Where can Buckeyes look for their 2022 quarterback target?

Each new day seems to bring with it a never-ending saga surrounding will become of this 2020 college football season. New headlines are popping up every time you refresh your feed, and it’s truly hard to figure out what and who to believe. One thing you can depend on, however, is the Buckeyes and their football recruiting efforts being off the charts.

The Ohio State coaching staff has been relentless in their pursuit of the best talent in the country and while they still sit atop of the current 2021 recruiting rankings, it’s clearly not enough as they try to bring home even more elite targets in what will be a truly historic haul.

As if being on top of the 2021 leaderboard isn’t enough, Ohio State’s 2022 class is also currently the top-ranked class in the country (according to Rivals) even though it’s still plenty early. Now that coaches all over the country are in full contact with next year’s prospects, look the for majority of the recruiting news to be funneled over from 2021 to the future. From here on, if news happens in the 2021 class, odds are it’s regarding a commitment.

In terms of offers extended and new names to the scene, 2022 is going to be the main source of the headlines. Fortunately, Ryan Day and his crew are entering with a full head of steam.

Looking for an elite quarterback to continue the trend

When the Buckeyes landed Day as an assistant under Urban Meyer, they didn’t get just a brilliant offensive mind — they were able to land a quarterback whisperer, so to speak. Since he’s been at the helm of the position and program overall, the Buckeyes have landed elite quarterbacks in every recruiting class, and it’s a trend that doesn’t have plans of stopping any time soon.

When looking at the 2022 class specifically, it was Quinn Ewers who the Buckeyes and everyone else had their eyes on to be the guy. The now Texas commit wasn’t shy about his interest in Ohio State and Day, but it’s on to the next one unless the pledge to the Longhorns falls through — which certainly isn’t something that anyone should be banking on.

Moving along to uncommitted players, a prospect Day and Ohio State’s staff are going to be looking at from here on is Georgia native Jacurri Brown. A 6-foot-4, 205-pound dual-threat signal caller, Brown may not be the prototypical pro-style quarterback we’ve seen Day recruit heavily in recent years, but he still has all of the traits to do exactly what the Buckeyes offense asks for. Ranked as the sixth-best player at his position, Brown is also the 14th-best player in an always loaded state of Georgia, and the No. 122 player nationally in the early 247Sports recruiting rankings for the 2022 class.

Yet to receive an Ohio State offer, that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes aren’t interested. In fact, Bill Kurelic of Bucknuts has gone as far to say that he would not be surprised if an offer comes for Brown soon due to the interest in both parties. Yes, Ohio State will definitely be in the thick of things for multiple targets — such as California five-star Maalik Murphy — but being in contact with Brown looks to be the priority as they get deeper into this cycle.

Brown has made it clear that two schools he covets offers from are Ohio State and Clemson. He’s made his interest in the program very clear on his social media accounts, and time will tell sooner rather than later if that same interest is reciprocated by OSU and their coaching staff as they engage in a recruiting battle with the Tigers.

Accolades for newly committed Buckeyes

One of the perk of following Ohio State football’s current recruiting efforts is seeing success in two different recruiting classes at once. The best part of seeing the Buckeyes add commits to their classes is the fact that the players they are landing are the cream of the crop and among the best at their positions in the entire country.

Two of the newly committed Buckeye pledges, Tyleik Williams in the 2021 class and Dasan McCullough in 2022, continue to see their recruiting stocks rise. The accomplishments and accolades fully support why Ohio State’s staff wanted to add these players to the fold from the start.

Yesterday via his Twitter account, Williams announced that he had been invited to participate in the All-American Bowl — one of the highest post-season honors for a high school football player. Competing alongside the best prep players in America, this game, along with the Under Armour All-American game, have been a staple for Ohio State commits to play in as their final high school contest. Not yet committing to playing in the game, the invitation alone once again shows the caliber of player the Buckeyes are getting in their latest 2021 defensive tackle commit.

Switching gears to the 2022 class, McCullough has only been committed to Ohio State for just under three weeks, but has already been a hot topic for recruiting followers and fans in general. The top player in Kansas for his class, McCullough has been compared several times to former Clemson standout Isaiah Simmons. For one, Ohio State believes he too can play multiple positions in the defensive backfield, but also both he and Simmons played their high school ball in Kansas.

Most recently, McCullough continues to see his stock rise, as with the latest 247Sports composite rankings update the 6-foot-5, 220-pound freak athlete still maintains his high four-star status, but is also now the highest-ranked player to come out of Kansas in over a decade. The Buckeyes got the real deal when he gave them his pledge, and it’s going to be fun to see how he is used on the defensive side of the ball for the Silver Bullets.