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Handicapping the receivers
Have written a ton about the wide receivers coming to Columbus this weekend so I'm not going to spend a lot of time here. I continue to believe that we should see some movement pretty quickly coming out of the weekend. The one tricky thing is that a lot of these guys, either publicly or privately, have dates or time frames in mind or ways that they would like to announce so predicting that we'll hear something definitive by Sunday night would be a bit of a gamble.
Still, I think the Buckeyes, at worst, get an assurance or two from the group of receivers that are coming in this weekend. If I'm handicapping likelihood to be in the class, I'm probably going this way:
1. Marcus Washington
2. Jameson Williams
3. Elijah Higgins
4. David Bell
I think they are in the best spot with the St. Louis guys in Washington and Williams heading into the weekend. Certainly this could be shuffled around depending on how the three official visits go and how Bell's Saturday visit goes, if he makes it as he has canceled a couple in the past. Will probably try to revisit this order by Monday if there hasn't been a public commitment. I guess even if there has been, I can re-order the remaining players.
Reading Reuben
Probably the toughest situation to read this weekend is that of three-star Kansas City (Mo.) Park Hill South defensive lineman Etinosa Reuben. Reuben has been a fast riser this spring, and Ohio State likes him, but would they take him this weekend? That's not a question that I have a definitive answer to right now. I believe he's in that next wave of DT's behind Tyler Davis and Mazi Smith for the Buckeyes and I think if Ohio State had its way, this might play out a bit longer.
But Reuben has made visits to Georgia and Wisconsin the last two weekends and could be working toward a summer decision. So how Ohio State approaches all of this will be interesting. I know Ohio State really likes the kid as a future three-technique and might be willing to go on this one if Etinosa tries to join the fray.
I also think the intel coming out of Mazi Smith's Michigan visit this weekend could have an impact on things as well. If that one continues to look like a battle the Wolverines are going to win, that could increase the likelihood of a Reuben/Ohio State match.
Big visit for Battle
Everything is set for Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas defensive back Jordan Battle to make his official visit this weekend. He'll board a flight to Columbus tomorrow and head back to Florida on Sunday evening.
Battle had sort of a last minute official visit come together with Miami (Fla.) last weekend. It was not something that had really been set for a while and it was definitely a desperation effort on Miami's part to try and shake this thing up before Jordan gets to Columbus.
I'm told Miami did a good job on that official visit, but I do not believe this one has turned. I think Ohio State has a two touchdown lead in the fourth quarter and it's simply a matter of going out there and playing their game and not turning the ball over. If they put forth the type of visit that the Battle family is anticipating they will, this could be over in short order.
It's Ohio State, Miami, and Clemson at this point for Jordan and he wants to decide soon. Miami was hoping to convince him to take an official visit later but buckled recently to make last week's trip happen, knowing they might not get him back on campus again if they didn't bring him that weekend, even with Jordan being just up I-95 a bit.
Clemson has had a no spring/summer official visit policy so they have essentially taken themselves out of this one if a decision comes soon. On the flip side, you do have to be a little concerned if you're Ohio State about Clemson pushing him to take an official visit in the fall after you've already burned yours, but the Buckeyes simply can't wait any longer here. I think they would have liked a fall official visit themselves, but Battle wants to commit this summer so this needed to happen now. Simply put, they've waited as long as they could here to bring him up.
But again, the vibe I've received from a very excellent source today was that Battle is still thinking Buckeyes here and that this visit is more of him and his family just making sure this will be the right place. Ohio State always does very well on the official visits, even on guys that are huge long shots, so there's no reason to think they can't lock this one up. If all goes well, it could be over within the next week.
Strange Developments
What a month it has been for Parkersburg (WV) tight end prospect Brenton Strange. Brenton could count his offers on one hand when the month of June started and none of those offers were particularly ones to write home about. Now the Ohio State's and Notre Dame's of the world have offered as he has been one of the fastest rising guys in what is always an interesting month of June.
As we reported on Wednesday evening, Strange will be back in Columbus this weekend. He will make an unofficial visit on Saturday with his mother, who has not been on the previous two visits to Columbus.
At face value, this looks like a business trip. But in talking to Strange on Wednesday evening, he did sort of back off a definitive summertime decision and said that he could opt to take all of his official visits.
Still, I do think there is a chance this gets done if the visit goes well and mom likes it. But I don't think Brenton was throwing me off the trail with the comments about maybe taking official visits. I think we're talking about a kid who has had a ton of stuff thrown at him in only two or three weeks. I think he's just trying to digest everything that has happened this month going from someone that hardly anyone had heard of to being recruited by both Ohio State and Notre Dame.
So we'll see what he is saying coming out of Saturday's visit. I think Ohio State will try to push for the commitment as it is about as hard to find good tight ends in this 2019 class as it is to find good quarterbacks. But this stuff doesn't get easier for kids when they get more offers, it gets tougher and I think Brenton is just trying to take in everything that has been happening. Again, if the visit is a big success and mom is satisfied with everything, I still think this could end pretty soon but we'll just have to wait and see how things go on Saturday.
Harrison Watch
Five-star defensive end Zach Harrison left this morning for his official visit to Michigan. He'll stay in Ann Arbor through Friday night before making his Ohio State visit on Saturday and Sunday. We still have the preview of Zach's visits pinned at the top of the board for anyone who is interested in reading.
I have Ohio State in the driver's seat heading into the weekend. I think there was a point during this recruitment several months ago (fall/winter) where Ohio State and Penn State were virtually neck and neck. Since that time, I feel Ohio State has steadily built a lead and that Penn State has drifted back to the No. 3 spot behind the Buckeyes and Michigan.
Michigan hiring Al Washington was a turning point in terms of the Wolverines getting back into the mix. By Zach's own admission his first two trips to Michigan weren't all that great. When Washington was hired, he clicked well with him and Washington made him feel a lot more comfortable when he made a return visit than he had been on the early trips.
But Ohio State has just been extremely thorough with Zach. They have prioritized him as they would a five-star kid from Florida or Texas and have not taken his presence in Central Ohio for granted. 'They've left no stone unturned' as one source close to the family put it to me this week.
They have worked tirelessly with Zach on showing him that they check all of the boxes on what he is looking for and have recruited him almost more like you would a student looking to attend Ohio State than a football player.
Because of those things and because of Harrison's relationship with Larry Johnson, I think Ohio State has reached a point where it is going to be pretty tough to beat and that Michigan is probably the biggest threat to that. But the Wolverines have a lot of ground to make up heading into the weekend.
I expect Zach to take at least a few days after the visits to speak with his family and to digest everything that took place over a very busy four days. From there it will be a matter of 1. If he's ready to make a decision and 2. If he is ready, if he wants to hold out to announce until that August 14th date, which is his birthday.
He told me this week he'd like to try and announce that day but if he knows for sure where he's going that he could just give in and announce. But either way, I wouldn't expect a decision to immediately be announced coming out of the visits. Harrison and his family have been very thorough and methodical over the past two years and there's no reason for that to change now, they'll go over everything as a family and make sure it's a calculated decision and not an emotional one.
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