Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 4/1 - Derek Kief, Chris Godwin enjoy their visits

It was undoubtedly a busy weekend on the campus of Ohio State, as the Buckeyes hosted a couple of recruits from across the country in hopes that the staff would be able to show them what could be in their future, if they so choose. Among the multiple recruits, '14 WR Derek Kief, '14 WR Chris Godwin and '14 OL Alex Bars were the highlight of the weekend. '15 ATH George Brown Jr. also came to Ohio State this weekend, along with a few others.

For Kief, his visit started on Friday night, when he visited Columbus with his family and ended up staying with a current player on Ohio State's roster in Najee Murray. Kief, a 6'5", 190-pound receiver, is from the Buckeye state and one of the top players in the state of Ohio for the class of 2014. As a sophomore, Kief caught 44 passes in eight games. He had 65 catches for 910 yards and seven touchdowns this past fall as a junior. Kief is a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports rankings. He is the 22nd-best wide receiver overall and the 8th-best prospect in Ohio. Kief holds offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Northwestern, Kentucky, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Vanderbilt and many others. It appears the real battle will occur between Ohio State and Alabama for Kief's top spot, but I suspect the home team may end up with a slight lead when it's all said and done.

Another receiver in Godwin, has put the Buckeyes near the top of his list, after visiting Ohio State during this past weekend. Godwin has said before how important the coaching staff is to him when looking at a school and their football team. Godwin has 16 scholarship offers. In addition to Ohio State, his list includes Stanford, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Penn State and many others. Standing 6'1" and 193-pounds, Godwin had 25 plus catches for 500 yards and seven touchdowns during his sophomore season while last fall he managed to catch 42 passes for 834 yards and 12 touchdowns during his junior season. Much like the aforementioned Kief, Godwin is also a 4-star recruit and is rated as the number one player in the state of Delaware.

One new recruit to keep on your radar is '15 DL Tim Settle from the state of Virginia. While he does not yet hold an offer from Ohio State, Settle recently listed Ohio State as his favorite, followed by North Carolina. Currently, UNC is the only school to offer the 6'2", 295-pound tackle but we're certain that will not remain the case for long. Just last season as a sophomore, Settle had 72 tackles, three sacks and five pass break-ups. Impressive stats for anyone, let a alone a second-year player. We'll be certain to keep a close eye on the recruiting path Settle will be taking. Check out his highlights for yourself:

Keep in mind that Ohio State will be hosting '14 LB Raekwon McMillan and perhaps '14 ATH Myles Autry in Columbus, Monday through Wednesday for visits. There will also be a couple other recruits to keep an eye on, but McMillan and Autry certainly steal the headlines in this case. There's a possibility that neither come, but only if the weather doesn't allow it.

Finally, way back from the class of 2013, you may remember that '13 RB/ATH Ezekiel Elliott had Buckeye fans a bit worried that he might flip to Missouri towards the trail end of National Signing Day 2013. Well, be extra happy that it didn't come to fruition after taking a look at the vertical Elliott displays here. Not to be outdone, another class of '13 star, '13 ATH Jalin Marshall, also has hops that makes the upcoming season even more impossible to wait on.