The Lockwood family knew they had found it.
When Ty Lockwood began his recruiting process, he searched for a brotherhood and a place that was a true family atmosphere. After visiting Columbus twice this summer, he found that feeling he was so desperately craving. Lockwood had made up his mind and wanted to put his commitment to bed early. He committed to the Buckeyes on Thursday, a day before his first game of his junior season.
“On several fronts I’m glad he’s able to make this decision and really move forward,” Ty’s father, David, told Eleven Warriors. “He’ll be able to be focused on football and getting better as a player and a leader … When we found a fit, we decided this is where he knew he wanted to be. At that point, why wait?”
With his commitment, Lockwood became the first player to give his verbal to Ohio State for the class of 2023. It’s not like being first was the plan all along. But knowing he’s the first one in the fold, Lockwood is willing to go on the offensive and help convince prospective recruits to join him in Columbus.
“It’s kind of a neat thing,” David said. “He was the first tight end (in the class) they offered, and now he gets to be the first one in the class to commit. I think that’s exciting for him. I know it wasn’t something he wasn’t thinking about that he wanted to do as a goal or anything, but now that it’s happened it’s an opportunity for him to be the first commit and be a leader and build relationships and help recruit other players to Ohio State in that class. It’ll be fun.”
In Lockwood, the Buckeyes added a player that has the potential to make a dynamic impact as both a pass catcher and a run blocker at the next level.
On The Field
In his first season with Independence, Lockwood led the team with 43 receptions while racking up 606 yards (14.3 yards per catch) and three touchdowns. The Eagles went 7-3 in 2020.
His sophomore highlight film shows Independence utilized him as more of a receiving tight end, as the Eagles lined him up out wide the majority of the time as opposed to on the line. His frame is solid at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, meaning he could definitely bulk up and become a more all-around tight end in college.
When the Eagles have asked him to run block, Lockwood has shown the toughness needed to thrive. He’s capable of making contested catches in traffic and isn’t afraid of contact if it will result in gaining a few extra yards. His acceleration and speed is above where you’d expect it to be for a player of his size, as Lockwood outran several players much leaner than him in his 2020 campaign. Independence ran some designed screens for him, which certainly isn’t common for a prep tight end.
Lockwood displays soft hands and excels at catching quick pop passes. He shows awareness to help out his quarterback when plays go off-script.
When he met with Wilson and other OSU coaches during his June visit, Lockwood was presented with schemes and concepts the team currently runs. He was later compared to OSU standout Jeremy Ruckert.
“(The concepts are) all of the same stuff I’m doing right now at my school,” Lockwood told Eleven Warriors in July. “I think they see me as a Ruckert type of player. I’m basically doing the same stuff he’s doing right now. I’ll go out wide, I’ll split out, I’m in stack or I’ll be inside on the line.”
Ruckert will be gone when Lockwood arrives in Columbus, as will Mitch Rossi, and Cade Stover, Gee Scott Jr. and Joe Royer will be upperclassmen. So Lockwood should have a chance to see the field early in his first few seasons at OSU.
In the class
Considering Lockwood is the first Ohio State commit for 2023 regardless of position, there's not much else to say about the 2023 class yet.
He becomes the third OSU commit from Tennessee dating back to the last three recruiting cycles and the fourth in five years, joining 2022 running back Dallan Hayden, 2021 safety Andre Turrentine and 2019 tight end Cormontae Hamilton.
Originally, it was thought OSU would only take one tight end in 2023 after the commitments of Bennett Christian and Benji Gosnell in the 2022 cycle. After Gosnell decommitted from the Buckeyes in late July, the door opened for OSU to potentially sign two tight ends in 2023.
Tight ends who have Ohio State offers that remain uncommitted include Duce Robinson, Walker Lyons and Riley Williams, who are all ranked among the top 10 tight ends in 247Sports' composite rankings. Lyons and Williams both visited Ohio State in June, as did Jaxon Howard, Mega Barnwell and Preston Zinter.
OSU beat out the likes of Penn State, Florida State, South Carolina, Auburn, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State and Tennessee to land Lockwood, who has 23 offers.
