Former Oklahoma commit and four-star 2020 cornerback Ryan Watts III has committed to Ohio State.
COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/icpwMm1t68
— Ryan Watts (@RyanwattsIII) October 13, 2019
Watts committed to Oklahoma in April, but he reopened his recruitment by decommitting from the Sooners on Oct. 2.
Just a couple hours before announcing his commitment to Ohio State, Watts released a statement on Twitter explaining his decision to decommit from Oklahoma.
Much love ..... pic.twitter.com/x2HrBL1ehi
— Ryan Watts (@RyanwattsIII) October 13, 2019
Watts made an official visit to Ohio State for the game against Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 21, and that was one of the key steps in helping jump start his decommitment from Oklahoma.
The Watts File
- Class: 2020
- Size: 6-foot-2, 187 lbs
- Pos: CB
- School: Little Elm (Little Elm, Texas)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★
- Composite Rank: 19 (CB)
Watts, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder and the No. 19 corner in the nation, also took an unofficial visit to Ohio State in the summer.
Several other programs, including Penn State and Texas A&M, had been trying to land Watts, but Ohio State won in the end.
With his commitment, Watts becomes the 24th commit in the Buckeyes’ 2020 class and its fourth defensive back. Watts coming to Columbus fills out the defensive backfield the program had been gunning to complete, as he will join lockdown four-star corner Clark Phillips III and safety-turned-corner Lejond Cavazos as the Buckeyes' three 2020 corners.
Watts, Phillips and Cavazos will help reload a cornerback room that could be thin heading into next season. Damon Arnette is a senior, Jeff Okudah is a projected top-15 NFL draft pick and fellow 2017 five-star recruit Shaun Wade is also draft-eligible.
| NAME | POSITION | OVERALL RANKING | POSITION RANKING | DATE OF COMMITMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PARIS JOHNSON JR. | OT | No. 8 | No. 1 | JUNE 28, 2018 |
| JACK MILLER | QB | No. 238 | No. 11 (PRO-STYLE) | JULY 1, 2018 |
| LUKE WYPLER | C | No. 73 | No. 1 | JULY 7, 2018 |
| JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA | WR | No. 62 | No. 10 | NOVEMBER 4, 2018 |
| GEE SCOTT JR. | WR | No. 63 | No. 11 | DECEMBER 25, 2018 |
| JAKOB JAMES | OG | No. 805 | No. 49 | JANUARY 21, 2019 |
| TREY LEROUX | OT | N/A | No. 91 | MARCH 11, 2019 |
| LEJOND CAVAZOS | CB | No. 242 | No. 22 (S) | APRIL 12, 2019 |
| JULIAN FLEMING | WR | No. 3 | No. 1 | MAY 31, 2019 |
| JAKE SEIBERT | K | N/A | No. 2 | JUNE 4, 2019 |
| GRANT TOUTANT | OT | No. 388 | No. 30 | JUNE 9, 2019 |
| TY HAMILTON | DE | No. 735 | No. 35 (SDE) | JUNE 16, 2019 |
| CLARK PHILLIPS | CB | No. 45 | No. 4 | JUNE 21, 2019 |
| CODY SIMON | LB | No. 122 | No. 9 (OLB) | JUNE 29, 2019 |
| DARRION HENRY | DT | No. 169 | No. 17 | JUNE 29, 2019 |
| JOE ROYER | TE | No. 463 | No. 14 | JULY 2, 2019 |
| MITCHELL MELTON | LB | No. 667 | No. 43 (OLB) | JULY 3, 2019 |
| CAMERON MARTINEZ | ATH | No. 371 | No. 15 | JULY 4, 2019 |
| JOSH FRYAR | OL | No. 421 | No. 23 (OG) | JULY 4, 2019 |
| MOOKIE COOPER | WR | No. 77 | No. 14 | JULY 8, 2019 |
| LATHAN RANSOM | S | No. 75 | No. 4 | JULY 16, 2019 |
| KOURT WILLIAMS | LB | No. 162 | No. 12 | JULY 24, 2019 |
| JACOLBE COWAN | DE | No. 165 | No. 15 (DT) | OCTOBER 4, 2019 |
| RYAN WATTS III | CB | No. 258 | No. 19 | OCTOBER 13, 2019 |
Watts, a Texas native out of Little Elm High School, will bring added depth and stability to Jeff Hafley, and the former NFL coach has another strong budding talent to mold.
With cornerback locked down, the Buckeyes will now turn their attention to pursuing at least one running back – the top three being Miyan Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs and Kevontre Bradford (possibly in that order) – plus another defensive end like Tyler Baron and a second quarterback led by the recruitment of CJ Stroud.
The Buckeyes may not be done at cornerback, either. They have Jaiden Francois coming for an official visit on Nov. 23, but it looks like Francois may be one of the last players taken in the class if both sides decide it's a good fit.
