VICTORY
Ohio State beats Penn State, 20-13, in a thrilling top-five matchup at Beaver Stadium.
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.
Hayden down to top three
Just like at cornerback, Ohio State has a set of three top targets at the running back position in 2022. We will get into that more later this week.
But in sticking with that theme of the number three, Memphis running back Dallan Hayden shared a recruiting update with Eleven Warriors this afternoon in that he has essentially whittled a previous top four down to a top three – though there is another trio starting to make a strong push.
“I released a top four, still looking at three of those schools – Ohio State, Notre Dame, UT – and then other schools are coming in kind of hard. But those are the three I’m looking at kind of hard,” Hayden said. “(Oregon has) pretty much (dropped out). I haven’t really heard from them.
“Illinois is coming in pretty hard and so is Penn State and Utah. So those are the six recruiting me the hardest.”
Blessed to be in this position. Happy New Year Everyone.. #Buckeyes#FightingIrish#Scoducks #GBO pic.twitter.com/wQ49F0godx
— Dallan Hayden1 (@DCH__2) January 1, 2021
With noted Ohio State fan favorite Bret Bielema leading the charge, the Illini have come on as a bit of a darkhorse backed by the fact that Hayden’s brother, Chase Hayden, recently transferred to Illinois. Chase originally committed to Bielema at Arkansas and played three seasons for the Razorbacks.
Penn State, meanwhile, has gained some momentum for the four-star Dallan over the past two weeks, extending an offer two weeks ago to the day.
“They’re just saying that they’re all in now,” Hayden said. “The coaches hit me up. They’re pretty cool. They made a good impression. They have really good running backs – Saquon Barkley, Miles Sanders, they do really well with the running back position so that’s a pretty unique offer to have.”
Hayden stopped short of saying that Penn State has replaced Oregon in his top four. There’s still a lot of work for the Nittany Lions left to do as they are playing a bit from behind now, but look for Penn State to continue making a concerted effort to land the nation’s No. 22 running back and No. 208 overall player.
Hayden is also the No. 5-ranked player in the state of Tennessee’s 2022 class, and he was one of the highest-priority targets by the previous Volunteers regime.
Jeremy Pruitt, despite the Vols’ on-field product, had a strong reputation as a good, tireless recruiter. He had made it their No. 1 priority to recruit the Volunteer State hard and keep the top in-state talent home. Hayden was certainly in that group, and Pruitt was a huge reason Hayden viewed Tennessee as one of his favorites (in addition, of course, to the fact that he is a Vols legacy with his father having starred as a running back there in the 90s).
“I was really shocked (when Pruitt was fired) because he had done pretty good in recruiting and it was only his third year. I guess they just thought it was best to move on, but it was pretty shocking,” Hayden said.
After Pruitt was fired, Hayden said his dad’s advice “was just telling me to keep what I want from each school important and that you still have to make the decision that’s best for you.”
Tennessee is still very much alive in this race, though it is now having to play a bit of catch-up here too, and it’s my belief that Ohio State and Notre Dame are starting to emerge as the favorites. Plenty of time for the Vols to make a move, though, as Hayden is playing the waiting game and now making a decision until after he can make visits.
“I like (the new Tennessee coaches),” Hayden said. “They’re still new so it’s kind of hard to get a feel for them so far. Coach (Josh) Heupel seems cool. (Running backs coach) Jerry Mack, he seems like a cool guy. He calls me a lot. He’s from the area. He seems cool and like a players coach.”
As for the Buckeyes, Tony Alford remains very much at the forefront of Hayden’s recruitment as the two remain close, and Ryan Day’s involvement is as important as always.
“I talk to them pretty much every day,” Hayden said. “Coach Alford and I talk pretty much every day, Coach Day texts me a lot. We’ve built a really strong relationship. Coach Alford and Coach Day believe they can really develop me into a great back who can produce in the NFL. The relationship there is strong.”
Here comes Bama?
It was about this time last year (though about a month later in April) when Alabama started to make a major run in the 2021 recruiting cycle.
We knew it was inevitable, but we were still wondering when (not if) the Crimson Tide would make their big run and start gathering up five- and four-stars by the bunches. It happened quickly and extensively, and perhaps now is the time when it starts up again.
Over the weekend, the Tide landed a commitment from five-star running back Emmanuel Henderson, the No. 1 running back in the 2022 class.
His commitment put the Tide into the top 15 with five commitments. Really does feel like Alabama could start rattling off big-time commitments here in the near future as Henderson’s pledge follows the Tide landing five-star quarterback Ty Simpson a few weeks ago.
No matter what, any other storyline but Ohio State vs. Alabama for the recruiting crown in 2021 would be shocking. I expect the Buckeyes and Bama to be battling it out for the No. 1 spot again this time around.
Singletary's push for No. 1
Jaheim Singletary is one of the best cornerback prospects (and one of the best prospects regardless of position) in the 2022 cycle.
The five-star talent, ranked No. 9 overall, is going to be fighting for the title of the best cornerback prospect in the 2022 cycle.
The good folks at Rivals debated whether or not the Buckeye pledge had a shot at becoming the top-ranked player at his position as he dukes it out against Domani Jackson, Denver Harris and Will Johnson for that title:
1. Jaheim Singletary has an argument as the No. 1 cornerback.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I’m sticking with Domani Jackson for the No. 1 spot. We will see more of him since his junior season is just getting under after the COVID-19 shutdown but this offseason he never stopped working, never stopped working out and looks better than ever. He isn’t as long as Jaheim Singletary but Jackson is dynamic, athletic, he runs with every receiver, he’s more physical than any other five-star cornerback and while I like Singletary a lot, Jackson has been so special for so long.
Spiegelman’s take: FACT. We have a loaded crop of cornerbacks in the 2022 class and Domani Jackson, Denver Harris and Singletary could all very easily be the top-ranked player here in a given year. Singletary is long and moves fluidly and moves up and down the field with ease. There's a thought that Jackson could grow into a safety and Harris is working his way back to form after suffering an injury late in the postseason. That opens the door for Singletary to continue to impress this offseason as we continue the conversation.
Header photo: Dallan Hayden – Joe Rondone/USA Today
