If you pay any sort of attention to major college football recruiting, odds are at some point this week you’ll see a highlight or two from an Ohio State commit at The Opening. With 10 commits working out at the prestigious camp — 11 were invited, but offensive lineman Jake Moretti is not attending due to injury — somebody is bound to make a play that winds up breaking social media.
But the in-camp performance is not the most important part of this week for the Buckeyes.
Sure, the flash of a nice highlight is great and all, but the most crucial part of this week for the Ohio State commits is the opportunity to recruit the top prospects who are currently uncommitted. The Buckeyes are on the verge of building one of the strongest recruiting classes of all time and this week can go a long way in determining where it finishes.
Let’s start with who is already in the fold; the names you know and the ones who are seemingly locked in right now as Ohio State commits. Josh Myers, Tate Martell, Isaiah Pryor, Brendon White, Marcus Williamson and Antjuan Simmons are all working out and are currently committed and completely solid to the Buckeyes. JK Dobbins, Haskell Garrett and the newly-committed Wyatt Davis will be in attendance, as well, and all seem to be as close to 100 percent Ohio State as one can be.
There is one current Buckeyes commit who will be at The Opening that needs to be worked by those nine players, however. Five-star cornerback Shaun Wade has been committed to Ohio State for some time now, but the Buckeyes are going to battle with Alabama and Florida seemingly until National Signing Day for Wade’s services.
In addition to Wade, though, there are a handful of other big-time uncommitted prospects who have Ohio State high on their lists, and you can bet the current commits will be all over those players this week in Beaverton, Oregon. That’s what events like The Opening are about, after all. Sure, the competition against the best players in the country comes first, but it’s a golden opportunity to build relationships with fellow players to try and sway them toward selecting a particular school.
The list of uncommitted 2017 prospects still high on the Buckeyes is quite impressive.
Running back Cam Akers, defensive end Chase Young, defensive tackle Jay Tufele, linebackers Baron Browning and Anthony Hines, wide receivers Trevon Grimes, Tyjon Lindsey and Donovan Peoples-Jones and defensive backs Amir Riep, Jeffrey Okudah, Jamyest Williams, Darnay Holmes and Lamont Wade are all names to keep an eye on this weekend.
Martell will be the lead recruiter on Team Alpha Pro, which features both Grimes and Lindsey at wideout. Martell already has a strong relationship with Lindsey as the two are former high school teammates so continuing to develop that bond will be crucial, as will building some on-field chemistry with Grimes — one of the top wide receivers in the country. Martell will also work on Okudah as the Buckeyes appear to be the leader to eventually land the five-star safety.
Tate Martell told me he has been with Trevon Grimes and Tyjon Lindsey non-stop since they arrived at @TheOpening yesterday.
— Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) July 6, 2016
Dobbins, Simmons, White, Williamson and Pryor are all on Team Lunarbeast with Shaun Wade and Hines. That means there’s potential for Williamson, Pryor, Wade and White — depending if he works out at safety or wide receiver — to work together in the secondary during the 7-on-7 competition with Simmons and Hines playing linebacker. If you’re an Ohio State fan and want to see the potential future, flip on ESPNU this week and watch Team Lunarbeast.
[Author's note: You can check out all of the teams for The Opening here.]
Ohio State’s 2017 recruiting class currently ranks No. 1 in the country and is on pace to potentially be one of the top classes ever if the current pace keeps up. And while the Buckeyes don’t figure to add any new commitments out in Oregon this weekend, it’s a golden opportunity for the current commits to work on strengthening relationships with other Ohio State targets.
The Buckeyes have more representatives at The Opening than any other school in the country and the 10 in attendance are going to do everything in their power to continue to build the 2017 class.
