Hear that? That sound is the clock falling under two weeks before National Signing Day. Feb. 1 and National Letters of Intent flooding the fax machine at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center are both not far away.
On paper, Ohio State's 2017 class is slated to go down as one of the most impressive in college football history. Nine players enrolled early and arrived on campus last week, and of the 19 committed a stunning seven of them are 5-star prospects. That is more 5-stars than Urban Meyer signed in his first five seasons at Ohio State combined.
The group is ranked No. 2 overall by 247Sports, trailing 2016 national runner-up Alabama. The Crimson Tide will likely win the recruiting national championship once again due to sheer numbers (it has 25 players committed) but the composite average of the recruits in Ohio State's class is nearly 95.5, as compared to 93.2 for Alabama. That isn't to say there hasn't been attrition with Meyer's roster, however.
Since we last updated the program's hunt to reach the NCAA-mandated 85 scholarship limit, star H-back Curtis Samuel, wide receiver Noah Brown and cornerback Marshon Lattimore declared themselves eligible for the 2017 NFL Draft. Wide receiver verbal commit Tyjon Lindsey also reopened his recruitment and later pledged to Nebraska.
After getting suspended for Autumn Semester, Torrance Gibson announced a transfer to Cincinnati to play for Luke Fickell. Evan Lisle transferred to Duke and Kyle Trout is also reportedly heading elsewhere.
On the recruiting trail, the Buckeyes added a pair of cornerbacks — 5-star Jeffrey Okudah from Texas and 4-star junior college and former Alabama commit Kendall Sheffield.
So with two weeks left until signing day, here is how Ohio State's scholarship situation looks.
| Position | Seniors | Juniors | Sophomores | Redshirt-Freshmen | 2017 commitments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | J.T. BARRETT (R) | STEPHEN COLLIER (R) | JOE BURROW (R) | DWAYNE HASKINS | TATE MARTELL |
| RB | – | – |
MIKE WEBER (R) ANTONIO WILLIAMS DEMARIO MCCALL |
– | J.K. DOBBINS |
| WR | JAMES CLARK (R) |
PARRIS CAMPBELL (R) TERRY MCLAURIN (R) JOHNNIE DIXON (R) ERIC GLOVER-WILLIAMS |
ALEX STUMP (R) K.J. HILL (R) AUSTIN MACK BINJIMEN VICTOR |
– |
TREVON GRIMES BRENDON WHITE JAYLEN HARRIS |
| TE | MARCUS BAUGH (R) | – | A.J. ALEXANDER (R) |
JAKE HAUSMANN LUKE FARRELL KIERRE HAWKINS |
– |
| OL |
BILLY PRICE (R) JAMARCO JONES |
DEMETRIUS KNOX (R) BRADY TAYLOR (R) MALCOLM PRIDGEON (R) ISAIAH PRINCE |
BRANDEN BOWEN (R) MATT BURRELL (R) KEVIN FEDER (R) LIAM MCCULLOUGH (R) MICHAEL JORDAN |
TYLER GERALD JACK WOHLABAUGH GAVIN CUPP |
WYATT DAVIS JOSH MYERS |
| DE |
TYQUAN LEWIS (R) JALYN HOLMES |
SAM HUBBARD (R) DARIUS SLADE (R) DYLAN THOMPSON (R) |
NICK BOSA JONATHON COOPER RASHOD BERRY (R) |
– | CHASE YOUNG |
| DT |
MICHAEL HILL (R) TRACY SPRINKLE (R) |
– |
JOSHUA ALABI (R) DAVON HAMILTON (R) ROBERT LANDERS (R) DRE'MONT JONES (R) JASHON CORNELL (R) |
MALIK BARROW |
JERRON CAGE HASKELL GARRETT |
| LB | CHRIS WORLEY (R) |
DANTE BOOKER (R) JEROME BAKER |
NICK CONNER (R) JUSTIN HILLIARD (R) MALIK HARRISON KEANDRE JONES |
TUF BORLAND |
BARON BROWNING PETE WERNER |
| CB | – | DENZEL WARD |
JOSHUA NORWOOD (R) DAMON ARNETTE (R) RODJAY BURNS |
WAYNE DAVIS |
MARCUS WILLIAMSON SHAUN WADE AMIR RIEP JEFFREY OKUDAH KENDALL SHEFFIELD |
| S |
DAMON WEBB ERICK SMITH |
– | JORDAN FULLER | JAHSEN WINT | ISAIAH PRYOR |
| K | SEAN NUERNBERGER | – | – | – | BLAKE HAUBEIL** |
| P | – | – | – | DRUE CHRISMAN | |
| TOTAL | 13 | 15 | 30 | 12 | 19 |
*Plans to gray shirt and thus pay his own way next fall. He will be put on scholarship in January of 2018 but is listed here for eligibility purposes and does not count toward the 85.
Left tackle Jamarco Jones announced he will return for his senior season in 2016. Defensive end Tyquan Lewis and tight end Marcus Baugh did the same. Eric Glover-Wiliams switched positions and early enrollee Brendon White plans to join him in Zach Smith's wide receivers room. As a result, Ohio State is at 88 scholarships.
The Buckeyes want another defensive tackle in the class, are flirting with the idea of adding another running back and hope to bring in a couple more players at other positions before it is all said and done. For example, Jay Tufele, Thayer Munford and Marvin Wilson are three players Ohio State continues to recruit.
The scholarship number does not have to be trimmed down to 85 until the initial day of classes for Autumn Semester or when camp opens, whichever comes first. Meyer and his staff are out recruiting hard to sure up the final pieces of what is going to be a terrific class but there will be plenty of moving parts in order to reach the NCAA limit.
