Ohio State makes offer to 4-star 2020 defensive end

The Ohio State Buckeyes have picked up a little momentum on the recruiting trail. Even though they narrowly defeated Nebraska at home Saturday, they secured commitments on Sunday. Now, just a handful of days removed from a huge weekend—and another one on the horizon as the Bucks travel to East Lansing for a top-25 game with Michigan State—the Scarlet and Gray are back on the recruiting trail.

They made some moves on Wednesday, as an offer was unveiled by a four-star 2020 defensive end prospect. However, not everything is shining on the horizon for Ohio State. One of their current 2019 commits is about to embark on a visit to Alabama this weekend. Let’s take a look at who picked up the offer, and who the Crimson Tide are trying to yank away from OSU.

A familiar city

As a team, the Buckeyes have become very familiar with the greater Dallas area. They played in AT&T Stadium three times in the last four seasons, winning a national championship on one of those occasions. This year, they played at Jerry’s World against TCU in a “neutral site” contest.

Texas recruiting has been is a common theme in the Urban Meyer era. In the 2019 class, five-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson is from Austin. And in the 2017 class, J.K. Dobbins was plucked out of the Lone Star State. Looking to the 2020 class, Meyer and company are searching for a DE—and they made their feelings known to one of them by presenting an offer.

Four-star Prince Dorbah (Dallas / Highland Park) is that prospect the Buckeyes offered. Late Wednesday night, Dorbah made the offer known on Twitter.

According to the 247sports composite, Dorbah is the No. 12 weak-side DE and No. 29 recruit from Texas for the 2020 recruiting cycle. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound lineman only has a handful of offers, but they are good ones. Alabama and Oklahoma already have their offers in, and of the few 247sports crystal balls casted, all have the Texas Longhorns as the probable landing spot for Dorbah.

We are a long way out from National Signing Day 2020, so there is time for Ohio State—or anybody for that matter—to swoop in and secure the commitment of this talented Texan, who will probably get better as time goes on.

If anything does break in favor of the Buckeyes, we’ll keep you posted.

Battling the Tide

Safety Jordan Battle (Fort Lauderdale, FL / St. Thomas Aquinas) is a four-star member of the 2019 recruiting class. He is also, as of June, been a verbal commit to the OSU football program. Of the 15 commits in the Buckeyes’ 2019 class, Battle is the fourth highest graded, according to 247sports.

He can play football. So it’s no surprise that other highly-touted schools are trying to pry him away from the Scarlet and Gray. This weekend will be a test to see how well the OSU coaching staff has been recruiting him, as Battle will be taking an official visit to Alabama.

Nick Saban’s program has been a juggernaut this season, and are fresh off a road shutout win over then-No. 3 LSU. This weekend, the Crimson Tide are at home against a ranked Mississippi State squad.

Crystal ball predictions by some of the leading recruiting analysts still have Ohio State in the driver’s seat, but ‘Bama isn’t out of it completely. Granted, a few of the recent predictions over the past month have trended toward the Buckeyes, but this upcoming visit to Tuscaloosa could change things.

We know recruiting is a whirlwind experience, so expect anything to happen. After this week, though, we’ll have a little clearer picture at where Battle will end up when all is said and done.