Ohio State's Top-Ranked Recruiting Class of 2021 Continues to Widen the Talent Gap over the Rest of the Big Ten

By Dan Hope on May 26, 2020 at 11:32 am
Ryan Day
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Ohio State already has commitments from 15 of the top 205 prospects in the recruiting class of 2021, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. The rest of the Big Ten has just 11.

As you’ve probably heard by now, the Buckeyes’ recruiting class of 2021 is on pace to be Ohio State’s first No. 1-ranked recruiting class in 25 years, with no other class even close to Ohio State’s in the team composite rankings right now. The Buckeyes’ 19 commits for 2021 include four five-star prospects and 11 four-stars, giving Ohio State an overall class score of 301.39 that already would have ranked fourth in the final 2020 class rankings.

Combining quality and quantity, Ohio State has recruited at a level that no other school can match for the current cycle, and if the Buckeyes can finish strong, their class of 2021 even has a chance to finish as the highest-rated class ever since recruiting rankings became a thing.

That’s the kind of class Ohio State needs to get back to the mountaintop of college football and win more national championships, and it’s why the Buckeyes are chasing the top talent all over the country, competing as often with national powers like Clemson, Alabama and Oklahoma as they are other schools in the Big Ten.

In the process, though, the Buckeyes are continuing to expand the gap between themselves and everyone else in their conference.

This conversation – and subsequent arguments between Ohio State and Michigan fans – was inflamed on social media over the weekend after Michigan fan and sports journalist Scott Bell posted the following graphic on Twitter, showing how Michigan’s top commitments stack up with the rest of the Big Ten East except for Ohio State:

As that graphic shows, Michigan has built some substantial momentum on the recruiting trail and is performing well in comparison to the rest of the conference; the Wolverines, who had just two commitments for the class of 2021 two months ago, now have 15 commits and are up to sixth nationally in the 2021 class rankings.

Numerous other Big Ten teams are building quality classes for 2021, too, including some unusual suspects: Minnesota is currently ninth in the class rankings, Iowa is 10th, Maryland is 13th, Penn State is 15th, Rutgers is 16th and Wisconsin is 17th.

When comparing the top-end talent in each of the Big Ten’s classes, though, it’s clear that Ohio State is currently recruiting on a different level from everyone else in the conference.

As evidence of that, the following table lists the 25 highest-rated prospects in the class of 2021 (according to their composite rankings) who were committed to Big Ten schools as of Tuesday, with Ohio State commitments highlighted:

Top Big Ten Commits for Class of 2021
Rank Prospect Commit School
3 DE JACK SAWYER OHIO STATE
15 QB J.J. MCCARTHY MICHIGAN
19 RB TREVEYON HENDERSON OHIO STATE
21 OG DONOVAN JACKSON OHIO STATE
26 QB KYLE MCCORD OHIO STATE
30 DE TUNMISE ADELEYE OHIO STATE
43 CB JAKAILIN JOHNSON OHIO STATE
49 OT LANDON TENGWALL PENN STATE
57 DT MIKE HALL OHIO STATE
58 DE DEMEIOUN ROBINSON MARYLAND
59 WR MARVIN HARRISON JR. OHIO STATE
67 OT GIOVANNI EL-HADI MICHIGAN
68 WR JAYDEN BALLARD OHIO STATE
70 LB REID CARRICO OHIO STATE
84 RB EVAN PRYOR OHIO STATE
104 OT BEN CHRISTMAN OHIO STATE
113 CB AVANTE DICKERSON MINNESOTA
116 LB JUNIOR COLSON MICHIGAN
129 OT JP BENZSCHAWEL WISCONSIN
137 OT DAVID DAVIDKOV IOWA
141 DB ANDRE TURRENTINE OHIO STATE
157 OT RILEY MAHLMAN WISCONSIN
183 CB DENZEL BURKE OHIO STATE
186 DT MARCUS BRADLEY MARYLAND
195 S HUNTER WOHLER WISCONSIN

Ohio State’s recruiting efforts in the class of 2021 should only build upon a talent gap that the Buckeyes have already built through their efforts in recent recruiting classes.

With the exception of 2019, when Ohio State took an unusually small class of only 17 players (and still had the highest average signee rating of any Big Ten school), the Buckeyes have had the Big Ten’s top-ranked recruiting class in nine of the last 10 years. And the difference in the number of elite, nationally heralded recruits the Buckeyes have landed in comparison to everyone else in the conference has been especially stark.

Ohio State’s 15 commits ranked in the top 205 of the class of 2021 alone matches the number of top-205 prospects that Michigan has signed or landed commitments from since 2019 – and Michigan has been in the top two of the Big Ten class rankings every year since 2016. Penn State has landed 13 prospects ranked in the top 205 of their respective recruiting classes since 2019, but no other Big Ten school has accumulated more than seven (Wisconsin) in that timeframe.

The Buckeyes’ momentum on the recruiting trail has also already started to spill over into 2022, where they have commitments from three players who are ranked in the top 170 in their class (which does not yet have composite rankings) by 247Sports. The only other Big Ten schools that currently have any commitments for 2022 are Iowa and Michigan.

Ohio State’s work on the recruiting trail year in and year out has built the foundation for the Buckeyes to become the clear-cut frontrunner in the Big Ten, and they’ve won the last three conference championships as a result. If Ryan Day and his staff can continue recruiting the way they’re recruiting now and continue to develop the players they’re recruiting at a high level, Ohio State could continue to dominate the conference for years to come.

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