Taking Stock of Ohio State’s 2026 Class After June Full of Commitments and Official Visits

In the busiest recruiting month of the year, Ohio State added commitments from six players: linebacker Cincere Johnson, running back Favour Akih, offensive tackle Aaron Thomas and defensive linemen Khary Wilder, Damari Simeon and Cameron Brickle. Together, they brought Ohio State up to 19 total commits in the 2026 class, which currently ranks as the No. 5 class in the country in 247Sports’ team composite rankings.

Recruiting is now in a dead period for the entire month of July, but there are still some big decisions on the horizon following last month’s conclusion of the summer visit season. Ohio State hosted 43 total official visitors between May 30 and June 22, and 15 of those players remain uncommitted, though a couple of their commitments are set to come later this week.

With the biggest recruiting month of the year now complete and a clearer picture developing of who will and won’t fill out Ohio State’s 2026 class, it’s a good time to take stock of how the class stacks up as July begins.

Below, we take a position-by-position look at who the Buckeyes already have committed in the current cycle and who they are still hoping to add from their list of official visitors, with some analysis on where things stand at each of those positions. Next to each uncommitted official visitor’s name, you’ll find their decision date if they’ve announced a day they plan to finalize their college choice.

Quarterback

Commits: None
Uncommitted Official Visitors: Luke Fahey (July 3)

Ohio State doesn’t yet have a quarterback for the 2026 recruiting class, but that could change on Thursday when Fahey announces his decision. Ohio State is viewed as the frontrunner going into his commitment, with Stanford and Indiana also in the mix after hosting him for official visits.

While Ohio State just offered Fahey during his official visit two weekends ago, he was the only quarterback to make an official visit to Ohio State this summer, making it clear that the four-star passer from Mission Viejo, California, is the Buckeyes’ top target at the position. Known for his accuracy, Fahey would fill Ohio State’s quarterback need for the 2026 class with fellow Californian Brady Edmunds already committed for 2027.

Running Back

Commits: Favour Akih
Uncommitted Official Visitors: Derrek Cooper, Savion Hiter

Ohio State secured one of its top three running back targets in the 2026 class when Akih, a four-star prospect from nearby Delaware, Ohio, committed to the Buckeyes following his official visit on June 8. Now, the question is whether Carlos Locklyn can land a five-star RB to pair with the local product.

Ohio State remains in the running for both Hiter and Cooper, the two five-star running backs in the 2026 class, after hosting both of them for official visits, though it’s not a clear frontrunner for either. Of the two, Cooper – who has been seen wearing Ohio State gear at multiple recruiting events since his visit – seems more likely to end up in the class, but the Buckeyes will have to beat out Miami, Georgia and Florida State to land his commitment. Cooper was originally scheduled to make his commitment next week on July 12, but announced Monday that he will no longer commit on that date.

Wide Receivers

Commits: Chris Henry Jr., Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, Jaeden Ricketts, Brock Boyd
Uncommitted Official Visitors: Jerquaden Guilford

At this time last week, Ohio State appeared to be on the verge of landing Guilford to fill out its wide receiver recruiting class. That changed on Friday morning, however, when Guilford announced he was delaying his commitment following a late push by Ole Miss to land the coveted three-star wideout from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

While Guilford’s late change of heart could spell bad news for the Buckeyes, who seemingly had all the momentum in his recruitment after hosting him for two visits the previous week, Brian Hartline will have one of the best receiver recruiting classes in the country yet again no matter what Guilford decides. Henry Jr. is an elite prospect with superstar potential, his high school teammate Dixon-Wyatt also forecasts as a future Ohio State starter and Boyd and Ricketts are quality four-star developmental prospects to round out the class with or without Guilford.

Tight Ends

Commits: Corbyn Fordham
Uncommitted Official Visitors: None

Keenan Bailey was hoping to come out of June with two tight ends in the 2026 class, but Mack Sutter’s commitment to Alabama left the Buckeyes without any clear targets to join Fordham in the class.

There’s no real need for Ohio State to expand its tight end board unless a great fit emerges, though. While Max Klare and Will Kacmarek could both be gone after this season, Ohio State still projects to have Jelani Thurman, Bennett Christian, Nate Roberts, Max LeBlanc and Brody Lennon all back at tight end next season, along with Fordham, who was always a top target in the class for Bailey even though he holds a three-star composite rating.

Offensive Line

Commits: Sam Greer, Maxwell Riley, Aaron Thomas, Tucker Smith
Uncommitted Official Visitors: Felix Ojo (July 4), Darius Gray, Breck Kolojay, Da’Ron Parks, J.B. Shabazz

Tyler Bowen started his first recruiting cycle as Ohio State’s offensive line coach by landing his two most important targets, Greer and Riley, who were must-gets from day one given their standing as the top two offensive linemen from Ohio in the 2026 class. He’s followed that up by landing a pair of three-star Arizona prospects who were high on his board, Thomas and Smith, giving his first recruiting class at Ohio State a strong foundation.

The class still lacks a marquee out-of-state prospect, though, which is where Bowen’s predecessors Justin Frye and Greg Studrawa too often fell short on the recruiting trail. That would change in a big way if Ohio State lands Ojo, a five-star offensive tackle ranked as the No. 7 overall prospect in the 2026 class. If Ojo chooses Texas on Friday, however, this could end up as another cycle that’s remembered for Ohio State missing on its top out-of-state offensive line targets.

