Buckeyes in the running for two top 2022 national prospects

It’s been a little bit of walking on eggshells in the last 48 hours due to the Illinois game being in jeopardy with some COVID cases in the program, but as of right now the Buckeyes still have plans to take on the Fighting Illini tomorrow at noon. Pretty appropriate with yesterday being Thanksgiving to remember to be thankful for any Ohio State football this season.

Still though, any talk of a potential game cancellation causes enough worry for Buckeye fans and rightfully so. Knock on wood, but here’s to hoping that by time you’re reading this all signs are full go for the Buckeyes to play in their fifth game of this crazy season.

Switching gears to recruiting talk, even on a national holiday where news seems to be lessened, the Buckeyes once again found themselves in relation to good news as multiple top national recruits kept Ohio State alive in their top schools lists. There’s literally positive news every new day concerning the Buckeyes’ recruiting efforts, and with this staff’s relentless effort on the trail it will do nothing but continue.

Nation’s top corner includes OSU in top six

In yesterday’s edition of State Secrets, it was mentioned that the nation’s top cornerback in the country for 2022, Domani Jackson, had plans to release some sort of news on Thanksgiving Day. Without much of a hint given as to what this entailed, it caused a bit of a stir for a couple fanbases simply due to the fact that Jackson is by far one of the top targets not only for Ohio State, but many other programs around the country.

Being the third-ranked prospect in the entire nation in addition to the top corner in the 247Sports Composite rankings, any update regarding the California native is worth paying very close attention to.

The news that Jackson dropped came via his Twitter, when he decided to trim his list to six remaining college programs before making a final call and commitment. With nearly 40 offers to his name, he cut that down to a final of Michigan, USC, Clemson, Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Ohio State. Though there is of course those six mentioned, it’s not crazy to think that this recruitment really is down to three main schools with the Buckeyes, Wolverines, and the home state Trojans leading the way.

The good news here is that Ohio State is obviously still heavily in the mix. It was only a couple of weeks ago that saw numerous predictions in favor of the Buckeyes on the 247Sports Crystal Ball. However, after a trip to Ann Arbor with other Michigan targets, the buzz surrounding the Buckeyes did seem to cool off a bit. From here on out, it’s important to note that Ohio State is a real threat to land his services.

They would really like to get the Cali native on campus to stave off some of that Michigan momentum. What does help is knowing Ohio State’s track record for defensive back development. That alone certainly helps in trying to sway Jackson right into this elite 2022 class. Moving forward, as it is with any top prospect of this magnitude, it’s going to be a fight to the finish.

Top-10 receiver keeps Ohio State in the mix

Staying at Mater Dei High School, the same program of the aforementioned Jackson, was once again good to Ohio State as another top national prospect from the California powerhouse decided to make a trimmed top schools list that included the Buckeyes.

The nation’s sixth-best receiver per the 247Sports Composite rankings, C.J. Williams, announced via his Twitter yesterday that he was down to a whopping 16 schools to choose from before making a final decision on where he would be headed for his collegiate career. While 16 does sound like a ton of schools, when you consider Williams holds nearly 50 offers to his name, it makes sense.

Making the cut for Williams included Ohio State, Washington, Georgia, USC, Notre Dame, LSU, TCU, Alabama, Cal, and a few others. With zero predictions casted on the 247Sports Crystal Ball, it really could be anyone’s game at this point to land the fifth-ranked player in California for the 2022 class. In terms of where Ohio State stands, this recruitment will be an interesting one to watch considering the amount of elite talent at the position currently on the roster, coming in the 2021 class, and even in 2022 with the nation’s top player at the spot Caleb Burton already in the fold.

The Buckeyes have one receiver in 2022 already in the aforementioned Burton. The point worth making is how many more receivers Ohio State and Brian Hartline can still realistically take. They are definitely in on a few more, but Williams would be someone the Buckeyes would have absolutely love to have considering his talent and ranking. As this recruitment goes on, you’ll see who Ohio State is really in on and who is serious about the Buckeyes because spots are filling up rather quickly.

Quick Hits

• Shaun Wade’s father Randy is doing some recruiting of his own on social media. As someone with some pull in the Jacksonville area, Randy Wade is making sure 2022 five-star corner prospect Jaheim Singletary gets a warm reception from Buckeye Nation on Twitter. Shaun Wade was a five-star prospect out of Jacksonville in 2017, and Singletary could potentially follow in his footsteps as the next big piece of BIA. Singletary is the nation’s No. 5 CB and No. 10 player overall, and he is set to make his decision on Jan. 2.