Welcome to the Skull Session.
James Laurinaitis will ring the Victory Bell before Ohio State faces Illinois on Sept. 26.
Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis will ring the Victory Bell before the Buckeyes’ Sept. 26 home game against Illinois.https://t.co/BsUWgKWsEg pic.twitter.com/jdDmgaicP9
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 15, 2026
I look forward to the College Football Hall of Famer sprinting down the tunnel and to Ohio State's sideline after ringing the bell to coach the Buckeyes' linebackers.
Huss, huss, huss.
Have a good Tuesday.
BOOOOOOM! Chat, is Ohio State basketball back?
On Monday, five-star guard LJ Smith announced he has reclassified to the 2026 class and will join the Buckeyes this season. As a result, Ohio State will have two five-star recruits — Smith and Anthony Thompson — in the same class for the first time since 2008, when in-state prospects B.J. Mullens and William Buford signed with Thad Matta’s program.
Ohio State will now have two five-star freshmen on its 2026-27 roster in Anthony Thompson and LJ Smith.https://t.co/825kxvVwnq pic.twitter.com/F6ICmX1GRp
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 15, 2026
Thompson is Ohio State’s fourth-highest-rated prospect in the modern recruiting era behind Greg Oden, Mullens and Jared Sullinger. Smith is the eighth-highest behind those Buckeyes plus Buford, Daequan Cook and D’Angelo Russell.
In other words, these dudes can ball.
Look out for the Basketbucks!
DECISIONS, DECISIONS. ESPN’s Matt Miller and Jordan Reid ranked the top five prospects at each position in the 2027 NFL Draft class, and three Buckeyes made the cut across their combined lists.
It starts, of course, with Jeremiah Smith, whom both evaluators project as the No. 1 wide receiver in the class. On the offensive line, Austin Siereveld appeared as Miller’s No. 5 offensive tackle and Reid’s No. 3 offensive guard, while Luke Montgomery landed at No. 3 among guards in Miller’s rankings.
Neither Miller nor Reid ranked Julian Sayin as a top-five quarterback in the draft class. Miller has Texas’ Arch Manning, Oregon’s Dante Moore, Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker, Notre Dame’s CJ Carr and Miami’s Darian Mensah, while Reid has Manning, Moore, Mensah, Carr and Mestemaker. Reid also added that South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers is a name outside the top five to keep an eye on.
It’s time for another offseason question — the kind of hypothetical that tends to take on a life of its own while we wait for college football to return.
There’s still an entire season ahead of Sayin. He could become a Heisman finalist for a second straight year, lead Ohio State Buckeyes to a second national championship in three seasons and firmly establish himself as a top quarterback in the 2027 NFL draft class. But what if his draft stock next spring looks a lot like it does today?
In that scenario, returning for another year of college football becomes a legitimate option. The bigger question is where that would happen. Five-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair has patiently waited his turn to become QB1 in Columbus. If Sayin came back for a fourth season, would St. Clair be willing to wait yet another year? More importantly, would Ohio State ask him to?
What say you: if Sayin’s draft stock is in question after 2026, would you want him back in the scarlet and gray, or would you turn the keys over to St. Clair?
BRIAN HARTLINE’S TOP FIVE. Last week, Brian Hartline appeared on Steve Smith’s 89 podcast, where he joined Smith and James Palmer to discuss his journey to becoming USF’s head coach, wide receiver non-negotiables, transparency in the NIL era, and his evaluation of Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Perhaps most interesting for Eleven Warriors readers was Smith’s list of the top 10 wide receivers Hartline coached at Ohio State, which we’ll examine below (Smith only ranked former Buckeyes, so Jeremiah Smith is not included):
- Marvin Harrison Jr.
- Garrett Wilson
- Chris Olave
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
- Emeka Egbuka
- Devin Smith
- Michael Thomas
- Parris Campbell
- K.J. Hill
- Terry McLaurin
Hartline told Steve Smith he didn’t coach Devin Smith or Michael Thomas, so Smith allowed him to swap those Buckeyes out of his list. Hartline then added Austin Mack and Jameson Williams instead, without revealing where they should land in Smith’s revised top 10.
After some discussion of the Ohio State records set by Smith’s top five — Emeka Egbuka’s career receptions mark, Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s single-season receiving yards record, and Chris Olave’s career touchdowns record — Hartline eventually ranked his top five at the position.
Hartline hesitated a few times while working through the list, at one point prompting Smith to hilariously tell him to “rip the Band-Aid off.” Hartline ultimately settled on the following order:
- Marvin Harrison Jr.
- Garrett Wilson
- Emeka Egbuka
- Chris Olave
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba
“That’s pretty darn good. I can’t wait to redo the whole thing,” Hartline said. “Again, what’s my criteria? It’s based on production at Ohio State.”
It’s hard to argue with any list that features those receivers in the top five. That will likely remain true — at least until January, when Jeremiah Smith declares for the NFL draft. At that point, any all-time Ohio State wide receiver ranking should start with him at No. 1, leaving the rest of the top 10 to the eye of the beholder.
RUN IT UP, HERMAN! Here’s another list: the top 10 teams in average per game point differential over the past five seasons, with Ohio State at No. 1.
Largest average per game point differential over the last 5 seasons pic.twitter.com/tlUtoDPv3B
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) June 14, 2026
This honestly surprised me a bit, given Ryan Day’s reputation for rarely running up the score — especially in recent seasons. Maybe that 56-7 win over Michigan State in 2021 is doing some heavy lifting in the Buckeyes’ ranking here.
That performance is an all-timer in my book.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Blitzkrieg Bop" - Ramones.
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