Matt Tamanini
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Next week will be huge for Justin Frye’s recruiting reputation
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State’s offensive line coach has been much maligned by fans recently and could really win some recruiting wins.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Ohio State’s offensive line recruiting has not kept pace with the rest of the Buckeye position groups. Whether it was Jim Bollman, Ed Warinner, Greg Studrawa, or Justin Frye, it has not felt like OSU’s offensive line recruiting has competed for top targets like so many — if not all — of the other position coaches have.
Admittedly, part of that is because there are just fewer high-profile, elite-level offensive linemen than there are running backs, wide receivers, cornerbacks, edge rushers, and the like, but the other part is that Ohio State, just plain and simple, not done a great job of landing the best offensive linemen in the country coming out of high school, at least not in comparison to the rest of the team.
Looking back on the last 13 recruiting classes dating back to the transitional class between Luke Fickell and Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes have signed 103 players who finished in the top 100 of 247Sports rankings for their specific cycles, 12 of those have been offensive linemen.
Now, I am not a math guy, but, there are five offensive linemen in a given starting lineup; there are 22 starters on offense and defense. Therefore, the offensive line makes up 22.73% of the starting lineup.
Ohio State had 12 top-100 offensive linemen over the past 13 classes when they signed a total of 103 players in that ranking window. That means that offensive linemen have been just 11.65% of OSU’s top-100 signees since Urban Meyer took over in Columbus.
Again, there are certainly caveats to this, because offensive linemen generally do not get the elite rankings that skill position players do, and o-line is notoriously the position group that takes the longest for athletes to develop, so this isn’t a scientifically fair sampling, but it is telling.
Of those dozen offensive line signees, four were from Ohio (Evan Lisle: No. 89 in 2013, Josh Myers: No. 63 in 2017, Paris Johnson Jr.: No. 8, 2020, and Tegra Tshbola: No. 36 in 2022). So, 33% of the Buckeyes’ top-100 offensive line signees over the past baker’s dozen years have been in-state.
Don’t get me wrong, the Buckeye coaches have generally done a wonderful job of developing o-linemen far beyond what their recruiting profile would have suggested that they were capable of. Look at guys like Dawand Jones (No. 1,127 in 2019) and Pat Elflein (No. 983 in 2012) who have both proven to be really solid NFL players, despite not being highly thought of recruits.
However, when Brian Hartline is routinely pulling in two or three five-star wide receivers in one class and Tim Walton has quickly become the top cornerback recruiter in the country, the trials and tribulations that Justin Frye has had on the recruiting trail stick out. They become even more glaring when the offensive line is expected to be the relative on-field weakness of the team for the second year in a row.
So naturally, there has been a lot of concern from Ohio State fans (and LGHL columnists and podcasters) about Frye’s ability to recruit at the level required to coach at Ohio State. Well, for better or for worse, the third-year position coach is approaching what might be an inflection point in his tenure in Columbus, at least when it comes to fan perception.
Between Aug. 12 and Aug. 17, two of the top five offensive tackles in the 2025 recruiting class will announce their commitments, and the Buckeyes are believed to be in the mix down the stretch for both.
On Monday, Roswell, Georgia native Josh Petty will make his commitment. He is the No. 37 player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings and the No. 5 OT in the cycle and No. 7 player from Georgia. He currently has one crystal ball registered on 247Sports and it is for Florida State from an FSU recruiting analyst.
However, On3 vice president and national recruiting guru Steve Wiltfong believes that the Buckeyes are surging to land Petty and are primarily battling the in-state Georgia Tech Yellowjackets.
If Frye is able to close the deal on Petty, it would be a monster win for him to pull a borderline five-star player out of UGA’s backyard. It would end up being even bigger if it was just the first of two massive BOOMs for the Buckeyes next week.
On Saturday, Aug. 17 the No. 2 player in the country David Sanders Jr. will make his pledge and again, OSU is believed to be amongst the final set of schools he is considering. It wasn’t that long ago when it felt as if a Sanders to Columbus announcement was approaching an inevitability. However, following a whirlwind recruiting weekend when the Charlotte, North Carolina native went to Nebraska and Tennessee because Ohio State opted to not hold one last recruiting event before preseason camp started, it now appears that the Buckeyes are fading while the Vols are ascending.
Of course, nothing is finalized until Sanders makes his announcement — and even then it might not be a done deal — but if Frye could pull a David Sanders Jr.-shaped rabbit out of his hat, his detractors would have nary a leg to stand on when it comes to his recruiting ability.
The sense coming out of the tackle’s visit to Rocky Top was that Josh Heupel’s program made a presentation that bordered on an offer that Sanders couldn’t refuse. In the NIL era, the right package can turn a recruiting decision around on a dime (no pun intended). However, as we have seen across the country at schools like Texas A&M, Colorado, and Oregon, commitments made primarily for NIL reasons don’t always stick. So, I would not count the Buckeyes out of that one just yet.
If Justin Frye is able to land both Josh Petty and David Sanders Jr., that would amount to the best offensive line class in Columbus in recent memory when you factor in No. 49 player in the country Carter Lowe. While it would obviously be great to land both guys, even getting just one of them would be a massive step forward for Frye who could really use a win, either on the field or on the recruiting trail.
