Ohio State’s recent success has been noticed by a number of big time 2026 recruits, as well as some major transfer portal targets.

Looking ahead to the New Year, Ohio State’s coaching staff is currently focused on the upcoming Cotton Bowl with Texas, and hopefully eventually a National Championship game. In today’s Bullet Points session, I will highlight some of those recruits on Ohio State’s radar.

First, let’s start with one of the main points of emphasis in this transfer portal period in Justin Frye’s O-line group. The Buckeyes have landed Phillip Daniels from Minnesota and Ethan Onianwa from Rice thus far. Speaking with some sources, it’s apparent Daniels will more likely be a development piece for Frye in 2025 as he possesses great size and traits but is still very raw, the good news is he still has three years of eligibility left.

While on the other hand, Onianwa is a bonafide starter and will be expected to anchor the Buckeyes left tackle position in replacement of Josh Simmons who has declared for the NFL draft.

I have been informed that the Buckeyes have zeroed in on one tackle specifically and if they do not get that tackle, they likely feel good enough with what’s in the room currently to make it work at the right tackle. The player the Buckeyes are after is Central Connecticut’s Rahtrel Perry. The 6-foot-7, 323 pound brawler is one of the most sought after portal additions in this cycle.

However, the Buckeyes are in a dog fight with Florida State and a few others over the highly touted transfer. The Seminoles seem to be the leader at the moment but the Buckeyes will competitive down the stretch. As mentioned, if the Buckeyes do not land him, the staff feels good about where the rest of the room stands after seeing the recent emergence of Luke Montgomery, who was naturally a high four-star tackle coming out of high school. He would likely get the nod at the Right tackle position leaving Hinzman, Siereveld, and Padilla on the inside.

Switching to the 2026 class, the Buckeyes have picked up some major steam as of late for the nations number one signal caller in Jared Curtis. Ohio State looked to get Curtis on campus back in November for the Indiana game but due to him still being in season and the Buckeyes being “gifted” another Big Noon Kick Off Curtis was not able to attend. As frustrating as the situation was, Curtis told the staff how imperative it was for him to get back to Columbus soon. The Buckeyes will look to get him back on campus this off season and I really like where they stand with him.

Another name in the 2026 class Buckeye fans should get familiar with is a top three ATH/RB in the country in Hollywood, Florida’s Derrek Cooper. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound back possesses all the traits you look for in a top level RB. Cooper currently plays at the same school that current Ohio State players Jeremiah Smith and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. went to.

The Buckeyes have recently had a ton of success recruiting that Southern Florida region and recruits have taken notice at the high production those players have seen once getting to Columbus. Cooper has just about every school in the country after him with Miami being just down the road from him and Georgia having a lot of recent success in developing RB’s, but the Buckeyes seem to be a program sticking out to the 5-star back.

With everything I have heard of recent, I think Buckeye fans should start to feel highly optimistic about landing another big time Chaminade-Madonna product.

Recruits across the country will be tuning into the Cotton Bowl on January 10th, and you can bet they will be taking stock on where the program is headed in the new 12-team playoff era with Ohio State coming off some major wins against Tenneesee and undefeate Oregon.