There’s lots to unpack this week in the world of Ohio State recruiting, from some shaky commitments, to some Ohio State family ties, all the way to some future five star news.
First off, let’s take a dive into the shaky commitments. If you’re someone who stresses about commitments from the state of Florida, there’s no need to be this time around. Yes I’m referring to Carnell Tate. Tate’s commitment is as solid as they come in terms of his pledge to the scarlet and gray. Tate was just recently in Columbus for the Iowa game where he got to see Zone 6 explode. Now the shaky commitment I was referring to comes on the heels of a beaten down Alabama squad. Current Crimson Tide commit Caleb Downs may not be as locked in as everyone once thought.
With his good friend and fellow Tide commit Justice Haynes taking a visit to Georgia this past weekend, a lot can be said about the two being “locked in”. I just recently have spoken to a few sources close that recruitment who mentioned the smoke is definitely real for Downs. In fact, just a couple weeks ago on the bye week, Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day and secondary coach Perry Eliano travelled down to Georgia for the Buford versus Mill Creek game that featured a ton of Buckeye targets such as 2024 KingJoseph Edwards, KJ Bolden, and on the other side of the ball of course Caleb Downs. The staff got a chance to catch up with all three recruits and after hearing that the conversations have picked up with Downs following that game, and a rough few weeks for the Tide, it seems as though maybe he’s not totally sold on Saban’s program. There’s a lot to be said about the friendship piece in Downs committing to the Tide originally, but at this time it seems like Ohio State is going to at least try to get him to cool off the recruitment.
UPDATE: Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day is in attendance for the big showdown in Georgia between Mill Creek and Buford
— Recruiting Edits (@614EditzDSGN) October 15, 2022
He is there to see Alabama Commits 5⭐️ Justice Haynes 5⭐️ Caleb Downs
2024: Uncommitted Prospects 5⭐️ KJ Bolden 5⭐️ King Joseph Edwards @caleb_downs2 pic.twitter.com/fkisol31uf
Now looking forward to the 2024 class, we just saw a second commitment come last week to the class when Ian Moore announced he would be committing to the Buckeyes. The question following that commitment always comes as “who’s next?”
Well that question may be getting answered soon with some current family ties to the program. 2024 Ohio native Garrett Stover has been given the green light to make the move when he’s ready. Stover, of course, is the cousin of current Ohio State tight end Cade Stover. It’s still uncertain exactly where the four star athlete will play at 6-foot-2, 195-pounds, but the likelihood is that the Buckeyes staff will have plans to heed him up to play outside linebacker at the next level. This could change, though, as Cade came to the program as a linebacker and could be on his way to having an All-American season now at tight end.
Finally some big news, and when I say big, I mean about 6-foot-5, 260-pounds of news. From Melissa, Texas current 2024 four star defensive end and likely a future five star Nigel Smith Jr. has certainly been trending the Buckeyes way in the past few weeks. The highly sought after edge rusher had the chance to visit Columbus for the fourth time when he came to the Notre Dame game. Since then, the talks have been picking up with him and defensive line coach Larry Johnson.
I had the chance to speak to Smith back when he was originally offered by Johnson and the Buckeyes.
“I think it was just such an honor, [Johnson] is just a legend in the game,” said Smith Jr. “What he has done with his players just speaks for itself, and just for him to love my film and make me an offer speaks volumes.”
Since that time, the two have certainly been keeping in touch and growing that relationship. Not too many people seem to have a read on this recruitment but I’ve certainly heard some things about the Buckeyes out in front at this time. With already four trips to Columbus, could Smith be one of the next names to take a spot in the 2024 class? It’s definitely trending that way.
Stay tuned to The Silver Bulletin for more recruiting updates.
Carson MacRae comes to The Silver Bulletin with a vast football background. As a former player himself, Carson brought his expertise of the game to the recruitng analysis side, where he worked as a Recruitng Writer and Analyst at Rivals.com apart of Ohio State’s “BuckeyeGrove” network. After leaving Rivals, Carson joined forces with The Silver Bulletin as the Chief Recruiting Writer for the quickly growing Ohio State network. Carson is also proud member of Prep Redzone where he is as a National High School Football Scout providing in depth analysis on the top players around the country.