Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 3/4 - Drew Lock, Tristan Payton offered

Despite having the likes of Torrance Gibson, Lorenzo Nunez, and Brandon Wimbush already firmly in their crosshairs, the Ohio State coaching staff diversified their options under center late Monday by offering 4-star quarterback Drew Lock.

Lock, a Missouri legacy (his father played right tackle for the Tigers from 1986-89), hails from Lees Summit, MO and checks in at 6'5, 195 pounds. A 4-star in the 247Composite ranking, Lock's widely projected as a Missouri lean at this point in time, but an offer like the one he got Monday night from OSU can sometimes change things. Just ask probable Ohio State starting tailback (and Missouri native), sophomore Ezekiel Elliott.

You can watch the big quarterback's junior season highlights here.

That wasn't the only offer the OSU coaching staff dishes out Monday night, however. Less than two weeks after committing to the home state Florida Gators, Urban Meyer and company offered Jacksonville, FL WR Tristan Payton.

Payton's early resume isn't exactly in line with some of the four or even five-star type talent we're accustomed to seeing receive OSU offers, but he could very well be the kind of kid that once the other major services start getting additional evaluations done, you see rise up towards the four-star evaluation threshold. 247 is the only major service to have graded the 6'0 170-pound receiver at this point. Upon committing to the Gators, Alligator Army's Andy Hutchins said of Payton, "he's about as unknown as a wide receiver playing for a Florida team of some note, Jacksonville's First Coast, can get."

You can check out what Payton might bring to the table if Ohio State's able to get the flip here.

Drawing talent from the state of Ohio has always been an important part of Ohio State's recruiting tactics and even with Coach Meyer targeting states like Florida and Georgia with more frequency, there's still a heavy focus on bringing in the best recruits from the home state.

With that said, it's no surprise that the Buckeyes are heavily interested in '15 DE Dre'Mont Jones, from Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio State is the most recent school to offer a scholarship to the 6'5, 250-pound defensive end. Land-Grant Holy Land's own Miles Joesph had a chance to get Jones' thoughts on the offer and more on Monday:

"I talked to the recruiting coach and they let me know on the phone when I was at school," Jones continued. "I was really excited to find out one of my childhood dream schools offered me, but I still don't know my final decision or when I'm going to know."

Miles also reported Jones' plan is to have his recruitment wrapped up sometime before his senior football season kicks off in the fall.

"Looking at things now, probably in the summer," Jones stated. "Probably in the middle or the end of summer, one of those times right before football season."

Jones is a 3-star prospect and is ranked as the 17th-best recruit at his position and in the state of Ohio.

One of the headliners of this past weekend was '15 CB/WR Marcus Lewis from Washington, DC. Lewis is a 6'1, 187-pound burner, who can run like you wouldn't believe. In fact, Lewis has been clocked at running a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash, which is pretty remarkable. Once again, Land-Grant Holy Land's own Miles Joesph was able to catch up with Lewis, who broke down some of his visit to Columbus:

"Basically, we pulled up at the Woody Hayes Football Complex and I got a tour of that; it was really nice. I got to try on a jersey, I spent a lot of time with Coach Ash, and had a meeting with Coach Meyer," Lewis told Land-Grant Holy Land. "I also got to go to the academic center, got a tour of the whole campus; we went out to lunch. I pretty saw everything and got a lot of information about Ohio State."

There's no doubt some interest sparking from Lewis for Ohio State. As of late, Lewis' main focus in recruiting has been on Clemson and Virginia Tech (Lewis was a former Hokie commit), but the Buckeyes are looking to end that streak and divert some attention to their program. Lewis went on about a time frame for his decision:

"I'm looking to make a late decision," he stated. "Somewhere I fit in with the coaching staff, where it feels like a family atmosphere, and with early playing time."

We'll continue following Lewis' recruitment and providing updates on the 4-star prospect. Lewis is rated as the 12th-best prospect under the 'Athlete' banner and is also placed at the 2nd-best recruit from the DC area.