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2025 BP Class Review

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RB07OSU

RB07OSU

Head Coach
Staff member
BP Recruiting Team
As predictable as Santa Clause comes down the chimney, here is my BRPT review of this class and we have a collaborative approach that I honestly enjoy. So everyone have at it with your thoughts and contributions. I love this site too much to not continue this tradition. Here are my thoughts on the '24 class now that it is wrapped up. And sticking to tradition, the categories will be the same, but include whatever category you have that I don't list. Keep in mind lets not "bash" anyone and just stick to the review.

General Thoughts

This is an incredible class overall, don't forget that. There will be some caveats to that but our class is solid overall. We have to supplement the OL with the portal and also the DL. But we have some amazing recruits coming in, this might be the best recruiting class we've had on paper. The recent defections though...Offord, Mathis, Merritt...those hurt. But think of Woods and Epi coming in. We are doing good with recruiting talent but we do need some Portal pickups.

Earliest Impact

Faheem Delane at safety, I think he is legit and there's an open spot to compete. I won't list an OL because usually they need a year to get ready. Bo could play right away with the guys that are leaving, Eli Lee could also be an instant contributor and I am liking his play more by the day. Sanchez is one that should play from Day1.

Most Star Potential

TSC. Not even close. There is a reason he is #1 on almost every site. I will be brief because I can be for this one. Kid is a star and a great leader. Easy answer of a 1+1 scenario.

Most Intriguing

I'll go with a really unsexy pick with Max Roy. Kid is so talented but just needs S&C development.

Biggest Reach

Never my favorite topic (a repeat, I know), but Isiah West. I see one year and a transfer. I will be glad to be wrong if I am.

Sleeper

Easy pick here for me with Lennon. Kid is a great talent and overlooked because of competition. Look out for him in a year or two. Roy at DT is another that I think can be a star with some S&C. Woods could also be pretty dang good with some coaching and technique.

Biggest Surprise Commitment

Easy answer with Epi. Not only a surprise, but really needed. Good job staff. Now get another in the Portal and we are good. The DL class as a whole is really good, but we do need another DE in the Portal

The Ones Who Got Away

You could start with the obvious Offord, Mathis and Merritt train that doesn't land you in the 614. But Brew will be my pick at DB. We needed him and he was basically a legacy. I think we will be fine at DB with the talent we have acquired, in '24 and otherwise. But Brew just haunts me and that might just be personal.

What This Class Lacks

DE and OL once again. The Portal could shift that sentiment but we have, have, have to do a better job here in recruiting and stop hoping for the best in the Portal. You can't have your top DE's decommit or top targets string you along a routine schedule and not land your top OL prospects. There, I said it. If the staff can use the Portal to overcome those flaws, great. But until they do, not a passing grade on the trenches other than DT (Carter, Roy and Odom . I love the OL and DL we did get, but I am nervous on numbers if we don't win in the Portal. Getting Epi at DE was a very good recovery, but we needed 3 imo and Merritt/Mathis both decommitting hurt no matter how you try to explain it away with money bags.

What This Class Has

It is one of the best classes we have ever had on paper. We need the portal for the trenches and it should be obvious. Combine those two and we are set. Can't have too much of a negative outlook on what could be the best class in the country.

2025 Outlook & Objectives - Offense and Defense

Sayin and TSC look good. One of those guys will work. I can definitely say Brown or LK are not it...don't want to dog on them, but they aren't that guy. I like the players we have on both sides of the ball. This was an outstanding class and I want to end with that so there is no misunderstanding.
 
Thanks for always starting this off @RB07OSU , it’s hard to lead off, and then see everyone else’s opinions :lol:. Here’s my shot

General Thoughts
Regardless of the misses (which get more attention than the gets), this class is GREAT! Positions of strength got even stronger(QB, RB, WR, TE, LB, DB), but unfortunately the most important positions on the field got weaker. I won’t mention the Portal too much in talking about the class as this has do to do with the HSers. And OSU can improve their roster immensely with some solid Portal pickups. But for the particular class, Frye and LJsr were below average in their classes. LJsr redeemed himself a little with a strong DT class, and landing Epi at the 11th hour. But the class I’d still give a B- as a whole. Frye… Frye, I just can’t wrap my head around. OSU is in a state that produces solid to very good OL talent yearly, and they have surrounding states that also produce similar tiers of OL. Yet Frye still seems to fall on face. Getting Carter Lowe was massive, and Cook could be a multi year Starter, as could McFadden. But surprised he didn’t get at least 2 more. I expect 5-6 OL per class minimum just from HS. Now maybe he has more faith in the Portal, and I’m more bullish on finding starters In the Portal. But you still need young to set you up for the future.


