Though college football’s dead period has prevented prospects from visiting campus and coaches from hitting the road for much of the last three weeks, the summer months have been very kind toward Ohio State on the recruiting trail.
The Buckeyes sat at nine commitments in their Dynasty ‘19 recruiting class during our last projection, but several one-day camps, Friday Night Lights and one enormous official visit weekend in late June quickly pushed that number to 14.
The first domino fell when Indiana three-star athlete Craig Young showed off his athleticism and versatility during a one-day camp and pledged his services to Ohio State just days later. Georgia five-star center Harry Miller followed that up with a surprising commitment — not the result, but rather from a timing standpoint — as he was set to announce during his annual mission trip to Nicaragua, but that was cancelled amid civil unrest throughout the country.
The Buckeyes’ well-documented search for a quarterback finally came to a close when the staff flipped four-star Dwan Mathis from Michigan State following his official visit the weekend of Friday Night Lights, while Florida four-star safety Jordan Battle admitted the inevitable and committed the following week.
After visiting all four of his finalists in June, Tennessee four-star linebacker Kane Patterson capped things off earlier this week when he picked Ohio State over Alabama, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
Looking back, Mathis’ flip — and, heck, even his official visit — caught my colleague, Andrew Ellis, and I off guard. As did Patterson’s decision. Battle and Miller were expected, while we knew Young had interest in the program despite the fact that his place within the class was still up in the air.
The Buckeyes now have room for just 11 more prospects this cycle. And while most of it feels pretty cut-and-dried, there will certainly be a few more surprises over the next five months as we head toward the Early Signing Period in December.
With that, Ellis and I have decided to give our predictions another shot. Who do we think will fill out the rest of Ohio State’s Dynasty ’19 recruiting class? Let’s find out:
QUARTERBACK
ELLIS: Michigan four-star Dwan Mathis
LIND: Mathis
RUNNING BACK
ELLIS: Georgia four-star Steele Chambers, Indiana four-star Sampson James
LIND: Chambers, James
WIDE RECEIVER
ELLIS: Texas five-star Garrett Wilson, St. Louis four-stars Marcus Washington and Jameson Williams
LIND: Kentucky four-star Wandale Robinson, Washington, Williams, Wilson
TIGHT END
ELLIS: West Virginia three-star Brenton Strange
LIND: Strange
OFFENSIVE LINE
ELLIS: Georgia five-star center Harry Miller, West Virginia five-star tackle Darnell Wright, Mentor four-star tackle Ryan Jacoby, West Virginia four-star guard Doug Nester, Dayton Dunbar three-star tackle Jonathan Allen
LIND: Allen, Jacoby, Miller, Nester, Wright
DEFENSIVE END
ELLIS: Olentangy Orange five-star Zach Harrison, Mentor four-star Noah Potter
LIND: North Carolina three-star Terrell Dawkins, Harrison, Potter
DEFENSIVE TACKLE:
ELLIS: Maryland three-star D’Von Ellies, New York three-star Jared Harrison-Hunte
LIND: Ellies
LINEBACKER
ELLIS: Tennessee four-star Kane Patterson, Lexington four-star Cade Stover, Indiana three-star Craig Young
LIND: Patterson, Stover, Young
CORNERBACK
ELLIS: Florida four-star Jordan Battle, Florida four-star Kaiir Elam, Texas three-star Peyton Powell
LIND: Battle, Elam, Powell
SAFETY
ELLIS: New Jersey four-star “Rocket” Ronnie Hickman, Maryland three-star Bryson Shaw
LIND: Hickman, Shaw
