Breaking Down Ohio State's 2017 Roster by Recruiting Stars

By Andrew Lind on August 15, 2017 at 2:15 pm
Josh Myers, Tate Martell, Chase Young and Shaun Wade
Eighteen stars worth of talent.
55 Comments

When it comes to winning at the highest level of college football, recent results show that recruiting rankings do matter. In fact, four of the last five national champions have finished among the Top 5 of 247Sports Composite Team Rankings within that same time period, while the other — Clemson — has an average finish of 13th.

Schools like Alabama, Florida State and Ohio State have rosters filled with four- and five-star talent, and it's not a wonder all three are expected to return to the College Football Playoff this fall.

“It cracks me up when [people] say the ratings don't matter,” Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said on National Signing Day. "If they're keeping score, we’d like to win that thing. I do look at that. The recruiting services, although they are not 100 percent correct, they’re very close. A lot of those guys that are highly-rated guys turn out to be great players.

“You have the Darron Lees and some other under-the-radar guys that turn out to be phenomenal. The Josh Perrys. But that’s not always going to happen,” Meyer continued. “When you start throwing around numbers like [a composite score of] 94 and five-stars and four-stars, those aren’t the end all, but sure they matter. We’re all competitive. We’re very competitive here. And to say we had one of the historical classes of all time, a lot of hard work went into that.”

Ohio State, of course, brought it what many have called the best pound-for-pound recruiting class of all time. It was headlined by five-stars Baron Browning, Wyatt Davis, Jeffrey Okudah, Shaun Wade and Chase Young, all of which have seemingly taken the Buckeyes' roster to new heights.

With the season opener against Indiana just over two weeks away, most roster breakdowns you'll see will include the two-deep depth chart. We've gone in a different direction, though, and categorized where each player was ranked as a high school recruit.

