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.
Hale impressed by Buckeyes’ explosive offense
It’s been an embarrassment of riches for Ohio State at the receiver position in the last four classes with Brian Hartline and Ryan Day at the helm. It’s become the top skill position that the Buckeyes are stacking, with 2019 (Garrett Wilson), 2020 (Julian Fleming), 2021 (Emeka Egbuka) and 2022 (Caleb Burton) each producing a five-star commitment/signee ranked in the top three at the position. (And Burton will likely climb back into the No. 1 or No. 2 WR slot once he gets back on the field following a knee injury.)
And that’s just mentioning the top-ranked guys in those classes. There’s plenty of depth in each class, and it looks like Hartline and Co. are only going to add onto it. Or, at least, they’re in a good position to do so.
That began last week with the first offer in the 2023 class being extended to the nation’s No. 1 receiver (Brandon Inniss), and that was soon followed up by an offer being dished to Jalen Hale, the country’s No. 7 WR and No. 60 overall player out of Longview (Texas) where he is the state’s No. 6-ranked prospect in 2023.
In speaking briefly with Hale, he has been impressed by Ohio State’s offense and its use of receivers in Day’s system, saying “Ohio State’s offense is one of the best, or the best offense” and that “their team and wide receiver core” has been a big factor standing out early in his recruitment.
Oklahoma, however, and an explosive offense led by Lincoln Riley is also making waves with him, and the Sooners (who offered more than a month before the Buckeyes) are a contender here very early in the process to keep him in Big 12 country. Obviously, such a long way to go in the recruitment of a big, physical receiver in the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Hale, who says he “brings everything a wide receiver needs” to the table.
He’s likely to wind up outside the numbers, but whether or not he becomes an outside receiver or one who can move to the inside at the slot remains to be seen. The bottom line is that Hartline and the Buckeyes see the talent – just like a litany of other programs do – and wanted to get in on him early.
“College coaches like the variation of my film,” Hale said. “It’s a mixture of everything. I can go get the deep ball, I can make something happen off a screen ball or what they also like is I can get the (jump ball). And I can play inside or outside receiver, but I guess wherever he thinks I’m the better fit in the offense.”
Hale is also a standout basketball player at Longview, and he will be bringing that impressive athleticism to college where he can use that in a similar fashion to the way fellow Texas native Garrett Wilson has used it to propel himself as a receiver.
Keeping an eye on Pope
Xavier Nwankpa is the No. 1 target for the Buckeyes at safety in this 2022 class, and that's followed by Las Vegas' Zion Branch in addition to Markeith Williams and Kamari Ramsey as other targets.
But we are going to keep an eye on the Buckeyes' most recent 2022 offer in Buford (Georgia) standout Jake Pope. He whittled his list down (sort of) last week to a top 14 that includes the Buckeyes.
TOP 14 I dreamed of this.... pic.twitter.com/DUmCbfqtaa
— Jake Pope (@JakePope24) March 2, 2021
Pope was offered by the Buckeyes on Feb. 5, and that was followed up by Pope taking an unofficial visit to Alabama the next day. Prior to Ohio State calling with an offer, Pope picked up offers from Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Notre Dame.
After that, Pope went from an unranked prospect to a three-star in the composite and a four-star per 247Sports' own rankings. He is currently the No. 391 overall player and No. 24 safety in the class as he continues to rise.
Ohio State is going to keep working on Nwankpa and Branch as it fights Clemson and Notre Dame (among others) for Nwankpa and USC as its main competition for Branch. If the Buckeyes are unable to snag either of them, it wouldn't be surprising for them to go harder after Pope later in the cycle.
Header photo: Jalen Hale – Nick Harris/247Sports
