Ohio State's football program is recruiting at its highest level ever.
The 2017 recruiting class is currently ranked as the nation's best class, a position that the 2016 group held for much of the 2015 calendar year before giving way to Alabama, Florida State and LSU, finishing fourth when signing day wrapped up two months ago.
Urban Meyer, speaking to the media on signing day, wasn't content with finishing fourth.
"Rankings are important," Meyer said. "As long as you're keeping score, we like to do the best we can."
To do the best they can in 2017 and win a recruiting national title, which Meyer did at Florida in 2007 and 2010, Ohio State will need to seal the deal on a handful of five-star prospects that they've been earnestly recruiting for months, and in some cases, years. In both of Meyer's championship recruiting classes with the Gators, he signed a whopping five five-star prospects.
In the 2017 class, there are 30 players who've earned the distinction of "five-star" according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. The Buckeyes have commitments from two of them, Ohio's Josh Myers (No. 3) and Florida's Shaun Wade (No. 12), making them the only program with two committed thus far, but if things go well, they're far from finished.
Ohio State is seriously in the mix for ten more five-stars in 2017. Ten. That's a lot. Certainly they're not in the lead for each and being the "favorite" in April, 10 months before signing day, just means you're the target for everyone else, but it's better to lead than to chase, of course. Of those ten players, five of them are inside the country's top ten overall prospects.
Where does Ohio State stand with this remarkable collection of talent? Let's take a look.
NO. 1 • RB NAJEE HARRIS • CALIFORNIA • COMMITTED TO BAMA
The country's top-ranked player will make his first visit to Ohio State next weekend, a trip that he has been working for months to arrange.
Tony Alford is the man in charge of Harris' recruitment and he's done an excellent job creating a relationship with a player from a part of the country that the Buckeyes have traditionally left alone.
Committed to Bama since last April, people close to his recruitment have hinted for months if there was one school that could flip him, it may be Ohio State. This coming weekend will be huge in that chase.
NO. 4 • DT MARVIN WILSON • TEXAS • UNCOMMITTED
A prototypical, devastating manchild of a defensive tackle, Marvin Wilson was very excited to get an Ohio State offer a month ago, suggesting that the Buckeyes instantly vautled themselves into his top three, but up to this point no visit has been planned while a relationship between the two sides gets built.
Of all the players on this list, Wilson is the longest shot but also, perhaps, the least "needed" of the bunch since the Buckeyes have two Top 15 defensive tackles already committed. Tim Beck and Larry Johnson, Sr. are involved in his recruitment as the Buckeyes hope to steal a huge fish from Texas.
NO. 5 • WR DONOVAN PEOPLES-JONES • MICHIGAN • UNCOMMITTED
Yesterday, following the Rivals Camp Series stop in Columbus, Peoples-Jones was one of a number of Detroit Cass Tech stars to make a stop at Ohio State, his first visit to the school in months.
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY !! #BuckeyeNation pic.twitter.com/WNsry5us2w
— Donovan P. Jones (@dpeoplesjones) April 9, 2016
Ohio State continues to be in the mix for the country's top-ranked wide receiver, though his intensely private approach to recruiting makes it hard to know exactly where they stand.
Kerry Coombs and Zach Smith are the principle recruiters for Peoples-Jones, and the Buckeyes success at Cass Tech in recent years shouldn't be overlooked. Right now, they likely trail a few other schools, including Michigan, but as long as he stays on the market, there's a chance.
NO. 6 • DB DARNAY HOLMES • CALIFORNIA • UNCOMMITTED
Another California five-star that will be in Ohio for the Buckeyes' spring game next weekend, Darnay Holmes was the "best defensive back we've ever had in camp" according to one Ohio State assistant last summer. The Calabasas, California star has been to Columbus before and this coming trip is almost certainly going to be the Buckeyes' last chance to show him why coming east for college is in his best interest.
Stanford is likely the leader in the clubhouse, but Nebraska, Arizona, Washington and others are still in the mix.
You don't make a 2200 mile trip for a scrimmage if you're not interested, so while Ohio State may be trailing, there's reason to be optimistic. Assistant coach Zach Smith has been all over this one and he's had a few surprises up his sleeve in recent year; can he do it again?
