Ohio State officially begins spring practice Tuesday morning.
While spring practices are integral for the development of players already on the roster, it’s certainly also pivotal for recruiting, as plenty of prospects are set to visit Columbus to get a feel for the campus and coaching staff over the next six weeks.
On the first day of practice, OSU is already going to welcome a priority target to campus: four-star 2023 Louisiana linebacker Tackett Curtis. Curtis will be visiting OSU with his family, including his uncle Jess Curtis, who is Tackett’s head football coach at Many High School (Many, Louisiana).
“He’s excited to get to see the facilities,” Jess Curtis told Eleven Warriors Monday. “And to continue to see what their plans are for him. They have done a great job with that through Zoom, but getting to sit down with them in person is important to him. Getting to see a practice is going to be great as well.”
OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has a longstanding relationship with the Curtis family dating back to his days coaching at Oklahoma State. Knowles made it clear to Tackett he was a priority in January by making two separate trips to Louisiana to visit him. In Knowles’ scheme, Tackett said the OSU defensive coordinator envisions the 6-foot-2, 218-pound prospect playing Mike linebacker.
“He likes what he’s heard from Knowles on how they want to use him,” Jess Curtis said.
Kirkland, Bryant, LeBlanc set commitment dates
Three Ohio State targets for the class of 2023 set commitment dates on Sunday, and planned all of them for the same day so they could announce their commitment together in unison at a ceremony.
Five-star linebacker Malik Bryant, four-star offensive tackle Payton Kirkland and four-star defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc, all Florida prospects, announced they will make their college choices on July 23.
I Will Be Announcing My College Decision On July 23rd #AGTG @paytonkirk55 @getrightderrick
— IK YT (@Malik5Bryant) March 6, 2022
Gods plan. https://t.co/JaAFPuMGyK
— Payton PKAY Kirkland (@paytonkirk55) March 6, 2022
Blessed ..
— Derrick Leblanc (@getrightderrick) March 6, 2022
I will be announcing my college decision July 23rd . @paytonkirk55 @Malik5Bryant
While the Buckeyes have made offers to all three of those prospects, the likelihood of each attending Ohio State certainly varies.
The likeliest of the trio to pick Ohio State is Kirkland, but even that is far from a certainty, as momentum seems to be shifting toward Florida. Newly hired offensive line coach Justin Frye and Payton Kirkland have been in contact, and Kirkland told Eleven Warriors last month he and Frye are getting to know each other, saying Frye is a “very down to earth coach.”
He also said he plans to visit OSU sometime this spring for the first time since visiting for the Michigan State game on Nov. 20. The 6-foot-6, 345-pound Kirkland is ranked the 203rd-best overall player and the 18th-best offensive tackle in the 2023 class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. Kirkland plans on releasing a top five Friday, so OSU should know soon where it stands with the Florida prospect.
LeBlanc was certainly intrigued by OSU last summer, when the 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive lineman visited Columbus three separate times. However, he has not been back since, which seems pretty telling. LeBlanc released a top seven consisting of Ohio State, Clemson, UCF, Miami, Penn State, Florida and Oklahoma on Dec. 22, so it’s still possible LeBlanc could find his way to OSU. But at this point, the smart bet is to probably take the field over the Buckeyes. LeBlanc is ranked as the 87th-best prospect and the 11th-best defensive lineman in the 2023 class.
Bryant hasn’t visited Ohio State since last June, but did include OSU in his top 10 list in late November. There haven’t been any Crystal Ball projections for Bryant to this point, but it would be quite an upset if OSU can snag him over southern schools such as Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Miami. Bryant is ranked as the 27th-best player nationally and the second-best linebacker in 2023.
Sampson Jr. picks Florida State
One of Ohio State’s defensive line targets is off the board. Four-star North Carolina 2023 defensive lineman Keith Sampson Jr. announced his verbal commitment to Florida State on Saturday, in what was a bit of a surprising move considering the lack of recent visits to other schools on his top five.
I have verbally committed to Florida State!! Go Noles!!! @Coach_TNowell @odellhaggins @Coach_Norvell @CoachAdamFuller @DonCallahanIC @FSUFootball @Noles247 pic.twitter.com/uP0BV1RJwf
— Keith Sampson Jr. (KJ) (@ksampson94) March 5, 2022
Samspon Jr. only recently put Florida State on an updated top five last week, replacing original finalist Georgia. It’s fair to infer Florida State had been surging for Sampson Jr. since then.
With Sampson now committed elsewhere, remaining targets for Ohio State on the defensive line include AJ Hoffler, Tomarrion Parker, A’Mauri Washington and Kayden McDonald, to name a few.
