Buckeyes busy on the trail dishing out multiple new offers, make top-five list for 2022 DE

Thursday proved to be a busy day for the Buckeyes and their football program. After a morning announcement that they will be allowing 20,000 fans for the spring football game coming up next weekend, Ohio State was also hard at work on the recruiting trail as they offered multiple prospects in both the 2022 and 2023 classes. Even in the midst of spring football practice, recruiting efforts were at their peak for the Buckeye coaching staff.

Ohio State dishes out defensive line offers

In every recruiting cycle, reloading the trenches with the best talent is a key priority for any coaching staff. Knowing the importance of both the offensive and defensive line to a team’s overall success, Ohio State has been among the best in the country every year at bringing in top national players, especially when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. Yesterday, the Buckeyes and their recruiting chops were at it again along the D-line when they dished out new offers to a pair of prospects.

Starting with the current 2022 cycle, the Buckeyes offered California native Hero Kanu — a 6-foot-5, 295-pound defensive tackle with a college ready frame as a serious run-stopping threat in the interior of the front. A bit of an under-the-radar prospect by Ohio State’s typical standards, Kanu is only listed as a three-star recruit according to 247Sports, but has 15 offers to his name with a heavy West Coast list of schools after his services. In addition, Clemson, LSU, Kentucky, Texas, Penn State, and others are also in the mix.

With this offer to Kanu, the interesting aspect here is that it came via a phone conversation with Buckeye position coach Larry Johnson. Clearly moving forward Kanu will be a name worth watching, and also a candidate to see a serious rankings increase with another impressive offer now to his name.

Moving on to Ohio State’s second defensive line offer yesterday, 2023 prospect Keith Sampson also took to his Twitter account to announce that the Buckeyes were his latest offer. A North Carolina native defensive tackle, Sampson is just now starting to see his recruitment really take off, and the Ohio State offer will almost assuredly cause the domino effect as more top programs come calling his name. At single-digit offers right now from the likes of South Carolina, Tennessee, East Carolina, and Coastal Carolina, it’s not a disservice to say this Ohio State offer is his biggest to date.

Only a high school sophomore, Sampson already has impressive size standing at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds. Still though, with two full prep seasons to grow and develop his game, his frame will of course fill out even more. Without a ranking on the 247Sports site due to his class status, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that when the time comes he’s a serious national recruit. Having Ohio State in on him early certainly won’t hurt their chances moving forward as they begin to build their relationship.

Buckeyes offer 2022 safety

In yesterday’s edition of State Secrets, the defensive secondary and safety position were a main theme. Having a couple of key targets for their 2022 class at that safety spot so far, the Buckeyes made another splash on the recruiting trail on Thursday as they offered a new DB prospect in the current cycle who will surely garner some serious attention moving forward as the staff does their best to land at least one and likely two at the position.

On the receiving end of the Buckeye offer was Sherrod Covil Jr., a 6-foot, 185-pound true safety took to his Twitter account to share his excitement that Ohio State was the latest program to join the fold. With nearly 40 offers to his name from the likes of Alabama, Notre Dame, LSU, Clemson, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and a host of others Covil is already a well-known recruit nationally, so Ohio State coming to him this far into his recruitment may be a little later than you’d normally think, but with the chance to now be in the thick of it, surely they’ll make up for lost time.

In addition to his major offer list, Covil currently ranks as the 16th-best safety in the class, the No. 10 player in Virginia, and the 250th-best player nationally according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Knowing how much of a priority the safety spot is for Ohio State in this 2022 class, one would think Covil will see a bevy of attention coming his way, but as previously mentioned, the Buckeyes sit pretty well with their other top safety targets.

Being a Virginia native, the lone Crystal Ball prediction in favor of Virginia Tech certainly makes sense, but there’s still plenty of time to really make a lasting impression for Ohio State if they want to become a major player in this recruitment.

Quick Hits

• Yesterday, the Buckeyes also made the cut for 2022 defensive end target, Ernest “RJ” Cooper. A 6-foot-4, 235 pound Texas native, Cooper is currently ranked as the No. 10 player at his position and the 214th-best player nationally per the 247Sports Composite. With nearly 30 offers to his name, Cooper narrowed it down to a final five yesterday, and included Stanford, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Texas A&M as well as Ohio State. Right now the only 247sports Crystal Ball prediction is in favor of Stanford, but the Buckeyes are clearly still heavily in the mix.