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Andy Anders’ Report
Luther Burden includes Ohio State in top 5
Luther Burden, the No. 1 wide receiver in the Class of 2022, released his top 5 Saturday and Ohio State made the list, alongside Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and Oklahoma.
All of the schools on this list should not be counted out. Alabama is obviously an appealing destination given their tradition of winning national championships and how they had two wideouts drafted in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft. Georgia has also been a consistent contender in the SEC, and Missouri is the in-state team and was actually the first program to offer Burden.
Even so, this is likely a race between the Buckeyes and the Sooners at the moment, and that’s reflected by a 50/50 split in the FutureCast for Burden. A couple of FutureCast predictions have been recently submitted in favor of Lincoln Riley’s program, but there still appears to be some time left in this one.
Oklahoma is the perfect distance from home for the St. Louis native as it’s not too close, but also not too far from his home. Oklahoma is also just one of two colleges, along with the University of Missouri’s campus, that Burden has visited thus far in his recruitment. With the combination of his past obligations with AAU basketball and the current dead period, Burden has been unable to take trips to other schools.
Burden also enjoys the way wideouts are utilized in the Sooners’ up-tempo, spread attack. The team is heavily reliant on their passing game, which is appealing for a receiver of Burden’s caliber.
The other team heavily in the mix for Burden’s services at this time is Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have done well cultivating an early relationship with Burden, and he’s taken note of fellow St. Louis prospects that chose to attend Ohio State. Four-star 2021 cornerback Jakailin Johnson and current wide receiver Jameson Williams, Burden’s former teammate, both hail from the Gateway Arch’s home city.
Ohio State’s use of their pass catchers has also caught Burden’s attention, so he’ll be factoring that in his consideration of the program.
I’ve been told there’s no clear leader for Burden at this point, however, despite the recent series of FutureCast predictions in favor of Oklahoma. Given this information, we have not yet submitted a FutureCast on his profile just yet as it’s still unclear who is the favorite here and when the five-star prospect will be committing.
Burden recently made a swiftly deleted Instagram post saying he would commit soon, but Joseph and I are unsure what to make of it at this point. On one hand, he could be waiting until recruiting visits resume, which will be in early 2021 at the earliest, so he can check out Ohio State and others before committing. On the other hand, Burden could end up committing sooner rather than later if he does not feel like waiting over three months to take his visits.
Oklahoma may like where things stand because they’ve hosted him for a visit and Ohio State has not, but this one is too close to call at this time.
Darrius Clemons in talks with Ohio State
Another 2022 wide receiver to watch out for is four-star Darrius Clemons, a prospect from Pleasant Grove, Utah, that has yet to land an Ohio State offer. A source is telling me that this could change, especially if Burden brushes off the Buckeyes for Oklahoma.
Clemons’ father loves Ohio State, and I think if the Utah-based prospect were extended an offer from the Buckeyes, it would place them among his top schools. His recruitment seems fairly open at this point otherwise.
Some of the noteworthy programs that have offered him already include Arizona State, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Stanford, Washington and nearly two dozen others. Clemons checks in as the 13th-ranked wide receiver in the nation for next year’s class, so he could definitely be a solid addition for the Buckeyes.
“It would mean a lot,” Clemons told Joseph Hastings when asked what an offer would mean for him. “I’ve been in contact with them for a while now and it’s somewhere I could really see myself. I know a lot of the commits and it seems like they’ve got something really special going on.”
Even if Ohio State lands Burden, Clemons will be one to keep an eye on going forward. It never hurts to have a player capable of running a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash, which Clemons was laser-timed at in July.
Also worth pointing out is that Day and company have only offered four wide receivers so far in the 2022 cycle, with one of those being Burden. The others are Armani Winfield, Caleb Burton and C.J. Williams, all of whom are Rivals100 prospects. There is definitely room for Ohio State to offer Clemons, so we’ll be monitoring this situation closely.
