2024 BRPT Class Review

[Thump]

I wanted to put in my $.02. But I honestly @RB07OSU you knocked it out of the park with this review. Most of our choices will be similar, so I won't have long responses for every category

General Thoughts
I know the recent theme has been to just bash the coaches, but I want to give a round of applause for the coaches who still were able to close with the #3 overall class. In the face of aggressive NIL packages from other teams, and being offered everything a teenager can want, yet still staying committed to the Buckeyes. I'm sure the Buckeyes offered as much as they could, but some of these guys took pay cuts because they saw the bigger picture and really wanted to be a part of something special in Columbus. This is a great class, forget about the losses and just enjoy that OSU was able to get more 5 stars than any other program in the country, and surround them with some hungry talent that can be a foundation for years to come.

Earliest Impact
Jeremiah JJ Smith. Nothing else needs to be said, he is HIM!

Most Star Potential
Again, Jeremiah JJ Smith. But I would say that this is a close tie with James Peoples, who on Day 1 is going to be in the top 3 RBs(assuming Treveyon and Dallan are the 1 and 2). Peoples has been forgotten about due to his injuries this season and the drama with Lyles, but he's easily a top 5 RB in this class, and will be a stud in college.

Most Intriguing
I agree with Witten. But I will also add his teammate Bryce West. Will he stay at CB or move to S like some seem to think? He can be elite at either.

Biggest Reach
I would say Leroy Roker. I see a very athletic kid, but very raw, and may need several years to mature into a solid S.

Sleeper
Gabe Van Sickle, RB said it all

Biggest Surprise Commitment
Eddrick Houston for flip flopping and flipping back to OSU. And I'd also throw Eric Mensah in there as well, because his commitment was out of the blue, and heated up immediately after his offer.

The Ones Who Got Away
The list is rough to see. But the biggest losses have come on the DL and OL: Justin Scott, Marquise Lightfoot, Nigel Smith, Jayden Jackson, Dylan Stewart, Carlon Jones, Amaris Williams, Collin Simmons, Brandon Baker, Guerby Lambert, Jordan Seaton(though I'm happy with not landing him as drama around him builds by the day).

What This Class Lacks
Look at the answer above, the OL and DL lacks elite talent outside of Houston and Moore

What This Class Has
Elite skill position players on offense and great CBs
And let me take a moment to talk about how big of a deal it is that Day landed Air Noland. Kid can be a star in this offense with these skill position players. Deadly accurate, good athleticism, great decision making, and not afraid of competition.

2025 Outlook & Objectives - Offense and Defense
The 2025 class can be every bit as special, and fill a lot of major holes that the '24 class has. The OL and DL need to solidified, and thankfully OH has an up year in '25. Overall, OSU can have upwards of 10-12 really good players to sign and set a foundation. 2 OH players have already committed and are putting the word out to the other OH guys. Boggs is a great WR start, and Woodby is a great CB start.

On offense I hope Day locks down the 2 in state RBs, and goes after 1 more out of state RB. By the time they hit the campus, the only OSU RBs could be Peoples and SWD. I have no problem with OSU getting 3 in '25, and that 3rd RB being a HSer(Jordan Davidson, Byron Louis- I know, many are sick of the SoFL RB drama, but talent is still talent, Tory Blaylock and Jeff Overton are all early names) or Portal guy with some experience, but 3 is a very real possibility. St. Clair can be a star when given time in the system, but he can he a star! WR is a complete question mark, because there's so much talent but most of the guys are in FL, and like we all know, games will be played constantly and names will come and go. TE will be interesting to watch, becuase I see Nate Roberts and Luka Gilbert as the choices, but the wildcard is if Gilbert grows into a OL, then I see Bailey pursuing Landon Pace as the 2nd TE with Gilbert becoming a OT(which I see him growing into). OT starts and ends with landing Carter Lowe, can't let him get out of the state. Offer him whatever you can to keep him in state, and be the next PJJ. Guys like Micah Debose, Avery Gach and Doulgas Utu will also be names to watch, but this summer will go a long ways in finding more names at OT, but OSU will need at least 2-3 true OTs in this class after getting 2 in '24. Interior guys I'm not as concerned about, as OSU never seems to have problems finding IOL.

