Ohio State recruiting: Buckeyes still looking for offensive weapons in 2020 class

In 15 days, the Ohio State Buckeyes will be officially back in action. With training camp winding down, questions about the team’s outlook are starting to surface and become answered. In fact, as early as Monday, Buckeye Nation should know its fate for who their starting quarterback will be.

This close to the season though, recruiting tends to take a bit of a hit. Not in priority, but in news to give. With high school football well underway, the Buckeyes are of course still in contact with their top targets that are uncommitted, but like the recruits, have their own season to put first and foremost. Rest assured, the staff and Mark Pantoni know exactly what they are doing in positions of need for 2020 and beyond.

Running Back recruiting update

To put it lightly, Ohio State’s running back recruiting in the 2020 class has been nothing short of crazy. With so many ups and downs, it’s been almost hard to keep track of everything. As of now, the Buckeyes have zero commits at the position for 2020. Running back is a position of serious need, and with the potential of J.K. Dobbins leaving early if all goes well this season, Ohio State has wanted not one but two running backs in their class. However, right now, one RB commit would surely suffice and make the fans feel a little more at ease. There’s still plenty of time before National Letters of Intent must be signed for the ‘20 recruiting class—and it seems very probable that OSU will land a rusher. One potential candidate to be a member of next year’s recruiting class is a highly talented all-purpose back from Central Ohio.

Michael Drennen II is an APB that is one of the best in the country at his position. The best part: He’s right down the street from the Buckeyes and currently plays his prep ball at Dublin Coffman. Not a new name by any means to Ohio State fans, Drennen has long been linked to the Buckeyes, but it’s obviously never been a done deal.

Michael is a priority for the Buckeyes and really has been a target the staff has keyed in on from the start. Having a player of his caliber in their backyard is one thing, but when they need talent and fast, Michael is a prospect that surely can answer the call if he so chooses. As relationships between the two parties continue to grow stronger with time, the Buckeyes chances of landing the nation’s sixth best all-purpose back and Ohio’s third best player are getting more and more realistic.

Two at QB for 2020?

Arguably the most pivotal position to recruit each cycle is the quarterback. With how vital the position is to a team, it’s important to get your signal-caller in the class quickly and have him become one of the clear leaders of the class. With Ohio State’s 2020 class, that’s exactly what they have with current QB commit Jack Miller. The sixth best pro-style quarterback in the nation, Miller has been committed to the Buckeyes since July 2018. Ohio State has had their guy for what seems like forever now and he’s never wavered in his pledge to Ryan Day.

The interesting aspect though is to realize how much different the quarterback room in Columbus has become from the time Miller committed to now. Technically, the Buckeyes only have two scholarship quarterbacks after Justin Fields in the room and the desire for the staff is to have four. With depth being a serious issue for Ohio State, it’s been a rumor for some time now that maybe the Buckeyes try and take two quarterbacks in their 2020 class. The hard part though is deciding if that is truly what’s best for the class overall and if that “upsets” Miller enough to have him change his mind this late in the game.

Quarterbacks surely want to be the only guy at the position in each recruiting class. When you can only have one on the field at once, it’s easy to see why some may worry if taking a second signal caller in the class would affect Miller’s pledge. One guy that has been linked to the situation a few times now is a California native, CJ Stroud. Ranked one spot behind Miller, Stroud is an elite level prospect, but has yet to receive an Ohio State offer. Maybe that is the telling point right there, but he has been quoted as saying that an Ohio State offer is one he “dreams of having.”

Time will tell if that’s what the Buckeyes will do, but as it stands right now, Jack Miller looks to be the sole QB for this class. While depth is surely needed right now for the room, the few remaining spots left will probably be reserved for positions not named quarterback.