A decision is coming for the country's No. 1 tailback.
The Buckeyes' backfield could be a bit murky following the 2017 campaign. Mike Weber made a splash a season ago and will be eligible to enter the NFL Draft if he so chooses. This summer will be a pivotal one for Antonio Williams as the sophomore has already been passed by true freshman J.K. Dobbins. He's only been on campus for a few months, but the early enrollee from La Grange, Texas is already turning heads.
Still, with Demario McCall's move to H-back and the uncertainty surrounding Weber's future, it's imperative that Ohio State's 2018 recruiting class adds a least a pair to the backfield for Tony Alford and Tote Nation.
Things are already off to a tremendous start for the No. 2 class in America. Seffner, Florida's Brian Snead has been on board since Friday Night Lights, and the nation's No. 4 tailback has seemingly shut his recruitment down since then. Westerville's Jaelen Gill – the No. 34 overall prospect in America – brings more of an all-purpose element to the table and could end up in role similar to that of Curtis Samuel.
The focus of Ohio State's running back recruiting efforts has been on the same player for quite some time now, and with a decision date just a month away, it's officially crunch time for Urban Meyer and Tony Alford.
Back in February when we started to piece together the 2018 running back board, it looked as though the Clemson Tigers were way out in front for Zamir White, the nation's No. 5 prospect. White released his top four schools in late February and the Buckeyes didn't even make the cut. Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina were the programs standing out.
A lot has changed since then.
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs now look to be the leaders, but a spring game visit to Columbus has had the Buckeyes surging ever since. There are some folks out there who believe Ohio State is right where it needs to be with one month left until the five-star makes his highly anticipated announcement.
Alford and the Buckeyes' staff have clearly honed in on White. Dayton's Tavion Thomas was offered shortly after signing, but there hasn't been a whole of movement on that front. The Buckeyes would likely be a top contender for Master Teague – the No. 9 tailback in the country according to 247Sports – but an offer has yet to be extended. Meanwhile, Teague looks to be trending toward Georgia and is expected to announce within the next few weeks.
Whether or not the Bulldogs land Teague before the White announcement may mean very little as the plan has been for them to take multiple players at the position. Still, if you're Ohio State, it would level the playing field a little bit as there's no doubt other teams are attempting to use Snead and Gill as ammo against the Buckeyes.
Perhaps the biggest factor in this recruitment is one that most should be able to understand and respect — Family.
@KirbySmartUGA pic.twitter.com/RlmV9dvkPu
— Zeus34 (@zeus1_34) January 28, 2017
Zamir White hails from Laurinburg, North Carolina, which is about 90 miles east of Charlotte. As it pertains to the ultimate college destination, his family's ability to watch him play looks to be a pretty big factor and his mother has understandably been an important figure in the recruitment.
This is one area that the Ohio State staff is going to have to visit over the next four weeks and possibly even beyond. It's about a five-hour drive to get from Laurinburg to Athens. The trip to Columbus takes about eight hours. Flying into Atlanta and making the drive to Athens would take about two hours. A flight to Columbus is about three hours.
White is scheduled to make his intentions known on June 27, which is also his mother's birthday. Right now it doesn't look like any other visits are on the horizon, but it's reasonable to expect the Ohio State staff to make a trip to North Carolina at some point. The Buckeyes will look to show the family why coming to Columbus is the best fit for the next three to four years and for the long haul.
The Bulldogs also have a lot to prove as Kirby Smart is coming off an 8-5 debut season but is struggling mightily on the recruiting front. Signing day is a long ways away, but right now Georgia has just two commitments and its class is ranked No. 74 in the country. That's one spot ahead of a Rutgers team that won just two games last season.
Perhaps even worse is that Georgia's top high school prospects aren't exactly flocking to Athens right now. Five of the state's top-10 players have made commitments already and – unless things change – not a single one of them is siding with Kirby Smart. The Buckeyes already have commitments from Emory Jones and Brenton Cox, the state's fifth and sixth-ranked prospects.
With a decision just four weeks away, there's still a lot left to unfold. Ohio State, Georgia, and a number of other programs will make their final pitches to the country's top-rated back. The Buckeyes will look to do what they've been so successful at doing in recent years: sealing the deal with one of the nation's elite prospects.
