Buckeyes see Crystal Ball prediction in their favor for a top offensive line target, 2022 commit sees huge recruiting rankings boost

College football is right around the corner with Big Ten media days about to kick off, and that surely has everyone excited. Hoping for a bit of normalcy this season and leaving 2020’s chaos in the rear view mirror, Ryan Day and the rest of Ohio State’s staff only have a few short weeks until fall camp starts and then all sights are devoted to the season opener at Minnesota. It is crazy to think that the regular season is just over a month away.

While you’d think recruiting would to take a bit of a backseat with the season fast approaching, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Buckeyes will play host to several of their top targets next weekend, and like June the visitor list continues to grow each day. The staff will have yet another incredible opportunity to show off all they have to offer and that certainly could lead to more success in terms of commitments in the 2022 class and hopefully the first verbal in the 2023 class as well.

It’s all coming very soon, but with football right around the corner, don’t think for a second that will have recruiting efforts any less of a priority.

Buckeyes hoping the Crystal Ball tells all

In just the last couple of weeks, Ohio State’s offensive line recruiting in the 2022 class has really started to take shape. With two players already committed, it’s believed that the Buckeyes will certainly take another player in the class and likely two more to help reload the trenches. Like every other position, Ohio State and position coach Greg Studrawa aren’t exactly hurting when it comes to being in the mix, but the main question is who will actually become part of the class when all is said and done.

Having two players committed already and being a top school for several other top targets, it’s almost as if it’s a first come, first serve situation for who Ohio State will end up with at the position. In other words, the first to give their pledge to the Buckeyes will be the ones in the class, and that may even leave a player who was slower in the process become an odd man out strictly due to numbers and not having enough open spots on the overall roster to take that many players in the 2022 class. Surely though, Ohio State’s going to take the best players available to them and the ones who want in.

For now, it becomes a waiting game as to who will be next to commit at position of great importance. On Wednesday, a bit of a development came in the form of a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of Ohio State to land one of their top targets they’re heavily recruiting. Four-star Kam Dewberry is the topic of discussion after Oklahoma insider for 247Sports Brandon Drumm submitted his pick for the Texas native to end up at Ohio State — which would be a huge win as Dewberry is currently the 108th best player nationally and the 11th-ranked offensive tackle in the class.

After naming a top five in April, which included Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Alabama, Texas, and Ohio State, it’s been the Buckeyes and the Aggies who are seemingly the two programs most closely associated with Dewberry. After a very successful visit to Columbus in June, just taking a look at his Twitter account gives off the strong vibe that the Buckeyes are very much a player in this recruitment and potentially the overall leader.

Ohio State still has work to do here, but things are trending in the right direction for the Buckeyes. This would be a big time win for coach Stud and another elite player taken out of Texas. Again, it’s not a done deal by any means, but any time a Crystal Ball prediction is cast in favor of the Buckeyes landing a player of this caliber, it’s worth mentioning.

Quick Hits

• On Wednesday, 247Sports released their latest recruiting rankings update for the Top247 players, and one Buckeye commit in particular saw another huge boost to his overall grade. Receiver commit Kyion Grayes was at one time a three-star prospect committed to his home state school, Arizona, but of course now the former under the radar recruit is seeing his stock steadily rise. An incredible jump, Grayes moved up a whopping 64 spots and is now the 47th best player according to 247sports in the country as well as being the sixth best receiver in the 2022 class.

Hartline has been unreal when it comes to recruiting success, and what he saw out of Grayes months ago is now being seen by basically everyone. It just goes to prove that coach Hart can land the top players at his position, but can also evaluate players who may be a bit under the radar as well. Grayes is a key piece to this class, and his recruiting chops of his own will come in handy down the line as both the staff and current commits look to keep this 2022 class the top-ranked group in the country.