Ohio State recruiting picks up steam as early signing day nears

With Ohio State still having over two weeks before the semi-final contest against Clemson, the majority of time the staff is spending right now is devoted to recruiting — and rightfully so. With the early signing period rapidly approaching, Ryan Day and his crew have taken off to every part of the country seeing their current commits in the 2020 class, as well as doing their best to bring even more elite talent back with them to Columbus.

The trail they’ve blazed so far has already brought what will be another loaded class, but with the ability to be successfully selfish, Ohio State isn’t done yet and a class of 25 could easily grow to 26 or 27 before all is said and done. Fortunately, the spots remaining look to be for targets that will only help cement the Buckeyes ability to recruit, even after the Urban Meyer era.

Shaping up to be a wild one

Ohio State has had a quarterback commit for the 2020 class in Jack Miller since July of 2018. Make no mistake about it, the Buckeyes love what they have in Miller, but when you take into consideration the current depth in the quarterback room, you can see why taking a second signal caller in the class is more than necessary. Every time this season Justin Fields went down for a short time, the depth behind him became a huge concern. The season can flash right before your eyes, and while there’s no perfect fix to replacing a talent like Fields, depth is the best chance at sustaining success if something were to happen to the top guy.

Not a new name to anyone who follows Ohio State recruiting, as the Buckeyes have been after California native CJ Stroud for some time now. While there’s been a lot of changes to the relationship between he and Ohio State, the current standing between the two parties seems to be pretty good. In fact, both Ryan Day and Mike Yurcich made the trek out to Southern California to have an in-home visit with Stroud yesterday. This morning as you’re reading this, all three of those parties are back in Ohio, as CJ is set to make his last official visit to OSU this weekend. An incredible piece of timing for Ohio State, expect nothing less than the red carpet affair as they do their best to show exactly why Stroud should sign with them next week.

Right now, it looks to be down to Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State in the mix for Stroud’s services. With the Buckeyes getting the last of the visits, Ohio State and all they have to offer will be the freshest program in No. 2 QB’s mind before he makes the final call. There’s really not much comparison between the other two programs and Ohio State when it comes to development at the quarterback position. See: Justin Fields. After all, he left Georgia and immediately became one of the best in the nation. Michigan — well you know the deal there. Too harsh? Probably, but those aspects right there may help to persuade Stroud to be a Buckeye and join in as another elite quarterback in the future.

Quick Hits:

• Buckeye assistant coach Kevin Wilson was in North Carolina yesterday to see William Amos Hough product Evan Pryor. The nation’s No. 5 running back in the 2021 class is an early priority for Ohio State at a position of need.
• Nebraska native cornerback Avante Dickerson, the No. 1 prospect in the state for the 2021 class, named his top three schools on Thursday. Making the cut for the No. 8 corner in the class were Nebraska, LSU, and of course Ohio State.