It was a big weekend for the Ohio State Buckeyes on the recruiting trail as they received verbals from two blue-chip prospects. On Thursday they landed defensive end Andrew Chatfield out of Florida, and then on Friday it was linebacker Teradja Mitchell out of Virginia.
With the commitments, OSU moved to No. 2 in the recruiting rankings and within striking distance of Miami despite six fewer commitments. There was some speculation that there might be another commitment this weekend, but as of this writing that has not happened. There was other news besides the additions to the class, so let’s take a look at the week that was in Ohio State recruiting news.
Double Boom!
As I mentioned above, the Buckeyes got good news on Thursday and Friday. Thursday night they got a bit of a surprise when 4-star defensive end Andrew Chatfield committed. He is out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and announced his commitment via Twitter.
About 24 hours later in a ceremony at Bishop Sullivan High School in Virginia Beach, 4-star linebacker Teradja Mitchell picked OSU over Florida State. A few months back Chatfield was thought to have been LSU bound, while Mitchell was thought to be a Seminole. The coaching staff did a great job of building relationships with Mitchell, and Larry Johnson’s offer last week to Chatfield was a dream come true for him.
Pitt It Is
About a month ago, I thought the Buckeyes would have 3-star offensive lineman Jake Kradel (Buter, PA) in their class. However, it appears that they wanted him to come to camp in order to prove he was offer worthy. Kradel decided that he would rather not wait, and instead committed to the Pitt Panthers this week. If the Buckeyes would have told him his offer was committable, then he would have likely been a part of this class.
With Kradel off to Pittsburgh, the Buckeyes will continue to pursue Verdis Brown, Matthew Jones, and Jackson Carman on the offensive line. Those three have been targets for a while now and all three remain high on Ohio State. The Buckeyes have one offensive lineman committed right now in Max Wray out of Tennessee, and will likely take four or five in this recruiting cycle.
Missouri to Ohio Worked Out Well in the Past
The last time the Buckeyes nabbed a player from the Show Me State, they signed St. Louis running back Ezekiel Elliott. That worked out pretty well, didn’t it? Ohio State is hoping that they can have lightning strike twice as they recruit 4-star wide receiver Kamryn Babb out of CBC High School in St. Louis.
Babb released his top nine earlier this week. The Buckeyes are the heavy favorite right now with 89% of the crystal ball projections. The other crystal ball is in for Missouri, who failed to make the cut on his list. The coaching staff hopes to get Babb back on campus for a visit soon to try and get the ball rolling on the wide receiver recruiting in 2018.
Flipping Miami?
When the Buckeyes received the verbal commitment of Andrew Chatfield, they immediately started gaining crystal ball projections for his teammate Nesta Silvera. As of this writing Silvera is a Hurricanes commitment, however there has been speculation that a flip might be coming sooner rather than later. Silvera is a big-bodied defensive tackle at 6-foot-2 and 308-pounds. He would likely pair well with 5-star Taron Vincent on the interior of the defensive line for years to come.
If the Buckeyes are able to flip Silvera to add to Chatfield, and then possibly land 4-star cornerback teammate Tyson Campbell, then it will be a bit like Bishop Gorman from last year. OSU at one point had Tate Martell, Tyjon Lindsay, and Haskell Garrett committed from Bishop Gorman last year. Lindsay eventually decommitted, leaving them with two commitments. Will Ohio State be able to land three from the Florida powerhouse this year?
Gators It Is
Ohio State already has quite the defensive back class coming in with Jaiden Woodbey, Joshua Proctor, and Sevyn Banks committed. They are also in on 5-star Texas corner Anthony Cook, the aforementioned Tyson Campbell, and others. Because of that, there didn’t appear to be any room for 4-star Florida safety Amari Burney. Burney selected the Gators over 20 other offers, including Ohio State, Florida State and Virginia Tech.
He made a trip up to Columbus for the Spring Game and had positive things to say about the program, but it was always going to be a long shot to land his services. All 21 crystal ball projections that were put in came in for the Gators.
Ohio Duo Narrows the Field
The Dayton Dunbar duo of running back Tavion Thomas and wide receiver Joseph Scates released their top school lists Saturday night and both omitted the Buckeyes. Thomas was the only one of the two who had an OSU offer and many thought he was destined to end up in Columbus. The Buckeyes already have two backs in this class in Brian Snead and Jaelen Gill, and are still looking for a third. Thomas was thought to be that man, but it looks like OSU is taking their time. It is safe to say, however, that if Ohio State wants Thomas in this class, then they could very likely land him.
Texas Duo Stay In-State
Last year, the Buckeyes landed quite the haul from Texas and were hoping to keep making waves down there this year. They haven’t been able to land a commitment yet, and now two of the top players in the state decided to stay home this week.
Four-star safety/linebacker DeMarvion Overshown included the Buckeyes in his top 15 list earlier this year, but on Wednesday he committed to play for Tom Herman and Texas. I never thought the Buckeyes were much in play for Overshown, so him committing to Texas was not a shock.
Another top safety in 2018 is Leon O’Neal out of Cypress, Texas. O’Neal released his top schools a few days ago and did not include the Buckeyes in that list. Ohio State was one of 33 schools to offer, but it was highly unlikely he was going to select OSU. He announced his decision to attend Texas A&M on Friday night.
Tennessean Narrows List
The Buckeyes made the cut for 4-star defensive end Greg Emerson out of Jackson, Tennessee this week. That was before Andrew Chatfield committed and took one of the last remaining spots on the defensive line. Emerson released his top six, including Ohio State with Tennessee, Oregon, Alabama, Clemson, and Ole Miss.
It is likely that he will stay in state and play for the Volunteers.
Time to Talk Offers
It wouldn’t be a week of recruiting news without some new offers to talk about. It was a quiet week on the trail in comparison to the last few weeks, but still some notable offers to talk about.
While we talked about Nesta Silvera above and how he might be a Buckeye soon, the coaching staff isn’t taking any chances. They put out an offer to 4-star prospect Bobby Brown out of Arlington, Texas. Brown is a defensive tackle who is rated as the No. 14 DT in the class and currently has offers from Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and others. The Buckeyes will wait to see what happens with Silvera, and probably Aeneas Hawkins, before they would take a commitment from Brown.
Currently ranked as the No. 7 wide receiver in the class of 2019, Theo Wease Jr. out of Allen, Texas got an Ohio State offer this week. He already has 30 offers to his name, and his crystal ball projections sit at 60% Buckeyes and 40% Oklahoma Sooners. He will certainly be one of the top wide receiver targets in the class of 2019 going forward.
Another offer went out to Harry Miller, an offensive lineman out of Buford, Georgia. Miller currently has 14 offers and has one early crystal ball in to Clemson. He also received an offer from Tennessee this week to go with Oregon, Texas A&M, and others.
Building on a strong defensive back recruiting class for 2017 and 2018, the Buckeye coaches are starting to look for the best in 2019 as well. That list includes 4-star safety Brendan Gant, out of Lakeland, Florida. Gant is ranked as the No. 9 safety in the class of 2019 and currently lists 11 offers, with Florida State the early leader. The Buckeyes have done well down in Florida, so this might be one to watch.
