He hasn't played a single snap of high school football yet.
But that didn't stop wide receiver Eric McFarland III from earning an Ohio State offer on Monday, becoming the first prospect from the class of 2028 to pick up an offer from the Buckeyes and Brian Hartline.
Blessed & Highly Honored to receive an Offer from THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY!! #GoBucks @brianhartline @GregBiggins @BrandonHuffman @ChadSimmons_ @Swiltfong_ @dzoloty @MohrRecruiting @adamgorney @TomLoy247 pic.twitter.com/43iwc0GWF2
— eric mcfarland lll (@cantguarderic) May 13, 2024
OSU is one of the first five schools to offer McFarland. Arizona State and UNLV were the first two schools to offer and Florida State and Washington also offered Monday.
The 5-foot-8, 170-pound McFarland will play his freshman season at IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) this fall. While there's obviously not a lot of film on him as of yet, McFarland has already been a force in the seven-on-seven circuit. He becomes the first prospect to pick up an offer from OSU as an eighth-grader since 2026 prospect Tyler Atkinson, who is now a five-star linebacker in his class two years later.
Meanwhile, Ohio State running backs coach Carlos Locklyn stopped in Mississippi over the weekend to offer two promising prospects.
Both recruits play different positions and are in separate classes, and we’ll break down each of them below.
Mario Nash Jr.
Offers keep going out to 2025 offensive linemen late in the cycle, and four-star prospect Mario Nash Jr. is the latest to pick up an offer from the Buckeyes. The offer was given by Locklyn, who was also checking in on a 2026 running back (more on that later).
#AGTG after a great conversation with @Locklyn33 and @SP_KnuckIfUBuck I have earned an offer from @OhioStateFB. Grateful! @CoachJFrye @D_Wren5 @KCHS_Recruit @SWiltfong_ @adamgorney @ChadSimmons_ @MacCorleone74 @DemetricDWarren @DAWGHZERECRUITS @LawrencHopkins @LemmingReport pic.twitter.com/CVQKZHTiVo
— Mario Nash Jr (@BigNash_77) May 13, 2024
Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Nash is considered the 310th-best prospect and the No. 19 interior offensive lineman in 2025. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound lineman has earned nearly 30 offers, including Mississippi State, USC, Florida State, Auburn, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Houston, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Texas A&M, Clemson and Duke.
Nash put on an impressive performance at the Under Armour Next Camp in Atlanta earlier this spring, earning offensive lineman MVP at the showcase. He was a first-team All-State selection as a junior and helped Kemper County High School (DeKalb, Mississippi) to a 9-3 record last year.
Damarius Yates
Locklyn offered four-star Mississippi tailback Damarius Yates on Saturday, making him the ninth running back the Buckeyes have offered in the 2026 cycle.
#AGTG Very Blessed to receive an offer from the @OhioStateFB @Locklyn33 @D_Wren5 @KCHS_Recruit @LawrencHopkins @ScottLashleyPRF pic.twitter.com/Wd9uPlNWaG
— Damarius Yates (@damarius_yates) May 11, 2024
The 6-foot, 185-pound prospect doesn’t hold a 247Sports composite ranking as of yet, but is rated the No. 77 prospect and No. 6 running back in the country per the recruiting network’s individual rankings. Yates has earned eight Division I offers thus far, also including Florida State, Auburn, TCU, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, UCF and Western Kentucky.
Yates had a standout sophomore year for Kemper County High School, running for 1,129 yards and 19 touchdowns on 103 carries, an average of 10.96 yards per carry. He added 13 receptions for 365 yards and seven touchdowns.
Quincy Porter puts Buckeyes in top six
One of OSU’s top wide receiver targets in the 2025 class has narrowed down his recruitment. Four-star New Jersey wideout Quincy Porter released a top six on Monday which consisted of Ohio State, Texas A&M, Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma and Alabama.
NEWS: Elite 2025 WR Quincy Porter is down to 6 Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 13, 2024
The 64 205 WR from Oradell, NJ is ranked as a Top 32 Recruit in the 25 Class (No. 5 WR) per On3
Where Should He Go?https://t.co/7PcYxYod6m pic.twitter.com/1RXJMsRJzL
Porter visited OSU over the spring and has an official visit to Columbus set for June 7. He’ll also visit Michigan and Oklahoma this summer.
Porter is considered the No. 49 prospect and the No. 7 wide receiver in the 2025 class. In his junior season, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound prospect caught 41 passes for 969 yards with 16 touchdowns.
Mariyon Dye, Madden Faraimo set OVs to OSU
A priority OSU defensive end target for 2025 has locked in an official visit to Columbus.
Four-star Indiana prospect Mariyon Dye announced he’ll be in Columbus on June 14 for an official visit. He also has trips scheduled to Purdue, Tennessee, Florida State and Georgia.
Dye won’t be the only intriguing defensive prospect on campus that weekend. Four-star California linebacker Madden Faraimo told On3 he’ll also take an official visit to Columbus that weekend. He also plans to visit Washington, Notre Dame and Texas.
Faraimo visited OSU this spring and is an option to be the Buckeyes’ third linebacker in the 2025 class. He hopes to commit sometime before the start of his senior season.
“I talk to coach James Laurinaitis a lot,” Faraimo told On3 of OSU. “He is my main recruiter and we have a good relationship. With Ohio State though, it has always been about how they play football. I love how they play, it is a big football school and they play big-time football.”
