Though it's the offseason, there's no shortage of intriguing stories happening around the Ohio State football program, especially when it comes to recruiting.
The Buckeyes' 2017 recruiting class still sits as the Big Ten's – and the country's – best. Ohio State has not received a commitment, however, since March 6 when Texas running back J.K. Dobbins surprised everyone by picking the Buckeyes without taking a visit to Columbus.
We're heading into the summer months and with only a few available spots remaining for 2017, things may get pretty interesting as new names rise into the conversation and fall to the wayside over the next few months.
So what do you say? Let's get crazy and go out on a limb and make a few bold predictions for the recruiting summer and heck, all the way through signing day.
To be clear these are bold predictions, based entirely on gut feelings and trends and all those tea leaves and all that jazz. So, uh, yeah, don't hold my feet too closely to the fire if these don't come true, OK?
OK?
BOLD PREDICTION: TATE MARTELL WILL BE A BUCKEYE
I think that everyone is pretty aware that, before too long, another quarterback will join Ohio State's 2017 recruiting class. Tate Martell and Kellen Mond are the two most likely to enter the fray and most believe that Mond, who has told 11W he'd like to make a decision by July, is the more realistic option because his timeline is accelerated.
However.
Right now, I still believe that Martell will be the guy who joins the Buckeyes' 2017 recruiting class. He's the guy that fits the best, from both a talent and personality standpoint and I think Ohio State's coaching staff knows that. Do they wish he was taller? Yes, of course, but the reality is that when it comes to a college offense, a shorter quarterback isn't a death knell and that's especially true in an offense like the one Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes run.
So, here's what I think happens. I think Martell ends up coming to Ohio State on his next college visit tour and no matter what happens at that time, I believe the Buckeyes will know exactly where they stand and move forward from there. As for Mond? Auburn has been just as much of a threat as the Scarlet and Gray have been and I think that he'll land with the Tigers.
BOLD PREDICTION: TYJON LINDSEY WILL NOT BE A BUCKEYE
I know that the idea most people have is that if Martell ends up a Buckeye, so does his former Bishop Gorman teammate Tyjon Lindsey, but there's something right now that just doesn't feel right about this recruitment to me.
Lindsey fought very hard for an offer to Ohio State – he drove the conversation for months in order to get their attention – last summer and his visit to campus in March was a big success. However, a trip to Nebraska seems to have done a pretty significant job of stemming any Buckeye push and since then the Huskers have been regularly linked to his recruitment as they have a number of other California stars.
Ohio State is in the driver's seat for Trevon Grimes and numbers are very, very tight – only one or two wide receivers is likely at this point – so there's no guarantee a spot is there if Lindsey wants to wait until February.
Sam Bruce, part deux?
BOLD PREDICTION: CAM AKERS WILL BE A BUCKEYE, J.K. DOBBINS WILL NOT
When J.K. Dobbins committed to Ohio State without visiting in March, the almost immediate reaction from anyone and everyone was "Will it last?" Dobbins visited Ohio three weeks later and has ever since said nothing about his commitment other than to affirm his choice and let anyone who asks know that he's 100 percent with the Buckeyes.
But...maybe...
Oklahoma made a run. Texas A&M made a run. Texas will make a run, and they're going to be hard to ignore for Dobbins or any other Lonestar State prospect if Charlie Strong's third season in Austin is a good one. Dobbins is very close to Tony Alford and he's become comfortable with the idea of being a Buckeye but there's a long way to signing day.
Speaking of Alford, he's the driving factor in another major recruitment: Mississippi's Cam Akers.
Akers has been to Ohio State twice on his own dime in the last handful of months. He's returning in two weeks and he's suggested that right now the only official visit he knows he's going to take will be with the Buckeyes. There's serious interest here on his part, and it's absolutely reciprocated. He's the big, bruising running back with speed that fits the Carlos Hyde, Ezekiel Elliott mold and it's pretty easy for Ohio State to sell that role right now.
So, the prediction here is this: at some point in the next few months, Akers will decide he wants to be a Buckeye and that will cause Dobbins to take a closer look at A&M and Texas than he'd expected to.
BOLD PREDICTION: TIM BECK WILL LAND A 2017 AND 2018 QB BY THE START OF THE SEASON
So, this is kind of Bold Prediction One, Part Two.
I think Tate Martell will be a Buckeye and I wouldn't be surprised if it's this summer that he makes a decision – at least privately – and you'll see Ohio State suddenly slow down in their quarterback recruiting...for 2017.
Then the 2018 class will come fast and furious. Georgia's Emory Jones, New Jersey's Artur Sitkowski, and Oklahoma's Casey Thompson are all uncommitted 2018 prospects with an Ohio State offer. Jones wants to make a decision by the end of the summer and the Buckeyes are at the top of his list and he's at the top of theirs, so it seems the pair are a natural fit and a commitment would be a big early boost for the 2018 class.
Of course, there are other quarterbacks still on the list, guys like Sachse, Texas' Jalen Mayden, Las Vegas' Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Mentor, Ohio's Tadas Tatarunas that will all push for chance to gain that coveted Ohio State offer as well.
So, in my mind, it's Emory Jones, to the Buckeyes in August.
BOLD PREDICTION: FOUR MORE OHIOANS WILL JOIN THE 2017 CLASS BY SIGNING DAY
Of the Buckeyes 13 current commitments, six are from Ohio (I still count Marcus Williamson though he's at IMG). Although there are some questions about the status of Todd Sibley Jr. and even some questions about Danny Clark, but I still believe that the the home state will yield a few more players towards February's ultimate number.
There's of course Amir Riep, the Cincinnati Colerain four-star that will likely decide between Ohio State and Michigan State this summer. He's a gimme, of course, as most people are expecting that he'll pick the Buckeyes, though I'm not personally sold. The same can be said for Cleveland Heights' Jaylen Harris, the wide receiver has had a Buckeye offer for almost a year but he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to commit and he may wait himself out of the class.
Garaway's Joel Honigford will camp with Ohio State in early June and there is a want for another offensive lineman in 2017 and he's not going to turn down an offer if he earns it in front of Urban Meyer next month.
Toledo's James Hudson, who decommitted from Kentucky earlier this week, is another player that fits that same bill. If you've seen the 6-foot-5, 280-pounder live then you know that he's capable of playing at Ohio State if he wants to put in the work, and it seems like he's finally committed himself to that endeavor. Ohio State will take two more defensive linemen and Hudson can play inside or outside and that makes him exceptionally valuable come signing day with a smaller class size.