FIVE-STAR PROSPECTS (7)
name high school class pos pos rank natl rank
NICK BOSA FORT LAUDERDALE (FL) ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 2016 SDE 1 8
BARON BROWNING KENNEDALE (TX) 2017 OLB 1 11
WYATT DAVIS BELLFLOWER (CA) ST. JOHN BOSCO 2017 OG 1 24
JUSTIN HILLIARD CINCINNATI (OH) ST. XAVIER 2015 OLB 2 35
JEFFREY OKUDAH SOUTH GRAND PRAIRIE (TX) 2017 CB 1 8
SHAUN WADE JACKSONVILLE (FL) TRINITY CHRISTIAN 2017 CB 2 17
CHASE YOUNG HYATTSVILLE (MD) DEMATHA 2017 WDE 2 6
FOUR-STAR PROSPECTS (56)
name high school class pos pos rank natl rank
JEROME BAKER  CLEVELAND (OH) BENEDICTINE 2015 ATH 4 62
J.T. BARRETT WICHITA FALLS (TX) RIDER 2013 DUAL 2 136
MALIK BARROW BRADENTON (FL) IMG ACADEMY 2016 DT 31 305
MARCUS BAUGH RIVERSIDE (CA) JOHN W. NORTH 2013 TE 4 85
DANTE BOOKER AKRON (OH) ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY 2014 OLB 4 54
TUF BORLAND BOLINGBROOK (IL) 2016 OLB 20 322
MATTHEW BURRELL WOODBRIDGE (VA) C.D. HYLTON 2015 OG 7 108
JOE BURROW ATHENS (OH) THE PLAINS 2015 DUAL 9 303
JERRON CAGE CINCINNATI (OH) WINTON WOODS 2017 DT 14 243
PARRIS CAMPBELL AKRON (OH) ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY 2014 WR 23 140
NICK CONNER DUBLIN (OH) SCIOTO 2015 ILB 8 214
JONATHON COOPER GAHANNA (OH) LINCOLN 2016 WDE 3 33
JASHON CORNELL SAINT PAUL (MN) CRETHIN DERHAM HALL 2015 SDE  7 92
WAYNE DAVIS NORFOLK (VA) LAKE TAYLOR 2016 CB 33 335
JOHNNIE DIXON PALM BEACH GARDENS (FL) DWYER 2014 WR 9 76
J.K. DOBBINS LA GRANGE (TX) 2017 APB 2 43
LUKE FARRELL PERRY (OH) 2016 TE 7 199
JORDAN FULLER WESTWOOD (NJ) OLD TAPPAN 2016 ATH 6 137
HASKELL GARRETT LAS VEGAS (NV) BISHOP GORMAN 2017 DT 6 68
ERIC GLOVER-WILLIAMS CANTON (OH) MCkINLEY 2015 CB 12 101
TREVON GRIMES FORT LAUDERDALE (FL) ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 2017 WR 5 40
JAYLEN HARRIS CLEVELAND HEIGHTS (OH) 2017 WR 30 182
DWAYNE HASKINS POTOMAC (MD) THE BULLIS SCHOOL 2016 PRO 7 93
JAKE HAUSMANN CINCINNATI (OH) ARCHBISHOP MOELLER 2016 TE 4 127
KIERRE HAWKINS MAPLE HEIGHTS (OH) 2016 TE 11 329
K.J. HILL NORTH LITTLE ROCK (AR) 2015 WR 17 153
MICHAEL HILL PENDLETON (SC) 2013 DT 15 177
JALYN HOLMES NORFOLK (VA) LAKE TAYLOR 2014 WDE 4 80
SAM HUBBARD CINCINNATI (OH) ARCHBISHOP MOELLER 2014 ATH 13 183
DRE'MONT JONES CLEVELAND (OH) ST. IGNATIUS 2015 SDE 11 137
JAMARCO JONES CHICAGO (IL) DE LA SALLE 2014 OT 4 58
KEANDRE JONES OLNEY (MD) GOOD COUNSEL 2016 OLB 8 96
MICHAEL JORDAN CANTON (MI) PLYMOUTH 2016 OT 15 134
DEMETRIUS KNOX FORT WORTH (TX) ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL 2014 OG 5 98
TYQUAN LEWIS TARBORO (NC) 2013 WDE 10 286
AUSTIN MACK FORT WAYNE (IN) BISHOP LUERS 2016 WR 11 80
TATE MARTELL LAS VEGAS (NV) BISHOP GORMAN 2017 DUAL 2 57
DEMARIO MCCALL NORTH RIDGEVILLE (OH) 2016 APB 2 45
TERRY MCLAURIN INDIANAPOLIS (IN) CATHEDRAL 2014 WR 35 244
THAYER MUNFORD MASSILLON (OH) WASHINGTON 2017 OT 28 281
JOSH MYERS MIAMISBURG (OH) 2017 OG 2 54
BILLY PRICE YOUNGSTOWN (OH) FITCH 2013 DT 18 206
MALCOLM PRIDGEON GARDEN CITY (NY) NASSAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE 2016 OT 3 4
ISAIAH PRINCE GREENBELT (MD) ELEANOR ROOSEVELT 2015 OT 7 106
ISAIAH PRYOR BRADENTON (FL) IMG ACADEMY 2017 S 8 63
AMIR RIEP CINCINNATI (OH) COLERAIN 2017 CB 27 192
KENDALL SHEFFIELD BRENHAM (TX) BLINN COLLEGE 2017 CB 1 3
