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Michigan vulnerable?
No, not the current University of Michigan football team, but the state of Michigan as it pertains to the Wolverines' recruiting efforts. This is a recruiting column after all.
But the struggles in Ann Arbor are noticeable right now as Jim Harbaugh's team is just .500 in its last 16 games (that's more than a full season's worth of data for those who hate math). I have found it kind of odd in recent years that Ohio State and Michigan haven't had more head-to-head recruiting battles (yes, I know, Zach Harrison) as Harbaugh has also taken a bit of a national recruiting approach that isn't too different from Urban Meyer's.
That more national approach, combined with the recent struggles on the field, appear to have left the state of Michigan vulnerable to be poached by out-of-state programs in the 2020 class. Michigan's 2020 class does appear to be a bumper crop. Rankings usually start out fairly conservative and expand the number of four and five star prospects as things go. The 2020 class in Michigan has an early five-star in Oak Park offensive lineman Justin Rogers as well as six more early four-star prospects and approximately a dozen more guys knocking on the door of four-star status.
The Buckeyes are in position to potentially take advantage.
Michigan is out of the Justin Rogers sweepstakes at this point. It is primarily an Ohio State vs. Georgia battle and Rogers could be back on campus next weekend for the Rutgers game. Michigan is also not a huge factor right now for Rogers' teammate, four-star defensive back Enzo Jennings who we profiled this past week. Jennings is also looking at Ohio State and several SEC programs, along with Notre Dame.
Four-star West Bloomfield safety Makari Paige is probably one guy who is leaning toward Michigan right now, but Paige is also still talking to Ohio State on a consistent basis and has visited twice already (more on him Monday).
I fully believe Ohio State leads for both Rashawn Williams and Devell Washington, two of the top three wide receivers in the state in 2020. Washington just made his third visit in just over two months and Bay City is quite a bit north of Detroit, that's a good drive to Columbus. The Buckeyes could also be a player for East Kentwood defensive end Bryce Mostella who visited not too long ago. Even going down the list a little further at No. 20 in the state of Michigan is Oak Park wide receiver Maliq Carr, who I was told last week would elevate Ohio State right toward the top of his list if they offered.
Michigan rankings list: https://n.rivals.com/state_rankings/2020/michigan
Now, things have to not only go the Buckeyes' way with some of these guys but it also has to make sense for Urban Meyer and company. A guy like Peny Boone who camped this summer, may not get a super close look given what the rest of the running back landscape looks like. The receivers, Williams and Washington, are just two of the many very talented prospects the Buckeyes are in on at that position in 2020. Enzo Jennings may not be as high on the DB board as some others, which is understandable given how ridiculously good the 2020 defensive back outlook appears to be for Ohio State right now.
So the pieces have to fit, but Ohio State is certainly in position early on to potentially do some damage in enemy territory in 2020.
Ohio's best?
I've thought about doing an "Ultimate Ohio rankings" list for years. A list, maybe 10-15 players long, of the top prospects in the state of Ohio, regardless of class. That will probably happen at some point in the near future.
I haven't made the final call on who my No. 1 overall would be, but the direction that I'm leaning might come as a bit of a surprise. There are some big-time prospects at the top of the 2019 and 2020 Ohio rankings, but the fact of the matter is, I can make a very, very compelling case that it is 2021 Pickerington North defensive end Jack Sawyer.
I've watched Sawyer develop over the past 18 months from a tall skinny kid who we weren't quite sure which position his body would lead him to, to an absolute monster of a defensive end prospect. Sawyer is off to a blazing start to his sophomore season with 6.5 sacks through two games and it is downright scary how much he has improved in the past year.
A year ago he was getting on the field as a freshman anyway he could, sometimes that meant linebacker or playing offense. While he will still be used in a few different spots by his coaches at North, he has really settled in as a defensive lineman. The way he already uses his hands to get off blocks and can dip that inside shoulder in pass rushing situations and just his general understanding of leverage is just so impressive at this early stage. The mental component is also there. He's a great kid, a very tough kid, and perhaps North's hardest worker in the weight room.
My logic for leaning toward Sawyer right now is this:
1. Guys like Zach Harrison and Paris Johnson are both physical marvels. They are elite athletes. But they aren't *that* much more impressive physically than Sawyer who is the first Central Ohio basketball player in 2021 to pick-up a D1 offer and likely would have been a D1 baseball prospect had he continued to focus on that sport. We're not talking about vast athletic differences here, in fact you could argue Sawyer is more coordinated than both of those guys at the same stage.
2. He's just a better football player as a sophomore than Zach, Paris, and Darrion Henry were. He's ahead of the curve. He is a dominant football player today with at least two years and eight games left to play before he ever sets foot on a college campus.
I'm going to give myself a few days to see if I want to talk myself out of this. And, really this is kind of silly because these are all great prospects that we're talking about here with very bright futures. But I think I'd go Sawyer today, he's that good. This is as close as I'll go to labeling a player a must-get for the Buckeyes. He's right up there with guys like Harrison and Johnson in terms of the importance of keeping them home.
Ika releases top 8
One of the 2019 recruiting battles that I think could be the most interesting down the stretch is that of Salt Lake City (UT) East High defensive tackle Siaki Ika. The 6-foot-3, 320-pound prospect is currently rated the nation's No. 5 defensive tackle in the 2019 class. On Friday, Ika released his top eight and the Buckeyes made the cut.
As I mentioned recently, I've actually been told that if Ohio State could pick between Ika and Faatui Tuitele in the long shot defensive tackle category, that Ika would be the choice. So there is no question that the Buckeyes really like this kid.
But as I mentioned above, this one is going to be pretty interesting. That list is a combination of West Coast schools that generally do VERY well with the big polynesian linemen (Utah, USC, Oregon, Washington) and two SEC schools that historically do extremely well recruiting defensive tackles (Alabama and LSU). And then you have Ohio State which has certainly had no problems recruiting defensive linemen under Larry Johnson.
So this looks like quite a slug fest on paper.
At this point, Ohio State is probably more toward the middle of the pack (and maybe the back end of the middle) in Ika's top eight. But recently there has been some cautious optimism that they will be able to get one of the five official visits. Ika did actually visit Ohio State two summers ago so this wouldn't be the dreaded one-time visit, it would technically be a return a visit.
There could be some overlap here with Tuitele. Alabama also has Ika higher on its board than Tuitele and the Crimson Tide would probably have been the pick by now for Tuitele if that wasn't the case. Washington is probably the biggest winner in that scenario for Tuitele but is also chasing Ika so there could be a bit of a domino effect in how this all plays out.
But it's something to watch. Much like with Nolan Smith, it's something to keep on the back burner until if/when an official visit happens.
