Ohio State offers 2023 safety, tight end

While most of the Ohio State world is focused on the Buckeyes’ basketball team and the upcoming NCAA Tournament, college football recruiting never stops. Ryan Day and his staff know the key to dominating in the fall is to grind hard in the offseason when nobody is watching, and that is exactly what they are doing as they continue to stack top-ranked recruiting classes on top of one another.

A lot of this hard work comes in the scouting department, where Mark Pantoni and his guys try to find some of the nation’s top future talents before the rest of the country does. Even in the current climate of limited access with the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, Ohio State’s ability to scout and recruit highly-rated prospects is second to none. While most of the heavy lifting is being done in the 2022 class, they are making sure to start building relationships in the 2023 cycle as well.

Ohio State offered a pair of 2023 prospects on Tuesday, starting with safety Daemon Fagan. Not yet rated on 247Sports as he is only a high school sophomore, Fagan hails out of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Standing at 6-foot-2, 160 pounds, the American Heritage product already has double-digit offers to his name. Among those showing interest in Fagan early in the process includes Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Oregon, Texas A&M and of course most recently the Buckeyes.

Fagan will likely be a highly-regarded player once he officially gets a ranking, as he hauled in four interceptions this past season helping lead his squad to the state championship game. He also impressed at a recent Under Armour All-America Camp in Miami earlier this month. Ohio State does not yet have any commits in the 2023 class, but they have already floated offers to at least four other defensive backs in the cycle, including fellow Florida native Cormani McClain and Ohio’s own Sonny Styles.

The other 2023 prospect to receive an offer from the Buckeyes on Tuesday is tight end Luke Hasz. Also without a ranking just yet, Hasz has drawn a ton of interest from all around the country, hauling in an impressive 16 offers thus far as a high school sophomore. Among those already throwing their hat in the ring for Hasz include Baylor, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC and others.

After bringing in just one tight end in 2021, Ohio State already has two guys at the position committed in 2022, and they will likely look to continue that success in 2023. While the tight ends in Columbus never really seem to do all that much in the passing game, they are an integral part of the Buckeyes’ offense in both the blocking game and inside the red zone, and they are making the role’s importance clear as they have already offered four tight ends in the next cycle.

Hasz could be one of the top players at the position when the rankings come out, and he already has a big fan in college football analyst RJ Young:

Quick Hits

• Ohio State’s top target at offensive tackle, Kiyaunta Goodwin, is set to release his top five sometime soon. The Buckeyes will almost certainly be included, as they have been seen as the Indiana native’s lean for quite some time. The nation’s No. 5 OT and No. 47 overall player in 2022 currently has three Crystal Ball predictions in favor of Ohio State. Standing at 6-foot-7, 300 pounds, Goodwin would be another huge addition to the Buckeyes’ already loaded group in 2022.

• In addition to the new offers in 2023, Ohio State also send out another offer on Tuesday night to 2022 running back Omarion Hampton. The four-star North Carolina native is the No. 11 RB and No. 135 player in the class, and already has over 20 offers to his name.