The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
NOT SO FAST, MY FRIENDS
Just a week after he included Ohio State in his Top 4 alongside Alabama, Florida State and Penn State, Washington D.C. four-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett has decided to take a step back and reassess his options.
“My mom and I came to the conclusion that it’s still very early [in my recruitment],” Jarrett told Eleven Warriors.
Defensive line coach/area recruiter Larry Johnson offered the 6-foot, 182-pound Jarrett — who is considered the ninth-best wide receiver and No. 45 prospect overall in the Class of 2020 — earlier this month and he subsequently listed the Buckeyes among his top schools. But with schools like Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech ramping up their recruiting efforts in recent weeks, that list is no longer set in stone.
“A school or two is creeping out and a few schools are gaining my attention,” Jarrett said.
Jarrett still plans to make his first trip to Columbus next weekend with his teammates, five-star linebacker Mekhail Sherman and four-star defensive tackle Tre Williams. There was plenty of speculation that he might end his recruitment then and there, too. While that will likely no longer be the case, Jarrett still views Ohio State favorably.
“They're still in a very good spot, even though I’m resetting my whole recruitment,” Jarrett said.
HOMEGROWN TALENT
Ohio State has been keeping tabs on a trio of underclassmen from Dublin Coffman, including defensive end Devon Williams, who camped with the Buckeyes last month.
“It was great,” Williams told Eleven Warriors. “There was some nice competition, and you could tell the coaches were really taking their time to make everyone a better player.”
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Williams is only entering his sophomore season, but made quite the impact at Dublin Scioto last fall, as he recorded 89 tackles, six tackles for a loss and five sacks at Dublin Scioto as a freshman.
Williams, who holds an offer from Boston College, transferred schools this offseason. He’ll now team up with recently offered 2020 running back Michael Drennen II and 2021 safety A.J. Kirk, who is the younger brother of former Ohio State safety, three-time All-American and national champion Mike Doss.
Williams will certainly garner more interest as he physically matures and with camp visits in the future, but there’s no doubt an offer from the Buckeyes is one he covets.
“I’m definitely a die-hard fan. It would mean the world to me, especially known the level they are on and the amount of pros they produce,” Williams said, noting he also attended the game against UNLV last season. “I just think I need to keep working hard on and off the field, especially in school, and just separate myself from the other players in character, mindset and work ethic.”
AN APPROPRIATELY RANKED MARCUS WASHINGTON
With camp season behind us and college football’s recruiting dead period coming to a close next week, ESPN released its latest batch of rankings on Friday morning.
With just 14 commitments, Ohio State sites fifth in the national rankings behind Alabama (20), Texas A&M (21), Oklahoma (16) and Michigan (19). That will surely change, though, with Missouri four-star wide receiver Marcus Washington (Aug. 7), Texas three-star athlete Peyton Powell (Aug. 13) and Olentangy Orange five-star defensive end Zach Harrison (Aug. 14) all set to announce their respective college decisions in the coming weeks.
Most #ESPN300 4-star/5-star commits as of July 20:#Alabama 19#Sooners 15#GigEm #NotreDame 13#Michigan #OhioState #FSU 12#HailState #UGA 11#Auburn #LSU #Clemson #Longhorns 9#Oregon 8#Gators #Canes 7#Vols #SouthCarolina #PennState #Hokies 6#OleMiss #Stanford #USC 4
— Gerry Hamilton (@HamiltonESPN) July 20, 2018
With that said, I’ve listed the Buckeyes’ ranked commits and top targets below. You’ll notice only 300 players are ranked by ESPN — 11 of which are considered five-star prospects, which is by far the fewest of the major recruiting services (247, Rivals).
COMMITS
- No. 13 - Texas four-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson
- No. 29 - Georgia fourstar center Harry Miller
- No. 75 - West Virginia four-star offensive guard Doug Nester
- No. 78 - New Jersey four-star safety “Rocket” Ronnie Hickman
- No. 127 - Florida four-star cornerback Jordan Battle
- No. 209 - Mentor four-star offensive tackle Ryan Jacoby
- No. 232 - Indiana four-star running back Sampson James
- No. 249 - Georgia four-star running back Steele Chambers
- No. 262 - Tennessee four-star linebacker Kane Patterson
- No. 269 - Lexington four-star linebacker Cade Stover
- No. 299 - Michigan four-star quarterback Dwan Mathis
*Mentor defensive end Noah Potter is considered a four-star prospect, but not ranked
TOP TARGETS
- No. 5 - West Virginia five-star offensive tackle Darnell Wright
- No. 10 - Olentangy Orange five-star defensive end Zach Harrison
- No. 59 - California four-star wide receiver Kyle Ford
- No. 65 - St. Louis four-star wide receiver Marcus Washington
- No. 72 - Florida four-star cornerback Kaiir Elam
- No. 73 - IMG Academy four-star running back Noah Cain
- No. 152 - Texas four-star wide receiver Elijah Higgins
- No. 155 - St. Louis four-star wide receiver Jameson Williams
- No. 169 - Illinois four-star offensive tackle Trevor Keegan
- No. 229 - Indiana four-star wide receiver David Bell
- No. 235 - Texas three-star athlete Peyton Powell
- No. 281 - Kentucky four-star wide receiver Milton Wright
ESPN will release its rankings for the Class of 2020 in the coming weeks, and I anticipate all five Ohio State commits will be among the Top 300.
