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Running Back rumblings
Two old names are back in the news when it comes to running back recruiting in Bijan Robinson and Jaylan Knighton. Knighton officially decommitted from Florida State today on the heels of the announcement that Noles head coach Willie Taggart was being fired. Robinson's situation is a little more unclear at this point though he remains a Texas Longhorn pledge.
I will start with Robinson. Ohio State has never given up when it comes to recruiting Robinson but while people have been getting their hopes up recently, there still isn't much optimism from the people that I've talked to that would indicate that the Buckeyes have gained any real traction.
Has Ohio State been in touch with Robinson? Yes. Has he answered texts from the staff? Yes. But simply going back on forth on stuff like, 'hey Bijan, great game on Friday night!' isn't exactly evidence that a flip is coming. It is not uncommon for recruits to continue to return texts from coaches they built good relationships with during the process even after they've committed and right now that looks like that is all this is. But if he keeps answering texts, Ohio State is going to keep sending them so we'll see if an in-home visit is ultimately setup once that is allowed at the beginning of December.
Just as big of a hurdle for OSU when it comes to Robinson is the idea that USC could have the most to gain by Bijan opening things up and looking around. The Trojans are the dreaded "dream" school, he idolized Reggie Bush growing up, and Los Angeles is a pretty convenient little flight from Tuscon. Not to mention the staggering lack of talent and depth the Trojans have at running back right now.
But as with all things USC related, who on earth is going to be coaching that team in Mid-December? That is something Robinson is certainly going to want to know if he is indeed wavering on his Texas pledge.
The Urban Meyer rumors are all the rage right now but I'd put my surprise level at an 8 out of 10 if Meyer was coaching anywhere in 2020. And given that I'd probably never go 9 or 10 on someone as volatile as Urban, that's me being pretty sure that he won't be coaching again 2020. Beyond that, who knows, the itch will always be there, but I just don't see him coming back so quickly.
Even if you want to ignore any warnings about getting your hopes up on Robinson, you still have to put him in the Elias Ricks category of really, really unlikely but also a guy that will have a spot in the class no matter what.
As for Knighton, I spoke to one source on Sunday who was pretty adamant that Ohio State wasn't going to be very pro-active in rekindling that relationship. You never say never with this stuff, but it just hasn't been indicated to me that Ohio State is going to push here and that most of the focus will be on other targets at this point.
As for why that is, there are several things to weigh here. Knighton is more of an all-purpose back so the guys deemed every down backs are going to take priority right now. Of course there is also how things went down the first time around. Both Robinson and Knighton at one point in July indicated to the Ohio State staff that they were going to be Buckeyes. When minds changed, Robinson called the staff a week in advance to let them know his mind had changed. Ohio State found out with the rest of the public about Knighton's intentions. That didn't sit well, and while it's not the only factor here, it would be hard to argue that it isn't playing a role in how things have been handled since and how they look like they'll continue to be handled now that he's back on the market.
In the mean time, the Buckeyes seem content to put more focus on guys like Miyan Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs. Looking like an unofficial visit for Williams the weekend of the Penn State game and Gibbs' unofficial visit for this weekend's Maryland game is still planned as of this evening. Still think Williams is the most likely guy and that Gibbs will be tough to pry out of the South but those are the two guys that the Buckeyes have really zeroed in on.
Latest on QB recruiting efforts
Ohio State offered Hawaii quarterback Jayden de Laura on Sunday evening and Kevin posted a quick update with Jayden's comments this afternoon. I spoke with Jayden a bit late on Sunday night and he was definitely very excited about the offer. Ohio State has been tracking him for a couple of months now and with it getting down to crunch time, now was a good time to offer to make sure that they don't get left out in the cold for a second quarterback.
There is no indication either on OSU's end or on C.J. Stroud's end that things have slipped there, but what has changed is that now Stroud is racking up more offers, including two big local ones from USC and UCLA. Michigan is another school that has turned up the heat on Stroud in the past week so the competition is going to ramp up here.
