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Not ready to write off Burton yet
I spoke with Jager Burton on Friday. The topic of conversation centered around whether or not he was going to delay his decision to announce on August 24th or not.
He wants to take his official visits and it's looking like he isn’t going to be able to take any before September. Burton is very conflicted right now and doesn’t seem to have a leader. His approach was always to get on campuses and compare to feel everything out.
He’s told me twice so far that he compares how he feels to another school to how he feels about Kentucky and if the feeling is the same, he doesn’t see a reason to leave home. I believe that’s his baseline approach to his recruitment and the fact he’s been unable to take his official visits, or any new visits, in general, have short-circuited his logical approach.
Ultimately, I think he will push back his commitment date because it’s not like Kentucky won’t take him if he decides to sign with them in December or even February. He won’t take it out that far however if he’s able to get on campus at Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oregon.
If he delays his decision, I like Ohio State’s chances. I thought they led for him back in February, and I think if they get him on campus, the Buckeyes can retake the lead. – DL
Evaluating Emeka Egbuka
In this week’s 3-2-1, I speculated that five-star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is seemingly set to commit sometime around September.
My rationale behind this assumption is that Egbuka spoke with me earlier in the week, and said he’s hoping to take his official visits as soon as the dead period concludes. If recruiting visits resume after July 31 and he’s able to take all four OVs before the season starts up, then I envisioned him committing to a school before his senior campaign begins.
After speaking with someone with knowledge of the situation, however, this may not be the case. I heard that it appears Egbuka is going to wait until the last minute to announce his commitment. Last minute wasn’t clearly defined, but I’m taking that to mean that he’ll make a decision closer to Early Signing Period than to the start of his season.
There is still plenty of confidence that Ohio State will end up with him in their 2021 class, but getting Egbuka to join the fold sooner rather than later is the goal. Schools like Oklahoma, which has a pass-friendly offense, and the Washington Huskies can’t be written off, while Clemson has been viewed as a legitimate contender for quite some time as well.
I haven’t heard anything different regarding Egbuka’s recruitment, so Ohio State remains my pick. There is just a lot of familiarity between both parties, with Egbuka having visited the school twice last year. His mom accompanied him on the second visit of 2019 while his dad was with him on an Ohio State virtual visit last month, with the program making a good impression on all three of them.
I’d definitely feel stronger about my prediction if Egbuka commits right after he takes his officials, but I believe they can hold off the other three schools he’s considering until signing day. - JH
Buckeyes on the rise with Leigh?
Tristan Leigh is another top-rated offensive line prospect who has vocalized his intent to push his decision back until he can take visits. This bodes very well for Ohio State.
Earlier this week Leigh spoke with Adam Freidman and told him something that really stood out to me.
“Me and Paris (Johnson) get on Zoom and watch film with coach Stud. I like how it's football stuff with him, not just recruiting,” said Leigh.
To me, that’s as real as it can get for a recruit sounding like he’s already a part of team. He’s watching film with his position coach and a player who is already signed. Plus, Greg Studrawa compares the two as similar players so he’s killing two birds with one stone. I like Ohio State’s chances here.
I’ve been told by two sources that Clemson and Penn State are fading with LSU and Ohio State rising to the top. There is a long way to go in Leigh’s recruitment but with JC Latham committing to Bama, and the development of that outcome taking place over the last month it’s not a stretch to think Studrawa and the staff pivoted their energy towards Leigh. – DL
No push yet on Benny
In my recent conversation with Rayshaun Benny I got the vibe that Michigan and Kentucky are the two teams to beat right now but I did get the vibe that Ohio State could gain ground with a solid push. He was very up front with me that he hit a point in his recruitment where he was just burned out from all the contact and need to reset things.
I got the vibe from our talk that Ohio State wasn’t really pushing hard but they were still keeping up with him to let him know that he’s still on the board. I will continue to monitor Ohio State’s level of communication in the next months. Benny isn’t planning on making a commitment anytime soon. - DL
Where do things stand with So Cal defensive back?
