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Welcome back for another edition of “A-Deck” at BuckeyeGrove.com, presented by Infinit Nutrition, where I’ll bring you thoughts, what I’m hearing, inside scoop, tidbits, and more for Ohio State recruiting and team coverage, every Wednesday.
Last week’s A-Deck looked at the recruitment of a West Coast corner heating up, with tha of a Florida linebacker cooling down.
This week, we take a stab at “predicting the class” on the offensive side of the ball for Ohio State in 2021, with the defensive side of the ball slated for next week’s A-Deck.
PREDICTING THE CLASS: OFFENSE
I see Ohio State taking around 25 players (possibly one or two more) in the 2021 recruiting class, so I will work off that number as I look at predicting the class each of the next two weeks.
Please keep in mind that these predictions are as of April 15, and this is a series we can regularly repeat throughout the year, as recruiting is most certainly fluid.
Quarterback (1): The Buckeyes should only be taking one this year and Kyle McCord is the guy as long as Ryan Day is the head coach of the Buckeyes.
Running Back (2): The Scarlet and Gray is full here, notching commitments from Evan Pryor and TreyVeon Henderson in the last month. They’ve got two good ones and I think they hold on to both.
Wide Receiver (3-4): Ohio State has two of their three or four with Jaylen Ballard and Marvin Harrison Jr. The two they are looking at are Trey Stellato and Emeka Egbuka, and I have the Buckeyes in the top two for both players. I still think OSU wins out for Stellato due to relationships, but I reserve the right to change that pick depending on when visits are allowed to happen. If Stellato decides before recruits get the all clear to make visits, I don’t love the fact that he got to Clemson right before all of this happened but didn’t get to Columbus (he is supposed to come back to the 614 whenever he’s able to). I do think Ohio State lands at least one of these two if not both, so to play it “conservative” let’s say Stellato goes to Clemson and Egbuka comes to Ohio State.
Tight End (1-2): I think the Buckeyes would like to take two here and they have Sam Hart in the bag. That leaves Hudson Wolfe as the top target and Ohio State has a great shot, if not the best shot. I think Jack Pugh out of Hilliard Bradley is a kid they like and would have loved to evaluate this spring or see in camp, but they probably won’t get that opportunity now, and unfortunately that could mean nothing happens on that one. With that said, I think Pugh goes to Wisconsin, but I will say as of today that the Buckeyes get Wolfe.
Offensive Line (4-5): The two in, Ben Christman and Donovan Jackson, are excellent, but they’d like to add two more here, and would go up to three if the numbers are right. I have JC Latham in right now and I think they get Jager Burton too. I could see a fifth added for sure, but right now I’m going to stop with those four after they took six last year.
Summary: I’ve got McCord, Henderson, Pryor, Ballard, Harrison Jr., Egbuka, Hart, Wolfe, Christman, Jackson, Latham, and Burton as your offensive class as of April 15. With those 12 in the bag, Ohio State will be on pace to have one of, if not the, best classes of all time. I normally am not as confident that the Buckeyes will convert on most of the big time talent they’re in on like this, but I think there’s something different about this group and the job the current staff is doing on the recruiting trail.
A-DECK LIVE COMING THIS WEEK
As I mentioned on the board last week, I want to explore doing a "fireside chat"/Q&A type of execution while we're all in quarantine (and maybe beyond). I would create a conference on Zoom that would be available to BuckeyeGrove members only that everyone can join (camera on optional) and you all could ask questions that I would answer.
Think this would be a fun way to chat recruiting, team stuff, and anything else, and we can chop it up for a bit. I would record the session so that anyone who can't join live can view as video on demand, if you will.
I am thinking of doing the first one of these at 2 PM EST on Friday April 17. If you're interested in joining, feel free to comment below, but I will also be pinning a thread with the programming note (eventually adding the link to join) later today.
Looking forward to seeing all you cool cats and kittens there!
