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Remaining targets breakdown
- By Dave Lackford
Ohio State is back up to 19 commits in the 2021 class with five or six spots remaining. Before I get into the remaining spots, I want to talk about Jordan Hancock. I think that kid has all the athletic tools to be a first-round pick. I see some technique flaws in his game and he doesn’t really have a lot of film playing press man, but what I do see is a player with prototypical NFL size and a lot of upside. Do I like him better than Devonta Smith? Ehhh, not necessarily.
I think they are both elite defensive backs with position versatility. What separates the two is that Hancock looks more mentally advanced to me and I think Smith is more physically advanced. That being said, both players have a lot of upside, but I would take Hancock over Smith in college because, in my opinion, you get more minutes out of Hancock because he doesn’t have as much work to do in the cognitive aspect of the game. When it comes to NFL potential, I think both kids have the ability to go in the first round and at worst the third.
Let’s move on to the remaining targets. I think Ohio State is done at tight end and after asking around, I don’t think Mitchell Evans will get an offer and I am pretty sure he ends up at Notre Dame.
At receiver, it’s Emeka Egbuka or bust. If they don’t get him, I doubt they reach for another receiver considering how deep they are at the position. Now, I’m not saying Ohio State isn’t going to get him; in fact, I still believe they lead for him but Oklahoma is not to be discounted as some extra hat on the table. Like Jack Sawyer said, Egbuka wants to get his visits in and if he doesn’t get to do that, I think he signs with Ohio State. If he does get to visit Oklahoma, then there is a good chance the Sooners pull even with the Buckeyes and he’s going to have to get back to Columbus to offset any recency bias. For now, however, I still think Ohio State leads.
The remaining spots for this class are reserved for offensive linemen. The two main targets remaining are Tristan Leigh and Jager Burton. Leigh has been very responsive to the Ohio State coaching staff recently and I believe they’re making some serious headway. I still think Oklahoma and LSU are serious threats, but Ohio State is right there in that top group and Leigh hasn’t been able to separate the three as far as a hierarchy. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know, they’re just guessing. The cake is still baking.
Jager Burton is the next offensive lineman on the board. I know Jager very well and he told me two weeks ago that he is still in a holding pattern and waiting to see if he can take officials. I texted him today to see if there were any changes and, unfortunately, he never responded. That being said, if there was anything to report, I trust that he would inform me based on the relationship I have built with him, his father, and the Frederick Douglass football community in Lexington, Kentucky.
Right now, that is where things stand with the legitimate targets on the offensive side of the ball.
On defense, the remaining targets are four-star DT Tywone Malone, five-star DE J.T. Tuimoloau, four-star LB Barret Carter, four-star LB Raesjon Davis, four-star CB Jaylin Davies, and four-star S Derrick Davis. These are the main targets.
Efforts to land Tywone Malone continue to be escalated, but there is no rush being put on him to make a decision and he has been told they will wait for him to make his decision. The same is true for Tuimoloau. I wish I had more information on those two players because I believe they are the best players on the defensive board, but they remain reclusive and people around them have told me nothing has changed and a decision is not imminent.
There is a lot of speculation on Barret Carter following his friend Jordan Hancock committing to Ohio State. I reached out to a source close to the situation and he was told by Hancock that Carter was solid with Clemson. Yeah, yeah, that’s what a kid is always going to say and I learned my lesson on displaying hubris when I said I wasn’t going to talk about Hancock anymore because he was still committed. The Clemson fence has been breached and their legitimacy as a max security facility has been compromised. Stand by.
When it comes to Raesjon Davis, I’m hearing that he is firm with LSU and I’m not going to front like I have some sort of info on his thought process. We’ll have to wait and see, but if I had to pick who is the higher priority between him and Carter, I would go with Carter because of the recent developments with Hancock.
Davis and Davies are still priority targets. The press is on Davis. I think Penn State is Ohio State’s main competitor and I don’t think either school has separated at this moment. That being said, I don’t expect his commitment to drag on past August. Davies is still being pursued by Ohio State, that I know, but the word I’m getting is that he’s content with the Ducks; but if visits open back up, look for him to fly to Columbus.
That’s all for now, I will talk to y'all next Sunday.
Buckeyes’ basketball program is in a good spot with an in-state prospect
- By Joseph Hastings
Some of you all have noticed that several FutureCast predictions poured in over the past week for Malaki Branham, all of them being in favor of Ohio State. In case you are not familiar with Branham or how his recruiting process has gone, here’s a quick summary.
Branham is a 6-foot-5, 175-pound small forward who plays for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. This is also the same school that LeBron James once dominated at nearly two decades ago. Back in May 2019, Buckeyes Head Basketball Coach Chris Holtmann and his staff delivered an offer to Branham. The No. 34 overall rising senior on Rivals also possesses offers form Alabama, Wake Forest, Xavier and several other programs.
A few months after receiving the green light from Ohio State, Branham took an official visit to the school. He described that October OV as “definitely good,” and enjoyed being a part of the alumni dinner that they hosted while he was in Columbus.
Now, fast forward to this juncture, it appears as if the Buckeyes are in the best position to land Branham. I was told by one of our national guys at Rivals that Ohio State leads, but he also noted that the Crimson Tide are in the thick of this race as well.
As for why Holtmann’s program is viewed as the favorite, he said it’s pretty simple. It’s Ohio State, one of the top two in-state colleges he’s considering – the other being Xavier. Even though the offer didn’t arrive until last year, the Buckeyes have been making him a priority since he was a freshman. He also noted that Branham is from Columbus, which is a key factor here.
I have submitted my FutureCast prediction in favor of Ohio State as well, and I believe the extended dead period only serves to benefit the program. Branham just tweeted that he will be announcing his decision on Wednesday at 2:22 p.m., which is oddly specific, but I'm expecting the Buckeyes to come out on top here.
If you want to get a feel for Branham’s skill set, check out his explosive 42-point outing from earlier this year right HERE.
Radar Scan Follow Up
By Joseph Hastings
This week, Dave and I released a couple of pieces on which offensive and defensive 2021 prospects we believe could, or at least should, be in contention for reeling in an offer from Ohio State’s football program.
The purpose of this exercise was to note that while the program is approaching 20 commits and is definitely focused on a select group of targets, there is not a guarantee that they’ll end up with all of the top remaining guys on their board. There will need to be backup plans in place, whether that is circling back to previous offers or giving new players a look.
On Dave’s end, he offered up tight end Mitchell Evans and Rivals100 cornerback Isaiah Johnson. Evans actually spoke with Ohio State TEs coach Kevin Wilson a month ago, but it seems doubtful that they offer another tight end in this cycle. Johnson is also a guy they can take a look at since Jaylin Davies is committed to Oregon, and his recruitment appears to have come to somewhat of a standstill recently.
On my end, I mentioned four-star offensive lineman Laurence Seymore and borderline Rivals100 defensive lineman Kelvin Gilliam, Jr. I actually just spoke with Gilliam again and although he has a decision date set for Aug. 22, he has yet to make up his mind. With J.T. Tuimoloau and Tywone Malone not being guarantees, I’d be interested in seeing them pursue Gilliam.
I also wanted to recap this piece in this Skull Session because of Seymore. I received a message from him earlier today, and the sixth-ranked guard on Rivals made it clear he does want an offer from Ohio State. Back on Wednesday, the Miami commit referred to the Buckeyes as his “third dream school,” so there’s definitely interest on his end.
With a lot of competition for Jager Burton, Seymore is a highly rated guy who would have immediate interest in Ryan Day’s program if an offer was extended, even this late in the recruiting process.
