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.
Curry's top 12
From here until the day he commits or signs, Eleven Warriors will be talking about Center Grove (Indiana) four-star defensive tackle Caden Curry as one of the Buckeyes' top-three (top-five at worst) most important targets in the 2022 class.
He's certainly the most important defensive line target, but he's right up there with some five-stars and borderline five-stars as "must-gets" for the Buckeyes. (One of those must-gets recently committed to Kentucky, though his recruitment is far from over.)
So it doesn't come at all as a surprise that in Curry's recruiting update, which he provided us on Monday afternoon, that Larry Johnson and Co. are in the thick of the action along with Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oregon and others in his top 12:
Thank you to all the coaches that have taken the time to recruit me through this process, but I am honored to announce my top 12 schools! @CGSportsNetwork @AABonNBC @cg_coach_moore pic.twitter.com/TQtsWhrAYP
— caden curry (@CadenCurry14) April 19, 2021
We know that Ohio State is in the upper echelon of Curry's recruitment, easily in the top five, and those other four we mentioned above are probably toward the top as well.
Johnson and the Buckeyes can't lose out on such a local stud of a prospect, one who is one of my favorites I've watched in person the last year and a half. Curry has earned Bosa brother comparisons, especially to Nick Bosa, and he has the versatility to play either as a 3-tech or on the edge. If he lands with the Buckeyes, I could see him being shuffled around on the line.
Seeing him up close, he clearly has the explosiveness out of both spots and has the motor to back it up, pursue ball carriers and get to the quarterback. Ranked No. 84 overall and No. 8 at defensive tackle, Curry is a hell of a talent who plays more like a top-50 guy. Imperative for Ohio State to keep Curry local and land him out of central Indiana.
Curry is very much a low-key guy when it comes to recruiting, so we're a tad bit surprised to see a list release as he has been focused on the other sport (baseball) that he is also dominant in this spring.
This recruitment is a long way from being over as Curry is almost certainly not going to come to a decision until he takes his five official visits. He has been adamant about that since the summer when we first spoke with him in person, and he doubled down in October on our last trip to see him.
"I need to visit everywhere before I make my decision," Curry told us in the fall. "I’m not gonna make (my decision) without knowing where everything is and that area. Even if it gets pushed back a little bit, (I need to) get me and my family to take time to go everywhere and see what the right choice is.
"(The dead period) really makes it a lot harder. It makes me have to make a blind decision, I think. But hopefully I get as much as I need."
No OSU interest in Jackson
Just wanted to touch on this real quickly since he was one of the main linebackers we wanted to see in action at last week's Under Armour Camp:
With Ohio State still in search of at least one more linebacker (possibly two) in the 2022 class, we thought there might be some interest in four-star Omaha OLB Devon Jackson, the No. 163 overall player and No. 14 OLB in the cycle.
Jackson, though, told Eleven Warriors last week that the Buckeyes haven't shown much interest and that he hasn't had any communication with Al Washington or any other Buckeye staffers. Jackson has not been offered by Ohio State, and it appears that won't change.
So the following is just a quick update on where some of the Buckeyes' opponents stand – especially one that is continuing to emerge as a potential rival considering the key staff addition made recently – in Jackson's recruitment if you care to read on.
— Devon Jackson (@DevontheJet402) April 11, 2021
"I feel like I’m coming close to the end," Jackson said when asked about his decision timeline. "My recruitment’s still kind of open, but there’s only a few schools that have reached out, and I’m only gonna put forth the effort if you put forth the effort to me. Arizona State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Texas A&M kind of, but those are really it.
"I think I’ll probably make a decision in mid-July or end of July. Somewhere around there. Making those visits and then I’m gonna make my decision. I don’t have officials set up, but I’m getting there."
Jackson says Texas A&M has made a push and that the Arizona State coaches might be the ones he has the best relationship with.
But it's a former Buckeye in Marcus Freeman who is continuing to show that Notre Dame's hiring of him as a defensive coordinator was a good move. Freeman's on the rise and may not stay with the Irish very long before he gets his own head-coaching gig, but he's making Notre Dame a real threat on the trail. The day he becomes a head coach will provide that program with an opportunity to make a splash in recruiting classes during his first season.
"I like Coach Freeman," Jackson said. "That’s the dude I talk to the most. Coach Freeman has promised, not just to me but their whole coaching staff, that he wants to get them over that hump because Notre Dame, especially last season, even though they went against one of the best Alabama teams of all-time, that he wants to get them over that hump. I believe with their coaching staff they can. Cincinnati, I mean, was 11-1 so I believe he can get them there."