At one point it appeared that Ohio State led for Jaylin Davies. But then Denzel Burke committed to Ryan Day and public opinion has switched to Oregon being the frontrunner.
That switch could be based on solid information or it could just be people replacing Denzel Burke, who was thought to be an Oregon lean, with Davies. That's not me knocking other analysts, that's me knocking my own logic for entering a Futurecast for Davies to choose Oregon.
I've reached out to a few sources with West Coast ties and was told that confidence is high Davies will pick the Ducks. I've also been told Davies and those close to him have agreed it's best to take his visits before picking a school.
The problem for Ohio State is that Davies has never visited Columbus, and on June 3rd he announced that he will be announcing his commitment on June 19th. That being said, he hasn't visited Oregon either.
From the outside looking in this looks like a situation where Davies is saving a spot and could very well take visits once the option becomes available. I wouldn't be surprised to see Davies push his decision date back. If he doesn't, I expect him to take official visits even after committing to Oregon or any other school. – DL
This is an interesting one for sure.
I spoke with a source over a couple of weeks ago, prior to Davies announcing his commitment date, and was told that the Buckeyes were leading for the Rivals100 defensive back. Not only that, it was said that Ohio State was “way out in front” for his services.
During that same conversation, however, I was also told that a visit to Columbus needs to transpire before a commitment occurred. With his announcement upcoming and him not having taken a trip out to tOSU’s yet, it doesn’t seem likely that the Buckeyes will be rewarded with a commitment this Friday.
I’m on the fence about this one as Oregon has yet to receive a visit too, but Day and his staff would probably prefer to get Davies on campus prior to accepting a commitment from him. Oregon, on the other hand, has just one pure DB committed to the program right now, so adding a guy like Davies without hosting him for a visit may be worth it for them.
The way I see this one playing out is Davies committing to the Ducks, taking his officials and, depending on how Ohio State feels about Tony Grimes or Clemson commit Jordan Hancock, the Buckeyes could make a late run to flip him.
The numbers are already tight and there are other needs for the program, so I’m not expecting Davies to wind up in the class this week, but a strong push by the Buckeyes toward the end of his recruitment would not surprise me. - JH
Not feeling the flip on this one
Jordan Hancock, the Clemson commit, still stays in contact with other coaches who are recruiting him, and he committed to Clemson when he was fresh off a visit. In an interview with Chad Simmons a few months ago, Hancock talked about seeing two Ohio State corners come off the board in the first round of the NFL draft. He also admitted that Ohio State was leading until he visited Clemson and subsequently gave his verbal pledge to the Tigers.
I keep seeing him being named as a flip candidate in some reports. I’m not sold.
Aside from the fact he’s already committed to Clemson, I wonder if Ohio State doesn’t fill all their defensive back spots soon. If a flip were to occur, I don’t think it is something that will happen until after the season.
Before then, Tony Grimes could wind up committing to Ohio State. Jaylen Davies is expected to announce for Oregon this month, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Jantzen Dunn situation occur where Ohio State swoops in at the last minute and assures him and his family they want him to commit.
Remember, Denzel Burke, his teammate and the counterpart at cornerback was considered a heavy Oregon lean at one point but Ohio State took his commitment without him ever setting foot in Columbus. Should either of those two things happen will the Buckeyes even have room for Hancock?
I honestly don’t get where all the smoke that he might visit Ohio State again even though he’s committed to Clemson comes from. There hasn’t been anything solid out there to go on and the talk of him being a flip candidate comes off to me as hubris from a few writers who may not possesses the same objectivity that I do.
For now, I’m going to consider Hancock a long shot. I don’t want to slam the door on future content but I’m also not trying to blow smoke with no fire. If I hear anything about Hancock becoming shaky, I’ll report it here but until then this will be the last time I mention him and Ohio State. - DL
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