Breaking down Wednesday’s early signing period for Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class
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The Buckeyes ink a top-five recruiting class for 2025.
Wednesday marked the beginning of the early signing period for the class of 2025. Always an eventful day for programs across the country, the current college football landscape has never before been this wild.
Whether it be late commitments, flips, rumored NIL deals, and various other headlines,
Ohio State found themselves in the mix of some of that craziness, but fortunately still boast a top five national class. On the losing and winning side yesterday, the Buckeyes tried to weather the storm the best they could. Though you’d like as little drama as possible, the modern times may never allow for that to happen unless the NCAA finally decides to step in.
Either way, in the midst of some ups and downs, Ohio State has a class to be proud of with some elite talent. Here’s a breakdown on Wednesday’s happenings both from the positive and negative side of things.
Twice as nice - Ohio State adds two players to their haul
There’s always some potential for the Buckeyes to see some late heroics when it comes to signing day even with an already impressive class. Maybe not the norm as Ohio State tends to have their top guys already locked up early in the process, 2025 gave the staff some things to be excited about.
Landing not one, but two additional players, the Buckeyes were able to pick up the commitment and letter of intent from Alabama native athlete,
Anthony “Turbo” Rogers. A player the staff had long been after, Rogers was committed to the in-state Crimson Tide for over a year, but re-opened his recruitment in mid November, giving Ohio State a chance to not only get in the mix once again, but really take a front seat for his eventual pledge.
Releasing his plans to decide between the Ohio State and Georgia on signing day, Turbo gives the Buckeyes their third running back in the class, but more importantly is the all-purpose back this staff was really after. Listed as the
No. 148 player nationally and ninth best running back in the class per the 247Sports Composite, seeing Ohio State win out over an SEC school is always a sweet accomplishment, and taking another player from the state of Alabama too only further allows this staff to remain a viable presence moving forward.
In addition to Rogers, Ohio State was also fortunate enough to land the addition of defensive end target
Epi Sitanilei, who provides some major depth at a position of real need as the trenches certainly could use some replenishing before the 2025 campaign in Columbus.
A long-time UCLA commit since early summer, Sitanilei is the
No. 348 player nationally, and the 27th best edge rusher in the class per the 247Sports Composite. More impressively, 247Sports has him listed as their tenth-best edge rusher and many top analysts believe Epi has one of the higher upsides compared to the rest of the defensive ends in this current cycle.
Likely more confirmation as to how fortunate Ohio State was to land this late commitment, Epi comes from one of the premier programs not only in California but in the nation, as St. John Bosco develops at an incredible rate and plays some of the best prep competition you can find, further proving Sitanilei has all of the tools to be a real player at the next level for the Buckeyes.
A major win for Larry Johnson and Ohio State, the transfer portal will need to be a player for the Buckeyes are they rebuild a roster sure to lose key pieces, but adding another edge rusher of Epi’s caliber is exactly how you want to see this staff faring when it comes down to crunch time on signing day.
Not all goes as planned
Easily the most unfortunate happening on Wednesday, Ohio State did finally lose the commitment of five-star cornerback
Na’eem Offord. No shortage of seeing his name in the news, Offord all season long was a player the Buckeyes were having to try their best to hold onto thanks to his continued recruitment that allowed for multiple schools to remain in the mix.
Taking several trips to Auburn this past fall, it’s not a shock to see him leave his Ohio State pledge, as that was long thought to be the eventual outcome based on his many visits. Ending up at Oregon is a blow considering how many recruiting battles the Buckeyes have had this year alone with the Ducks, who now remain as a conference foe.
Choosing the Ducks over both Ohio State and Auburn, the Oregon was in thick of things in the early fall months, but it really was Auburn who being that much closer to home was the real threat knowing their continued communication with him and the addition of their NIL efforts as well playing a major role. Still, Oregon swooping in late was the biggest blow to this Ohio State 2025 class, and while it hurts to lose a five-star in the final moments, having the nation’s top cornerback in the class thanks to
Devin Sanchez certainly softens that blow.
The
No. 11 player nationally and second ranked corner per the 247Sports Composite, Offord had been committed since February, but the Nike money spoke volumes late in the process. Ohio State will see Na’eem down the stretch sometime in the future, and hopefully that will be a battle they this time win.
Quick Hits
- The biggest win of the day in this opinion, Ohio State being able to hold on to Alabama native and defensive end commit Zion Grady cannot be overstated.
The
No. 71 player nationally and the fifth best edge rusher in the 247Sports Composite, Grady said and did all of the right things throughout his recruitment, but on Wednesday it was Auburn who felt like they had found some momentum (NIL money) to the point where a flip may not have been necessarily expected, but was a possibility.
Shutting down that threat, Zion sticking with his Ohio State commitment is massive for this program who cannot afford to lose defensive linemen and really needed him to stay in the class. A player who can get on the field early in his career in Columbus, his signature may have been one of the more important ones not only yesterday, but for years to come.
- Most have heard by now, but in case you missed it, Tennessee commit David Sanders Jr. did not sign his NLI yesterday with the Vols. Regardless of reason, if there is one at all, this leaves a crack in the window for Ohio State, and they’ll be doing all they can to pry that open hoping they can pull off some late magic with the position that needs more help than any other on this current roster.
The
top offensive tackle in the country, missing out on his commitment earlier this fall was hard to stomach, but all would be forgiven if they somehow can pull this off. Easier said than done for sure, this is one player you pay whatever it takes knowing the need this team has.
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️ OT David Sanders Jr. is NOT expected to sign today, per our 