hodge]
Yeah, I think so. I think right now they're at about 310 recruiting points, and I mean last year's champion Georgia, they just got a 24 recruit late yesterday, so it pumped it up a little bit, but it's at 317 points now, so if Ohio State were to land David Sanders Jr., their number one recruiting target on the board, which we'll delve into a little bit later, that would put them at 316 points, so well within that striking range of 317, and I believe last year the number two overall team Alabama finished at about 310 points, so assuming Ohio State doesn't lose any recruit, or even if it doesn't gain any recruit, which I know huge assumptions in this recruiting era, but if they just stood pat and did nothing else, they would have a team score to match the number two recruiting class in the country last year, so there's been some mixed bag results on the recruiting trail the last couple weeks, as we've mentioned, but overall you have to love where Ohio State's recruiting class is sitting at right now.
[Andy Anders]
A few notable misses, obviously, over the past few weeks here, whether that's Oregon stealing two from you, and Dorian Brew, and Jordan Davidson here, or Alabama taking Justin Hill from Ohio, but you lose some guys that were either you had a long-standing connection with, and Jordan Davidson, or from Ohio, Dorian Brew, from Ohio originally, I should say, or an Ohio prospect just now in Justin Hill, but the out-of-state commitments in this class more than make up for some of those misses, I think, and overall you have to be really happy with what's been assembled so far for Ohio State, and outside of Sanders' commitment, like you said, trying to get that, not really a whole lot to do other than put some finishing touches on this class.
It feels like definitely want to get some more linemen, definitely want to address a few other needs, but it feels like Ohio State fans can take some rest in just how well-rounded this class is. I think if you can get that David Sanders commitment, you're getting elite talents in a lot of places, and even if there's a couple of big names that you maybe thought you might have gotten earlier, but you're missing out on now, the diverse array of talents in this class, I think, is something to be excited about as the recruiting cycle finishes up over the next few months.
[Garrick Hodge]
When I was driving back from the Justin Hill commitment that wasn't, I kind of had a thought to myself, this is kind of a weird cycle, and in a good way, of course, but Ohio State goes into Alabama, a state that they've had players that you can count on one hand that have suited up in an Ohio State uniform in their history, and they've landed two of the top players in Alabama, whereas Ohio State hardly ever misses an Ohio recruit that it really, really wants, and they end up missing two this cycle, because I still count Dorian Brewer as an Ohio recruit, even though he lives in Texas now, but, so, and then, you know, depending on what Trey McNutt does, they may end up losing the third one if he ends up going to Oregon or something like that, but, so, yeah, overall, kind of a really weird cycle, but like you mentioned, Andy, the out-of-state recruits are really, I guess, making up for a couple in-state misses that Ohio State has had on the recruiting trail, even though they have locked down a lot of in-state kids as well, so it's not like they aren't cleaning up Ohio like they usually are. They've just had a couple misses at the top that you usually don't expect out of an Ohio State, but I think I got asked in the chat question last week when we did our weekly Beat Writer Q&As, outside of offensive line, what position group do you think we still really need, and while there are, you know, it would be nice to get a guy like Malik Autry as a defensive tackle, a true kind of one technique guy that could really do some damage down there, I don't really know if there's a position to where if Ohio State doesn't get a certain type of player, it's going to be in trouble, besides offensive line, of course, but I just kind of thought about that, like, yeah, looking across the board at this recruiting class, they're pretty well set up for the future.
[Dan Hope]
You mentioned missing the guys from out-of-state, and I think some of that, too, just kind of speaks to how recruiting has changed here, and the world that we live in now with NIL and all the other different factors that go into recruiting where, you know, Ohio State, yeah, they're supposed to land a Justin Hill, they're supposed to land a Dorian Brew, they're supposed to land a Trey McNutt, but, you know, Alabama's supposed to land Naeem Offord, you know, Texas is supposed to land Riley Pettijohn.
There's so many different factors that go into recruiting now that, you know, I think you have to recalibrate your expectations a little bit just in terms of, you know, a guy who maybe in the past was always looked at as, you know, this guy, you know, this guy's from Ohio, he's got to go to Ohio State, you know, I think the calculation has become a little bit different for guys, and I think, you know, for those players in particular, I think, you know, for Dorian Brew, he looked at Ohio State and said, well, they already have Devin Sanchez and Naeem Offord. I'm sure Oregon and every other school that was recruiting him was hammering that point all the time of, hey, you're not Ohio State's top guy. They've already got Devin Sanchez and Naeem Offord.
You come here, you're going to be our top guy. So I think that worked against Ohio State in the Dorian Brew recruitment. I think in the Justin Hill recruitment, the fact of the matter is, he's kind of that hybrid player, and while Jim Knowles has said he wants to bring the Jack back into the defense at some point, it hasn't actually happened yet.
