The 2018 recruiting class presents a new challenge for coaches across the country. This is the first year of the early signing period, which means that most schools have the vast majority of their classes already signed and locked in.
The problem for some is that they still don’t know for sure how many players will be leaving early for the NFL. While this isn’t an issue for schools that don’t put many players into the league, it presents a unique issue for Urban Meyer and Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have a handful of players who could plausibly skip their senior seasons to enter the NFL Draft early, and until the filing deadline passes on January 15, OSU won’t know for sure how many scholarships they still have left to offer.
Before the Cotton Bowl, Urban Meyer said the Buckeyes, “have maybe two spots left. That’s it.”
Since he made that estimate, there have already been some changes. Two players, CB Denzel Ward and DE Sam Hubbard, announced that they would leave early for the NFL. Neither was surprising, meaning those were probably already baked into Meyer’s calculations.
After Ohio State added DE recruit Tyreke Smith and lost OL Jack Wohlabaugh to transfer on Thursday, the Buckeyes stand at 87 scholarships for returning players and incoming freshmen for the 2018 season. That is two above the maximum number they can have at the start of next season, but being at 87 right now doesn’t mean the class is more than full.
It is very likely that the Buckeyes will lose at least one or two more players to the NFL, and there are several more who may be considering either transferring or taking a medical redshirt.
Any of those would open up additional spots. That means it’s possible that Ohio State’s 2018 class, which currently stands at 22 players, could end up at 24 or 25 before all is said and done.
A word of warning: please don’t speculate about the names of possible transfers or medical redshirts in the comments below. That’s not fair to the players, who may or may not even be considering a change.
(Editor’s note: The count in an earlier version of this article did not include senior LB Dante Booker, who was listed as a senior on the 2017 roster, and 2018 signee Josh Proctor.)
My son used to have an ex-girlfriend that he would not allow us to refer to by using her given name. He insisted that we call her “The Evil Of Which Cannot Be Spoken”.
I guess it’s kinda like that with a very important position battle coming up – and the transfer we all know is coming. 🙂
They need a glut of DB’s to really begin a push through 2018. It’ll be a mighty young nest to head into spring 2019. It wouldn’t break my heart to see them add 1 there there as well. You cannot win championships if you have a weak defense. That’s a full stop. QB is stacked. RB is stacked. Both of those positions have high caliber players who are going to make each other better. Some are worried about the offensive line. I usually always worry about that unit, but, as I read the depth chart there is a plethora of really good players for perhaps one of the best Oline lineups through the 2 – deep in the CEO Meyer era. TE’s Check. Great group of 4 guys who can play the game at a high level. WR is very solid and I would imagine the position is just going to get better. With the skittish nature of playcalling on offense the CEO had better shore up the “bail us out” unit with as many defensive studs as he can find.
I’ve been given a heads up about a couple guys moving positions……….and such, but those don’t count, but I count them in my head and on my own spread sheet. That’s what bored guys do when football season ends, and it has already ended. Nick Bosa, Johnathon Cooper and Chase Young are an elite level trio to start building some high quality depth from. While the interior looks rock solid beyond 2 deep, you just never have enough of the monsters who establish how games are going to be played. Get as many of these guys as you can get. Heck, step out If LJ targets the right guys stars won’t mean a thing. Do what Tressel did and toss out an offer to another 3 star DT in the mold of Johnathon Hankins. He turned out okay. I personally think that LJ is as good of a line coach as Jim Heacock. Give Mick a shot at that body and LJ will have a man child on his hands.
The Buckeyes are going to go through growing pains offensively in 2018. Build a monster defense until they settle in and build chemistry.
Josh Proctor too?
Thanks. We got ’em added.
Missing Dante Booker?
Sorry. The official OSU roster had him listed as a senior in 2017. Literally last night I listened to Gerd talk about how he could move to DE in 2018. No clue how I didn’t catch that.
The post has been updated to include him as well.
Thanks for catching that!
Need another TE with the loss of Alexander.
Probably where Alex Williams will start out.