Important Ohio State DT target walks away impressed

This past weekend was huge for the Ohio State football program in many ways. With more than 50 recruits in attendance for The Game, the Buckeyes couldn’t have asked for a better environment – or outcome.

One of the more important recruits to be in town to watch the game was four-star defensive tackle Jay Tufele (South Jordan, UT / Bingham). Tufele is one of the country’s top 60 recruits in this year’s class and is the top recruit from the state of Utah, according to 247Sports.

While the Buckeyes have already earned commitments from two promising DTs in this year’s class, the staff seems to be steamrolling their efforts to land a third, and it appears Tufele is their guy. Alongside Haskell Garrett (Las Vegas, NV / Bishop Gorman) and Jerron Cage (Cincinnati, OH / Winton Woods), Tufele would make this group one of the strongest position hauls in the 2017 class.

Tufele listed the Buckeyes in his top seven schools, along with BYU, Michigan, UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington. Of that group, the only other school Tufele used an official visit on was Michigan.

The 6-foot-3, 297-pound DT finished up his official visit Monday morning, and took to Twitter later in the afternoon to express his gratitude for Meyer and the rest of the coaching staff for the invite. It appears Tufele liked what he saw.

Expect Ohio State to continue to go after Tufele. It is not a stretch to say the Buckeyes are now the favorite to earn his commitment.

2 Ohio State recruits make cut for the U.S. Army POY finalists

The U.S. Army Player of the Year finalists were released Monday afternoon, and making the cut was current Buckeye four-star quarterback commit Tate Martell (Las Vegas, NV / Bishop Gorman) and five-star running back target Cam Akers (Clinton, MS / Clinton).

Martell, who committed to the Buckeyes in the early summer, is the No. 2 dual-threat QB in the 2017 class and has been one of Ohio State’s biggest recruiters since announcing his decision. He played a large role in the Buckeyes earning commitments from elite wide receiver prospects Tyjon Lindsey (Las Vegas, NV / Bishop Gorman) and Trevon Grimes (Fort Lauderdale, FL / St. Thomas Aquinas).

Akers is one of the few remaining offensive players Ohio State is still targeting in the class. The former Alabama commit’s recruitment is very much still up in the air, but there are a few teams separating themselves from the pack – and the Buckeyes are one of them. Akers was in town for the Michigan game and seems to have walked away impressed.

The Buckeyes will continue to actively recruit the elite RB up until National Signing Day 2017.