And so he could look at Alabama and go, hey, look at what Will Anderson did in this defense. I can be Alabama's next Will Anderson, and they can sell him on that. Whereas at Ohio State, they can sell him on an idea, but not really something that we've seen in practice in terms of how exactly Justin Hill would be used in that defense.
And so I think in both of those cases, there were factors working against Ohio State that ultimately came back to bite them in the end. The losses still sting because I think really until Dorian Brew announced his commitment, the expectation was he was probably going to end up at Ohio State. Justin Hill, I think until the morning of his commitment, the expectation was he was going to end up at Ohio State.
So it still stings to lose guys like that, but all in all, you look at how this past month, this entire recruiting cycle has gone for Ohio State. Ohio State has more than made up for it with the players it's been able to land from out of state in addition to the eight in-state guys that it does have in the class.
[Andy Anders]
Something I think is interesting too with this class, and I think we've talked about this a little bit before, is just how defensive-driven it is again. And just before we get into some specific breakdowns here, I just wanted to point out again just how loaded it, you go position group by position group. Ohio State has been able to pull multiple top 100 defensive linemen, now a five-star linebacker to go with another top 100 linebacker.
Obviously the top two corners in the country, the number two safety in the country. So that's what this Riley Pettijohn commitment to really solidified for me is that Ohio State has elite premier talent everywhere on defense in this recruiting class now. And just how much that switch has flipped from earlier day cycles where it felt a little lean on that side and maybe you were pulling in top a lot of offensive skill talent, but not as much of those defensive pieces.
But speaking of offensive talent, right off the top, as you kind of look at this class at quarterback, it's Tavian St. Clair. It's been Tavian St. Clair. There's no interest in adding a second quarterback.
And the only note to add here, I think, is just how much Tavian's stock continues to rise. I mean, obviously a guy who started way down the recruiting rankings, at least as far as an Ohio State quarterback commit is typically concerned, but has skyrocketed it up. We watched him at Ohio State's recruiting camps in June and were struck by just how far he's come.
So, I mean, Garrett, just thoughts on where the Buckeyes stand with Tavian St. Clair being their future guy.
[Garrick Hodge]
Well, where they stand is it has to be the most drama-free recruitment of a player of his caliber I've seen in forever. I mean, there hasn't been a whisper of him taking any other visits. He's been locked in since the day he committed.
Obviously, you know, when he did commit, it was kind of a, is Ohio State going to push for Tavian St. Clair, Ryan Montgomery, because you've got two great quarterbacks in the state of Ohio, and ultimately they went with Tavian. And, you know, it's not like Ryan Luke's brother is no slouch himself. He's going to go play for Georgia.
Pretty, pretty good football program last time I checked. But, I mean, you look at Tavian, and he was clearly the top quarterback that camped at Ohio State's recruiting camp over the summer. And, I mean, as he should be, right, as a player of his billing.
But, you know, you had players from the 26th class, the 27th class that just looked like really good football players. But Tavian looked the most polished. He looked like he had the best frame.
Every time he throws, his ball placement just gets better and better, and his velocity increases. And it's really hard to kind of fathom, like, what his ceiling could be just based off his frame, his arm talent, and the intangibles that keep getting better by the year. But Tavian's probably about as excited as for a quarterback prospect that's coming to Ohio State as I've been since I started covering Ohio State.
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, I think the unfortunate thing for Ohio State is that Tavian St. Clair and Ryan Montgomery are in the same recruiting class, because you'd love to have both of those guys in your pipeline. But there's no question at this point that Ohio State made the right call when they went out and got Tavian St. Clair a year ago. Because, like you said, Garrick, I mean, there's some real chatter among the websites that make for recruiting rankings, but it's not out of a question he could end up as the number one overall prospect in this class at this point.
That's how good he's been, you know, in this summer camp circuit. We'll see how he does in his senior season at Bellefontaine High School. But, you know, he has just really solidified himself as an elite quarterback prospect.
And to your point, I mean, there's no concerns at all about the strength of his commitment to Ohio State. He has been all in on the Buckeyes from the day he committed. You know, he's been very, very active as a peer recruiter for the Buckeyes and just somebody who, you know, he's one of those guys he's dreamed of playing for Ohio State his whole life.
And he can't wait to have that opportunity. And I think there's a lot of reasons for Ohio State fans to be excited. You know, we'll see how things play out next year and beyond in terms of where he can factor into that quarterback depth jar.
But he's somebody who clearly has the potential to be a high-level starter for Ohio State in the future. And certainly somebody that the Buckeyes feel really good about bringing into that room next year to bolster the future of that position. You look at the running back position, Ohio State, at least two-thirds of a way there now, thanks to the commitments it got in June.
