Ohio State could pick up a 4-star CB today

Ohio State currently boasts the No. 1 recruiting class in the 2018 cycle and could soon be adding to it. Four-star cornerback Christian Tutt (Thomson, GA/Thomson) is scheduled to make his decision later today at his U.S. Army All-American Game jersey ceremony and will be deciding between Ohio State and Auburn.

Tutt is seen as one of the top CBs in the class, coming in at No. 25 at the position in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and the No. 221 overall prospect in the entire class. The blue-chip recruit recently confirmed with Benjamin Wolk of SEC Country that he has narrowed his decision down to the Buckeyes and Tigers.

The U.S. All American is coming off an official visit to Auburn where he was able to witness firsthand the Tigers’ most impressive victory of the season, blowing out No. 1 Georgia. Needless to say, the overwhelming feeling is the visit couldn’t have gone any better.

Tutt also officially visited both Ohio State for the Oklahoma game earlier in the season. While the game didn’t produce a favorable outcome, the atmosphere in The 'Shoe during a night game has been enough to sway recruits in years past, so the end result isn’t a deal breaker.

With his official visits out of the way, it was widely expected that Tutt would make his announcement during his jersey celebration and the four-star took to Twitter following the visit to confirm his decision time.

The timing of the commitment doesn’t favor Ohio State, as his Auburn visit is fresh in his mind, and it is expected that the Tigers will be his school of choice. If Tutt does in fact choose Auburn, he will be the second blue-chip CB to dog the Buckeyes in recent weeks as four-star CB Houston Griffith elected to pick Florida State over Ohio State last month.

But all is not lost.

The Buckeyes already hold verbal commitments from four-star CB Sevyn Banks and three-star CB Marcus Hooker and are among those leading the way in five-star CB Anthony Cook’s recruitment, who they prefer over Tutt.

We have talked about Cook plenty on this site and while he has been viewed as an Ohio State lean for the majority of his recruitment, home-state school Texas has recently gained a lot of ground on the Buckeyes and are now seen as the favorite to land him in the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions.

The Buckeyes have found themselves in an awkward spot as they have long favored Cook, and therefore have dedicated more time in effort in recruiting him over other CBs in the class. If the Buckeyes were to miss out on both Cook and Tutt, they may need to go back to the drawing board if they view adding another CB as a necessity.

Update on Jackson Carman

If you follow Ohio State recruiting even the slightest bit, offensive tackle Jackson Carman (Fairfield, OH/Fairfield) is a name you will certainly recognize. The five-star Ohio native has long been associated with the program, but the excitement between him and the Buckeyes has seemed to fade in recent months.

Carman made his way back to Ohio State’s campus this past weekend for the Michigan State game, marking his second visit to the school in three weeks. Carman officially visited the Buckeyes Oct. 27 for the Penn State game, and while Carman stayed true to himself and didn’t say much following the visit, it was reported that it went extremely well.

Fast-forward to this week and we have another update in his recruitment. Carman was expected to use his final official visit on Wisconsin, but following the weekend visit to Columbus, we have learned that visit will no longer occur. Josh Helmholdt of Rivals.com spoke to Carman recently and he confirmed he will no longer visit the Badgers, seemingly knocking them out of contention.

However, this new development has little to do with his recent visit to Ohio State and more with the fact that Wisconsin is unable to accept him as a mid-year enrollee. The good news is that there is now one less team the Buckeyes are contending with for Carman’s pledge. Ohio State is still seen as the overwhelming favorite, with 88-percent of the 247Sports Crystal Ball Rankings, but nothing is a done deal.

Quick Hits:

• The Buckeyes continued the 2018 QB recruiting carousel by offering three-star QB Matthew Baldwin (Austin, TX/Lake Travis) following a weekend visit to the program for the Michigan State game. Currently, Baldwin is committed to Colorado State, but if four-star QB Emory Jones flips his commitment to Alabama, the Buckeyes could look to Baldwin as a back-up plan.

• Four-star Ohio State outside linebacker commit Dallas Gant (Toledo, OH/St. John’s Jesuit) received his jersey for the U.S. All-American Game Monday.