On defense Eli Lee is the only commit as of now, and he's a very good one set to only get better with how much of a hard worker that he is. But the DL is where the focus will be, as its another year where the DL has underwhelming signings outside of one BIG name. But guys to watch early in '25 will be Zahir Mathis, Cedric Works, Justin Hill, Chris Burgess, London Merritt, Brandon Caeser, and Maxwell Roy. DT seems to have a little more depth, but they will still need to land 2-3 DTs, and another 2-3 DEs. I can't stress enough how much they need to solidify the DL to stay at an elite level. With Eli Lee already in the fold, I can see 1 other LB is all that's needed in the Knowles system, and there are plenty of options in state and out. The real fun will be the DBs, as there's SO MUCH talent that is being favored to OSU early. OSU can realistically land a DB class of: Devin Sanchez, Dorian Brew, Trey McNutt, Faheem Delane, Na'eem Offord, Mark Zackery, and Jonah Williams. I see 3 of these names as being CBs: Sanchez, Offord and Zackery are the only true CBs, IMO. I love Brew, but I see him as a S in the mold of Sonny Styles. Many see him as a CB, but I argue that he's already 6'2 195-200lbs as a HS junior. He can grow into 210 by the time he's a college true frosh, I just don't see him staying at CB at that size, and he can be moved around the way that Styles has been this year. Play in space and cover with the CB skills, but also move up to the line and hit like a LB. Another perfect weapon for the Knowles S led system.

So let's all toast to the closing of the 2024 class, it went out with a bang. Even with all of the drama, OSU was still #3, and was able to fend off several big boys with massive deals. Can't wait to see how these kids fit into the future of the program

More detail would be appreciated.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

General Thoughts

There are now two competing strategies in recruiting: Promising recruits more money up front (bigger bag), or promising them more development down the road (better foundation). We've seen teams go all in on the bigger bag approach and seen them fail spectacularly (Texas A+M). While the bigger bag strategy is not viable long-term in CFB for a number of reasons, the primary being the lack of contractual ties between the player and the school who delivered the bag, the schools who throw big money at recruits will nevertheless be able to remove talented prospects from the marketplace, thereby impacting the recruiting efforts of those schools who can't or won't get into bidding wars. And so Miami will break open the bank to "steal" Justin Scott and Jordan Lyle from Ohio State in the Class of 2024. But those of us who follow recruiting know that this is nothing new – just look at how many recruits over the years have at the last minute flipped away from Ohio State and to southern schools. NIL just makes these flips "legal".

The better recruiting strategy by far is the foundational approach, but there is one huge problem with it – how do you convince five-star recruits who can get paid life-changing money up front to value development down the road? Obviously, a blue chip recruit like wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (the #1 overall player in class) isn't coming to Ohio State for free, but he certainly left some money on the table because he believed that he could be developed better in Columbus than he could in Coral Gables or College Station. In other words, the Buckeye coaching staff was apparently able to convince Smith that three years of working with Ryan Day and Brian Hartline in a high-powered offense with a five-star quarterback has more long-term value (more exposure, better endorsements, higher draft selection) than the big bag right now, and they have Marvin Harrison Jr and Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave and Jaxon Smith-Njigba to prove their point.

So what does this mean for the future? Ohio State will never offer the biggest bag, so early in the process the coaching staff will have to identify those recruits who aren't simply going to chase the money but who are also serious about their long-term development for the NFL. There's no point wasting any recruiting efforts and resources on a prospect like Justin Scott who will simply drop you at the last minute for a few dollars more. This targeted approach will undoubtedly incur the wrath of many fans who will be furious that the Buckeyes aren't following Lendak around with a Brinks truck, but it should result in Ohio State signing prospects who will remain in Columbus focusing on their NFL futures and out of the transfer portal chasing a second or third NIL bag.

