Buckeyes offer 2020 receiver ahead of big recruiting weekend

We’re entering one of the quieter times of the recruiting period. The signing period is behind us, and while there’s still an official signing day in February, only a handful of recruits remain unsigned, and most of them aren’t Buckeye caliber. On top of that, we aren’t to summer camp time yet, which means 2020 recruits aren’t fully cycled in quite yet.

That’s not going to stop Ohio State from making moves though, because recruiting never sleeps. The Buckeyes are evaluating talent right now, and seem to have found a player they like a lot, as they extended an offer to California four-star receiver LV Bunkley Shelton on Tuesday afternoon.

Bunkley-Shelton is ranked as the 177th best player in the 2020 class, and holds offers from 16 other programs. This offer is pretty consistent with the others we’ve seen from Ryan Day and Brian Hartline at the receiver position in 2020. It seems that the Buckeyes want to establish themselves on the West Coast, because outside of maybe Florida, nowhere produces more wide receiver talent than the west coast.

Day and Hartline are well aware of that, and this is a recruitment to watch closely if Bunkley-Shelton shows interest in visiting Columbus.

Pack of linemen set to visit this weekend

Ohio State isn’t just spending the week watching film on 2020 recruits and sending out offers. The Buckeyes also have plans to welcome a number of recruits into Columbus this weekend, both for some new recruits to see the campus for the first time, and for some signees to meet the new members of the coaching staff.

Among the group are signees Harry Miller and Tommy Eichenberg (the lone non-lineman), and commit Doug Nester. Also visiting are a trio of 2021 linemen: Ryan Linthicum, and the Brockermeyer brothers, James and Tommy.

The two biggest name in that group in terms of actual impact this visit could have is certainly Doug Nester. If he has a good visit, Nester could shut down his recruitment, reaffirm his Ohio State pledge, and prepare to sign in February.

Unfortunately, one of the names originally on this list, Dawand jones, likely won’t be attending due to poor weather. Jones is one of the few remaining targets for the Buckeyes in 2019, and if the Buckeyes could’ve made a good impression, it would’ve gone a long way to sealing him as a commitment in the class.

Penn State mass exodus?

You might have missed it if you don’t follow Penn State football closely, but the Nittany Lions are having a bit of a weird week. On Jan. 11, receiver Juwan Johnson entered the portal, presumably as a grad transfer. Since then, defensive backs Zechariah McPhearson, Ayron Monroe, and Lamont Wade, receiver Brandon Polk, tackles Sterling Jenkins and Alex Gellerstedt, and tight end Danny Dalton have all entered the transfer portal, joining Johnson and linebacker Dae’lun Darien who announced he’d be leaving a few days ago.

That’s quite a few departures, obviously, though most are reserves, save for Polk and Johnson. More importantly, at least for Ohio State, is the question I’m sure you had at one point or another: could any of these guys end up in Columbus? Well, the easy answer is probably not.

Johnson, Polk and Wade feel like the only Ohio State caliber players in the group, and unless Ohio State decides they want a grad transfer receiver and adds Johnson (they won’t) I don’t see any of those three in Columbus. Wade will likely look to stay in Pennsylvania, while Polk and Johnson haven’t named top schools yet.