A-Deck: Five key storylines to watch as Ohio State hosts pivotal first official visit weekend
Welcome to “A-Deck” at Lettermen Row, where I’ll bring you inside scoop, what I’m hearing, tidbits, thoughts, and more on Ohio State recruiting and team coverage every week.
Last week’s A-Deck provided five defensive prospects that could commit to Ohio State this summer following their official visits.
In this week’s edition, I share the five biggest storylines to watch on the recruiting trail for Ohio State as the Buckeyes host their first official visit weekend of the month of June.
Five Key Storylines To Watch On The First Official Visit Weekend
This comimg weekend is the first of four official visit weekends that Ohio State will host during the month of June.
The Buckeyes are expecting 10 top targets on campus. That group includes 2 current pledges in safety DeShawn Stewart and linebacker TJ Alford, as well as 8 uncommitted prospects: RB Bo Jackson, WR Dakorien Moore, WR Daylan McCutcheon, WR Vernell “Trey” Brown III, OL Henry Fenuku, OL Kayden Strayhorn, EDGE/LB Justin Hill, and LB Riley Pettijohn.
While all 10 recruits will be worth paying attention to, in today’s A-Deck we share 5 key storylines to watch for the upcoming official visit weekend (in no specific order)
DOES BO KNOW?
The recruitment of the running back position has been interesting to follow, as the Buckeyes had a change at running backs coach in the middle of spring ball, which led to some shuffling of the board when it came to who the program is going after.
Now that things have settled and Carlos Locklyn is locked in with Ohio State, it appears that the program is going to attempt to lure three high school backs to Columbus, with Jordon Davison and Bo Jackson at the top of the list, followed by Isaiah West being the most likely candidate for that third back (or second if they can only get two) spot.
Jackson will be on campus for his official visit this weekend, and that is a critical trip for both parties. At one point it looked like a slam dunk for the Cleveland (OH) Villa Angela-St. Joseph star to land at OSU as long as the Buckeyes pressed, but that press didn’t really happen until Locklyn came on board and Tony Alford, who favored others, departed for Michigan.
Because of that, Georgia and Alabama, the other two finalists in this race, saw the door open a bit and barged in. Both the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will get official visits in June, and both are legitimate threats to land the No. 74 overall player and No. 5 prospect in Ohio per the On3 Industry Rankings.
Locklyn, Ryan Day, and the rest of the staff need to put the full court press on Jackson this weekend and make him feel at home while showing him how much of a priority he is. My hunch is that Ohio State still gets their guy, but they have to fight tooth and nail here, starting this weekend and all the way through a decision, which should come at the end of June or in early July.
CAN THE BUCKEYES MAKE A MOVE FOR MOORE?
Maybe the biggest name on the visitor list this weekend belongs to Duncanville (TX) 5-star-plus wide receiver Dakorien Moore.
The nation’s top wideout and third-ranked overall talent is down to Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, and LSU, where he was formerly committed, and is looking to make a decision shortly after taking official visits to all four throughout June.
Moore has been to Ohio State twice over the past three months, which has given the Buckeyes a boost, but right now I would say they are at best running second in this recruitment behind Texas, and possibly third behind Oregon as well. Either way there is ground to make up, and this weekend will be key in doing that, as Moore’s mother will accompany him to Columbus for the second time.
There is no doubt that Moore loves Ohio State’s ability to develop elite receivers and that is what has the Buckeyes in this thing. Alleviating any of mom’s concerns about going further from home (especially versus UT), as well as just continuing to develop relationships and comfort with the staff and program in Columbus are top of the agenda for the Bucks this weekend.
It would have really have been ideal for Ohio State to get one of the last visits versus the first, but they do have a chance to set the bar. Can they pull of an upset and land the best receiver in the country two cycles in a row?
WILL HARTLINE SHOW BROWN WHAT HE CAN DO FOR HIM?
Another elite receiver that will be on campus is Vernell “Trey” Brown III of Orlando (FL) Jones. The Buckeyes are the outlier for the No. 35 overall player and 6th ranked receiver in his group of finalists, which also includes three state schools in Florida, Florida State, and Miami.
Earlier this spring the Buckeyes were looked at as the odds-on favorite here, but it seems as we get closer to decision time that staying closer to home could be more important than originally thought to the Brown camp. That will be the key of the weekend for Ohio State: making sure that Brown and his parents are comfortable with him leaving the Sunshine State and stressing the value of development at OSU over all else.
Brown has made many visits to Columbus, but his parents really haven’t, so that is where I think you’ll see a lot of the focus. Day, Brian Hartline, and this staff have excelled in that area over the years, and having a fellow Florida native in Jeremiah Smith pick Ohio State over the three in-state schools a year ago is certainly something they can point to. But will their pitch be enough to lure Brown away from home?
IS A BOOM ON THE HORIZON FOR THE O-LINE?
Ohio State has just one offensive lineman committed in the class in Carter Lowe, but would like to add anywhere from two to four more to the group when it’s all said and done.
A prospect who has bubbled to the top of the board after landing an offer during the spring evaluation period is Henry Fenuku out of Fort Worth (TX) North Crowley.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder took an unofficial visit to Ohio State earlier this month, and quickly booked a return visit for his official visit this coming weekend. On3’s Steve Wiltfong put in a RPM pick for the Buckeyes to land Fenuku following that trip, and I may not be far behind him if all goes well on this visit.
While others like Ole Miss, SMU, USC, Missouri, Georgia, and Texas A&M, are all in this race, with official visits scheduled throughout June, it wouldn’t be totally shocking if the 4-star and No. 367 overall player shut things down after a strong visit to Columbus this weekend.
WILL OHIO STATE CONVINCE HILL THAT HE’S HOME?
Like with Jackson, it has been long assumed that Cincinnati (OH) Winton Woods linebacker/EDGE prospect Justin Hill would eventually land in Columbus when he makes his college decision on July 4.
That certainly still might be the case, but it’s no longer the shoo-in it once was, with programs like Alabama, Oregon, and USC having shot up the board in the last few months, and all serving as legitimate contenders to the Scarlet and Gray as part of Hill’s final four schools.
The reason for Ohio State possibly slipping a little this spring is a bit of hesitation from Hill regarding how he sees himself fit in to the Silver Bullets’ system. At 6-foot-3, 220-pounds, he could certainly grow into a true hand-in-the-dirt prospect that OSU has been employing at defensive end under Jim Knowles, but Hill sees himself as more of a 3-4 outside linebacker type, or the JACK position that Knowles famously used at Oklahoma State and Duke, and tried to implement in Columbus, before quickly about facing.
In the last month or so, Ohio State has done a good job of bringing their vision of how they’ll use Hill to light, including a recent visit to his school that included all of Knowles, linebackers coach James Laurinaitis, area recruiter Tim Walton, and most importantly, Larry Johnson. The key on this visit will be to alleviate all of Hill’s concerns about how he’ll be used and fit in to the Ohio State defense. The Buckeyes have momentum on that front and if they take that and run with it, I think they’re going to be very hard to beat come decision time.
For what it’s worth, I’m continuing to ride my RPM pick that I made in favor of Ohio State back on January 1 of this year.
The post A-Deck: Five key storylines to watch as Ohio State hosts pivotal first official visit weekend appeared first on On3.
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