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You may not have realized it, but Wednesday was National Signing Day.
Or at least it was a national signing day.
As you probably know if you’re reading this, Ohio State’s 2026 class was pretty much wrapped up in December thanks to the early signing period that was introduced for the class of 2018.
(There was some drama with a couple of prospects, but Chris Henry Jr. and Legend Bey are now safely in the fold.)
With it falling the same week as the Big Ten Championship Game (and, if memory serves, being a snow day), I never got around to recapping the early signing day, though, so I figured now is as good a time as any since all they have done since the turn of the year was add a kicker who probably won’t play for a couple of years.
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What do you need to know about Ohio State’s latest recruiting class?
As of this writing, Ohio State’s 2026 class is ranked No. 4 in the country but only third in the Big Ten.
USC has the top-ranked class in the 247Sports Composite followed by Alabama and Oregon.
This marks the first time since 2019 and only the second time since 2010 Ohio State did not lead the Big Ten.
Ohio State signed 28 players in December and got a verbal commitment from a kicker last month.
Whether we count the kicker or not, this is Ohio State’s biggest class since 1986, when Earle Bruce signed 28 players and recruiting was drastically different than it is today.
Ohio State’s 2026 football recruiting class
The class includes 11 Ohioans, the most since Ryan Day became head coach in 2019.
The previous high under Day was eight last year and the year before, but those were smaller classes so this is the highest percentage of Ohioans (39) in a Day class.
The last time Ohio State signed this many Ohioans was 2015 when there were 12. That is also the last time a higher percentage of the class came from in state (40%).
Overall, Day has signed 181 players, including 59 from Ohio. That percentage (32.5) is much lower than during the Urban Meyer era (40.5%). It is also lower than Jim Tressel (60.5%) and John Cooper (59.5%).
This is Ohio State’s 7th consecutive national top 5 class
The last time Ohio State failed to sign top five class was 2019, a group that was put together by Urban Meyer that had to be preserved by Day when Meyer announced his decision to retire. It only had 17 members, which is part of why it ranked so low.
Otherwise Ohio State last signed a non-top 10 class in 2010 when Tressel’s penultimate class of 18 players ranked 20th. That came on the heels of signing the No. 1 class in the country in 2009 and No. 4 in ’08, and those larger classes left fewer spots for Tressel back in the day when many fewer players transferred and the number of players a team could sign over a four-year period was more restricted.
The average national rank under Day is 5 — impressive but not as high as Meyer, whose average was 3.3.
Tressel’s average rank was 10.3.
The class includes three 5-stars
According to the 247Sports Composite, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei receiver Chris Henry Jr., Cleveland Glenville linebacker Cincere Johnson and Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland defensive back Jay Timmons are all five-stars and ranked in the national top 25.
Joining them in the top 100 are four-star prospects Fort Wayne (Ind.) Northrop receiver Jerdquaden Guilford, Gardena (Calif.) Junipero Serra defensive end Khary Wilder, Akron Hoban offensive lineman Sam Greer and Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic safety Blaine Bradford.
It also has a lot of trench guys
Ohio State’s five offensive line signees are the most since 2020, when they signed six.
The seven defensive linemen (including three guys who are rated as an “Edge,” which is not a position but could mean they play DE or linebacker at the next level) are the most since… at least that long because I didn’t go back any farther in my research.
Regardless, this is the second straight year they have bulked up on the DL after missing their numbers for a couple of years before that. Last year they signed five defensive linemen, though three of them have already transferred.
9 are 3-star prospects
That is the most under Day and the highest number since 2015 when Meyer signed 10.
It would seem to indicate an expansion in developmental prospects, something Day has talked about wanting to have more of as roster management changes in the age of name, image and likeness payments and yearly free agency.
That led them to add a handful of players late in the cycle after getting to evaluate their senior film.
Will any of them play early?
The easy answer would be probably not — with one exception.
At a legit 6-5, Chris Henry Jr. not only has the name, he has the body to play right away.
He’s looked the part for a while, and he did have Brian Hartline at least tutoring him long distance for the last two years. I could see him at least spelling Jeremiah Smith at times at X wide receiver while transfers Devin McCuin (UTSA) and Kyle Parker (LSU) and returning senior Brandon Inniss handle the snaps at Z and in the slot.
Otherwise, Ohio State is pretty much two-deep at every position with players who have some experience, whether that is at Ohio State or elsewhere.
I am pretty sure that was the plan with the way they attacked the portal, so we’ll see how it all shakes out starting with spring ball next month.
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