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Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State’s offensive line coach has been much maligned by fans recently and could really win some recruiting wins.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Ohio State’s offensive line recruiting has not kept pace with the rest of the Buckeye position groups. Whether it was Jim Bollman, Ed Warinner, Greg Studrawa, or Justin Frye, it has not felt like OSU’s offensive line recruiting has competed for top targets like so many — if not all — of the other position coaches have.
Admittedly, part of that is because there are just fewer high-profile, elite-level offensive linemen than there are running backs, wide receivers, cornerbacks, edge rushers, and the like, but the other part is that Ohio State, just plain and simple, not done a great job of landing the best offensive linemen in the country coming out of high school, at least not in comparison to the rest of the team.
Looking back on the last 13 recruiting classes dating back to the transitional class between Luke Fickell and Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes have signed 103 players who finished in the top 100 of 247Sports rankings for their specific cycles, 12 of those have been offensive linemen.
Now, I am not a math guy, but, there are five offensive linemen in a given starting lineup; there are 22 starters on offense and defense. Therefore, the offensive line makes up 22.73% of the starting lineup.
Ohio State had 12 top-100 offensive linemen over the past 13 classes when they signed a total of 103 players in that ranking window. That means that offensive linemen have been just 11.65% of OSU’s top-100 signees since Urban Meyer took over in Columbus.
Again, there are certainly caveats to this, because offensive linemen generally do not get the elite rankings that skill position players do, and o-line is notoriously the position group that takes the longest for athletes to develop, so this isn’t a scientifically fair sampling, but it is telling.
Of those dozen offensive line signees, four were from Ohio (Evan Lisle: No. 89 in 2013, Josh Myers: No. 63 in 2017, Paris Johnson Jr.: No. 8, 2020, and Tegra Tshbola: No. 36 in 2022). So, 33% of the Buckeyes’ top-100 offensive line signees over the past baker’s dozen years have been in-state.
Don’t get me wrong, the Buckeye coaches have generally done a wonderful job of developing o-linemen far beyond what their recruiting profile would have suggested that they were capable of. Look at guys like Dawand Jones (No. 1,127 in 2019) and Pat Elflein (No. 983 in 2012) who have both proven to be really solid NFL players, despite not being highly thought of recruits.
However, when Brian Hartline is routinely pulling in two or three five-star wide receivers in one class and Tim Walton has quickly become the top cornerback recruiter in the country, the trials and tribulations that Justin Frye has had on the recruiting trail stick out. They become even more glaring when the offensive line is expected to be the relative on-field weakness of the team for the second year in a row.
So naturally, there has been a lot of concern from Ohio State fans (and LGHL columnists and podcasters) about Frye’s ability to recruit at the level required to coach at Ohio State. Well, for better or for worse, the third-year position coach is approaching what might be an inflection point in his tenure in Columbus, at least when it comes to fan perception.
Between Aug. 12 and Aug. 17, two of the top five offensive tackles in the 2025 recruiting class will announce their commitments, and the Buckeyes are believed to be in the mix down the stretch for both.
On Monday, Roswell, Georgia native Josh Petty will make his commitment. He is the No. 37 player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings and the No. 5 OT in the cycle and No. 7 player from Georgia. He currently has one crystal ball registered on 247Sports and it is for Florida State from an FSU recruiting analyst.
However, On3 vice president and national recruiting guru Steve Wiltfong believes that the Buckeyes are surging to land Petty and are primarily battling the in-state Georgia Tech Yellowjackets.
“I’m not feeling as good [about FSU]”
This could be shaping up to be an Ohio State/Georgia Tech battle for 5️ OL Josh Petty
More: https://t.co/SlXu74snzU pic.twitter.com/jsr7vaTar9
— Josh Newberg (@josh_newberg) August 5, 2024
If Frye is able to close the deal on Petty, it would be a monster win for him to pull a borderline five-star player out of UGA’s backyard. It would end up being even bigger if it was just the first of two massive BOOMs for the Buckeyes next week.
On Saturday, Aug. 17 the No. 2 player in the country David Sanders Jr. will make his pledge and again, OSU is believed to be amongst the final set of schools he is considering. It wasn’t that long ago when it felt as if a Sanders to Columbus announcement was approaching an inevitability. However, following a whirlwind recruiting weekend when the Charlotte, North Carolina native went to Nebraska and Tennessee because Ohio State opted to not hold one last recruiting event before preseason camp started, it now appears that the Buckeyes are fading while the Vols are ascending.
Of course, nothing is finalized until Sanders makes his announcement — and even then it might not be a done deal — but if Frye could pull a David Sanders Jr.-shaped rabbit out of his hat, his detractors would have nary a leg to stand on when it comes to his recruiting ability.
The sense coming out of the tackle’s visit to Rocky Top was that Josh Heupel’s program made a presentation that bordered on an offer that Sanders couldn’t refuse. In the NIL era, the right package can turn a recruiting decision around on a dime (no pun intended). However, as we have seen across the country at schools like Texas A&M, Colorado, and Oregon, commitments made primarily for NIL reasons don’t always stick. So, I would not count the Buckeyes out of that one just yet.
If Justin Frye is able to land both Josh Petty and David Sanders Jr., that would amount to the best offensive line class in Columbus in recent memory when you factor in No. 49 player in the country Carter Lowe. While it would obviously be great to land both guys, even getting just one of them would be a massive step forward for Frye who could really use a win, either on the field or on the recruiting trail.
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