Ohio State is recruiting in enemy territory yet again

With early signing day now in the rearview mirror, the Buckeyes focus is solely on the remaining preparation for the Cotton Bowl against Southern Cal. For the Buckeye football staff however, there is still work to be done on the recruiting front as they look to seal off the rest of their 2018 class. With likely four to maybe five spots left, the 21 already signed and in the fold are more than impressive to say the least, but there’s prospects high on the Buckeyes that could help this class get back to No. 1 when all is said and done.

The State Up North is fair game

The Buckeyes recruiting efforts nationally are easily one of, if not the, top program in the country. Pulling top ranked players from every corner of the nation year in and year out has given Urban Meyer and his staff the ability to have a strong presence anywhere they would like. Fortunately, one area Ohio State has had recruiting and on the field success is in Michigan. When you have a fierce rivalry like the Buckeyes have with the team up north, one of the greatest accomplishments is being able to steal a top ranked target from right out of the rival’s backyard.

Yesterday, Ohio State once again went across enemy lines and offered Belleville, Michigan native, Julian Barnett. Barnett, a 6-foot-1, 190 pound athlete can play both sides of the ball at either receiver or defensive back. At the college level though, he is mainly being recruited as a cornerback. Obviously with the success Ohio State has each and every NFL Draft with sending their guys to top picks, Barnett will certainly entertain this latest scholarship offer.

Ranked currently as the second best player in the state of Michigan for the 2019 class, Julian is also the third best overall at his cornerback position in the country. With over twenty scholarship offers to his name, Barnett will be a recruit nearly every top program is hard at work after, but it seems Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State are the early front running leaders to this point. However, you can’t count out the Wolverines quite yet being so close in location to Barnett’s high school program. Fortunately, Julian is no new name to the Buckeye staff as he has already visited campus multiple times and even camped at the annual Friday Night Lights showcase. The groundwork may already be laid out, now the Buckeyes and Meyer have to continue developing a strong relationship. If this is the case, Ohio State is certainly in this recruitment until the very end.

Let’s sort this out

One position of obvious need for Ohio State’s 2018 class is at defensive end. With a likely exit of early NFL Draft picks from this current Ohio State roster, Urban Meyer and Larry Johnson know the time is now to reload the unit that has quickly become one of the best in the country each season. Fortunately, the Buckeyes may have some serious momentum working in their favor for not one, but two top prospects at the position.

Yesterday, Jayson Oweh, a current 4-star defensive end out of New Jersey, and one the Buckeyes are very high on, took to twitter to not only express his mind, but also maybe hear a little feedback from his followers on which school he should choose. Granted this is not really a tactic Oweh will take to heart, Buckeye fans certainly didn’t take long to express their thoughts.

To keep with the trend, in-state defensive end, Tyreke Smith, a Cleveland native took to twitter to increase his followers list and make no mistake about it, the Buckeye fans came ever so quickly to his beckoning call. In fact, the hashtags #TyrekeSmithToOSU and #OwehToOSU started to trend and actually caused quite a ruckus in the twitter world showing just how important these two are for Ohio State’s class.

The duo plan to announce their decisions at the Under Armour All-Aamerican game coming soon in January and it is looking more and more possible with each passing day that Ohio State could in fact land both of the dynamic duo and completely restock their shelves at the position they desperately need. With crystal ball predictions coming in for the Buckeyes concerning both parties, Buckeye fans have to like where this momentum is trending.