I spoke with a source close to Stroud late on Sunday who indicated the Buckeyes are still a lock to get an offical visit in the next few weeks.
"C.J. was going to make back-to-back official visits to Ohio State and Oregon and then probably decide," they started. "But all of these new offers have made things tough (in terms of trying to decide on a visit schedule). But Ohio State is still one of his favorites and he is still going to make his official visit there. It might be for the Penn State game or it might be in December, he is still trying to figure everything out."
Oregon remains a very big player here, Baylor is still in there and now you add USC, UCLA, and Michigan, though I think the USC and UCLA offers are bigger here because they are local. As we touched on with Robinson, it's hard to know just how much stock to put in USC right now with Stroud until the coaching situation is stabilized with either the Trojans backing Helton or making a move.
The interesting thing here is that de Laura and Stroud are both landing some of the same offers right now because there is a core group of schools that are all either hoping to land a second quarterback now in their class or are in need of finding one, so there is some overlap between the two guys in terms of some schools they are going to be looking at.
It's important to note that de Laura told me he plans to sign in February so that will buy Ohio State some time to see how things are going with Stroud before they have to decide what to do about de Laura who won't be making any visits until December probably and will very likely be making some January official visits.
He's not a total Plan B though as one very good OSU source told me today that the Buckeyes really, really like him. This is only the second guy they've moved on in more than six months of knowing they had to find a second QB, so it wasn't a snap decision. Stroud is still the top guy, but de Laura has really impressed them and they want to make sure they stay in the game with Jayden and don't get so laser focused on Stroud that it costs them another guy that they really like in the process.
My pick for Stroud is still on OSU at this point. I think the local offers to him are going to be intriguing, especially as we see the USC coaching situation play out, but people in both the OSU and Stroud camps have both told me the same thing in the past 24 hours, that nothing has changed with how either group feels about the other.
A couple of Ohio guys still on the radar
Not sure if we'll see that late Ohio offer or not this cycle but it's still not out of the question. We've talked several times about Columbus Walnut Ridge DB/WR Qian Magwood. Nothing has really changed with Magwood in the past few weeks, which is actually good news for Magwood and anyone that might want to see him offered.
The fact that the recent pledge of four-star defensive back Ryan Watts hasn't cut off communication with Magwood is an interesting detail. So Magwood is in the same boat as he was pre-Watts commitment where Ohio State is still talking to him, still evaluating him, and still welcoming him in for game visits. Qian told me this week that he expects to be back at Ohio State for the Penn State game so the lines of communication are still very much open here.
Another guy that has had a bit of contact with the Buckeyes in recent weeks is Hilliard Davidson defensive lineman Gage Keys, a Minnesota pledge. Magwood has received more serious interest from the Buckeyes, but sources tell me that Keys has been contacted here and there as well. I think Magwood is the more likely of the two but as OSU continues to take a look at adding another defensive end in the class, it does make sense that they would keep someone like Keys warm just in case.
Another WR boom coming?
Ohio State is decidedly not struggling when it comes to recruiting the wide receiver position. After landing Marvin Harrison Jr. last week, Troy Stellato could be the next guy up. Stellato has been very high on the Buckeyes over the past year and, even after the Harrison commitment, I'm told Ohio State would accept a commitment from Troy as the Buckeyes have really pushed since offering him early in the season.
He has a couple of visits coming up this month that will likely be made. He's likely going to visit Alabama for the LSU game and could pop up at Clemson the following weekend, but if neither of those visits really move the needle for him in a major way, it could be the Buckeyes who quickly benefit. It would not be a surprise to see a decision made here at the end of the month or into early December and right now everyone that I've talked to believes the Buckeyes are the team to beat and someone will need to catch them soon.
Evaluations never stop, but if OSU could pull that one off, it would really allow them to devote most of their time and resources on recruiting just Beaux Collins and Emeka Egbuka. Certainly they'll keep evaluating more guys as you never know who could develop or pop up onto the radar and become a must have, but three in the fold early would really allow the Buckeyes to get very selective.
