Future Buckeyes shine at All-American Bowl

Buckeye Nation had a chance to see first-hand what some of the members of Ohio State’s 2019 recruiting class will bring to the program this past weekend during the All-American Bowl and those that tuned in got a great show.

In particular, Ohio State five-star center commit Harry Miller and five-star WR commit Garrett Wilson dominated when given playing time and Rivals.com highlighted this in their “Gorney Awards.” These awards are given out to the players Adam Gorney viewed had the best performances during the game and both Miller and Wilson received high praise.

Miller was awarded the “Lunch Pail” award which is given out to the player “who does the dirty work that doesn’t get into the box score or noticed by many.” Basically, the award is given to the best offensive lineman.

When explaining his decision, Gorney said that Miller directed the offensive line for the eastern squad and looked great all week. Gorney also mentioned that Miller did a terrific job in recruiting Ohio State OG verbal commit Doug Nester to sign with the University. Nester decided not to sign with Ohio State during the early signing period to ensure the school was the best fit for him following the announcement of Urban Meyer’s retirement. Obviously, Nester’s relationship with Ryan Day and his coaching staff will be the ultimate deciding factor in his recruitment but having Miller in his ear all week only helped the Buckeyes’ chances in landing him.

Gorney also labeled future Buckeye WR Garrett Wilson the winner of the “Stick ‘em” award. This award is, understandably, given to the the best player at the wideout position.

Wilson has long been viewed as one of the best WR prospects in the 2019 class but the fact that he earned the award over Oklahoma commit Jadon Haselwood, who many believe is the best WR prospect in this year’s class, makes winning the award for Wilson that much sweeter.

When explaining his decision, Gorney said that Wilson was, “just more dynamic over the entire week and he dominated at times.” Wilson finished the game with four receptions for 89 yards and caught two touchdowns, leading the Western squad.

3-star OG trending towards Ohio State

Ohio State saw 15 of the country’s top prospects sign with the University during the early signing period. On top of this, four-star OG Doug Nester is still verbally committed to the program and appears to be trending towards signing with the team on National Signing Day.

The Buckeyes don’t have as much room in this year’s class as they have in years past, but that doesn’t mean the team is expecting to be “boom-less” from here on out. In fact, the school could be getting a verbal commit sooner rather than later from an OG that isn’t Nester.

Three-star OG recruit Dawand Jones (Indianapolis, IN / Ben Davis) has received six 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions favoring Ohio State since late December, including two on Monday. The Buckeyes now hold a 75 percent chance in landing him, according to eight experts who have cast their vote in predicting where he lands.

While some members of Buckeye Nation may question Ohio State’s motives in recruiting a three-star prospect, the teams competing with the Buckeyes are some of the best in the country. The list of offers he has received include USC, Florida, Texas, Auburn, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and many others.

The move will likely be to provide depth at a position you can never have too much of and Jones appears to be the type of player who will outperform his star ranking.

Quick Hits:

• Ohio State class of 2019 early enrollees moved onto campus over the weekend and the photo below presented by the Ohio State football team’s official Twitter shows their excitement.

• Not forgetting the Basketball Buckeyes, Ohio State 2020 four-star center prospect Zach Loveday announced he has transferred to Huntington Prep Monday in a move he says, “just puts me in a better position on the court with better players, a bigger stage and staff that will take great care of me.” The Buckeyes are one of many top-tier programs recruiting Loveday.