Three-star Cincinnati tight end Joe Royer announced his commitment to Ohio State via Twitter on Tuesday.
Im staying home, Committed #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/OMBZCAR1QH
— Joe Royer (@JoeRoyer25) July 2, 2019
Royer chose Ohio State over offers from a variety of schools, including Arizona State, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Michigan and others. His recruitment took off during the late spring, as he earned offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Georgia Tech in the month of May.
The Royer File
- Class: 2020
- Size: 6-foot-5, 225 lbs.
- Pos: TE
- School: Elder, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Composite Rating: ★★★
- Composite Rank: 14 (TE)
The Elder High School athlete is teammates with current Ohio State offensive tackle Jakob James, and he visited with James during Ohio State's spring practices in March. He also participated in Ohio State's first one-day camp June 6, where he secured an offer from the Buckeyes.
After his offer from Ohio State and his performance at the camp, Royer jumped 388 spots to be ranked No. 507 overall in 247Sports composite rankings. 247Sports rated him as the No. 200 prospect in the class and the No. 3 tight end after the camp.
He took an official visit to Ohio State on June 21, the same day as two other top tight end targets, Cam Large and Jalin Conyers, and expectedly chose to commit to the Buckeyes a little over a week later.
| NAME | POSITION | OVERALL RANKING | POSITION RANKING | DATE OF COMMITTMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PARIS JOHNSON JR. | OT | No. 8 | No. 1 | JUNE 28, 2018 |
| JACK MILLER | QB | No. 71 | No. 2 (PRO-STYLE) | JULY 1, 2018 |
| LUKE WYPLER | C | No. 61 | No. 1 | JULY 7, 2018 |
| JAXON SMITH-NJIGBA | WR | No. 89 | No. 18 | NOVEMBER 4, 2018 |
| GEE SCOTT JR. | WR | No. 66 | No. 13 | DECEMBER 25, 2018 |
| JAKOB JAMES | OG | No. 790 | No. 71 (OT) | JANUARY 21, 2019 |
| TREY LEROUX | OT | No. 1,079 | No. 94 | MARCH 11, 2019 |
| LEJOND CAVAZOS | CB | No. 251 | No. 20 (S) | APRIL 12, 2019 |
| JULIAN FLEMING | WR | No. 5 | No. 1 | MAY 31, 2019 |
| JAKE SEIBERT | K | N/A | No. 1 | JUNE 4, 2019 |
| GRANT TOUTANT | OT | No. 385 | No. 32 | JUNE 9, 2019 |
| TY HAMILTON | DE | No. 771 | No. 39 (SDE) | JUNE 16, 2019 |
| CLARK PHILLIPS | CB | No. 46 | No. 4 | JUNE 21, 2019 |
| CODY SIMON | LB | No. 154 | No. 10 (OLB) | JUNE 29, 2019 |
| DARRION HENRY | DT | No. 121 | No. 11 | JUNE 29, 2019 |
| JOE ROYER | TE | No. 496 | No. 13 | JULY 2, 2019 |
Royer has shown, through his tape and his camp performance, an ability to work on the outside as a receiver and on the inside as an effective enough blocker. He brings sneaky size to the position with a solid frame that could translate to the Big Ten level. He caught Ohio State offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Kevin Wilson's attention with his shiftiness, and he recorded a 4.81 40-yard dash time.
Royer is the 16th commitment to Ohio State's class of 2020 and the first tight end. He will likely need to redshirt to further prepare his body for Big Ten competition but has many of the intangibles needed for the position.
