One of the more common reservations from fans we’ll get when we write about a recruiting target that is three years away from graduating high school goes something like this: “What’s next, are we going to be offering eighth graders?”
Well, I’m here to tell you, yes, Ohio State does!
Shortly after Quinn Ewers completed his first practice with the Buckeyes on Monday, head coach Ryan Day acknowledged that OSU offered the five-star signal caller from Texas when he was in eighth grade. Now, Day did later admit the offer at such a young age was a little tongue-in-cheek, but it was a reflection of how early the Buckeyes developed a relationship with the most famous mullet in Columbus.
“I think we saw somebody who had a natural throwing ability and has a great makeup and competitive spirit,” Day said.
The main takeaway from Day’s weekly presser regarding Ewers was that he is “a long way away” from seeing meaningful game action this season, though it wasn’t ruled out entirely. But long term, Day also offered insight Monday on what may happen with recruiting future gunslingers.
Day has said before he’d like to take a quarterback in every class. Obviously, OSU's 2022 QB was supposed to be Ewers until he reclassified. So, will the Buckeyes pursue a 2022 high school product anyway despite potential reservations from prospective players about playing time? In short, yes.
“We’ll see how it plays out," Day said. "We’re going to recruit everybody right now. We’ll recruit guys in his class, the next class and the class after that. We’ll come up for air in January and see where this thing is at.”
Like he has said in the past, Day called recruiting quarterbacks (and any other position for that matter) a year-to-year matter. The Buckeyes aren’t going to shy away from trying to recruit the best quarterbacks in the country because of any current roster makeup, and OSU makes that clear to each signal-caller.
“When we recruit guys, the first thing that we tell them is that we’re going to recruit the best players in the country,” Day said. “That’s my job as the coach at Ohio State is to bring in really good players. These guys are here to compete with everybody in that room. So we’ll continue to recruit great players. We certainly don’t want to lose anybody, that’s not why we bring guys in here. We bring them in here to develop them and I feel like guys develop here as good as anybody in the country. So, it’s a room with a lot of growth right now. Where it goes moving forward, I don’t know. We’ll continue to recruit guys in each class, and then we’ll take it as it goes.”
One of the downsides of Ewers’ year-early arrival from Ohio State's perspective is that he will now be eligible to go to the NFL one year earlier. But there’s a silver lining, too. Selling 2023 quarterbacks on joining OSU might get a little easier, since they could have a clearer path to early playing time, although Day cautioned against assuming that Ewers will be gone after three years.
“I think everyone looks at that,” Day said. “But you never know. The best-laid plans don’t always work that way. You think you have it all figured out then all of a sudden something changes really fast. So I think if guys believe they can come in and play, and believe in who they are and come in with a focus on developing, then we have the right fit. But yeah, with the reclassification, I think the 2023 class certainly looks a little bit different.”
On3 releases 2023 Top 100
On3 released its 100 top-ranked players for the class of 2023 Monday, with some significant differences from 247Sports. For example, 247Sports’ composite rankings have 2023 quarterback Nicholaus Iamaleava as the 22nd-ranked recruit in the cycle, while On3 has him ranked ninth.
If you want to view the entire On3 top 100 list, it can be found here, but here’s a few rankings of note for some OSU targets. The hyperlink will take you to their 247Sports profile for comparison’s sake.
- No. 3: Sonny Styles, DB/LB
- No. 6: Lebbeus Overton, DL
- No. 8: David Hicks, DL
- No. 9: Nicholaus Iamaleava, QB
- No. 12: Vic Burley, DL
- No. 13: Zachariah Branch, WR
- No. 15: Caleb Downs, DB
- No. 16: Matayo Uiagalelei, DL
- No. 20: Dante Moore, QB
- No. 22: Tony Mitchell, DB
- No. 25: Malik Bryant, DL
- No. 27: AJ Harris, DB
- No. 28: Duce Robinson, TE
- No. 31: Brandon Inniss, WR
- No. 33: Joenel Aguero, DB
- No. 35: Richard Young, RB
- No. 46: Carnell Tate, WR
- No. 49: Kadyn Proctor, OL
- No. 51: Kayin Lee, DB
- No. 61: Anthony Hill, LB
- No. 64: Jaiden Ausberry, LB
- No. 66: Justice Haynes, RB
- No. 69: Luke Montgomery, OL
- No. 75: Samson Okunlola, OL
- No. 76: Jaxon Howard, TE
- No. 83: Troy Bowles, LB
- No. 89: Jalen Hale, WR
- No. 90: Chase Bisontis, OL
- No. 93: Derrick LeBlanc, DL
Nwankpa gets five-star ranking
One of OSU’s biggest remaining safety targets for 2022, Xavier Nwankpa, has picked up a five-star rating from Rivals. Nwankpa and his high school teammate Kadyn Proctor, OSU’s biggest offensive line target for 2023, are the first football players from Iowa to be named five-star recruits from Rivals since the website kept recruiting databases in 2002.
New DB Xavier Nwankpa @xaviernwankpa01 sat down with @AdamGorney to discuss his new five-star status and where things stand in his recruitment pic.twitter.com/RGBPzOKodI
— Rivals (@Rivals) August 16, 2021
Along with Zion Branch, Nwankpa is a key target for OSU to fill out its defensive back class for the 2022 class.
“I’m super close with the commits and the guys on the team,” Nwankpa told Rivals Monday about Ohio State. “The coaching vibe there, I definitely fit in.”
