The Hurry Up: Ohio State Offers Defensive End Jack Sawyer While Quarterback Danny Vanatsky Accepts Walk-On Offer

By Andrew Lind on April 6, 2018 at 6:50 pm
Danny Vanatsky
Danny Vanatsky
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The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.

IN RARE AIR

It’s not often Ohio State offers a scholarship to a freshman, as they are still developing mentally and physically and still are learning the nuances of the game at that age. But the few prospects who actually do land an offer from the Buckeyes that early in the process have already shown glimpses of being a special player.

That said, it’s even more rare for an in-state freshman given how likely they are to commit on the spot. But that’s exactly what has happened with Pickerington North defensive end Jack Sawyer, who picked up an offer from Ohio State during an unofficial visit on Friday afternoon.

The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Sawyer is not yet ranked by any major recruiting sites, but is clearly going to be one of the most sought-after prospects in the Class of 2021. He already holds offers from Cincinnati, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Pittsburgh, and head coach Urban Meyer and his staff weren’t going to run the risk of falling behind some of their greatest competition.

The Buckeyes are still unsure whether Sawyer — who hauled in four receptions for 48 yards and one touchdown and recorded 58 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one interception and one forced fumble for the Panthers last season — will play defensive end or tight end at the next level. I also don’t get the sense that he’s looking to make a decision anytime soon, since this was only his first time on campus as a recruit and he came away impressed with recent trips to Ann Arbor, East Lansing and State College, as well.

That said, I am set to speak with Sawyer this evening and I’ll have more on his offer in Sunday’s edition of The Hurry Up.

LIVING HIS DREAM

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy quarterback Danny Vanatsky committed to Ohio State as a preferred walk-on on Thursday evening.

“I’m excited to be part of the Buckeye family,” Vanatsky told Eleven Warriors.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Vanatsky was named the Miami Valley Conference co-offensive player of the year and honorable mention all-Ohio as a senior, as he through for 1,984 yards and 28 touchdowns for the Eagles last season. He turned down scholarship offers from Concordia, Georgetown College and Graceland and a walk-on opportunity at Marshall to play for the Buckeyes.

“It had been a dream of mine growing up to play Division I football and to be able to compete with the best of the best,” Vanatsky said. “Having the opportunity to play for Ohio State and represent the state of Ohio was something that I couldn’t possibly pass up. I also believe that it will lead me to become the best student, athlete and leader possible thanks to the staff and Ohio State community.”

Assistant director of player personnel Eron Hodges has been keeping tabs on Vanatsky since he attended a one-day camp last summer, and extended the opportunity just last week.

“I still had to finish up the admissions process and talk with my family about it, but I let the staff know yesterday that I wanted to accept the offer and make it official,” Vanatsky said.

Vanatsky will be on campus next weekend for the Spring Game.

HOTTY TODDY

Though he’d pretty much become an afterthought in Ohio State’s quarterback search, you can officially remove Allen, Texas, four-star Grant Tisdale from the board after he committed to Ole Miss on Friday afternoon.

When offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day offered the 6-foot-1, 204-pound Tisdale last summer, his pledge seemed inevitable. After all, many viewed him as a faster version of record-setting quarterback J.T. Barrett, another Lone Star State native who excelled in the read-option scheme.

That said, the staff hoped to see further development from Tisdale in the passing game during his junior season — though he was never asked by the Eagles to throw the ball more than a few times per game. In fact, he only attempted seven passes in the state championship game last December.

Then, in the months since, Ohio State offered and hosted several other quarterbacks, including Texas four-star Grant Gunnell and North Carolina four-star Sam Howell. Both are considered pro-style quarterbacks, as well, which seemingly indicated a change in philosophy from dual-threat signal callers to prototypical pocket-passers.

Both Meyer and Day recently said that’s not the case, but rather indicative of a smaller pool of elite prospects to choose from. Either way, they did not view Tisdale as a top priority, and he started looking elsewhere as a result.

When Gunnell decommitted from Texas A&M in February, the Aggies began trending for Tisdale. There was a chance he’d be reunited there with his teammate, five-star wide receiver Theo Wease Jr., who recently listed the program in his Top 5. But a trip to Oxford last weekend swung things in the Rebels’ favor, and he pledged his services less than one week later.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN PIPELINE

Ohio State recently welcomed Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, Independence four-star wide receiver T.J. Sheffield to campus for an unofficial visit.

“It was a great trip up to Columbus,” Sheffield told Eleven Warriors.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Sheffield is considered the 38th-best wide receiver and No. 229 prospect overall in the Class of 2019, as he’s hauled in 107 catches for 1,746 and 24 touchdowns in his three-year varsity career with the Eagles. He holds more than a dozen offers from programs such as Georgia Tech, Kentucky, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State, Stanford, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.

While on campus, Sheffield toured the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and watched practice. He also hung out with assistant wide receivers coach Keenan Bailey and running backs coach/area recruiter Tony Alford, who offered him a scholarship back in February.

“They were nice,” Sheffield said. “[The facility had] a lot of history and reminders of their rivalry game.”

Ohio State has made quite a push in Tennessee behind Alford, who was instrumental in the Buckeyes landing commitments last cycle from Franklin four-star offensive tackle Max Wray and Murfreesboro Blackman four-star running back Master Teague III.

The Buckeyes also have offers out right now to some of the Volunteer State’s top prospects, including Sheffield’s teammate, four-star wide receiver Kendrell Scurry; Blackman four-star wide receiver Trey Knox and four-star cornerback Adonis Otey; Oakland four-star cornerback Woodi Washington; Siegel four-star defensive end Joseph Anderson; Nashville Franklin Roads four-star wide receiver Lance Wilhoite; and Nashville Davidson Academy four-star defensive end Ani Izuchukwu.

ANOTHER PACKED WEEKEND

In addition to the aforementioned Sawyer and Knox, Ohio State hosted several prospects on Thursday and Friday that I hope to catch up with in the coming days, including:

The Buckeyes are also set to have St. Louis Cardinal Prep four-star wide receiver Jameson Williams on campus for a two-day visit beginning Sunday, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the staff adds another pledge before he boards his plane to head back home.

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