The other (and larger) part of the development strategy will be to identify prospects who are for whatever reason not polished players but who have tremendous upsides (Dawand Jones, for example). These will be your dreaded three-star prospects, the "reaches" who "can't play" and Ryan Day should be fired because he can't compete with the big boys and Ohio State needs to up its NIL game (or so the fans at high-end happy hours say). The benefit of this approach is that you can easily find kids who will buy into five years of development, but this strategy also has a huge problem – you have to be very good at identifying the three-star recruits who have real upside or else your roster will be littered with kids who are not and never will contribute.

So what about the four-star recruits who have traditionally made up the bulk of Ohio State's recruiting classes? These are the prospects who aren't quite good enough to make an early impact but who are too close to their ceilings to have significant development potential; they are also the most likely to be "recruited over" and to hit the transfer portal when they realize that they have been passed on the depth chart. There will always be a place for the four-star recruits – kids who will be solid contributors but likely have limited NFL potential – but the coaching staff should focus on local prospects who have a natural loyalty to the Buckeyes and won't bail to a lesser program the first time things don't go their way.

I have just described a recruiting strategy that focuses on a few five-star recruits (short-term development for a three-year college career and an early exit to the NFL) and many three-star recruits (long-term development that will produce a few home runs as well as quite a few strike outs). The middle of the roster will have some four-star recruits who are Buckeye loyalists and the rest will be transfer portal guys, typically former three-star recruits who had big upsides and realized some of their potential at a "lesser" program. To recap:

1. Five-star recruits who will take less bag for more development (Jeremiah Smith);
2. Three-star recruits who have huge upside that can be developed over four or five years (Dawand Jones);
3. Four-star recruits who bleed scarlet and grey and will remain loyal to the program (Cade Stover);
4. Transfer portal players who have already proven their worth elsewhere (Davison Igbinosun); and
5. Selling NFL over NIL.

I don't follow recruiting like I used to so I won't make any comments on the current recruiting class – @RB07OSU and @pnuts34 have both done a great job with that. I would like to note that Ohio State signed five 5-star recruits, who are projected to be first-round draft picks in the NFL: WR Jeremiah Smith (#1 overall); WR Mylan Graham (#23 overall); DE Eddrick Houston (#26 overall); CB Aaron Scott (#34 overall); and QB Air Noland (#36 overall). If you were in charge of an NFL team and you somehow had five first round picks in your possession, you would likely target these positions: QB; edge; LT; CB; WR. Ohio State got four of the five positions, and doubled up on WR; the only thing missing is a stud LT. Not perfect, but not too shabby.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I disagree completely with #5. 99% of kids will never see the NFL, it’s completely irresponsible to ask them to take less money now for that.

I would though, replace your #5 with a “follow up on last year’s NIL misses” strategy which is a version of work the portal I guess. A lot of these NIL promises don’t seem to come true so you have that to follow up on.

At the end of the day there is no magic bullet way around competing on NIL. You are going to have to pay for talent just like any other business.

 

[ScriptOhio]

5 freshmen who could contribute for Ohio State in 2024

On Wednesday, Ohio State signed 20 players as part of its 2024 recruiting class. This group is No. 5 in the 247Sports Composite rankings, giving the Buckeyes a top-five class

247sports.com

5 freshmen who could contribute for Ohio State in 2024​

WR JEREMIAH SMITH​

This one is obvious to anyone who paid attention to the 2024 recruiting cycle. Jeremiah Smith is not only the top-ranked wide receiver in the class but also the top overall prospect in 2024. While the Scarlet and Gray have landed quite a few talented receivers in recent years, Smith is unquestionably the most polished at this point in his career and the Buckeyes will use his talents.

Ohio State hasn't often turned to freshmen wide receivers, as coach Brian Hartline keeps his rotation at the position tight and prefers to develop the players before putting them on the field, but Smith is different. Freshman Carnell Tate was the Buckeyes' fourth receiver in 2023, playing in 10 games and catching 17 passes and Smith should be able to take a similar role at least.

CB AARON SCOTT JR.​

It's possible that Ohio State will return all of the team's top three cornerbacks from 2023. Davison Igbinosun will be back for his junior year and Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock have said they will make a decision after the Cotton Bowl. Either way, Aaron Scott Jr. could work his way into a role.
Scott is a four-star prospect and the second-ranked corner in the 2024 class. He was an important get for the Buckeyes, as Scott also heavily considered rivals Michigan.