Gray gives Bowen another shot at landing an out-of-state five-star, but the Buckeyes appear to have ground to make up in his recruitment with South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee also pushing hard for the Virginia guard. If it misses on Ojo, Ohio State will likely increase its pursuit of Kolojay, Parks and Shabazz, with Parks the likeliest candidate among them to be a Buckeye if OSU pushes hard for him.

Defensive End

Commits: Khary Wilder
Uncommitted Official Visitors: KJ Ford, Jake Kreul

This position has been the biggest pain point for Ohio State’s recruiting efforts over the past couple of weeks as they’ve seen three of their top defensive end targets in the class – Luke Wafle (USC), Carter Meadows (Michigan) and Landon Barnes (Ole Miss) – commit elsewhere despite strongly considering Ohio State after their official visits this summer.

Ohio State landed one of its top defensive end targets in early June when Wilder – a four-star prospect whose rankings will likely soon rise after he earned MVP honors at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge – committed to the Buckeyes in early June. But Ohio State still needs to add at least one more defensive end in the 2026 class given that all of its top five defensive ends on its current roster (seniors Caden Curry and C.J. Hicks, redshirt juniors Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Beau Atkinson and junior Logan George) are upperclassmen.

Kreul has been closely linked to Oklahoma, so Ford – Barnes’ teammate at Duncanville High School – is likely the Buckeyes’ best remaining shot at landing another defensive end without having to expand their board. They likely still have ground to make up with Ford, though, given that he only scheduled his official visit to Ohio State when he canceled his official visit to USC following Wafle’s commitment.

Defensive Tackle

Commits: Damari Simeon, Cameron Brickle
Uncommitted Official Visitors: Jamir Perez, Deuce Geralds, Emanuel Ruffin

The past week has gone much better for Ohio State on the defensive tackle recruiting front than it did at defensive end as the Buckeyes landed a pair of commitments from Simeon and Brickle, giving them a strong tandem of explosive and powerful DTs to start their 2026 class at the position. They’re also viewed as the frontrunner to land Perez, a Glenville product who’s technically still committed to Florida but who effectively reopened his recruitment by making an official visit to Ohio State in June – and who announced Tuesday night that he will make a “big announcement” on Friday.

Big announcement Friday! @SWiltfong_ @AllenTrieu

— Jamir JJ Perez 3 (@DabigRootJJ) July 2, 2025

Landing Perez would give Ohio State a 330-pound nose tackle to pair with a talented duo of 3-techniques and leave the Buckeyes with a solid three-man class of defensive tackles even if they don’t land anyone else. But they would still want to land Geralds, a top-75 national prospect who would immediately become the highest-ranked defensive lineman in Ohio State’s 2026 class by a significant margin.

Ruffin was originally scheduled to commit on Friday but announced last week that he would delay his commitment and that his recruitment is “100% open,” making it appear less likely that the four-star DT from Alabama will end up in Columbus.

Linebacker

Commits: Cincere Johnson, CJ Sanna
Uncommitted Official Visitors: None

James Laurinaitis landed his highest-priority target in the 2026 class when Johnson – another Glenville product – announced his commitment to Ohio State on June 19. The top-100 national prospect pairs with Sanna, who plays at nearby Olentangy High School, to give the Buckeyes a quality tandem of in-state linebacker commits.

Laurinaitis would have loved to pair them with an out-of-state five-star linebacker, but those options now appear to be off the board as Xavier Griffin committed to Alabama while Tyler Atkinson chose not to make an official visit in June. That could leave Ohio State content to take just two linebackers in the class after bringing in the trio of Riley Pettijohn, TJ Alford and Eli Lee in 2025.

Cornerback

Commits: Jordan Thomas, Jakob Weatherspoon
Uncommitted Official Visitors: None

This is another position where Ohio State’s recruiting efforts in the 2026 class can, so far, be considered both a success and a slight disappointment.

On the plus side, Thomas and Weatherspoon are both top-200 national prospects who Tim Walton was able to secure commitments from before official visit season after making them top priorities. On the minus side, Ohio State missed out on in-state star Elbert Hill – the top prospect in Ohio and No. 2 cornerback in the class, who committed to USC in May – and Florida four-star Danny Odem, the lone uncommitted CB who made an official visit to Ohio State this summer but ended up committing to Nebraska last week.

Ohio State could use a third cornerback in the 2026 class as it faces losing Davison Igbinosun, Lorenzo Styles Jr. and possibly Jermaine Mathews Jr. after this season, but there aren’t any clear-cut targets left on the board right now. Walton had more than enough big recruiting wins in his first three years at Ohio State to be forgiven if he doesn’t find a third cornerback, but this class doesn’t have the five-star firepower that his last two classes did with Devin Sanchez and Aaron Scott Jr.

Safety

Commits: Blaine Bradford, Simeon Caldwell
Uncommitted Official Visitors: Bralan Womack (Aug. 22)

Matt Guerrieri’s second recruiting class as Ohio State’s safeties coach is already in fantastic shape with Bradford, a five-star prospect the Buckeyes pulled out of LSU’s backyard, and Caldwell, who ranks just outside the top 100 prospects nationally and could play either safety or linebacker at Ohio State.

Landing Bradford and Caldwell alone would make this class a success for Guerrieri, but it would become a grand-slam class if the Buckeyes land Womack, the top-ranked safety in the cycle. Ohio State remains very much at the forefront of Womack’s recruitment, though it will have to keep battling Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M until he makes his decision in late August. If the Buckeyes win that battle, they would indisputably have the best safety class in the country, setting them up for elite play at the position for years to come even with Caleb Downs likely headed to the NFL next year.