A lot going on right now so probably a good time to try and summarize some of the things I've been digging into over the past 48 hours.
- Multiple sources have told me that four-star Houston (Texas) St. Pius X quarterback Grant Gunnell will make his official visit to Ohio State the weekend of April 28th. Gunnell had been penciled in to visiting Oklahoma State that weekend, but I'm told it is now going to be Ohio State (and no I don't think anyone got the two OSU's confused). This is going to be a huge visit on a couple of different fronts.
First and foremost, I think Ohio State will need to come out of this visit either with a commitment or as the VERY heavy favorite in order to land Gunnell. I think it's a make or break trip, they need to seal the deal here.
I believe that at this point if either Gunnell or Max Duggan tried to commit, that Ohio State would take either guy. This isn't a strong QB class nationally and options are dwindling. They have spent enough time around these two that I think they would be comfortable with either one. Duggan, however, is leaning towards TCU and Minnesota over OSU and Notre Dame according to multiple people that I've spoken with, including people close to Ohio State who believe the Buckeyes are running third at the moment. This is also one that should be ending soon. It's hard to see how Ohio State jumps up from third out of the blue.
Which brings me to my second point of why this Gunnell visit is so big. If you believe the intel on Duggan, that would pretty much cross off all of the viable options at quarterback right now if the Buckeyes do not get Gunnell. That would mean completely hitting the reset button on quarterback recruiting in 2019, which I'm told right now is a very real possibility.
While there is some optimism with Gunnell, it is not the type of optimism that would lead me to believe that this is a mere formality. There are several schools in that Texas/Oklahoma/Louisiana triangle that are vying for Gunnell's services right now so the Buckeyes are battling geography here.
- Sticking with QB recruiting. Class of 2020 quarterback Jack Miller is going to have to reschedule a trip to Ohio State, he will no longer be on campus this coming weekend. Ohio State certainly appears to be Miller's top school right now. I'm not convinced that the Buckeyes are ready to take the 2020 signal caller at this point. Think people are jumping the gun a bit right now on penciling Jack in as the quarterback in that class. Let's let this one play out a little bit longer.
- I am going to get up an initial spring game visitor list at some point probably tomorrow. Things are so fluid right now that I hate posting a list at the beginning of the week only to have it look completely different by Friday and then everyone checks the list later in the week and wonders what the hell happened to the original.
What I will say is that I do not expect a huge group of official visitors. The ones I feel confident are going to happen are four-star Georgia offensive lineman Harry Miller and four-star Texas wide receiver Garrett Wilson. And boy are those two big ones. Ohio State has a real chance to get commitments from each of these two prospects in the coming weeks if these visits go well.
Ohio State's spring official visit strategy is, in my opinion, a sound one. They do not want to bring in guys from across the country who have never visited before. You risk never getting those kids back on campus and blowing your OV with 10 months to go. We have talked on here for years about the importance of the unofficial visit. You almost have to get one to have any type of chance with a kid and with spring official visits being allowed now, Ohio State doesn't want kids taking the easy way out, making an April OV and then they never see that kid again.
So I do not expect Texas receiver Jalen Curry this weekend and I've already confirmed with Jordan Battle's father that they will not be up this weekend.
Ultimately I don't see Curry in this class, but there is a long time to go there. Battle has a chance. Ohio State is the favorite right now but is playing the long game on this one. They'll want to evaluate him this spring and probably on the field this fall as he doesn't have quite as much game experience as you might expect for a prospect with his offer list. They also need him to visit (but again, not waste the OV in mid-April) so that they can spend more time around him and get to know him. Could all end up working out, but just don't see Battle committing to Ohio State anytime in the immediate future. I happen to like Battle a lot as a free safety prospect.
- I have the Buckeyes as the favorite for five-star running back Devyn Ford coming out of the recent visit. While I still don't particularly love one school over The Field here, I do like Ohio State's chances individually more than any other school's individual chances. The Buckeyes knocked the trip out of the park and get to have Devyn back on campus for the official visit at the end of the month. This all sets up pretty well for them but there will be bullets to dodge for at least the next few weeks as Ford continues to take more trips.