RB JAMES PEOPLES​

James Peoples is one of two running backs in the Scarlet and Gray's 2024 class, along with Sam Williams-Dixon, who could also contribute as more of a versatile weapon. He is a four-star prospect and the fourth-best running back in the class.
Ohio State has already lost running back Miyan Williams, who declared for the NFL Draft, and Chip Trayanum and Evan Pryor, who both transferred. TreVeyon Henderson has yet to announce if he will return for his senior season. Even if Henderson is back, the Buckeyes will only have four scholarship running backs on the roster in 2024 unless they go find some help in the transfer portal.

DE EDDRICK HOUSTON​

During his early signing day press conference, Day had to pause to take a phone call. On the other end of that call was defensive Eddrick Houston. When Day returned, he was in an improved mood, and not long after, Houston reaffirmed his commitment and signed with the Scarlet and Gray.
Day's relief shows the importance of Houston in Ohio State's 2024 class. The five-star prospect is the seventh-ranked defensive end and one of only two defensive linemen in the Buckeyes' class at the time of this writing. He is a player the Scarlet and Gray staff believe can be a game-changer.

QB AIR NOLAND​

Just a few weeks ago, the idea of the Buckeyes starting a freshman quarterback in 2024 wasn't a part of the discourse. Then, 2023 starter Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal, opening the competition for the starting job. While Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz will have a head start, after being in the program for two and one year, respectively, Air Noland is now in the conversation.

​

 

[BuckTwenty]

I'm not a part of the BPRT, but thought I'd share my two cents, though it's probably worth less than that...

General Thoughts:

This class had a chance to be an all-timer, but there seemed like there were a ton of close misses on guys that would have been potential stars here. What makes it hurt is that it was mainly at places of need… D-Line (Justin Scott, Marquise Lightfoot, Dylan Stewart, Amaris Williams, Ernest Willor), Safety (KJ Bolden, Koi Perich), and O-Line (Brandon Baker, among others)

With that said though, this recruiting class is a titillating amalgamation of high end talent and blue collar workers. I feel like we nailed it at the skill positions of QB, WR, and DB. Despite not having the star power at O-Line, there doesn’t seem to be a weak one amongst the four, and all bring their lunch pail everyday. D-Line is the obvious weak point of this class, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that we can right the ship with some talent from the late signing period and transfer portal

Earliest Impact:

With Jordan Lyle spurning his Buckeye commitment in the 11th hour, this gives James Peoples an opportunity of a lifetime to have an even bigger role as a true freshman than initially expected. If Treyveon leaves a year early for The League, James could work his way to a 2nd team RB position behind Dallan Hayden, depending on what happens to the RB room between now and the Akron game on Aug 31st. No matter what Trey chooses, I don't see a situation where James redshirts this year

It’s obvious that Jeremiah Smith is going to have a big impact early, but it’s unfortunate that Jeremiah McClellan decided to leave the Buckeyes in the 11th hour like Lyle did. I think he could have pushed Kyion Grayes and others to be our 2nd team slot receiver, and would have filled the Xavier Johnson role really well in due time. Our recent Rogers/Rodgers duo leaving only exacerbated the fact that we missed on McClellan

Most Star Potential:

Jeremiah Smith is a star already, and I can NOT wait to see him hit the field this spring. Once in a generation-type of talent coming out of HS. If there’s a 2nd star in this class that deserves mention, playing the longer game, Air Noland has the potential and the tools to be a really special QB. I’m excited to see how he pushes Devin & Lincoln next year, especially with where we know where we stand at the QB position currently on this team going into 2024

Most Intriguing:

I’ve been intrigued with Payton Pierce. His film reminds me a lot of some of the HS films of a few of the best LBs of the Tressel era between Payton’s instincts and tackling ability. Does he have the speed that we have been missing recently at the Mike position? I’m anxious to see how he develops at the next level

Biggest Reach:

