Ohio State offers 4-star TE during visit

Ohio State offers blue-chip 2020 TE

The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is gearing up for the biggest week of the Spring season with the annual Scarlet and Grey game set to take place this Saturday. The game will take place Saturday at noon and—just like in years past—a hefty list of recruits are scheduled to attend the game.

However, Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes’ coaching staff aren’t waiting until Saturday to get recruits on campus. Like seemingly every week this spring, Ohio State has hosted multiple recruits during practices and Monday was no different.

One of the recruits to attend practice yesterday was 2020 tight end recruit Michael Mayer (Alexandria, KY / Covington Catholic) who ended his visit receiving that coveted Ohio State scholarship offer.

The four-star TE has received plenty of attention from elite level college football programs already in his recruitment despite only having two seasons of high school football under his belt. Following the Ohio State offer on Monday, Mayer now has 12 scholarship offers from schools like Notre Dame, Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Louisville, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and Cincinnati.

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Mayer is viewed as the No. 5 TE in his class by 247Sports and is the No. 226 prospect overall.

Ohio State makes the cut for 4-star ATH

Four-star athlete Ronnie Hickman (Wayne, NJ / DePaul Catholic) holds a reported 19 scholarship offers, but he announced a top group of Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Notre Dame, Florida and Virginia Tech via his Twitter account Monday night.

Hickman is the No. 13 ATH in the 2019 recruiting class and is the No. 122 overall recruit in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He is also the No. 2 recruit from the state of New Jersey.

Standing at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Hickman plays both wide receiver and safety for DePaul Catholic. It is uncertain as to which position Ohio State is looking at him for, given that both Urban Meyer and Greg Schiano are both heavily involved in his recruitment. It is probably safe to assume they are looking at him to play defense.

Hickman last visited Ohio State in February but now that he has narrowed down his list of schools to six, expect him to begin scheduling official visits starting as early as this spring.

Currently, Ohio State hold 100-percent of the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions but both Rutgers and Penn State are thought to be gaining ground.

4-star Safety reps Ohio State

Ohio State has made four-star safety prospect Nick Cross (Hyattsville, MD / DeMatha Catholic) a priority this recruiting cycle and it appears the dedication is paying off.

Cross was one of a few prospects with an Ohio State offer to be invited to The Opening Finals after an impressive showing in the New Jersey regional camp on Sunday. But outside of his talent and instincts on the gridiron, what stood out most about his performance was his Ohio State Block “O” gloves.

The 6-foot-1, 207-pound Cross is viewed as the No. 10 safety by the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 184 overall prospect in his class. However, if he continues to dominate his competition at national recruiting camps, those numbers could climb even higher.

Luke Stampini of 247Sports, attended the weekend’s event and listed Cross as the ‘alpha dog.’ According to Stampini, Cross recorded an insane 40-yard dash time of under 4.50 seconds and outshined all the other participants in one-on-one’s.

When speaking on Cross’ level of play, Stampini said, ‘‘The movement skills that Cross possesses helps in man coverage and the ability to make plays along the sideline when lining up as a free safety. From start to finish, Cross was the camp’s top overall performer.”

While Ohio State has to like where it stands in his recruitment, they aren’t the lone contender. Cross holds more than 30 offers from programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State

Helping in Ohio State’s efforts to pursue Cross is his relationship with his former teammate and current Buckeye defensive end Chase Young. If Ohio State is able to get Cross to commit, who reportedly wants to come to a decision before the start of his senior season, the DeMatha Catholic pipeline will be one of Ohio State’s strongest.

Need more proof that Cross is having one of the best offseasons in the 2019 recruiting class? He was also offered a chance to partake in this year’s U.S. Army All-American Game.

Quick Hits

• Ohio State four-star quarterback target Sam Howell committed to Florida State over Ohio State and several others late Monday afternoon. Howell visited Ohio State in March with his dad but with the Buckeyes unable to identify a lone QB target in the 2019 class, Florida State was able to sway him. Look for the Buckeyes to zone in on four-star QB Grant Gunnell to close out the 2019 cycle.

• Ohio State four-star offensive tackle target Paris Johnson is expected to be in attendance for the Ohio State spring game this weekend.