Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 6/20 - Gerald and Ward commit, big weekend ahead

There was quite a bit of news on the Ohio State football recruiting front yesterday and we're here to get you caught up on all of the latest happenings.

Buckeyes land two more

Urban Meyer and his staff continued their recruiting roll yesterday as they added commitments from 2016 guard Tyler Gerald and 2015 athlete/cornerback Denzel Ward.

Many expected Gerald to end his recruitment and commit to Ohio State heading into the day. He makes two commitments for the 2016 recruiting class, joining running back/wide receiver George Hill, who committed less than a week ago. The Buckeyes are off to a pretty quick start with the class.

Ward needed to have a very strong camp showing in order to earn an offer and he achieved that goal and committed seconds after receiving a scholarship offer. He might be the fastest player int he state of Ohio and provided he cleans up some mechanical flaws, has the chance to be a solid player at the college level.

Camp thoughts

- This was my first time seeing Moeller tight end Jake Hausmann in person and I came away extremely impressed. Not only does he look the part of an elite tight end, but he dominated in drills too. I think he has an opportunity to be the top tight end in the 2016 class as a whole when it's all said and done. Right now, the Buckeyes are in a very good spot to land a commitment from him.

- Westerville South athlete Abu Daramy was just as impressive. He performed very well throughout the camp and capped the day off by upsetting Ohio State commit Denzel Ward in the smokehouse. I don't know if he'll ever receive an offer from the Buckeyes, but should definitely start receiving offers from playoff conference schools soon. He has the chance to be an excellent slot receiver at the next level.

-Was very impressed with Columbus (Georgia) quarterback Jawon Pass at yesterday's camp. He's a legit 6'5 and has a very good arm. In addition to being a good passer, he has the skills to make plays with his legs. This will be a tough battle for the Buckeyes to win, but I put him right up there with Dwayne Haskins as far as 2016 Ohio State quarterback targets go.

- Saw some of tight end/h-back DeAndre McNeal at the Tuesday camp and came away very impressed. He was still on campus yesterday, where he was seen talking to wide receivers coach Zach Smith. Look for the Buckeyes to make a push to land him. I think they have a legitimate chance as things currently stand.

- I got to see quite a bit of Cincinnati Christian Hills Academy defensive end Prince Sammons over the course of the three days he camped at Ohio State. While he's clearly raw, he's oozing with potential, which is a big reason he earned an offer from the Buckeyes. He spent a good hour working one-on-one with defensive line coach Larry Johnson on Tuesday. Standing at 6'8, 260 pounds, Sammons has the chance to be a dominant defensive end if he develops his skills over the next couple of years.

- Also saw a little of Perry Ohio tight end Luke Farrell (mostly on Tuesday) and was also very impressed with him. I don't put him up with Hausmann, but he's another big guy who was making plays all over the field at the camp. He walked away from Columbus with a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes.

Big weekend ahead

Ohio State is set to host some big visitors this weekend in what will likely be the last major recruiting weekend until late July when the Buckeyes have their annual "Friday Night Lights" football camp.

Headlining the impressive list of visitors are linebacker (and potentially number one overall target) Justin Hilliard and top wide receiver prospect Christian Kirk, who will be making the trip from Scottsdale, Arizona to Columbus to see Ohio State for the second time.

The coaching staff will have the chance to see a couple of the 2016 quarterbacks they've offered as well as both Jarrett Guarantano and Brandon McIlwain are both expected to throw at Saturday's one day camp.

Other visitors include 2016 running backs Robert Washington and Matthew Falcon, then in addition to those two, in state 2016 prospects Ethan Tucky and Tyrece Speaight are expected to participate in the camp.

Happy Trails....

Longtime tight end target Chris Clark committed to Michigan yesterday while on a visit in Ann Arbor. I have said for a couple of months that I didn't see Clark in Ohio State's class, but with that being said, I was a little surprised by the timing of his commitment.

For some reason, I don't think this recruitment is 100-percent over, so we'll have to see how things play out in between now and National Signing Day.

Standout wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge committed to Texas A&M yesterday. While he expressed interest in the Buckeyes, his commitment to the Aggies comes as no surprise. It will be interesting to see how this commitment impact Christian Kirk, who has Ohio State and Texas A&M near the top of his list.

Other recruiting updates

- Check out Bud Elliott's scouting report on offensive tackle target Drew Richmond.

- Look for an updated version of "Top 15 targets for 2015" on Sunday.