Landing Bo Jackson, Isaiah West, really Carlos Laughlin went two for free in terms of hitting his three targets four of a month of June. Losing Jordan Davison is a disappointment because he's a guy that Ohio State had been recruiting for a long time and who, you know, at one point I think had been their top target at the position in this class. But I think really, you know, by the time their commitments came around, Bo Jackson really was that guy at the top of the board.
And I think him being that in-state guy, you know, he was the real must-get for Carlos Laughlin in this class. A top 100 prospect, a guy, I mean, you just look at him physically. I mean, again, you know, I'm not going to sit here and compare him to the other Bo Jackson, but this is a guy who's got a great size.
He's run, you know, a four-three-forty. The physical tools are all there. But if Carlos Laughlin can develop him technique-wise and really get the most out of his physical skill set, he has the potential to be an elite running back.
And so I think he's a great guy to build that running back class around. Isaiah West is another one of those guys that, you know, I think Ohio State, you know, they feel like by the time signing day comes around, he's going to be ranked higher than he is right now. You know, even though he's only a free-star recruit right now, he's a guy Ohio State's really high on.
So they're very excited to have him in the class. They still want that third guy. And it seems like the top target right now would be Anthony Rogers.
We've talked about Ohio State, you know, plucking talent away from the Crimson Tide, whether that be in the transfer portal of guys like Caleb Downs, Seth McLaughlin, Julian Sayan, whether that be with recruits in Alabama's backyard like Naeem Offord and Zion Grady. And it looks like Ohio State's hoping it can do the same with Anthony Rogers, a current Alabama commit to round out that running back class.
[Garrick Hodge]
Yeah, Alabama gets some revenge on Ohio State by landing Justin Hill. Maybe Ohio State wants to return the favor by plucking Anthony Rogers. But Rogers visited Ohio State in late May, kind of right before official visits kind of really got underway.
And by all indications I've gotten, that visit went very well. And he expressed interest of getting back on campus. And now that, you know, Jordan Davidson and Ohio State went their separate ways, that looks like that's going to happen.
He's going to take an official visit to Ohio State sometime this season. And I think there's a lot to like about that kind of player. If you can eventually flip him from Alabama and then pair him with the likes of Bo Jackson, with the likes of Isaiah West, you're looking at a running back hoard that really has a lot of potential.
And just going back to Bo Jackson for a second, like you said, Dan, over the past couple months, I really think, you know, maybe Jordan Davidson started as the number one running back on their board, maybe when we started talking about recruiting in the spring. But as the spring turned into the summer, I think that kind of flip-flopped and Bo really got put higher on the priority list just because of how versatile he is, the different skill sets of his game that he can really change and provide a groundbreaking offense. And I think that given Ohio State's running back situation and how assuming that both Quenshawn Judkins and Treveon Henderson are both out the door after this year, there's going to be a lot of carries to go around.
And that's not to, you know, discredit James Peoples, who I think is going to have a magnificent career at Ohio State, or that they, maybe they'll bring in a transfer running back to fill that void if they need it. But I think there's a non-zero chance that Bo Jackson gets some meaningful carries for next year's Buckeye team.
[Andy Anders]
You know, sticking with the offensive skill, wide receiver is a position where Ohio State, you know, is probably going to add one or two more players. But not the five-star maybe that a lot of Ohio State fans are accustomed to just in terms of recruiting rankings and star hype and all of that, but still some good pieces that Ohio State has already added at the position in this class. Starting with Quincy Porter, I think, you know, this is a guy who's a legit top 100 talent, does a lot of things well for you on the football field.
But Maude Penn Miller, I think, impressed all of us at Ohio State's camps and earning the offer. And I think he's got a skill set that can develop well. And you have Dezee Jones there, too, who gives you a lot of things.
I think that, you know, back up just a second. Garrick, how excited should Ohio State fans be for the receiver class that's been assembled, even if it maybe doesn't have that five-star marquee guy? And where does Ohio State go from here?
It seems like a couple targets have fallen off the board the last couple months, but there's still some guys out there that they're looking at.
[Garrick Hodge]
I feel like Quincy Porter's pretty underrated. And I know that's maybe weird to say about a guy that's ranked as a top 50 recruit, but I feel like he's underrated in terms of, like, the Ohio State fan inner circles, mostly because, you know, they've been so spoiled with all the receivers they've gotten over the past couple of cycles. Jeremiah Smith probably being the priority number one there.
But I think you look at Quincy Porter and his length is just incredible. His catch radius is off the charts. And I think that he's, you know, a guy that if you just didn't have these incredible run of Brian Hartline going into whatever state he wants to and taking whoever he wants at wide receiver, any other fan base in the country would be drooling over Quincy Porter.