NO. 9 • DB JEFFREY OKUDAH • TEXAS • UNCOMMITTED
Ohio State has been, and continues to be, the leader for this Texas defensive back for some time.
Okudah's relationships with Ohio State began with new Rutgers' head coach Chris Ash, but its not dissipated as Greg Schiano took the reins of the Buckeyes' defense. Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma and others are going to be in the mix and the sooner Okudah gets back to Ohio State for a second visit, the sooner this recruitment could go from "leader" to "over."
NO. 11 • WR TREVON GRIMES • FLORIDA • UNCOMMITTED
Another player that has publicly had the Buckeyes at the top of his list for as long as he's been in the national spotlight is St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), Trevon Grimes has been a supposed "lock" for Ohio State, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems in recruiting. Grimes has not been on campus with the Buckeyes in almost two years but continues to be in regular discussion with the Ohio State staff, though Florida is making a major push of late.
The key with Ohio State and Grimes, who is originally from Indianapolis, is to get more in-face time. At one time considered an early-decider, it seems this recruitment could go at least a few more months.
NO. 17 • LB BARON BROWNING • TEXAS • UNCOMMITTED
Another Texas star, linebacker Baron Browning was committed to Baylor until February and has since broadened his recruiting search to a national level.
— Baron Browning (@baronbrwnng) April 7, 2016
His brother, Barry, played at Stanford for Jim Harbaugh and while the Cardinal aren't on his list, Michigan is, and they have to be considered a dark-horse in this race because of that.
Ohio State will need to see Browning on campus this spring or summer before they can be considered too serious a threat, but Tim Beck's presence in Texas has them in the race.
NO. 21 • WR TYJON LINDSEY • CALIFORNIA • UNCOMMITTED
One of the most dynamic receivers in the country, Tyjon Lindsey made his first visit to Ohio State at the end of March and as it stands, the Buckeyes appear to be in prime position to land him. Now at Centennial High School in Corona, Lindsey made his national imprint during his time at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High School, where he transferred from in January.
Lindsey's family is from Middletown, Ohio and he has mentioned the strength of his relationship with wide receiver coach Zach Smith at every possible opportunity as the reason the Buckeyes are so high on his list.
To land a commitment from Lindsey this summer, Ohio State will have to fight off USC, Oregon, Texas A&M, Nebraska and others.
NO. 25 • DE • JOSHUA KAINDOH • MARYLAND (IMG ACADEMY) • UNCOMMITTED
Originially from Maryland, where he got to know Larry Johnson, Sr., the 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive end Kaindoh is now harassing quarterbacks in Florida at IMG where he's developed into one of the country's premier 2017 prospects.
As is the case with a number of the players on this list, the key for Ohio State may be getting a visit arranged with Kaindoh, who was at Maryland and Penn State last week, and will be at Notre Dame next week.
Ohio State has two commitments at IMG (Marcus Williamson and Isaiah Pryor) and signed defensive lineman Malik Barrow, with whom Kaindoh has become very close, in the 2016 season. The Buckeyes are likely to take only one defensive end in this year's class so watch closely what happens with Kaindoh.
NO. 29 • QB TATE MARTELL • NEVADA • COMMITTED TO TEXAS A&M
If the Buckeyes look to take another quarterback in their 2017, it may very well be this Texas A&M commit. Martell visited Ohio State last month and has made it clear that, except for the Buckeyes, he won't be looking around.
Martell has been instrumental in building Texas A&M's 2017 class, but he's got family in Ohio (his grandfather went to Ohio State) and he's very close with Tyjon Lindsey and Buckeyes' commitment Haskell Garrett, who he's played with at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.
Right now, smart money is on Martell sticking with his Aggies' pledge, but a less-than-stable coaching situation in College Station could upset the balance of things as the season rolls around.
The Buckeyes have 13 commitments in their 2017 class, one that is going to be very tight on numbers moving forward. For any player to be pursued by their staff at this point, they'll need to be the best of the best, and even then every single "take" will require copious amounts of discussion and a very thorough examination of need versus want.
The next handful of months should be a lot of fun as Urban Meyer's staff chase a recruiting national championship.