Joseph Hastings’ Report
Flip target is no longer speaking with Ohio State
I’m not going to spend too much time on this section as it’s not necessarily too much of a surprise.
I just wanted to inform you all that five-star offensive tackle J.C. Latham, at one point considered an Ohio State lean, is no longer in contact with the Buckeyes. He told me that he is “100%” committed to the Crimson Tide, and is not speaking with any other program.
This is not mind-blowing as Ohio State has been putting a lot of effort into recruiting Tristan Leigh and they extended an offer to Louisville pledge Zenuae Michalski. All of that hinted at Latham no longer being an option for them, but what he said today confirms what has transpired in recent weeks.
I initially thought the Buckeyes could make a move here with Terrence Ferguson and Tommy Brockermeyer committing to Alabama, but that’s not the case. I still feel confident that Ohio State is in a good position to flip Michalski, so we’ll see what else they opt to do with o-line recruiting in this cycle.
Top-50 overall junior includes Ohio State in his top 12
Luther Burden wasn’t the only coveted junior who included the Buckeyes on his top schools list this week.
While his list included over twice as many teams as Burden’s, Rivals100 offensive tackle Gunner Givens put Ohio State in his top 12 today. Givens is the seventh-ranked player at his position, as well as the third-ranked junior in the country.
The other schools that made the cut for Givens today were Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Penn State, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
He’s listed as an offensive lineman, but Givens is the definition of an athlete. He’s played tight end and defensive end for Lord Botetourt High School, and is expected to stay in the trenches at the next level.
Givens reeled in an offer from the Buckeyes over a month ago, so I’m hoping to get him on the phone later tonight to see where things stand with the program.
Which bowl games the future Buckeyes will be playing in
With Tyleik Williams recently flipping from the Under Armour All-America Game to the All-American Bowl, I was asked to put a list together with every game Ohio State pledge is committed to play in this January.
Below is what I have gathered, along with the future Buckeyes who have yet to commit to a game so far.
All-American Bowl (Jan. 2): Evan Pryor, Donovan Jackson, Jack Sawyer, Jakailin Johnson, Jayden Ballard, Jordan Hancock, Kyle McCord, Michael Hall, Reid Carrico, TreVeyon Henderson and Tyleik Williams.
Under Armour All-America Game (Jan. 7): Ben Christman and Marvin Harrison Jr.
Uncommitted: Andre Turrentine, Denzel Burke, Jantzen Dunn, Jaylen Johnson and Sam Hart
Commits in Action
By Andy Anders and Joseph Hastings
Even though we are doing a weekly piece on how Ohio State’s commits performed, we still want to include a version of it for our Skull Sessions. In case you didn’t see our piece that we published earlier today, which you can find HERE, down below is how the future Buckeyes did on Thursday and Friday.
Andre Turrentine: Stats: 102 receiving yards, including a 78-yard touchdown reception
Team Result: (L) 28-30
Ben Christman: Stats: N/A
Team Result: (W) 28-14
Donovan Jackson: Stats: N/A
Team Result: (L) 14-34
Jayden Ballard: Stats: Three catches for 39 yards
Team Result: (W) 28-10
Jaylen Johnson: Stats: Two pass breakups, three forced fumbles and eight total tackles
Team Result: (W) 17-7
Reid Carrico: Stats: 16 rushes for 172 yards and a rushing touchdown
Team Result: (W) 41-0
Michael Hall: Stats: N/A (injured)
Team Result: (W) 49-28
Bennett Christian: Stats: One reception for 13 yards
Team Result: (W) 21-6
CJ Hicks: Stats: N/A
Team Result: (W) 48-0
Dasan McCullough: Stats: 28-yard touchdown reception and a nasty hit near the sidelines.
Team Result: (W) 42-21
Jyaire Brown and Tegra Tshabola: Stats: Brown had a 12-yard rushing touchdown in this game.
Team Result: (W) 21-7
Gabe Powers: Stats: 11 carries for 67 yards and a reception
Team Result: (W) 31-0