Important dates

• March 6th visitor(s): LB Nick Conner, ATH Eric Glover-Williams
• March 18th visitor(s): QB Tommy Stevens
• March 20th visitor(s): LB Josh Barajas, DE Jonathon Cooper (2016), ATH Jerome Baker
• March 21st-22nd visitor(s): RB Larry Scott, WR Steven Smothers (2016), WR Van Jefferson, OLPatrick Allen, OL Simon Stepaniak, OL James Daniels, DE Dre'Mont Jones, LB Anthony McKee, LB Justin Hilliard, DB Jordan Whitehead, ATH Brian Cole
• March 25th visitor(s): LB Ethan Tucky (2016)
• March 26th visitor(s): TE Jake Pickard
• March 27th visitor(s): QB Danny Clark (2017 commit)
• March 28th-29th visitor(s): WR Jabari Greenwood, TE CJ Conrad, OL Tyler Gerald (2016), OL Jake Fruhmorgen, OL Quinn Oseland, OL David Robbins, DE Darius Fullwood, LB Chris Green, ATH Denzel Ward
• April 2nd visitor(s): OL Gabe Megginson
• April 3rd visitor(s): TE Hale Hentges, OL Tommy Kraemer
• April 4th-5th visitor(s): OL Austin Clark, OL Emani Mason, ATH Malik Hooker(2014 signee)
• April 5th visitor(s): Cass Tech Day
• April 7th visitor(s): RB Andrew Dowell, ATH David Dowell
• April 9th visitor(s): QB Reese Ryan, TE Sam Letton (2016), WR Keyshawn Johnson Jr. (2017), DB Darnay Holmes (2017)
• April 11th visitor(s): OL Sterling Jenkins, OL Michal Menet, ATH Chandler Cox, Trevor Thompson(hoops)
• April 12th/Spring Game visitor(s): QB Danny Clark (2017 commit), RB Damien Harris, RB Todd Sibley (2017), OL Tommy Kraemer (2016), OL Josh Myers (2017), LB Sh'mar Kilby-Lane, DE Dre'Mont Jones, DE Nick Bosa (2016), DE/LB Jonathon Cooper, LB Darrin Kirkland, LB Joshua McMillon, ATH Richard LeCounte (2017)
• April 15th visitor(s): RB Robert Washington
• April 17th visitor(s): DT Elijah Taylor
• April 18th-19th visitor(s): TE Chris Clark, OT Matthew Burrell, DE/LB Ricky DeBerry
• May 1st visitor(s): PF Esa Ahmad
• May 2nd-3rd visitor(s): SG Austin Grandstaff
• May 10th visitor(s): Core 6 Day (Miles Boykin)
• May 17th visitor(s): CB Jordan Whitehead
• May 31st-June 1st visitor(s): QB Joe Burrow (commit),QB Danny Clark (2017 commit), RB LJ Scott, RB Ricky Slade Jr. (2018), WR Alex Ofodile, WR/RB George Hill (2016), OL Matthew Burrell, DEJashon Cornell, DT Tim Settle, LB Brendan Ferns, CB Shaun Crawford, DB Cam Ordway, ATH Nyheim Hines
• June 1st: Columbus NFTC
• June 2nd: Columbus Elite 11
• June 8th: One day camp- QB Joe Burrow, RB Darrin Hall, RB Demario McCall (2016), RB Matthew Falcon (2016), WR Austin Mack (2016), OL Liam Eichenberg (2016), OL Grant Schmidt, OL Hunter Littlejohn, DE Malik Barrow (2016), DE Jonathon Copper (2016), LB Chris Green, ATH Tyler Green
• June 9th-11th visitor(s): RB Dexter Williams (Miami commit), RB Tyrek Tisdale (2016), WR Jalen Julius (Florida commit), OL Conner Dyer, LB Jeffrey Holland, LB Brendan Ferns (2016), LS Liam McCullough
• June 13th-14th visitor(s): QB Dwayne Haskins (2016), RB/WR George Hill (2016), OL Andre James
• June 17th visitor(s): QB Joe Burrow (commit), TE Chris Clark, LB Nick Conner (commit), S Rashad Roundtree, S Kendrell McFadden
• June 18th visitors: TE Luke Farrell (2016), WR Calvin Ridley (Alabama commit), DE Dre'Mont Jones (commit), DE/LB Mekhi Brown (Alabama commit), S Shawn Burgess-Becker (Alabama commit)
• June 19th: One day camp- QB Jawon Pass, QB Malik Henry, RB Elijah Holyfield (2016), TE Jake Hausmann (2016), OL Kevin Feder (Miami commit), OL Tyler Gerald (2016 commit), DE Darius Fullwood, ATH Denzel Ward (commit), ATH Abu Daramy
• June 21st: One day camp- QB Jarrett Guarantano (2016), QB Brandon McIlwain (2016), QB Hunter Johnson (2017), RB Matthew Falcon (2016), TE Jake Pickard, LB Justin Hilliard, LB Ethan Tucky (2016), S Kendrell McFadden, ATH Tyrece Speaight
• July 25th: Friday Night Lights- TE Josh Moore, WR Justin Layne (2016), OL Matthew Burrell, OL Drew Richmond, DE Jashon Cornell, DE Darius Fullwood, DE Josh Sweat, LB Justin Hilliard (maybe), ATH Jerome Baker