Ohio State has undoubtedly expanded its recruiting reach in the last few years with Urban Meyer at the helm.
The focus has shifted from filling the roster with in-state talent to a more national approach, which has four- and five-star prospects from all over the country lining up to play for the Scarlet and Gray.
But one major downside of these nationwide efforts, Meyer acknowledged on Monday during his weekly press conference, is leaving the door open for other programs to come into the state and poach kids that used to be worthy of an Ohio State offer.
It's not blue-blood schools like Alabama, Notre Dame or this weekend's opponent, Oklahoma, Meyer is worried about, though. Instead, it's Michigan State and Wisconsin, among others, that will gladly scoop up the overlooked three-star prospect.
"Michigan State is well known to take these Ohio guys and all of a sudden - boom - they become great players," Meyer said, noting the lack of spring football in Ohio as one reason kids may not be as highly touted coming out of high school as some other prospects down south. "A lot of times, these kids get one year in the program - like a Darron Lee - and all of a sudden, they have great success."
And missing out on a player like Lee, a three-star athlete from New Albany who developed into a first-round NFL Draft pick at linebacker, could easily come back and haunt Meyer and the Buckeyes down the road.
"That's my biggest fear about Ohio," he said. "Michigan State... they did get [Hubbard native] L.J. Scott, and Wisconsin does the same thing ... I think they do a great job of evaluating players."
That's high praise for two programs that could potentially derail a memorable season for Ohio State.
But what are the Buckeyes going to do, rescind a scholarship offer from five-star prospects like Texas' J.K. Dobbins to keep three-star Pickerington running back Morgan Ellison from going to Michigan State?
Not a chance.
Ohio State has never had an issue keeping the top in-state talent home, so that's why Meyer isn't too worried about the powerhouse programs infiltrating Ohio. He knows firsthand from his time at Florida the struggle that comes with recruiting a prospect the Buckeyes want.
"Jim Tressel did a good job [of keeping prospects in Ohio]," Meyer said when asked about his attempts at luring Braxton Miller to Gainesville. "We're not going to take the third, fourth, fifth down the line guys. In Florida, you do like Ohio State. You're going to take the very best players ... We took a swing at a few of them, but Jim Tressel and Ohio State was hard to beat."
It's impossible to tell whether any prospect, regardless of ranking, will ultimately live up to his billing. But Meyer placing his bet with a five-star out-of-state prospect is a no-brainer if Ohio State is going to compete year-in and year-out for a national title, even if that also means helping sharpen the Spartans' spears.
