·Free $500 appraisal credit on any purchase or refinance for you or any referral sent
·Accredited Better Business Bureau member
·NMLS # 1639493
We've talked about it for weeks. The buzz behind the scenes from sources close to the Ohio State program, and backed up by folks close to the Clemson program, is that there is a strong belief that the recruitment of five-star wide receiver Julian Fleming is currently a Buckeyes/Tigers battle.
I've refused to believe it's that black and white and that Penn State could be in such trouble for the local star. It might be time to believe the buzz. We have a front page story on the nation's top-ranked wide receiver that posted early Sunday afternoon and Fleming, while not naming names, hinted that two schools within his top six have separated themselves from the pack.
Could it be OSU/PSU or Clemson/PSU? Sure, that's possible. But the recent rumblings would indeed suggest that Ohio State and Clemson, two places Fleming has had really good visits to in recent weeks, could be the leaders right now for the big-time pass catcher.
Is there a chance that Penn State is actually the leader and that this Ohio State/Clemson stuff is a smoke screen? That's possible as well. In fact it's more plausible than the two teams Fleming alluded to actually not including either OSU or Clemson, but I just don't know that Fleming would be willing to go to those lengths to throw everyone off the trail. He didn't do the Rakim Jarrett thing and lay out a clear leader in his recruitment very early and now has to walk things back a bit and the relationship with Brian Hartline has been an incredibly strong one for a while now and it's hard for me to see him playing games with a coach he has such respect for.
No, I'm starting to buy the information that Ohio State and Clemson just might be in a two-team race here. I'm never going to count out Penn State though. I think with so much time left that would be incredibly silly, but it certainly looks like the Buckeyes and Tigers have shown Fleming the most so far. And if you look at those two teams it does make some sense. Both have big-time talents at quarterback this year that will have to be around at least one year that Fleming would be on campus and both schools look to be in good hands long term at the position. Both schools are also on a nice run at wide receiver currently and are both in the playoff picture every year, so while people might not want to hear it, there are certainly plenty of similarities between the two programs right now.
2021 QB search in good hands
It's early in the quarterback search for the class of 2021 and there is never a need to rush things when you're talking about picking (likely) just one prospect at a position. But there seems to be some added importance to landing a top flight quarterback prospect in the 2021 class. First and foremost, the numbers situation is a bit scary right now over the long term. Secondly, Ohio State and Ryan Day want to keep the momentum they have going right now as a prime quarterback destination.
The outlook right now for the Buckeyes to come out of the 2021 class with an outstanding player at the quarterback position is very, very good. Probably as good as it has ever been. The Buckeyes hosted three good ones on Saturday, two of which hold offers in J.J. McCarthy out of Illinois and Drake Maye out of the Charlotte (NC) area. Maye's visit was a last minute one. He is the younger brother of North Carolina basketball standout Luke Maye and was able to make this weekend visit due to Luke and the Tar Heels drawing Columbus for their first two games of the NCAA tournament, so a fortunate set of events there for the Buckeyes.
Day, as well as co-offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, have a lot of clout with recruits at this point. Day's work with Dwayne Haskins and the high profile transfer situation of Justin Fields, have both shined a very bright light on him as a quarterback guru. McCarthy even mentioned to me yesterday how Ryan Day being a "quarterback guy" as the head coach is extremely appealing to him. The relationship with Yurcich is very strong with McCarthy and with guys like Miller Moss (story coming later) from California. But having that extra layer of QB expertise at the head coaching position is clearly very attractive to these guys. It gives them not only an extra resource in development, but it also bodes well to have the quarterback featured heavily when the head coach has a background with that position. Furthermore, it eases a little concern anyone might have about Yurcich eventually moving on to bigger and better things when the guy in charge is also a QB guy.
With Saturday allowing a couple of top targets at the position to get a real in-depth look at things, the Buckeyes are off to a pretty fast start with some really good players. They'll also get Kyle McCord out of Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joe's Prep on campus again in April as he's making a two-day visit around the Spring Game.
Is there a clear "Number One guy" right now? I don't think that is the case. I do think, however, that if McCarthy, Maye, or McCord wanted in, they'd probably take any of the three early. There's no question that both Maye and McCord are high on the Buckeyes right now, but McCarthy seems the closest to possibly pulling the trigger. He has visits setup the next two weekends to Wisconsin and Michigan so he's going to continue to look around a little bit, but this is a kid that seems to be doing all of the homework and asking all of the serious questions. He has been bonding with several of the Buckeyes' top 2021 receiver targets and has really clicked with Jack Sawyer and Lorenzo Styles Jr.
It feels to me that McCarthy may have a pretty strong idea of where he wants to go but is going to allow himself to take a few visits and to just do a little more diligence on everything with it being so early. As he said, it needs to be a "perfect fit" at the quarterback position.
Either way, the options are plentiful right now with talented guys who all seem to possess good leadership qualities and with Day and Yurcich in charge of this situation it is in good hands.
Big-time possibilities at wide receiver
The quarterback position isn't the only one with a bright outlook for 2021. There is a ton of excitement about the possibilities at wide receiver in 2020, but how about the possibilities at wide receiver in 2021? The Buckeyes hosted some really good ones on Saturday in local star Lorenzo Styles Jr., St. John Bosco (Cali.) standout Beaux Collins, and Emeka Egbuka out of the state of Washington.
The three also hit it off and spent a lot of time together on Saturday both with each other and with the strong crop of 2021 quarterbacks in attendance. The Buckeyes should once again have the space to take a big haul in 2021 even after taking what I suspect will be a pretty big haul in 2020 and the possibilities are intriguing. I believe the Buckeyes have taken the lead recently for Styles Jr. over Notre Dame, though that is still an on-going battle. It's insanely early to make bold proclamations about 2021 prospects that live the whole way across the country, but the Buckeyes are off to as good of a start as anyone on Collins and landing Gee Scott Jr. certainly doesn't hurt them with Egbuka who just flew across the country to check out the Buckeyes.
And we still have Philly star Marvin Harrison Jr., Houston star Latrell Neville, and in-state star Jayden Ballard. This really could be a special group if they could add 3 or 4 of these guys.
But on Saturday it was very interesting in talking to the skill guys and hearing how they are already bonding, even with guys who live 2,000 miles away and how discussions of potentially playing together are taking place.
"(Playing together in college) was a huge topic for us (over the weekend)," Beaux Collins told me on Sunday. "We'll see where it takes us."
Collins didn't mince words about what a group of him, Egbuka, and Styles Jr. paired with a top flight quarterback could accomplish together.
"If we all choose to go (to Ohio State), we'll be National Champs, no doubt."
The Lejond returns?
My speculation for several weeks now has been that Ohio State would ultimately get four-star IMG Academy defensive back Lejond Cavazos back in the fold. Cavazos and his father were feeling right at home on Saturday at Ohio State's Student Appreciation Day practice and from watching what Lejond was doing, who he was talking to (a lot of recruits, including Fleming) and how comfortable he looked, it was almost like he never left the class. He looked, and behaved, exactly like he did when he was a committed prospect.
I've been in the boat that he'll get back in the fold and I'm even more so in that boat now coming out of the weekend. Timing on this could be tricky. There is a very strong desire to not recommit too early and regret doing that and missing out on taking visits. They don't want this to turn into a circus where he would recommit and then continue to visit other programs, so that is kind of the hold up right now. A recommitment needs to wrap this thing up so now discussions are going to take place to see if everyone is ready to make that leap.
But for me, I see this as simply a matter of time. This week, next week, May, August, I think the odds are incredibly strong that Cavazos rejoins this class and gets back to work recruiting for the Buckeyes.
