If there has been a weakness in recruiting and development during the Urban Meyer years it has been at the defensive tackle position. We are still waiting on prospects like Schutt, Michael Hill and Donovan Munger to make contributions, and there haven't been any big-splash commitments over the last two recruiting cycles. Recently, there has been a lot of movement with some of our DT targets around the country.  So, I thought now might be a good time to take a look at Buckeye recruiting at this crucial position over the last two years.

The Buckeyes landed two Ohio DTs in the '15 class, Robert Landers (ranked 29th at his position by the 247 composite) and Davon Hamilton (89). I mean no disrespect to either player, and certainly believe that either or both could develop into great players at OSU, but I think it is safe to say that neither was a top choice of the OSU staff. Players like Terry Beckner, Christian Wilkins, Neville Gallimore, and Adam McLean all had early offers from OSU and were all at times thought to be giving serious consideration to the Buckeyes. All committed elsewhere. There were other DTs in the class with OSU offers such as Tim Settle, Shy Tuttle, Hjalte Froholdt, and Elijah Taylor, but it isn't clear how much mutual interest there was by the staff and prospect in those cases. All in all, I think it's safe to say that the Buckeyes whiffed on their top choices. 

So, here we are in 2016 with a well-documented need for DTs and it seems that all our chief "Plan B" players like Naquan Jones, Mike Panasiuk, and Jake Saunders have all recently committed elsewhere. The recent visits from Antwuan Jackson and Rashard Lawrence are both great news and absolutely critical, but Lawrence seems a little like a pipe dream and I heard Steve Wiltfong earlier today say that he still regards Jackson as a longshot. Yes, Malik Barrow is in the class, but it seems clear that the staff wants another, and I wonder who is left for them to pursue. 

So, the question for the board is how concerned are you about DT recruiting? If the Buckeyes miss out on Gary/Jackson/Lawrence, who's next for 2016?