This would have been earmarked for Marc Nave, but he moved on to Kentucky. The one player I have some doubts about in this class, because I see him more as a longer-term project, is Sam Williams-Dixon. I must say I haven’t seen his senior film yet so I may be putting my foot in my mouth with regards to him, but with having low numbers in the RB room next year, we are going to need him to progress fast, and I don’t believe he’s coming in early. It hurts me to say all of that because I like him and I really want him to do well

Sleeper:

Leroy Roker has one heck of a senior film. I think I’ve watched it 4 times already. It’s easy to see why he got a late offer. Do NOT sleep on this cat. Leroy’s got some phenomenal boom-stick ability, he’s athletic as all get out, he has a penchant for making INT’s, and he’s got great instincts for the position. If he can show a portion of that film on the field in the Horseshoe, dude’s going to be a fan favorite. I also really like fellow position mate Jaylen McClain. His versatility as a safety with the ability to play corner gives me Dustin Fox vibes. I think Jaylen is underrated and is a nice fit for how our D wants to play

Biggest Surprise Commitment:

I have my fingers crossed that we will see a big surprise in the late signing period or in the transfer portal. But at this time, Air Noland was the biggest surprise for me. I think most folks were pretty upset that Dylan Raiola left us the way he did. We ended up offering Air this spring, and I think within a week or 2 of offering him, he committed to us in true BOOM fashion. After all the drama with Dylan, our QB situation in this recruiting class looks like a blessing in disguise, because Air is showing he could really be something at the next level and Dylan looks like he’s going to be a serious headcase with commitment issues

The One That Got Away:

TONS of options this year (unfortunately), but I’m going to go a different direction. We had two serious talents that could have made a big impact for us at a developing position on our team that went elsewhere. KJ Bolden would have been the second generational talent (along with Jeremiah Smith) in this Buckeye recruiting class if we were able to land him. He was Perry Eliano’s cousin, he got to meet LeBron in The Shoe, he was saying all the right things on social media, bananas were stretching, and then he makes his decision to go to… Florida State (and then Georgia). Let down of all let downs for me this year. He has the potential to be an All-American wherever he goes, but he would have been a game changer and the prototypical safety for Coach Knowles’ safety-driven defense. I’m still scratching my head at what could have been.

The second one was Koi Perich. He was one that seemed to be trending towards us late. Killer senior film, seemed open to leaving his home state school commitment, big time opportunity at Ohio State. And then out of the blue, he announces he’s sticking with his commitment to Goldie. Quite the jolt late. Still in shock with that one, but you can’t blame a kid for staying with a prior commitment to the hometown school. With losing Josh Proctor, Cam Martinez, and Kye Stokes this year, it would be clutch to pull a star safety from the transfer portal, if one exists

What This Class Lacks:

D-Line talent, a star OT, and a star safety that compliments Leroy & McClain (sounds like a cop show duo). I’m also really uncomfortable with our RB depth if Treyveon leaves for the NFL due to our recent transfers. Each position is ripe for transfer portal additions. I’m also hopeful that we can land USC LB Tackett Curtis from the portal, as he would really solidify things at LB. I feel that by getting Tackett, it would allow Garrett Stover some flexibility to explore what position fits him best

What This Class Has:

Despite missing that star safety, I am tickled at our score in the defensive backfield between Aaron Scott, Bryce West, Miles Lockhart, Jaylen McClain, and Leroy Roker. This recruiting cycle has been a great one for BIA, and my hope is that Devin Sanchez joins this crew in ‘25. I feel like our DB recruiting is finally back to being on a roll after pulling Jermaine Mathews, Calvin Simpson-Hunt, Malik Hartford, Davison Igbinosun, and Ja’Had Carter last year. Big time talent infusion that we desperately needed in the back end

2025 Outlook & Objectives -- Offense and Defense:

RB & pnuts really nailed this. I'm in agreeance with them and still watching film on the 2025 guys. I will say this though, CB Devin Sanchez is a superstar in the making that I am hoping we will see pull the trigger for Ohio State later this week (Jan 6th)

With that said, I'm still really focused on closing the 2024 class strong, particularly after coming up so lame in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri. Between the late signing period and transfer portal, before fall practices start, we HAVE to get:

1) a consistent starting QB who can get the ball to our playmakers & makes good decisions (is that too much to ask for?)
2) D-line talent that we can develop
3) any number of start-worthy O-Linemen that can push our current players
4) a safety with star potential
5) a punter if Jesse Mirco doesn't come back out of the portal to re-join the good guys

 

[Thump]

I'm not a part of the BPRT, but thought I'd share my two cents, though it's probably worth less than that...