Earliest Impact
Tarvos Alford. I think this kid is a star and could force himself into the 2 deep on day 1. I could see him being part of the reason that Powers left. I wanted to put Devin Sanchez but his impact is dependent on if Igbinosun returns to school.


Most Star Potential
TSC, future QB1, hometown kid. OSU got in on him early and it’s crazy to see how he’s grown and matured over the last several years. His body is college ready, but he’s going to need time to learn the college offense and read college defenses

Most Intriguing
I want to put Bodgpen Miller here, but I’ll name him later. Anthony Rogers is my pick here, because I’m curious howKelly will utilize him in the offense. Will he be Curtis Samuel or Demario McCall, or could he bulk up to be a primary RB?

Biggest Reach
Jordyn Woods. I know Walton wanted 3CBs, and Offord bailed on ESD. And I think OSU got too cocky with recruiting Brew. Woods was the plan C. He has good size, and may develop but I worry that he gets lost on the roster

Sleeper
Bodgpen Miller. I love this kids potential! This guy was a 3star rated around 1000 at the beginning of this year. He camped at OSU, and just blew everyone away. Ive come away at awe of his production every week. I hope the step up in competition only makes him better, because this kid could be an All American in another 2-3yrs

Biggest Surprise Commitment
Stewart and Jones from NJ. 2 guys I barely had any info on, or even knew OSU was recruiting hard just committed out of the blue. And it was ironically when OSU was supposed to land another WR and S. Both have OSU level talent, and NJ has been very kind to OSU over the years

The Ones Who Got Away
We all know some of the names, and i Won’t name them all, but: David Sanders, Zahir Mathis, London Merritt, Naem Offord, Vernell Brown, Jaime Ffrench, Dakkorean Moore, Marquise Davis, Brock Schutt, Micah Debose, Dorian Brew, Trey McNutt, just to name a few. It stings, but the class got guys who want to Buckeyes, and something tells me a few of these guys could end up in the Portal in a year or 2 giving OSU another chance.

What This Class Lacks
DE and OT talent and depth. As well as another CB


What This Class Has
High End talent, but few guys that will play from day 1. And a bulk of the talent is on offense but not along the OL. I can see any of TSC, Lowe, Porter, Jackson, Pettijohn, Alford, Delane, Roberts or Sanchez playing in the 2 deep next fall.

2025 Outlook & Objectives - Offense and Defense
Great class that is just reloading the talent at OSU. I won’t lament the OL woes, but I’m hoping they don’t bite the team next year. The goals for this program always remain the same: beat scUM win the B1G and win the NC.
 
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@pnuts34 great writeup! I missed this post somehow over the weekend. Your overall sentiment is exactly the same as mine, we gotta have more OL and DEs in the future so we can cherry pick the more quality portal names rather than take a shotgun approach. Hopefully @LordJeffBuck @MD Buckeye and others can chip in. Always one of my favorite BP traditions.
 
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good stuf, as always.

pnuts34 said:
What This Class Lacks

DE and OT talent and depth. As well as another CB...
Click to expand...
not hearing as much about kickers...

also not any names from the portal. iknow your post wasn't covering transfers, but still... i must be missing something.

how many of day's biggest losses were because of missed FGs? i'd expect to hear as much about kickers as the much needed boost in OL.
 
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shetuck said:
good stuf, as always.


not hearing as much about kickers...

also not any names from the portal. iknow your post wasn't covering transfers, but still... i must be missing something.

how many of day's biggest losses were because of missed FGs? i'd expect to hear as much about kickers as the much needed boost in OL.
Click to expand...
Good question. We've had coaching negligence (as it is being called now) on recruiting kickers and just relying on the portal for average at best guys. We just lost The Game largely because of that and good point to consider.

I don't know how to evaluate the position, but we need someone who does on the staff. Tress knew how to do it, maybe bring him on to consult. But we also brought on a punter in the portal that lost to a walk on. I'm not sure what to say there except that we have to get better and not hope some portal guy comes in.

But we better get a kicker/punter because the recent years have really screwed us for the most part.
 
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shetuck said:
good stuf, as always.


not hearing as much about kickers...

also not any names from the portal. iknow your post wasn't covering transfers, but still... i must be missing something.

how many of day's biggest losses were because of missed FGs? i'd expect to hear as much about kickers as the much needed boost in OL.
Click to expand...
I'll admit, I'm completely ignorant to knowledge on kickers. I know there's a few in the Portal that OSU seems to be pursuing, but that's all I got
 
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Jaxbuck said:
Start hanging around soccer fields.

(men's soccer, you can get in trouble hanging around high school girls soccer fields...according to a friend)
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Are you allowed near a HS? Attend college women's gymnastics if not (make the trip to LSU).