Not saying that Ohio State fans aren't excited about him, but I still feel like he's flying a little under the radar, and I'm pretty bullish on him being a contributor at Ohio State at some point in his career. Bob Penn Miller is kind of one of the cooler stories of this entire Ohio State cycle. Didn't even play wide receiver until about four months ago.
Has been a quarterback his entire football career, and then really invested himself into being a wide receiver. Told me a story that, you know, he's thrown with Tavian St. Clair already and has started to build that rapport with his future collegiate quarterback. And, I mean, getting a chance to watch him play, I think it's really exciting what he could be.
Now, he is a project. I ain't going to say that he's going to be a day one or even, you know, maybe day 500 starter, but the tools are there to be, I mean, with his speed and his length and you could find a gold mine, a pretty good football player out of that skill set. But in terms of where they go next, I think we're, as each day passes, we're getting further and further away from the dream of Vernell Brown III or Jamie French playing for Ohio State.
I think Vernell is definitely staying in the state of Florida. Jamie seems headed to Texas, although others are still in the running there, but I think more likely your top targets are Daylon McCutcheon, that'll be committing on Saturday. Phillip Bell, who's a battle between USC and Ohio State right now, and Preston Bowman, who's committed to Kentucky.
And while Preston grew up an Ohio State fan and, you know, took the world tour of visits to Columbus throughout this summer, camping at Ohio State four times trying to earn that offer. It did eventually come, but unfortunately it came 12 hours after he had already committed to Kentucky. And, you know, I caught up with him after the offer and I asked him how much it changed his recruitment and he told me point blankly, I mean, it's nice, but it doesn't a whole lot.
I gave Kentucky my word. And I know that's a lot of lip service to teenagers these days and this recruiting industry, and I get it, but Preston's always kind of been a very genuine guy. So I kind of believe him at his word, not saying that Ohio State can't eventually flip him and kind of went over that hometown hero thing in the end, but I think that'll be maybe a tougher flip than, oh yeah, you're assumed, we offered a guy that's rooted for Ohio State his entire life.
We're just going to press for him and it'll be easy just like that. I think it'll take a little more than that, but I think it's possible, maybe even probable that one of those three guys ends up being a Buckeye before the end of the cycle, but it's not a guarantee that they land any of them.
[Dan Hope]
Tight end, Ohio State is pretty much all set there after landing Brody Lennon this past month, adding him to a class that already included Nate Roberts, Keenan Bailey, did exactly what he wanted to do in this class. Nate Roberts was Ohio State's top target all along. Ohio State was able to land his commitment and then Brody Lennon, a guy much like Bod Penn Miller, who took advantage of a really good performance at Ohio State camp in June to earn an offer and then committing to the Buckeyes.
Just a couple weeks later, giving Ohio State a two tight end class for the second year in a row, that had been kind of a recurring storyline during Kevin Wilson's tenure as tight ends coach and offensive coordinator of always trying to get those two tight end classes, but seemed like something always kind of fell apart along the way. This year looks like Ohio State's in very good position to make that happen for the second year in a row. Nate Roberts has been all in with the Buckeyes since he committed, and Brody Lennon, certainly an in-state guy, his commitment to the Buckeyes seems to be very strong as well.
So Ohio State has done what it needs to do at that tight end position in the 2025 class. Let's move ahead to the offensive line because we mentioned David Sanders Jr. earlier. He dropped some news on Sunday night that he will announce his commitment on August 17, picking from a top four of Ohio State, Tennessee, Georgia, and Nebraska.
And I know that between the three of us, we've said it three or four times already this summer on the podcast, but it's worth reiterating one more time. David Sanders Jr. is the must-get for Ohio State in this recruiting class for all the great things that Ohio State has done in this recruiting class. I mean, it's going to be a successful class no matter what at this point, but this is the one recruitment that is really going to make the difference, I think, between this being an all-time great class for Ohio State or still what could have been kind of class for Ohio State.
Because we know the offensive line is the position that there's been a lot of angst about at Ohio State recently with the play on the field last year and some misses on the recruiting trail. Justin Frye is probably the assistant coach with the hottest seat going into the 2024 season based on the play of his offensive line last year and based on the fact that he has missed out on some top targets at the offensive line, particularly at offensive tackle. The Buckeyes do have a commitment from a very highly regarded offensive tackle in Carter Lowe, him being an in-state guy, as well as a center in Jake Cook, who they landed this summer.
But this class really needs another premier offensive lineman. And nobody is a more premier offensive lineman in this 2025 class than David Sanders Jr. But Buckeyes have been recruiting him really hard for a long time. I think they've made it very clear to him that he is a number one priority for Ohio State in this class.