General Thoughts:

This class had a chance to be an all-timer, but there seemed like there were a ton of close misses on guys that would have been potential stars here. What makes it hurt is that it was mainly at places of need… D-Line (Justin Scott, Marquise Lightfoot, Dylan Stewart, Amaris Williams, Ernest Willor), Safety (KJ Bolden, Koi Perich), and O-Line (Brandon Baker, among others)

With that said though, this recruiting class is a titillating amalgamation of high end talent and blue collar workers. I feel like we nailed it at the skill positions of QB, WR, and DB. Despite not having the star power at O-Line, there doesn’t seem to be a weak one amongst the four, and all bring their lunch pail everyday. D-Line is the obvious weak point of this class, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that we can right the ship with some talent from the late signing period and transfer portal

Earliest Impact:

With Jordan Lyle spurning his Buckeye commitment in the 11th hour, this gives James Peoples an opportunity of a lifetime to have an even bigger role as a true freshman than initially expected. If Treyveon leaves a year early for The League, James could work his way to a 2nd team RB position behind Dallan Hayden, depending on what happens to the RB room between now and the Akron game on Aug 31st. No matter what Trey chooses, I don't see a situation where James redshirts this year

It’s obvious that Jeremiah Smith is going to have a big impact early, but it’s unfortunate that Jeremiah McClellan decided to leave the Buckeyes in the 11th hour like Lyle did. I think he could have pushed Kyion Grayes and others to be our 2nd team slot receiver, and would have filled the Xavier Johnson role really well in due time. Our recent Rogers/Rodgers duo leaving only exacerbated the fact that we missed on McClellan

Most Star Potential:

Jeremiah Smith is a star already, and I can NOT wait to see him hit the field this spring. Once in a generation-type of talent coming out of HS. If there’s a 2nd star in this class that deserves mention, playing the longer game, Air Noland has the potential and the tools to be a really special QB. I’m excited to see how he pushes Devin & Lincoln next year, especially with where we know where we stand at the QB position currently on this team going into 2024

Most Intriguing:

I’ve been intrigued with Payton Pierce. His film reminds me a lot of some of the HS films of a few of the best LBs of the Tressel era between Payton’s instincts and tackling ability. Does he have the speed that we have been missing recently at the Mike position? I’m anxious to see how he develops at the next level

Biggest Reach:

This would have been earmarked for Marc Nave, but he moved on to Kentucky. The one player I have some doubts about in this class, because I see him more as a longer-term project, is Sam Williams-Dixon. I must say I haven’t seen his senior film yet so I may be putting my foot in my mouth with regards to him, but with having low numbers in the RB room next year, we are going to need him to progress fast, and I don’t believe he’s coming in early. It hurts me to say all of that because I like him and I really want him to do well

Sleeper:

Leroy Roker has one heck of a senior film. I think I’ve watched it 4 times already. It’s easy to see why he got a late offer. Do NOT sleep on this cat. Leroy’s got some phenomenal boom-stick ability, he’s athletic as all get out, he has a penchant for making INT’s, and he’s got great instincts for the position. If he can show a portion of that film on the field in the Horseshoe, dude’s going to be a fan favorite. I also really like fellow position mate Jaylen McClain. His versatility as a safety with the ability to play corner gives me Dustin Fox vibes. I think Jaylen is underrated and is a nice fit for how our D wants to play

Biggest Surprise Commitment:

I have my fingers crossed that we will see a big surprise in the late signing period or in the transfer portal. But at this time, Air Noland was the biggest surprise for me. I think most folks were pretty upset that Dylan Raiola left us the way he did. We ended up offering Air this spring, and I think within a week or 2 of offering him, he committed to us in true BOOM fashion. After all the drama with Dylan, our QB situation in this recruiting class looks like a blessing in disguise, because Air is showing he could really be something at the next level and Dylan looks like he’s going to be a serious headcase with commitment issues

