Quiet day for Ohio State recruiting may precede more booms

For the first time in what feels like months (in reality it’s only been a few weeks), things are relatively quiet on the recruiting front at Ohio State. A flurry of commitments has kept Buckeye fans busy during the long offseason, but after adding Kane Patterson on Monday, things seem to finally be calming down.

While calm times do happen in college football, I wouldn’t take this at face value. Ohio State has a ton of targets set to commit soon, and it feels like we’re on the brink of another huge couple of days in Buckeye recruiting. After landing a whopping nine commitments since June 27, I don’t think we’ll see that much action again this year, but we could be headed towards a similar movement.

Unlike the last couple of weeks, I think a lot of this upcoming action will come from the 2019 class. With 14 commitments in, Ohio State’s 2019 class has been a bit forgotten recently—but that won’t last. Ohio State has nine or 10 more spots still to fill before Signing Day, and they’d like to have just around four spots left by the time the season rolls around. So, who should you be watching out for as a possible commitment soon?

4-star receiver Elijah Higgins: After naming Ohio State in his top seven on Monday, Higgins remains a big target for the Buckeyes. They want four receivers in 2019, and they want Higgins to be one of them. His skillset would be fantastic complimenting Garrett Wilson’s game, and getting him committed would be a huge coup for Meyer, especially with how much Tom Herman wants him.

Higgins was on campus for an official visit in June, and will likely take more officials to his other top schools soon. He doesn’t have a commitment timetable, but the general thought seems to be that once he’s done with his official visits, he’ll commit to his school of choice. That could be as soon as early August.

5-star end Zach Harrison: Bar none the top target left for Ohio State in 2019, the Buckeyes are waiting very anxiously for Harrison’s commitment. The Olentangy Orange star has been on Ohio State’s board for years now, and took the last of his three official visits to Columbus, after seeing Michigan and Penn State.

Unfortunately, that visit didn’t seem to seal the deal, because Zach is still uncommitted. the longer this one goes, the less confident I become in Ohio State being the choice. Michigan is surging here, and where Harrison lands will likely depend on when he makes the choice. He’s said early August in the past, but he may wait until after his senior season. It just depends on when he finds a school he’s fully comfortable with.

4-star receiver Marcus Washington: Washington is scheduled to announce his commitment on his birthday, Aug. 7. There have been some questions about if he’ll actually know his decision, as he may look to move his date back to November or December, but for now, August is the plan.

If that plan holds true, I think he’ll be a Buckeye. he had a great visit on June 22, and the Buckeyes lead right now. Missouri has a chance, but this one is Ohio State’s to lose right now.

4-star receiver Jameson Williams: The chances of this one happening soon may be fading. It seemed like Williams was set to commit on his visit in late June, but when that didn’t happen, it raised some questions. With his Ohio State visit out of the way, Williams has scheduled visits to UCLA and Alabama this fall.

If he commits to Ohio State before then, those visits probably won’t happen. However, if we get to those visits with no commitment, Williams would likely no longer be an option for Ohio State.

4-star 2020 receiver Rakim Jarrett: Of all the names on this list, this is the one that I’d say is the most likely to commit next. Jarrett picked up a Buckeye offer just a few weeks ago, put them in his top four on Sunday, and said he’d be committing soon. All of this happening right after he picked up that offer seems to indicate that the choice is made, and it’s just a matter of time until he announces it.