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First "big" (ish?) game day weekend of the season for the Buckeyes, though there will certainly be a few games later on that are going to be bigger. Going to do a little different format this week and just go down the line here with some notes and info on the visitors picked up coming out of the weekend.
- I still expect Ohio four-star linebacker Reid Carrico to sign with Ohio State in the 2021 class, but I don't know that that is going to happen before the season ends. Carrico looked closely at making a decision before the season but now that he has held off, I think he'll focus on his team and worry about recruiting this winter/spring.
I think Ohio State holds a pretty commanding lead right now and Jack Sawyer has really been working that one and was in his ear a lot on Saturday. Carrico really doesn't care much for the recruiting process. He's got some Zach Harrison in him in terms of not really understanding why anyone cares about where he will play his college football. The family is very pro-Ohio State here and the Buckeyes have not taken him for granted as he comes from an area that historically sends their kids to Ohio State when they have a good one.
Ohio State has put the same time and effort in on Carrico and his family as they would if he was from South Florida or Texas. I think that and the distance factor will be very meaningful when it comes time to make a decision.
- Still in a holding pattern with Dublin Coffman running back Mike Drennen. The Buckeyes want to continue to see him on campus and are certainly keeping very active in recruiting him but I don't think we're going to see any movement here in the immediate future. Ohio State continues to evaluate approximately a dozen options (that we know of) at running back and Drennen isn't in a hurry right now.
- I will have a story up soon on four-star Columbus Walnut Ridge athlete Qian Magwood, but he told me this weekend that Ryan Day said he was really impressed with his early season film and that he is noticeably bigger and faster. Magwood is a guy who has some supporters inside the WHAC and so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on him the next couple of months.
I continue to feel that his best shot at working his way into the class would be if Ohio State is not able to flip four-star cornerback Ryan Watts from Oklahoma, but I don't think that's his *only* shot. There is often times room for the late Ohio offer, we've seen this more often than not, and so he's a candidate there as well, especially given his versatility.
I think he'll wait for the offer, much like guys like Malik Harrison and Thayer Munford have in the past, and if it doesn't come by the first week of December, he'll probably have to find another landing spot as he seems to want to sign early. But I do think he'll give Ohio State time to sort things out over the next two or three months.
It has been an interesting evolution with Qian. He not only seems much more open to football at the next level (he's a good hooper, but probably a low-major guy) but he seems to be legitimately OK with playing defense now if that's what it takes. I know he prefers wide receiver, but he is far less militant about it now than he was maybe a year ago.
- Mildly surprised that 2022 Kettering (Ohio) Alter athlete C.J. Hicks didn't land an offer from the Buckeyes this weekend, but still think it's just a mere formality. Have been consistently told over the past few months how much the OSU staff loves Hicks and they are definitely showing him a lot of attention, more so than any other Ohio prospect in that class so far.
- I loved what I saw out of Cincinnati (Ohio) La Salle DB/LB Jaylen Johnson back in June at camp and he was back on campus Saturday (story on the front page). As it says in the story, Jaylen wants to announce on May 22nd. I have Ohio State holding a huge lead right now and think things would really have to go sideways for him not to end up in the class.
Johnson loves the coaching staff, the coaching staff seems to love him back, and he's a great fit for the system either as a Pete Werner type of linebacker or a bullet guy (I think ultimately he's an outside linebacker). I've had my pick in for Ohio State for a couple of months now and see no reason to waver on that. Again, I think either the staff is going to have to really not like his junior film (and I don't see why that would be the case) or a school is going to have to come out of left field and really knock his socks off on a visit in order for this recruitment to change course.
- Finally, have talked to people on both sides of this and the Jaheim Thomas visit is pretty much a nothing at this point. Was more a courtesy to Jaheim and the folks at Princeton to give Thomas a ticket to let him watch the game. Jaheim is good with his pledge to the Bearcats and Ohio State is good with the make-up of their linebacker recruiting in this class at this point.
Ultimately you never know what can happen in recruiting, but Saturday's visit was absolutely NOT the start of things picking back up between the two parties.
