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Vo. 1, No. 41
This week in Ohio State football, defensive line recruiting is keeping pace with the offensive line, but that’s not all. The elite receiver pipeline is apparently still flowing, and a major NCAA rule change could impact how Ryan Day builds his roster in a positive way.
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NCAA approves new 5-year eligibility rule
Forget redshirts: Those no longer exists.
Waivers for extra eligibility? They’re out, too.
The NCAA officially approved new eligibility guidelines that give everyone five years to play five1, replacing the old system of five to play four unless you filed for a waiver or sued the NCAA to get more.
There’s more going on than that, but let’f focus just on the basics for now.
“How will it impact Ohio State?” you might be wondering. “Don’t the best players try to get there and get out in THREE years anyway? And won’t it benefit developmental programs more since they were already trying to get everyone to year five?”
Those are good questions, but it’s important to keep this in mind: Ohio State had as many guys on a five-year model as the three-year plan. That has actually been the case for a while — going back to at least the Urban Meyer era but really into the Jim Tressel time, too.
Of course, there is also a key difference since the transfer portal became a thing: Those five-year guys are probably more likely to end up playing their last year or two somewhere else now.
I am wondering then if that becomes less true moving forward.
Of course when this was announced I looked at who will be impacted the most on the roster, but then I also looked back at the last 25 years or so to see who might have taken advantage of that fifth year.
The latter can be a tough practice because the three-and-outs aren’t even in the conversation, but I came up with a few who could have filled a need and/or benefitted from another year of development.
Keep in mind, going pro after three years was once not purely a financial decision. Some guys, like Mike Doss, came back just for love of the program and likely a feeling of unfinished business.
Thinking of that, I came up with two more who might be a long shot but could have opted for one more year: A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter in 2006.
Yes, they were both first-round picks, but one wonders if there is a chance they would be worth persuading to return for a hefty NIL check given all the holes on the 2006 defense entering the season. (In Carpenter’s case, he was also recovering from a broken leg suffered in the Michigan game, so perhaps that would have made returning more appealing.)
I also came up with Nate Salley and Rob Simms for that year. They were both fourth-round picks so these days they would probably make more money at Ohio State than in the NFL, and both would have strengthened units that turned out to have deficiencies in ’06.
More recently, John Simon is maybe the best example.
He was the Big Ten Defensive Lineman and Player of the Year in 2012 but was hurt at the end of the season. Then he was only a fourth-round pick in the ’13 draft, so he could have had a financial reason to return, and the ’13 defense had a glaring need for him as well.
In Simon’s case, his senior season was also marred by a postseason ban so the chance to win a Big Ten title and play for the national championship you have to figure would have been appealing.
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As for guys on this roster…
Figuring out who might really want and be able to use a fifth year is difficult because most of the class of 2023 is already gone or already redshirted so it doesn’t matter for them.
Notable exceptions would be offensive lineman Luke Montgomery and cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr.
They are interesting because one would think they actually arrived on the three-year plan — especially Mathews, a five-star prospect from Cincinnati — but have not turned into stars yet. I suppose for guys like that getting an extra year is not bad for insurance against an injury this season, but I’d think both anticipate playing well this fall and being coveted NFL prospects next spring.
The group of 17 fourth-year seniors includes four transfers who are intriguing, though: TE Mason Williams, WR Devin McCuin, DT James Smith and LB Christian Alliegro
Much like Montgomery and Mathews, I’d think Alliegro and McCuin came here to prove they are what they were at their former school (productive players) while Smith likely expects to live up to his recruiting pedigree then go along his way — at least in a perfect world.
That leaves Williams, a tight end who transferred from Ohio University. Tight end is a developmental position so another year often can’t hurt, and there are a lot of candidates for playing time this fall so it remains to be seen if he maximizes himself on the field in Scarlet and Gray this fall or could use another year to do so in ’27.
Speaking of 2027…
The ’27 recruiting class continued to take shape
This week, Larry Johnson gets to take a bow after the long-time DL mentor secured a commitment from Marcus Fakatou of Chatsworth, Calif.
Fakatou is a 6-6, 275-pound five-star prospect rated the No. 26 player overall in the class of 2027.
More than that, he’s the fourth DL commit for this class — and not even the highest-rated. That would be DJ Jacobs of Roswell, Ga. He is the No. 4 prospect in the country regardless of position and the No. 1 defensive end.
Johnson also has commitments from four-star ends Wyatt Smith (the son of former Bengal Justin Smith) and Prince Goldsby, both top 100 recruits, so it is safe to say the makings of another great defensive line class are in place.
That’s important because Johnson and OSU seemed to have a hard time filling out the class on defensive line (as did the offensive line coach) early in the name, image and likeness era — allegedly because of a lack of financial commitment to those positions (while the money flowed freely to Brian Hartline’s receivers).
The Buckeyes did sign seven defensive linemen last year and five the year before, but eight DL transferred out in January, including three from the class of ’25.
On the downside, Ohio State missed on one of the top in-state prospects when Cincinnati Princeton cornerback Monsanna Torbert Jr. verbally committed to Michigan.
He is the third four-star CB prospect in this class to pledge elsewhere, joining Ace Alston of Cincinnati Anderson (Notre Dame) and Kei’Shjuan Telfair of Euclid (Penn State).
In-state defensive back recruiting has been somewhat odd the last few years. While coach Tim Walton has done a great job overall, he had to fight tooth and nail to keep Aaron Scott Jr. of Springfield and Bryce West of Glenville home two years ago, then they both ended up transferring out last winter anyway.
He’s still got work to do for ’27 as all three current commits are three-star prospects, including Jeremiah Smith’s younger brother, Angelo.
Still WR U?
Last but not least: Philadelphia St. Joseph’s WR Jett Harrison became the third member of the Ohio State class of 2028 this week, giving new WRs coach Cortez Hankton a big win on the recruiting trail as he replaces Brian Hartline.
Harrison is a five-star prospect and No. 4 overall player in the country per the 247Sports Composite.
He also happens to be the younger brother of Marvin Harrison Jr., so we know the bloodline is strong and he should show up with an advanced knowledge of the game.
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1 This actually happened last week, but I didn’t have much of a chance to analyze it until this week.