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Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 5/20 - 5 new offers, Florida commit to visit

The Buckeyes continued the hard work in the recruiting world, sending out five new offers while also connecting with a current Florida commit to get him to visit Columbus.

By Ian Cuevas
'15 wide receiver and current Florida commit Tristan Payton is planning to visit Ohio State.
'15 wide receiver and current Florida commit Tristan Payton is planning to visit Ohio State.

One of the many recruiting tactics Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer brought to Columbus was the art of flipping recruits that have already committed to one school and convincing them to commit to the Buckeyes. At first, it was frowned up by other schools and programs, but at this point, they've adapted. Now, coach Meyer and his staff are going after another.

'15 WR Tristan Payton, who committed to the Florida Gators on February 24th of this year, has told the media that he plans on making a visit to Ohio State in July for the annual Friday Night Lights camp. The 6'0, 170-pound wide receiver hasn't wavered in his commitment to the Gators, but once he's in town, there's always the chance that the coaching staff will do their best to change that.

Last season, Payton hauled in 50 passes for 857 yards and seven touchdowns. The Jacksonville-native is a three-star and is the 38th-best wide receiver in the country, while also being ranked as the 40th-best prospect from the state of Florida.

Ohio State took a visit to Canada and '15 DT Neville Gallimore came away with an offer because of it. The Canadian star accounted for 45 tackles, 15 of those going for loss, and also added seven sacks. The 6'3, 300-pound defensive tackle has been clocked at a 4.72 in the 40-yard dash.

Gallimore also holds offers from California, Cincinnati, Kansas, Maryland, Miami, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, TCU, UCLA, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, among others. There don't really seem to be any real favorites right now for his services, but he still has a whole season to go before needing to worry about making a decision.

'15 OT Connor Williams got an offer from the Buckeyes on Monday, as the 6'5, 275-pound offensive tackle added to his growing list of schools that have offered the prospect during the past week or so. Williams is a three-star recruit, ranked as the 71st-best offensive tackle in the country and 73rd-best prospect overall in the state of Texas.

Williams also received offers from Missouri, Ole Miss, Nebraska, Oregon, Purdue, and Michigan all in the past seven days.

Staying in the state of Texas, Ohio State offered '15 ATH DeAndre McNeal. McNeal is teammates with five-star '15 LB Malik Jefferson, who is also being recruited by the Buckeyes. By double-dipping into the same team, perhaps Ohio State is hoping to get an edge on one or the other. McNeal can play multiple positions, including outside linebacker and tight end.

McNeal has seen a couple of major programs offer him in the past few weeks, including Alabama, UCLA, and Iowa. There isn't one particular school standing out to McNeal at this time, but with the recent surge of offers from top programs, I'd imagine that will change soon enough.

'15 S Rashad Roundtree will be making another cut to his final list of favorite schools on Friday, this time narrowing his choices to five schools. The 6'1, 195-pound safety has been clocked at a 4.65 in the 40-yard dash and is ranked as the nation's sixth-best safety in the country.

The Crystal Ball experts are convinced that Georgia will be the program that Roundtree will eventually commit to, as all 24 experts that have voted have sent in their pick for the Bulldogs.

Continuing the theme of offers, '15 CB Davante Davis, who is also committed to Syracuse, was offered by Ohio State on Monday night. The 6'3, 200-pound cornerback committed to the Orange earlier this month, but might be convinced to eventually decommit and consider other schools.

Davis holds offers from Cincinnati, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Louisville, South Carolina, and Central Florida. The Florida-native remains committed to Syracuse at this time, but the Crystal Ball suggests that he'll be headed Ohio State's way in the future.

The final offer handed out by Ohio State's staff on Monday night was to a member of the 2016 recruiting class. '16 S Brandon Jones is a five-star prospect in his class and is ranked as the third-best safety in the country and seventh-best recruit overall from the state of Texas.

The 5'11, 183-pound safety holds offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Florida State, Louisville, LSU, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue, TCU, Texas Tech, and Washington State, among others. Last season, Jones accounted for 95 tackles, five interceptions (one went for a touchdown), and eight pass breakups.

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