And now the question is, can they close the deal? Garrick, as we sit here today, a little over a month before he will announce his commitment, how do you feel about Ohio State's chances?
[Garrick Hodge]
I would say cautiously optimistic. If you forced me to pick right now, I'd probably pick Ohio State, but that's a very, very slim margin. I think Ohio State and Tennessee have been going at this for the better part of a month, and they'll still be going at it for another five to six weeks until he ends up making his decision.
And I think the margin with both those programs is razor thin. I think they're both right in the thick of things. I think they both are going all out and are sort of operating under a whatever-it-takes mindset to get him, because he's that pivotal to both programs right now.
Georgia and Nebraska were also in there. Can never discount Georgia, and Nebraska's kind of a, huh, okay, that's interesting. I did see Ohio State fans did a little bit of a victory lap, that he had long been prognosticated to go to Clemson, you know, over the better part of his recruitment, and Clemson didn't end up making the final four.
So it was an interesting day on social media. But going back to David, or should I call him David Sanders? I guess it depends on what you view his name tag at on a Tennessee official visit.
But I mean, yeah, Justin Fry really is putting all his eggs into the David Sanders basket. And if he gets him, it's going to be a great victory lap and a, you know, late Fourth of July fireworks at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. And this could be a very, very special recruiting class, like you said, Dan.
Maybe the best recruiting class ever that Ohio State's ever had in the recruiting era based off of recruiting points. But if they don't, man, I don't really know where they go. I think they have a better chance with Josh Petty than maybe is originally thought, but I still would take the field over Ohio State for him.
And I mean, I don't know where you go back to the drawing board if you don't get David Sanders. There definitely isn't a player of his caliber that you can just pivot to right away that Ohio State has, you know, at this time, a very good shot with. So, you know, putting all your eggs into one basket can be rewarding if it works out.
But if it doesn't, oh man, I might stay off our website comments for a couple days if they end up not getting them. So we'll see how it goes. And well, we'll get Andy's thoughts on the O-line because I see him just bursting out of his shell wanting to talk about some offensive line play over there.
[Andy Anders]
You all know how much I love my linemen. Yeah, I think where you go is to a different offensive line coach if the O-line doesn't take big strides this year and you don't get David Sanders. I mean, that's just the feeling that unit was the biggest question mark on the team and stayed its biggest weakness probably throughout all of last season.
And now you're moving into this season with the same questions about the offensive line, still have to figure out the right side and who is exactly starting at right guard probably, you know, when you talk about the starting unit this year. And if you combine that with, you know, no major gets on the recruiting trail other than a guy who's in state, you know, Carter Lowe obviously is a big talent and I'm really high on what he can be. But it's an in-state guy and Luke Montgomery was an in-state guy and there hasn't been that ability to get that premier top of the board offensive tackle target for Ohio State under Justin Fry.
And if you're not getting what you need on the field out of these lines, developing some lower end prospects, perhaps some, you know, mid-tier four stars and things of that nature, then, you know, this is Ohio State. You're expected to be among the best assistant coaches in the country. Tim Walton, Brian Hartline, you know, these guys, Brian Day has built a staff that's got some of the nation's top assistants at their respective positions.
Larry Johnson, throw him in that mix on reputation. Maybe James Laurinaitis is heading there, right? The standard of this coaching staff is getting raised every year for me at Ohio State, both in terms of recruiting and development.
So if Justin Fry doesn't land David Sanders, it's like do or die time in terms of this being a really good offensive line this year, I think, for him. And that's kind of where I'll leave it in terms of the O-line play because, you know, I love me some D-line talk too. And man, defensive end, this is a pretty good class that Larry Johnson's assembled.
To go in and steal Zion Grady from the clutches of Alabama from the deep south is, was just a huge statement for me in saying that he's still got it on the recruiting trail. You couple that with Zaheer Mathis, another top 80 prospect, and London Merritt, who's top 120 in the country. This group of defensive ends is really strong and you're going to have, you would expect at least two of those guys to pan out and become some nightmare fuel for quarterbacks in the future.
[Garrick Hodge]
Yeah, I think Larry Johnson has won over a lot of people, not that he needed to based off his track record, but, you know, whispers every year get louder with Larry, you know, is the game passing him by? What has Larry done for me lately? And sometimes I feel a little unfairly Larry has to continue to prove that he's still got it even because he's been one of the best at it for a long time.
And, you know, one of the biggest recruiting pitches that other schools use against Ohio State is, hey man, Larry ain't going to be there forever. He may not even be there your whole entire Ohio State career. So, but I mean, it's hard to argue with the results right here, especially at defensive end Zion Grady, Zaheer Mathis, London Merritt, and on the interior, Maxwell Roy stealing him away from Michigan because there's kind of a light pivot there about a week before he committed to where it kind of looked like he was going to end up at Michigan.
