Nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle includes Ohio State in top six

Ohio State takes the field in just over 48 hours when Rutgers comes to town. With the next Big Ten opponent normally the talk of the town this close to the kickoff, you would think all sights would be set on Greg Schiano and the Scarlet Knights.

As you know, however, with the Buckeyes recruiting never stops, and last night the 2022 class got another boost that moved them to the top overall class in that cycle the moment they received their seventh commitment from four-star tight end, Benji Gosnell.

It’s a great time to be an Ohio State fan, and the Bucks are proving that to be true every time they land more elite national prospects.

Nation’s top OT in 2022 trims list to six

A major priority for Ohio State is to reload along the offensive and defensive lines in each recruiting cycle, specifically at offensive tackle these days. In 2021, the Buckeyes haven’t been able to land their top target at the high profile position. Yes, they have some great answers and future depth with two offensive guards and one late addition thanks to Zen Michalski, but still Greg Studrawa and the rest of the Buckeye staff wanted more.

In 2022, the Buckeyes are fortunate enough to have the ability to reload their offensive line without having to travel very far thanks to two in-state highly regarded four-star tackle prospects. Ranked as Ohio’s fourth best prospect, Aamil Wagner does not currently hold a Buckeye offer, but that could simply be just a matter of time. The next in the rankings is Tegra Tshabola, who is already part of Ohio State’s 2022 class and is further proof to the fact that Studrawa and company will be doing their best to keep the best guys at home.

While having two in-state targets is a great benefit, the Buckeyes staff will still of course look to go more national in finding an elite tackle to solidify their offensive line. Yesterday, a step in that direction may have been taken when the nation’s top-ranked tackle prospect, Gunner Givens (Daleville, Virginia/Lord Botetourt), took to his Twitter account to release a list of six schools he is considering before making a final call. Making the cut included Clemson, Alabama, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Penn State, and Ohio State.

A position the Buckeyes have found themselves in several times, they have a legitimate chance in landing a five-star offensive tackle in this class. With plenty of time to lay the groundwork even more, the main benefit here is that Ohio State is already in strong consideration. Moving forward, it will be important for the staff to continue building as strong of a relationship with Givens as they can as well as getting him on campus when that is allowed.

Givens has yet to set a commitment date, but the Buckeyes fortunately are in this one deep into the process.

Newly offered prospect “highly interested” in OSU

On Tuesday Ohio State sent out their latest offer to Texas native defensive-end target, Omari Abor. The 6-foot-4, 240 pound class of 2022 prospect is currently ranked as the fifth-best defensive-end, the 17th best player in Texas, and the No. 93 player overall nationally for his class. A player with over 20 scholarship offers from many of the nation’s best programs, it was only a matter of time before the Buckeyes got involved, and it looks as if their offer is making a major impact on Abor’s recruiting process.

Yesterday, Bill Kurelic of Bucknuts spoke with Abor about his new Ohio State offer. Abor made it clear that he is “highly interested” in what the Buckeyes have to offer. Unable to get on campus right now due to the NCAA dead period, it will be sometime before he is able to actually see Ohio State’s campus and all they have going for them, but what he does know already is the track record for OSU defensive-ends thanks to position coach Larry Johnson.

When looking at the NFL and seeing multiple guys from Ohio State all over, it’s a pretty noteworthy recruiting pitch that clearly Abor is taking notice of. As the staff continues to recruit and land top defensive targets in their 2022 class, it looks as if Abor will be a name to keep an eye on moving forward.