At long last, Ohio State has its two-tight end class after previously having expected to bring in a pair in the 2020 or 2021 cycles.
Four-star East Surry (North Carolina) tight end Benji Gosnell committed to the Buckeyes on Sunday afternoon and made it official on Wednesday night.
Let's take a look at what Gosnell, who will pair with Georgia three-star Bennett Christian, gives Ohio State on the field, off the field and in its 2022 class:
On the field
Gosnell's older brother, Stephen, is a receiver at North Carolina. Ever since seventh grade, Gosnell has been working on receiver drills with his brother, catching a ton of passes, constantly running routes and developing that skillset. Gosnell played receiver until his freshman year, but his body eventually developed into the 6-foot-4, 225 pounds that he stands at now as a tight end prospect.
But because he worked on those receiver skills for so long – including running 100 routes a day and catching about 200 passes a day at least three times a week this offseason from the JUGS machine or a quarterback – it's turned him into a valuable asset who Kevin Wilson and the Buckeyes have high hopes for.
“They're recruiting me to replace Jeremy (Ruckert). They want me to replace him,” Gosnell told Eleven Warriors on Sunday. “(Wilson) loves my ability to catch and in the passing game.”
It's not just his receiving ability, however, that made Wilson want to bring in the nation's 11th-ranked tight end in the class.
“He likes my ability as an edge blocker," Gosnell said. “My tape of edge blocking that I do have, I’m blocking corners and blocking linebackers and defensive ends. ... I think he sees me as a really good pass-catching tight end that he can turn into a really good, complete tight end. I guess that’s me putting words in his mouth, but if I were to say, I think that’s how I would see myself – as a good threat in the passing game but also somebody who can block people and open up space for me to get the ball in the passing game.”
Gosnell will actually be preparing for his Ohio State career in the way he's utilized in East Surry's offense in the spring (after high school football in North Carolina was pushed back from the fall).
“I also have been working with the offensive line in our high school to get my blocking down,” Gosnell said. “I’ll be doing a lot of things that Ruckert and (Luke) Farrell do this year, like running routes from the wing position right behind the tackle or from the slot. I’m definitely trying to watch tape as much as I can to improve my game.
As we talked about in the story of his commitment, a huge final factor in Gosnell picking the Buckeyes over Florida and North Carolina was when he saw how Ruckert and Farrell were utilized in the passing game and all over the field against Nebraska and Penn State.
Ruckert, Farrell and Jake Hausmann were used in the passing game quite a bit, both on release routes near the line of scrimmage on dump-off passes from Justin Fields and in the red zone with Ruckert’s two touchdown catches. Perhaps just as importantly, the Buckeyes’ usage of either 12 personnel or 11 personnel caught Gosnell’s eyes.
“I would say seeing that definitely helped me see that’s where I wanna be, and that’s definitely where I’m gonna be developed the most,” Gosnell said. “They’re great blockers, too. They’re powerful and they’re strong. Ruckert put dudes on their butts (against Nebraska), and now he’s got two touchdowns.”
Off the field
One of 13 in his family, Gosnell (who is the second-youngest of the bunch at 17 years old) is used to hearing a ton of different perspectives from his older brothers, soaking up both his football IQ and regular IQ over the years at the dinner table – and when he's listening to at least two podcasts a day.
That's really the type of player and person Gosnell is. At seemingly any and all times, he's starving to figure out ways that he can make himself a better player and get more production out of himself, often reflecting on himself as a player by watching a ton of film to dissect what he could have done differently or what he could have done better.
“A lot of people try to triple down on their strengths, but I wanna triple down on my weaknesses because if I get my weaknesses to about as good as my strengths, I’m unstoppable,” Gosnell said. “That’s the reason I like Coach Wilson and Ohio State so much. They’re gonna make me a complete tight end.
“I guess you would say I’m a receiving tight end, but I wanna be a better blocker, too.”
“They want me to replace (Jeremy) Ruckert. They’re recruiting me to replace Jeremy. (Wilson) loves my ability to catch and in the passing game.”– Ohio State 2022 TE commit Benji Gosnell
Once he developed and realized that tight end was going to be his calling at the next level, and once he started getting recruited more by Ohio State in the spring (an offer eventually came on June 2), Gosnell actually reached out to Ruckert to ask the Buckeye tight end what he could do to help prepare him for the college game.
“Back in late April, I actually DM’d Jeremy on Twitter and was like, ‘Hey, I’m being recruited by Ohio State’ and I was basically like, ‘What’s the biggest transition from a high school tight end to a collegiate tight end?’ Just to get an idea,” Gosnell said. “He did tell me the biggest thing is in practice and games, there’s no time to waste, and every second matters. I did reach out to Ruckert and asked him that. I know he’s a smart dude, and that helped me a lot.”
In the class
As stated above, Gosnell is going to pair with Christian at Ohio State to give the Buckeyes two tight ends that fit well together based off their strengths.
While Gosnell will improve as a blocker, his strengths still lie as the better pass catcher of the two. Christian, meanwhile, is the bigger-bodied of the two and is a better blocker while being used as more of an-line tight end at Allatoona High School.
@GosnellBenjamin doing what he does. @ES_CardinalsFB pic.twitter.com/sx2cv8EPsp
— Trent Lowman (@Coach_LowmanES) October 25, 2020
With the two of them in the class – each of whom has the same mindset in terms of two tight ends being brought into the class – plus Sam Hart in the 2021 cycle, Ohio State is setting itself up to have a strong core of players who should develop into well-rounded tight ends.
“They’ve got Jeremy and they’ve got Luke, and they’re starting to use them a lot more, and I feel like me and Bennett will be another step to take it to another level to get more involved in the passing game,” Gosnell said. “Bennett’s huge, man. If you get his passing game right, if I’m in the red zone, I’m taking a one-on-one shot with him or me. I feel like that’s what they’re really aiming for.”
With Gosnell's commitment, the Buckeyes now have seven commits in the 2022 cycle and now has the No. 1-ranked class in America with 161.06 points.
This is just the first domino to fall. This 2022 class is cooking up something special, and it is already laying the foundation to finish with the Buckeyes' first-ever recruiting crown (if the 2021 class does not steal that title away from Alabama, that is) with the likelihood increasing for a few more commitments to come Columbus' way in November.