The One That Got Away:

TONS of options this year (unfortunately), but I’m going to go a different direction. We had two serious talents that could have made a big impact for us at a developing position on our team that went elsewhere. KJ Bolden would have been the second generational talent (along with Jeremiah Smith) in this Buckeye recruiting class if we were able to land him. He was Perry Eliano’s cousin, he got to meet LeBron in The Shoe, he was saying all the right things on social media, bananas were stretching, and then he makes his decision to go to… Florida State (and then Georgia). Let down of all let downs for me this year. He has the potential to be an All-American wherever he goes, but he would have been a game changer and the prototypical safety for Coach Knowles’ safety-driven defense. I’m still scratching my head at what could have been.

The second one was Koi Perich. He was one that seemed to be trending towards us late. Killer senior film, seemed open to leaving his home state school commitment, big time opportunity at Ohio State. And then out of the blue, he announces he’s sticking with his commitment to Goldie. Quite the jolt late. Still in shock with that one, but you can’t blame a kid for staying with a prior commitment to the hometown school. With losing Josh Proctor, Cam Martinez, and Kye Stokes this year, it would be clutch to pull a star safety from the transfer portal, if one exists

What This Class Lacks:

D-Line talent, a star OT, and a star safety that compliments Leroy & McClain (sounds like a cop show duo). I’m also really uncomfortable with our RB depth if Treyveon leaves for the NFL due to our recent transfers. Each position is ripe for transfer portal additions. I’m also hopeful that we can land USC LB Tackett Curtis from the portal, as he would really solidify things at LB. I feel that by getting Tackett, it would allow Garrett Stover some flexibility to explore what position fits him best

What This Class Has:

Despite missing that star safety, I am tickled at our score in the defensive backfield between Aaron Scott, Bryce West, Miles Lockhart, Jaylen McClain, and Leroy Roker. This recruiting cycle has been a great one for BIA, and my hope is that Devin Sanchez joins this crew in ‘25. I feel like our DB recruiting is finally back to being on a roll after pulling Jermaine Mathews, Calvin Simpson-Hunt, Malik Hartford, Davison Igbinosun, and Ja’Had Carter last year. Big time talent infusion that we desperately needed in the back end

2025 Outlook & Objectives -- Offense and Defense:

RB & pnuts really nailed this. I'm in agreeance with them and still watching film on the 2025 guys. I will say this though, CB Devin Sanchez is a superstar in the making that I am hoping we will see pull the trigger for Ohio State later this week (Jan 6th)

With that said, I'm still really focused on closing the 2024 class strong, particularly after coming up so lame in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri. Between the late signing period and transfer portal, before fall practices start, we HAVE to get:

1) a consistent starting QB who can get the ball to our playmakers & makes good decisions (is that too much to ask for?)
2) D-line talent that we can develop
3) any number of start-worthy O-Linemen that can push our current players
4) a safety with star potential
5) a punter if Jesse Mirco doesn't come back out of the portal to re-join the good guys

More explanation would be appreciated.

 

[BuckBackHome]

Side question I have never been able to get my head around. How do all these kids graduate early? Do they all complete their degrees? Are some coming with GEDs? Or something else.

 

[calibuck]

Always good to kick the tires on the recruiting classes. Another exceptional job done. Hopefully all the flowery talk will readily translate to the field for these guys, Buckeye Nation wants it so. Given our last minute recruiting losses, can envision the rest of the college world, looking around late in the process, and gazing at tOSU's verbal commitment list. Knowing that our NIL process/reach/pockets/philosophy being what it is, the competition looks and tries/succeeds in buying off some of the players they feel they need to complete their class(s). Cannot really blame the kids, in any way shape or form. Regarding Raiola, quoting Kevin Costner in "Draft Day", his phrase, 'I think he's a bust' stands out. Seems like the biggest misses are the OL, but Day doesn't seem to emphasize that aspect much. Hopefully he can hire a OC/play caller, and not piss Hartline off. Maybe if he phrases it as 'Brian, we're going to get you some OC training' or somesuch. Go Bucks!