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Receiver picks
Spent the weekend digging in a little bit more on the wide receiver recruiting situation. The results of that digging only reinforced some of my thoughts on where things are trending for the top two Buckeye receiver targets in the 2021 class, Emeka Egbuka and Troy Stellato.
With Egbuka specifically, it definitely continues to look like Ohio State is in the driver's seat. The timeline still seems very much up in the air but I really like where the Buckeyes are at and I think it could be hard to remove them from the lead. If Egbuka decides to commit earlier than expected, I believe that Ohio State would be the pick. But I also think that if he waits and makes another round of visits that could only stand to help the Buckeyes. I don't get the sense that there is another team out there that would stand to really benefit from another round of trips and so the Buckeyes seem like the safest pick in either scenario.
With Stellato, this has definitely felt like a recruitment that has started to lean more towards Clemson in recent weeks and has become a situation where Ohio State would need to get Stellato back on campus to regain some momentum. I'm not sure that's going to happen at this point. There is still no word from the NCAA on when visits will be allowed again and in the mean time it just seems like Clemson has been able to keep its momentum going during the Dead Period which has prevented Stellato from a return to Columbus.
If Stellato waits long enough to make more visits, it could potentially get the Buckeyes back on better footing, but right now I'm hearing that things have really moved toward Clemson and that it may not make it to the point of more visits.
With that in mind, I have switched my pick for Stellato to Clemson and put in a pick for Egbuka to Ohio State. If Stellato waits, that could certainly impact this situation greatly but if he commits to Clemson in the near future as I suspect he might, then I think that only enhances things with Egbuka.
If it plays out that way and the Buckeyes split with Clemson here, I do think Ohio State will be open to adding a fourth receiver and they would probably want it to be more of a slot guy to complement the two pure outside guys in Jayden Ballard and Marvin Harrison Jr. as well as Egbuka who has some Jaxon Smith-Njigba in him in terms of his versatility. They could always just stay put at three, but I think a good slot guy would be of interest for sure.
As a bonus for the 2022 class, I have the Buckeyes as a big leader for Luther Burden, the five-star prospect out of St. Louis. Burden will almost surely take visits when things open back up, but just in talking to him and other sources, I get the sense that someone is going to have to really wow him to push him off Ohio State. So while it's not something I feel any real pressure to do and while it's not something I see paying immediate dividends, I've put the OSU pick in. Just think they'll get that one done eventually.
Wolfe Watch
Ohio State's top tight end target right now is four-star Savannah (Tenn.) Hardin County product Hudson Wolfe. Wolfe also happens to be the nation's top-ranked prospect at his position, so this would be a big one for the Buckeyes if they can pull it off. One source close to the situation believes they can.
"I think (Ohio State) will land Wolfe," one source shared with me over the weekend. "He's really tight with the commits, it's just a great fit both from the football side of things and the culture side of things. He just fits with the group (of commits) so well. (Ohio State is) just very confident right now."
I personally have wanted to see the Buckeyes get Wolfe back on campus. He is one of those guys that has been kind of waiting and trying to see if he can make the round of official visits this summer that he has always wanted to make. And it's never easy pulling a guy like him out of the South when so many big name SEC programs that are closer to home are involved.
But this certainly looks like it's going in a positive direction right now and I've had a couple of sources indicate to me recently that he could be on commitment watch in the coming weeks.
Latest on the Mater Dei duo
It seems like class of 2021 Santa Ana (Cali.) Mater Dei stars DB Jaylin Davies and LB Raesjon Davis have been mainstays on this site over the past few months. They are making nearly weekly appearances in Skull Sessions and A-Deck's. So let's keep that going this weekend.
I know there was some concern about predictions being made elsewhere on Davies and Arizona State, but I wouldn't worry about that at this point. Davies, as I've said before, has to visit. So far that has been non-negotiable. If the landscape changes in terms of when visits can be made, maybe we'll revisit this but no change on that front from the NCAA means no change on that front from OSU.
Davies is aware of this, understands it, and is either completely cool with it or is incredibly good at hiding it and I'm pretty sure it's the former. So all good on that front, and just wait for the visit. If the boxes are checked at that point, I think he'll get the green light and if he gets the green light it's game over.
As for Davis, don't expect him to come out and say too much at this point, but I'd be absolutely stunned if he doesn't make an official visit to Ohio State and that would be his third trip to Columbus. You guys know I don't sell hopes and dreams here, I try to keep expectations as realistic as possible but there is a reason that I've been telling you guys to just keep an eye on this one for a very long time. I think when things open back up that Ohio State is going to have a chance for the flip.
The real thing at this point is just how big of a factor USC is. That will tell us whether this is a distance thing or not. If it's Ohio State vs. LSU, I actually like OSU's chances because that means it's not a distance thing, it's a comfort and relationships thing and that could actually benefit the Buckeyes. If it's LSU and OSU trying to hold off USC, that tells me it's more of a Korey Foreman/distance type of situation and those are always tough as we can't physically move Columbus closer to SoCal. So that's going to be something to key in on here as this recruitment moves forward.