But Ohio State really made out an all out press for him and ended up convincing him that he needed to play his collegiate career in Columbus instead of Ann Arbor. And, you know, it's always great to win a recruiting battle against your arch rival. And certainly no one appreciates that more than Ohio State fans and Trajan Odom.
I think that Maxwell and Trajan are pretty comparable players in terms of kind of what they bring you. They're like that three technique position that both can be very solid players there. I think they're probably guys that are probably going to need about two years before you see them in meaningful snaps, but there are some high end defensive tackles out there, mainly Malik Autry, the Auburn commit that is going to be really hard to pry away from the Tigers, but if any team can do it, it's Ohio State.
It already helps that, you know, one of his good friends, Zion Grady, is already in Ohio State's class and you know he's going to be in his ear every other day. Not saying it's going to happen, but if Ohio State got three commitments from Alabama in one cycle, I think that would come close to matching the total amount of players from Alabama that have played at Ohio State. So that would just be, you know, a clear indication that it's 2024 and things have changed.
But, you know, that one, no matter what happens, is going to go all the way to the deadline, I'm pretty sure. Malik has already confirmed that he's going to be at the game in November, so the interest is certainly reciprocated and he's going to keep taking visits and while I feel he's pretty locked in with Auburn, I feel like Ohio State's got at least a puncher's chance here. And then the other one that's going to go into the fall and maybe even past that is Joaquin Stewart, the number one defensive tackle in the 2026 class, but it's widely expected in the recruiting industry that he's going to reclassify to 2025.
Now should that happen, he's going to have no shortage of suitors, primarily USC, LSU, and Ohio State, and LSU will probably throw whatever it can at him to keep him in state, being a Louisiana guy. But, I mean, no matter what the recruiting class looks like at that point, you do whatever you can to land a player of Stewart's caliber. I mean, we all saw him at the recruiting camps and it's hard to imagine, you know, I'm losing my train of thought here because I'm running out of ways to describe a guy that's built like that at his age with the potential that it could bring to Ohio State's defensive line.
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, sometimes you worry about guys reclassifying because you don't know if they're necessarily mature enough to make that jump to college football a year early, but you look at Joaquin Stewart, he already looks like a grown man, so I don't really have a whole lot of concern about him as a reclassification guy. I think he could go into a college football program next year and make an impact. I think he's already that good and that developed.
Still just needs to put on a little more weight to be a full-time defensive tackle, but just, you know, the physical attributes he has, the skill he already has, he's a guy that can make an immediate impact from day one. So, you know, whether it be him or a Malik Autry, I think that's really what Larry Johnson and Ohio State need to really put a on this defensive line class. I think it's a very good defensive line class right now, but you could still use that premiere defensive tackle to really round out that class, particularly because of the fact that last year Ohio State only landed one defensive tackle, that being a lower-ranked guy in Eric Mensah.
I think that puts a little more pressure on this year's class to be a really strong defensive tackle class, especially with Ty Hamilton and Ty Leak-Williams both likely being gone after this year. You need to retool the talent a little bit there. So, good start with the recent commitments of Maxwell Roy and Trajan Odom, but I think you still need that one more guy at that defensive tackle position to really kind of round out what would then be an excellent defensive line recruiting class for Larry Johnson.
Andy mentioned a little bit earlier about Riley Pettijohn making his commitment to Ohio State this past Saturday, and that rounds out the linebacker class for James Laurinaitis in his first full recruiting cycle as a full-time linebackers coach as he joins another very highly ranked prospect in the class in Tarvis Alford, as well as an in-state linebacker that Ohio State is very high on in Eli Lee. Obviously, we did talk about Justin Hill earlier.
He's that one guy that Ohio State would love to add to that class as kind of that hybrid player, and Ohio State's not going to give up on that recruitment even though he's now committed to Alabama. When you have an in-state guy who's been as high on your board as Hill has for a very long time, you're going to continue to check in on him and see if you can make that flip. But even if you assume that Justin Hill will ultimately sign of Alabama, this is an excellent linebacker class for James Laurinaitis to beat out Texas and USC, to land Pettijohn a five-star prospect at that position.
I think that's exactly the kind of power move that James Laurinaitis needed to assert himself as someone who can be an elite recruiter at the collegiate level.
[Garrick Hodge]
Seems kind of interesting that the strongest recruiters on staff as it stands are former Ohio State players. I think that's been kind of an interesting talking point. It's certainly not doing anything to dispel any notions of if there's any staff opening, go hire the most notable Buckeye you can find at that position.