Jokes aside, it's insane that we can't recruit a kicker or punter. It goes ignored and maybe it's lack of development over not recruiting HS talent, but either way it has to be fixed because it's literally costing us major games. Seems we go to Australia or the portal, but with fledgling results.
 
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RB07OSU said:
Are you allowed near a HS? Attend college women's gymnastics if not (make the trip to LSU).

Jokes aside, it's insane that we can't recruit a kicker or punter. It goes ignored and maybe it's lack of development over not recruiting HS talent, but either way it has to be fixed because it's literally costing us major games. Seems we go to Australia or the portal, but with fledgling results.
Click to expand...

It depends on the state and your definition of "near"

Yeah, seriously though, the total disregard of ST is indefensible. I'll just leave it at that.
 
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calibuck said:
To add to the point, the kicker at Miami U. won the Groza award, and Alabama swooped him up. Haven't any knowledge if Day & Co even gave him a sniff.
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andrew gillis mentioned him on buckeyetalk... as well as another guy from ohio u.

ttun's kicked-our-ass kicker is a transfer from arkansas st. i was having nightmare reflashes of ali f*ckin haji sheikh every time that mofo came on.

point is, like you said, there seem to be plenty out there for anybody not arrogant enough to think they're never going to be in tight games. for when "leave no doubt" leaves your ass hanging.
 
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RB07OSU said:
@pnuts34 great writeup! I missed this post somehow over the weekend. Your overall sentiment is exactly the same as mine, we gotta have more OL and DEs in the future so we can cherry pick the more quality portal names rather than take a shotgun approach. Hopefully @LordJeffBuck @MD Buckeye and others can chip in. Always one of my favorite BP traditions.
Click to expand...
I don't follow recruiting like I used to, so I don't have many opinions on individual signees. And opinions on signees matter much less these days, since half of this class will probably disappear into the transfer portal (and others will magically appear in Columbus and we will all pretend that they were always Buckeyes for life). For my general opinions about the state of recruiting I would simply reiterate my thoughts from last year, which can be found in their entirety HERE if you are interested.

Specifically, I proposed a five-prong recruiting approach:

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

Ohio State has had massive success in the transfer portal and that success will likely continue this year. Look for the Buckeyes to target several OL in the portal – it is much easier to sign college "free agents" than it is to identify, develop, and retain high school "draft picks", especially offensive linemen who often take years to physically mature and hone their talents. I am in no way concerned that Ohio State signed just three OL in the Class of 2025, only one of whom is a supposed "stud" (Carter Lowe); I might be concerned after the portal closes. Let's wait and see....

Needless to say, Ohio State also needs to find a proven place kicker in the transfer portal. This would be my top priority.

As usual, the class of 2025 has several high-level prospects, with seven of the signees being in the top-100 (per 247 Sports), including two in the top-5 (QB Tavien St. Clair and CB Devin Sanchez). The Buckeyes did a better job this year of avoiding "bag chasers" but still got burned by a few top prospects.

I also note that 14 of Ohio State's signees (over half the class) are "unranked" nationally (meaning not in the top 247 overall prospects), which suggests that the Buckeye staff is indeed trying to identify more "sleepers" (low floor, high ceiling, #2 above). The chances are good that at least a couple of these unheralded prospects will develop into NFL talents in four or five years; of the rest, some will provide valuable depth, some will hit the portal and be replaced by better players.

Ohio State signed only five prospects in the middle tier (#3 above), and one of those (ATH Bodpegn Miller) began the year as a super-sleeper prospect (as the best athlete on his high school team he naturally played quarterback, but he projects as a wide receiver or perhaps a "flex" tight end in college).

The most intriguing prospect in this class is edge rusher Zion Grady – not only is he the first Buckeye signee from the State of Alabama in over 40 years (along with fellow Class of 2025 member RB Anthony Rogers), he also fits the role of speed rusher that the Buckeyes have been lacking for some time. And despite his lofty recruiting ranking (#71 overall in 247 Composite, #5 Edge) he is still considered to be a high-ceiling prospect.

If I had to give this class a grade, I'd say A-minus. But with every recruiting class the real grade is INC, and this is especially true in the NIL/portal era.
 
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Glad to have you back, LJB. Very concise, erudite, and pithy comments. You've taken a whole bunch of threads, and braided them together nicely. Thanks once again. Go Bucks! Do believe that the upper tiers will continue to 'mine' the lesser leagues, and snarffle up some of the kids that were passed over, but developed their skills. A 'set' staff can readily identify which skill set fits tOSU's ongoing needs, as they see them. Well done!
 
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