- Multiple sources have told me that four-star Houston (Texas) St. Pius X quarterback Grant Gunnell will make his official visit to Ohio State the weekend of April 28th. Gunnell had been penciled in to visiting Oklahoma State that weekend, but I'm told it is now going to be Ohio State (and no I don't think anyone got the two OSU's confused). This is going to be a huge visit on a couple of different fronts.
First and foremost, I think Ohio State will need to come out of this visit either with a commitment or as the VERY heavy favorite in order to land Gunnell. I think it's a make or break trip, they need to seal the deal here.
I believe that at this point if either Gunnell or Max Duggan tried to commit, that Ohio State would take either guy. This isn't a strong QB class nationally and options are dwindling. They have spent enough time around these two that I think they would be comfortable with either one. Duggan, however, is leaning towards TCU and Minnesota over OSU and Notre Dame according to multiple people that I've spoken with, including people close to Ohio State who believe the Buckeyes are running third at the moment. This is also one that should be ending soon. It's hard to see how Ohio State jumps up from third out of the blue.
Which brings me to my second point of why this Gunnell visit is so big. If you believe the intel on Duggan, that would pretty much cross off all of the viable options at quarterback right now if the Buckeyes do not get Gunnell. That would mean completely hitting the reset button on quarterback recruiting in 2019, which I'm told right now is a very real possibility.
While there is some optimism with Gunnell, it is not the type of optimism that would lead me to believe that this is a mere formality. There are several schools in that Texas/Oklahoma/Louisiana triangle that are vying for Gunnell's services right now so the Buckeyes are battling geography here.
- Sticking with QB recruiting. Class of 2020 quarterback Jack Miller is going to have to reschedule a trip to Ohio State, he will no longer be on campus this coming weekend. Ohio State certainly appears to be Miller's top school right now. I'm not convinced that the Buckeyes are ready to take the 2020 signal caller at this point. Think people are jumping the gun a bit right now on penciling Jack in as the quarterback in that class. Let's let this one play out a little bit longer.
- I am going to get up an initial spring game visitor list at some point probably tomorrow. Things are so fluid right now that I hate posting a list at the beginning of the week only to have it look completely different by Friday and then everyone checks the list later in the week and wonders what the hell happened to the original.
What I will say is that I do not expect a huge group of official visitors. The ones I feel confident are going to happen are four-star Georgia offensive lineman Harry Miller and four-star Texas wide receiver Garrett Wilson. And boy are those two big ones. Ohio State has a real chance to get commitments from each of these two prospects in the coming weeks if these visits go well.
Ohio State's spring official visit strategy is, in my opinion, a sound one. They do not want to bring in guys from across the country who have never visited before. You risk never getting those kids back on campus and blowing your OV with 10 months to go. We have talked on here for years about the importance of the unofficial visit. You almost have to get one to have any type of chance with a kid and with spring official visits being allowed now, Ohio State doesn't want kids taking the easy way out, making an April OV and then they never see that kid again.
So I do not expect Texas receiver Jalen Curry this weekend and I've already confirmed with Jordan Battle's father that they will not be up this weekend.
Ultimately I don't see Curry in this class, but there is a long time to go there. Battle has a chance. Ohio State is the favorite right now but is playing the long game on this one. They'll want to evaluate him this spring and probably on the field this fall as he doesn't have quite as much game experience as you might expect for a prospect with his offer list. They also need him to visit (but again, not waste the OV in mid-April) so that they can spend more time around him and get to know him. Could all end up working out, but just don't see Battle committing to Ohio State anytime in the immediate future. I happen to like Battle a lot as a free safety prospect.
- I have the Buckeyes as the favorite for five-star running back Devyn Ford coming out of the recent visit. While I still don't particularly love one school over The Field here, I do like Ohio State's chances individually more than any other school's individual chances. The Buckeyes knocked the trip out of the park and get to have Devyn back on campus for the official visit at the end of the month. This all sets up pretty well for them but there will be bullets to dodge for at least the next few weeks as Ford continues to take more trips.
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