With Riley, I think that was also another interesting recruitment because up until about a month or so, the storyline around his recruitment is, yeah, he likes Ohio State a lot, but Texas has always been that team that's been at the forefront of his recruitment, a home-state guy. The Longhorns have always been thought to be the number one leader in his recruitment. Even Texas A&M made a pretty significant push there in June for him, trying to keep him in state.
I mean, James Laurinaitis really cooked with this one, is the best way to say it. You land two top five linebackers in the 2025 class with Pettijohn, with Tarvis Alford. It's pretty fun to imagine the tandem that those two could be.
Tarvis is primarily a will, I would say. Pettijohn probably should be a will, but he's lined up everywhere in high school. He's lined up as a Mike.
He's lined up as a will. He's played outside. He's played even standing up on the D-line every once in a while, and the guy just makes plays wherever you put him.
So, I mean, the only nitpicky thing I would say is that maybe once in a while, his angles aren't quite as precise as maybe you'd like them to see when he's going to chase the ball, but his groundbreaking speed kind of makes up for it, and that's something that you can tweak pretty significantly easy once you get on the college campus. I think they just have three linebackers, and Eli Lee included, because he's made a lot of gains in his game as well when I saw him at the Under Armour Nets camp up in Canton in May. There's a lot to get excited about with him too, but I think this linebacker class is arguably the best that Ryan Day has had in his tenure at Ohio State.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, and it was a statement by Laurinaitis this year to go out and build a class like this, but if Laurinaitis is the chef, a cook at that linebacker recruiting spot, then I think Tim Walton owns the whole restaurant just based on what he's accomplished this year, accomplished over the last few years. Now, you lose some momentum with the Dorian Brew miss, and it makes also the Blake Woodby decommitment, I think, sting a little more in hindsight that you weren't ultimately able to get Dorian Brew, because that kind of felt like the consolation, right? If Ohio State was considered the leader in that recruitment at that time, kind of, and you lost a top 10 corner, but you still had number one and number two, and you had Dorian Brew out there who would have been just a superstar third option at that cornerback position with some versatility to do some other things.
Now, you're probably still looking to add a third quarter cornerback, but it's less clear where you go. Dwayne Galloway is a guy with a lot of talent out of Ohio, but now already committed to produce Ohio State kind of late to that party. Didn't offer him in a timely fashion, and now he's headed elsewhere in the Big Ten, so that's an in-state guy that would have made some sense.
Garrick, is there anyone else out there that maybe they're kind of looking at right now? Are they still in kind of the feeler phase, and how much do they want to add a third cornerback to this class?
[Garrick Hodge]
I think feeler phase is a good way to describe it. I think they're comfortable taking that final spot into the fall, primarily because I think they still haven't given up on Dorian. From what I understand, Oregon didn't even know that they were getting Dorian until the day of that he committed.
I think Dan Lanning was almost kind of surprised that he was going to get Dorian, so some late intrigue there in that recruitment for sure, but of the guys that you're talking, that Ohio State's still going to work their best to try and flip Justin Hill and Dorian. I think they're more likely to flip Dorian than they are Justin. Maybe that's just because Justin Hill's parents are diehard Alabama fans, so I feel like he's got some connection to the tide that Dorian doesn't have with Oregon, but yeah, I think that they haven't given up on Dorian, so with that said, they're comfortable taking that recruitment into the fall.
They're not necessarily in a rush to find someone. I think they're going to probably take a moment, breathe, reevaluate their board, maybe scout some new prospects that aren't really on their radar right now and see what they kind of maybe think. If there's a spot that you can afford to maybe take a chance on a developmental guy that maybe you wouldn't normally, cornerback is a good spot to do it, so I wouldn't rule out if there's a late bloomer in the Midwest that kind of really has a kick-ass senior season.
Whoever that unnamed prospect might be, might be a good guy to kind of take a flyer on, but yeah, I mean, they like Galloway a lot, but they haven't pulled the trigger on offering him for whatever reason, and obviously it'll be a lot harder to flip him now that he's already committed, so we'll see where exactly they go on their board, but yeah, I think they're not in a rush to fill it, but they would like to add one more cornerback at least.
[Dan Hope]
Good news is they have Devin Sanchez and Neem offered, so you can't...
[Garrick Hodge]
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty hard to complain. Those are your two corners.
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, when you've got two guys who are top 10 overall prospects in the class at the same position in your recruiting class, you're in pretty good shape. I mean, worst case scenario, you find a transfer to add some depth for that cornerback room next year, so I mean, they're in good position. You've got two five-star cornerbacks coming in who are going to be candidates to compete for immediate playing time as freshmen next year.
