Benji Gosnell is opening things up.
The four-star tight end decommitted from Ohio State on Tuesday evening after nine months as a Buckeye pledge. The North Carolina native originally committed on Nov. 4 and is the No. 13 tight end in the 2022 class and the No. 320 overall player in the country.
This has been very hard. Im thankful for the opportunity OSU has given me and the class they have shown throughout this tough decision. But after thorough discussion with my family, I have decommitted from Ohio State and opened up my recruitment.
— Benji Gosnell (@GosnellBenjamin) July 27, 2021
Gosnell had planned to graduate a semester early and join the Buckeyes as an early enrollee in December with hopes of early playing time in either his first or second year on campus.
“I mean, that’s always the goal. I don’t think anyone’s ever training to be a backup,” Gosnell told Eleven Warriors in March. “Especially right now, I’m always working extra hard. Ever since I did commit, I’ve been working extra hard. Ruckert’s gonna be gone, Farrell’s gone, I think their oldest guy might be a junior. I’m not really sure. I don’t know how deep they are right now.”
With his decommitment, four-star Georgia tight end Bennett Christian is now the sole tight end prospect in Ohio State's top-ranked 2022 recruiting class. The Buckeyes now have an opening to add another tight end in the class, though the only other tight end in the class who currently has an Ohio State offer that isn't currently committed elsewhere is Oscar Delp.
Ohio State has offered 10 tight ends in the class of 2023 and hosted nine of them on recruiting visits during the month of June, so it's also possible the Buckeyes could take multiple tight ends in the next recruiting cycle.
With Gosnell's departure from the class, Ohio State now has 16 commitments for the recruiting class of 2022. The Buckeyes' class of 2022 still ranks as the No. 1 class in the country, per 247Sports' composite rankings.
