The Hurry Up is your nightcap of Ohio State recruiting news, catching you up on the day’s events with an ear on the ground for what’s next.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON JACKSON
Thursday afternoon, an intense six-plus-month recruiting push by the Buckeyes for Ellenwood, Georgia, defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson will come to an end. Ohio State, led by Larry Johnson Sr., made themselves a top contender for Jackson after a pair of summertime visits that the country's ninth-ranked defensive tackle and his father made to Columbus. Since then, it's been a tug-of-war between the Buckeyes and the Auburn Tigers. Multiple times since the summer, Jackson has implied a decision was coming "soon" but each time the choice just couldn't be made as he was torn between the two big-time programs. As he prepares for his final choice, he now says he's down to four schools.
My Final 4 Schools Ohio State Auburn Georgia Florida
— Antwuan Jackson (@Hercules__52) December 16, 2015
Jackson visited Ohio State twice during the regular season, once in an official capacity and once unofficially, underscoring his interest in Urban Meyer's program. Unfortunately, he's also made almost a half-dozen trips to Auburn in the same time period and it's that proximity and comfort in Auburn that continues to give me some doubts that he'll pick Ohio State.
What's Jackson himself saying about Ohio State?
From SECCountry.com:
“I love the coaches and the people there. When I say it’s different, it’s different. Coaching-wise. It’s a different place. Everything is different. But it’s a great place.”
As for the Buckeyes, they have remained optimistic regarding their chances with Jackson since the summer, but it's never been a situation that has gone from "cautiously" so to "overly" so, which–for a staff that is rarely reticent–indicates to me that they've not been given any definitive indication of which way Jackson is leaning yet.
Here's Jackson, who will make his decision Thursday afternoon, talking with Scout.com about the difficulty of his choice.
I've had the Buckeyes as the choice since the summer, and if he picks Auburn, I'll go down with the ship.
JEUDY LISTS OHIO STATE IN FINAL GROUP
While a handful of Florida 2017 wide receivers (Trevon Grimes, Emmanuel Greene, Bruce Judson and others) have been discussed here fairly regularly over the past few months, one guy that we've not talked about much is Deerfield Beach's Jerry Jeudy. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Jeudy, the country's sixth-ranked wide receiver, was offered by Ohio State in May and in June he attended the Buckeyes' satellite camp in Florida where he got coached up by Zach Smith and others.
In recent weeks, as the Buckeyes have been on the recruiting trail, Jeudy has been visited and has been in regular communication with Smith. His highlights showcase an explosive wide receiver capable of making big plays from anywhere on the field.
Wednesday night, he dropped his "Top 10" schools on Twitter and to no one's surprise Ohio State finds themselves squarely in the mix.
Top 10 pic.twitter.com/pqf7Q8yBzo
— JJ⁴ (@jerryjeudy) December 16, 2015
Right now it's Alabama at the top for the four-star (he's a fan of the Tide's freshman wide receiver Calvin Ridley and is interested in following his path) but Ohio State's presence in South Florida remains strong.
BONITTO TALKS BUCKEYES
Speaking of Ohio State's presence in South Florida, last week Zach Smith offered a handful of recruits from St. Thomas Aquinas, the Fort Lauderdale powerhouse that has yielded the Bosas, Duron Carter, Damon Arnette and dozens of NFL veterans.
One of the players offered is a 2018 defensive end, Nik Bonitto, could be the next big thing along the defensive front for the Raiders and a handful of teams have made the decision to offer him recently, including the Buckeyes as noted, and Michigan.
Bonitto talked about those offers with Scout.com analyst Corey Bender.
It's very early in the process for the 6-foot-4, 200 pounder, but it's hard to count out the Buckeyes for any prospect at St. Thomas Aquinas.
TOUGH TIMES IN AGGIE-LAND, ANY IMPACT ON BUCKEYES?
Last week it was announced that Texas A&M quarterback Kyle Allen would transfer out of College Station, leaving the Aggies to rely on freshman quarterback Kyler Murray moving forward.
#Welp
Thursday the news out of Aggieland was surprising and also not good: Kyler Murray also is planning on leaving Kevin Sumlin's program. Then Quartney Davis, a four-star wide receiver from Houston, announced his decommitment from the program.
A&M has been one of the country's hottest programs in recent years on the recruiting trail, thanks in part to an influx of money into the program and Kevin Sumlin's charisma and an ability to relate with prospects and their families.
Are there any areas that the Buckeyes could capitalize as the wheels appear to be coming off in College Station?
There is–at the very least–mutual interest between the Buckeyes and Kyle Allen, although the extent of which is unknown and is likely to remain that way. The only secrets that are guarded tighter than recruiting secrets are transfer secrets, and there are so many pieces that have to fall into place for that kind of thing to happen.
If there was one potential area for the Buckeyes to make any inroads, it could be in the 2017 class. Five-star quarterback Tate Martell has not decommitted from the Aggies and is going to take his time to see what unfolds, but with family ties to Ohio and a close-knit bond with five-star wide receiver and teammate Tyjon Lindsey, it wouldn't be a huge shock to see the Buckeyes try and get into the game at some point.
Zach Smith was in Las Vegas last week to see Lindsey and talked briefly with Martell who in August (prior to his commitment to A&M) talked with 11W about the Buckeyes.
My whole family on my mom's side is from Ohio," Martell told 11W. "I love that school, I wish they had offered but they have Danny Clark already committed."
I'm not saying there's anything to watch here as the Buckeyes do have a quarterback already in the 2017 class. Even with that, it would not be a surprise if they eventually went after a second because a quick look at future depth charts show it could be necessary. To further complicate the issue, reports today indicated that Martell may try and graduate a year early to get to College State next year, a move that would obviously put to bed any thoughts of committing elsewhere.
If Lindsey makes a trip to Ohio State in the spring as he says he'd like to, don't be entirely surprised if Martell's name gets brought back up around that time.