You'd love to get Dorian Brew. You'd love to get another high-level cornerback in that class, but they're in really good shape there at cornerback with the two commitments that they have, and I think the same is true at safety because I have a big question right now at safety is whether Ohio State is going to be able to land Trey McNutt, the number one safety in the class. His father, Richard McNutt, played for the Buckeyes.
He's from Ohio. He's another one of those guys, much like a Justin Hill and Dorian Brew. You feel like Ohio State is supposed to get him, and it doesn't feel like it's trending that way right now.
He did not make an official visit to Ohio State this summer. It just doesn't feel like Ohio State's really been able to gain a whole lot of momentum there. Now, that recruitment's still kind of wide open, so we'll see how it ultimately plays out this fall, but right now, it doesn't feel like the Buckeyes are the leader in that recruitment that maybe they should be.
At the same time, Ohio State has Faheem Dillane. He is the number two ranked safety in the class, and I think, frankly, if you asked Ohio State's coaches, I think they feel just as good about Faheem Dillane as they do about Trey McNutt. I think that they are very high on Faheem Dillane as somebody to be a star in their secondary in the future.
They also have Deshaun Stewart and Cody Haddad, and they still have another target out there as well in Maziah DeLombe, who if they maybe feel like McNutt's trending away from them, they could turn up the heat on trying to land DeLombe, and if they're able to land him in addition to Faheem Dillane, Deshaun Stewart, and Cody Haddad, this would be a really strong safety class for Matt Guerrero and the Buckeyes. This is another spot there, I think, kind of like with Dorian Brew and Justin Hill, where if Trey McNutt goes elsewhere, there's going to be some hand-wringing from OSU fans.
There's no question about it because of the fact that he is a five-star prospect in their home state whose father played for the Buckeyes. There's going to be some hurt feelings if the Buckeyes miss on him, but when we talk about those must-get kind of guys, you talk about a David Sanders Jr., Ohio State needs to land David Sanders Jr. It would be nice to land Trey McNutt, but I think Ohio State will be okay if Trey McNutt does ultimately end up choosing to go somewhere else.
[Garrick Hodge]
Yeah, I would probably take the field over Ohio State for Trey McNutt right now, which like you said, Dan, would probably cause some hand-wringing amongst Ohio State fans. Also, I agree with you that Ohio State views Faheem Dillane as just as good as Trey McNutt and a safety that they can really build around. A guy that they haven't gotten from the high school ranks in quite some time.
I know they ended up getting Kaled Downs, but it took a transfer to end up getting him. I think McNutt as a whole, regardless of what commitment he makes, if he makes one in the summer, I should say that that will be another one that it ain't over until it's over. I think even if he were to commit to, let's say, Oregon at the end of July or in August, he's still planning on taking an official visit to Ohio State sometime this fall.
The black eyes aren't going to say no to that. The number one ranked safety, they're not going to say, oh no, we don't want you to come take a visit anymore. That's just not how recruiting works.
But yeah, Messiah Dome is another very capable safety that has a lot of intrigue. I think they're going to have to make a decision relatively soon in terms of how hard they really want to push for him in terms of if they're feeling the McNutt vibe or not. They don't necessarily need to land a fourth guy.
It would be nice, but there will be other options out there, whether it be via transfer portal player or another developmental prospect that you find somewhere down the line. I sort of trust what the staff's going to do with that fourth safety spot if they can't ultimately land McNutt.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, and overall again, you're so well recruited on this defense already that these are just luxury adds, whether it's trying to flip Dorian Brew or Justin Hill or add Trey McNutt to the class. It really feels like you have enough of a core that's been built, especially off that Riley Pettijohn commitment, where you get to be selective on the defensive side of things. Maybe there's some three-star project guys that emerge down the road, too, that you want to take a shot on and give a chance to develop at Ohio State.
But regardless, I think the defense of recruiting this cycle has been a byproduct of the success the defense had last year. This is a class that certainly, at least on the defensive side of the ball, is probably going to go down in the annals of Ohio State history. If you land David Sanders, you get a good chance to that on the offensive side, too.
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, 23 total commits for Ohio State in this 2025 class, including four composite five-star prospects, 16 composite four-star prospects. And so, this is a really strong class for Ohio State. A few more boxes that need to be checked, and Garrick will be continuing to cover all of that for us over at 11warriors.com.
But the future certainly looks bright for Ohio State football in terms of a 2025 recruiting class. Of course, the future looks bright for a 2024 season, too, and we are just a couple weeks away from being in Indianapolis for Big Ten media days. And so, we can feel the 2024 season coming upon us, and we will be back next week, at least Andy and I will be back next week, to start looking ahead more to the upcoming football season.
So, Garrick, we want to thank you for joining us here on Real Pod Wednesdays, once again, for some great Ohio State football recruiting insight, and we hope everyone will join us again next week.