ERICK SMITH CLEVELAND (OH) GLENVILLE 2014 S 6 66
BINJIMEN VICTOR POMPANO BEACH (FL) COCONUT CREEK 2016 WR 13 105
DENZEL WARD MACEDONIA (OH) NORDONIA 2015 CB 26 260
DAMON WEBB DETROIT (MI) CASS TECH 2014 CB 5 35
MIKE WEBER DETROIT (MI) CASS TECH 2015 RB 9 79
PETE WERNER INDIANAPOLIS (IN) CATHEDRAL 2017 ILB 14 277
BRENDON WHITE POWELL (OH) OLENTANGY LIBERTY 2017 ATH 3 125
ANTONIO WILLIAMS NEW LONDON (NC) NORTH STANLY 2016 RB 8 176
MARCUS WILLIAMSON BRADENTON (FL) IMG ACADEMY 2017 CB 24 182
THREE-STAR PROSPECTS (20)
name high school class pos pos rank natl rank
JOSH ALABI DETROIT (MI) CASS TECH 2015 SDE 30 553
A.J. ALEXANDER BURKE (VA) LAKE BRADDOCK 2015 TE 15 510
DAMON ARNETTE FORT LAUDERDALE (FL) ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 2015 CB 62 653
RASHOD BERRY LORAIN (OH) DIGITAL 2015 WDE 35 728
BRANDEN BOWEN DRAPER (UT) CORNER CANYON 2015 OT 61 540
DRUE CHRISMAN CINCINNATI (OH) LASALLE 2016 P 1 777
GAVIN CUPP LEIPSIC (OH) 2016 OT 44 413
KEVIN FEDER RAMSEY (NJ) DON BOSCO PREP 2015 OT 56 502
ELLIJAH GARDINER KEMP (TX) 2017 WR 115 796
DAVON HAMILTON PICKERINGTON (OH) CENTRAL 2015 DT 63 998
MALIK HARRISON COLUMBUS (OH) WALNUT RIDGE 2016 ATH 48 692
BLAKE HAUBEIL BUFFALO (NY) CANISIUS 2017 K 4 1,344
ROBERT LANDERS HUBER HEIGHTS (OH) WAYNE 2015 DT 28 479
SEAN NUERNBERGER BUCKNER (KY) OLDHAM COUNTY 2014 K 6 1,228
TRACY SPRINKLE ELYRIA (OH) 2013 SDE 31 639
BRADY TAYLOR COLUMBUS (OH) BISHOP READY 2014 OT 55 583
DYLAN THOMPSON LOMBARD (IL) MONTINI CATHOLIC 2014 SDE 22 463
JAHSEN WINT BROOKLYN (NY) ERASMUS HALL 2016 ATH 61 881
JACK WOHLABAUGH STOW (OH) WALSH JESUIT 2016 OG 20 442
CHRIS WORLEY CLEVELAND (OH) GLENVILLE 2013 ATH 28 499
TWO-STAR PROSPECTS (1)
name high school class pos pos rank natl rank
LIAM MCCULLOUGH WORTHINGTON (OH) KILBOURNE 2015 LS 1 2,444
UNRANKED WALK-ONS (30)
NAME HIGH SCHOOL jOINED  POS
ALEX BLACKENSTOE HILLIARD (OH) DAVIDSON 2015 RB
NATHAN BROCK POWELL (OH) OLENTANGY LIBERTY 2016 OL
AARON COX MANTUA (OH) CRESTWOOD 2017 DL
KORY CURTIS CAPE CORAL (FL) ISLAND COAST 2017 QB
BROCK DAVIN CINCINNATI (OH) ST. XAVIER 2016 TE
KEVIN DEVER CLEVELAND (OH) ST. EDWARD 2017 S
NOAH DONALD UNIONTOWN (OH) WALSH JESUIT 2016 DL
JARED DRAKE WESTERVILLE (OH) CENTRAL 2015 LB
TREVON FORTE YOUNGSTOWN (OH) CARDINAL MOONEY 2013 CB
ELIJAAH GOINS CONCORD (NC) COX MILL 2015 WR
JACK HAMILTON DUBLIN (OH) COFFMAN 2017 DB
CIN'QUAN HANEY DAYTON (OH) CHAMINADE-JULIENNE 2015 CB
MICHAEL HARTWAY COLUMBUS (OH) AFRICENTRIC  2017 WR
HAYDEN JESTER CINCINNATI (OH) LASALLE 2016 LB
LOGAN KELLEHER CINCINNATI (OH) ARCHBISHOP MOELLER 2015 DB
JEREMIAH KNIGHT JEFFERSON (OH) AREA 2017 RB
BRYAN KRISTAN CANFIELD (OH) 2016 K
JORDAN LEASURE AMANDA (OH) CLEARCREEK 2016 RB
DERRICK MALONE DAYTON (OH) THURGOOD MARSHALL 2015 TE
JAKE METZER DOYLESTOWN (PA) CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 2017 K
BRANDON PAHL CUTLER (OH) WARREN 2015 OL
BLAKE PFENNING WAPAKONETA (OH) 2015 OL
GARYN PRATER WYOMING (OH) 2017 WR
CLAY RATERMAN DUBLIN (OH) COFFMAN 2017 S
MITCH ROSSI FRANKLIN (TN) 2017 RB
C.J. SAUNDERS DUBLIN (OH) COFFMAN 2015 WR
NICK SEME WADSWORTH (OH) 2017 DL
BRENDAN SKALITZKY EVERGREEN PARK (IL) 2016 WR
ZACH TURNURE ST. LOUIS (MO) CHRISTIAN BROTHERS 2014 RB
KEVIN WOIDKE CLEVELAND (OH) ST. IGNATIUS 2015 OL
55 Comments
View 55 Comments