Four-star running back Jaylan Knighton picks Florida State over Ohio State

Jaylan Knighton’s eventual commitment to the Ohio State Buckeyes was more or less a foregone conclusion, until it wasn’t. After a wild 48 hours — which included a last minute visit to Tallahassee — Knighton announced that he would be playing his college football for the Florida State Seminoles.

As recently as last Friday, it was widely assumed that the four-star running back out of Deerfield Beach, Fla., would be the next major commitment to OSU’s 2020 recruiting class. However, Knighton attended a camp over the weekend on the Florida State campus, and almost immediately, every recruiting prognosticator changed their prediction to the Seminoles.

This surprising reporting followed quickly on the heels of word that five-star running back Bijan Robinson — who is scheduled to commit on Friday — had also changed his mind and would not be committing to Ohio State as previously anticipated. With Knighton now officially a part of FSU’s 2020 class, Robinson is expected to commit to Texas, Arizona, or USC on Aug. 2.

Knighton ranks as the 94th-best player in the country and the third-best all-purpose back according to 247Sports Composite rankings. In addition to FSU and Ohio State, he also held offers from Miami, Oklahoma, Alabama, Michigan, Clemson, Auburn, Georgia, Iowa, LSU, Oregon, Penn State and many others.

Standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 185 pounds, Knighton is extremely explosive and has the ability to change direction at will. He likely would have been a perfect fit out of the backfield for Day’s offensive.

Check out highlights from Knighton’s junior season: