By the time a good portion of Ohio State fans had already gone to bed Monday, the Buckeyes had landed their latest highly-touted signal-caller under Ryan Day.
Shortly after 11 p.m., the Buckeyes received a commitment from five-star 2024 Arizona quarterback Dylan Raiola, who several recruiting outlets have ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle.
Following the news, reaction poured in on social media from all three of Ohio State’s current scholarship quarterbacks, past players, football coaches and staff and fellow recruits in various cycles.
With Raiola in the fold for OSU, there are multiple domino effects this could have on the Buckeyes’ current and future recruiting cycles.
Let’s start with the obvious: Columbus was already a hotbed for highly-touted wide receivers with the likes of Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr., Julian Fleming and Emeka Egbuka all in the same wide receiver room last season. With arguably the nation’s best quarterback in 2024 already committed for that cycle, Brian Hartline has yet another selling point to any prospective wide receiver considering OSU either this year or next.
The four-highest priority wide receivers regardless of class for Ohio State at the moment are 2023 five-stars Brandon Inniss and Carnell Tate and 2024 five-stars Jeremiah Smith and Joshisa Trader. All four reacted favorably following Raiola’s commitment to OSU.
Congrats fam! https://t.co/Udj866BjpB
— Carnell Tate (@carnelltate_) May 10, 2022
— Carnell Tate (@carnelltate_) May 10, 2022
— Brandon Inniss (@brandon5star2) May 10, 2022
— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) May 10, 2022
— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) May 10, 2022
— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) May 10, 2022
— JoshisajojoTrader (@joshisathe1) May 10, 2022
Aside from wide receivers, Raiola is a national name in the recruiting world where his name and advice might hold weight on a good portion of his peers, and he told On3 Monday evening he’ll openly recruit defensive players to OSU as well, such as 2024 five-star safety Peyton Woodyard and 2024 five-star defensive back KJ Bolden, who Raiola mentioned specifically by name.
Congrats fam! https://t.co/l39dfRfPdR
— Peyton Woodyard (@peypey_wood) May 10, 2022
That the move fam ? @RaiolaDylan https://t.co/MyRU2BPHEt
— Khalil KJBolden (@KhalilBolden2) May 10, 2022
In short, OSU has landed one of the premier prospects in America regardless of class and there’s a good chance his commitment helps start a wave of some of his talented peers in the 2023 and 2024 cycles joining him in Columbus. It’s hard to fathom that there’s any downside whatsoever to his commitment.
If there is one nitpick, however, Day and Corey Dennis will have quite the challenge on their hands in finding another scholarship quarterback to add to the roster in 2023 that matches the elite pedigree they’ve expected out of the position in recent years. And while that may seem like first-world problems considering the Buckeyes will still have both former five-star Kyle McCord and four-star Devin Brown after C.J. Stroud presumably leaves for the NFL Draft after this season, Day has said repeatedly Ohio State wants to take one quarterback in each class every year. Also, Day said the Buckeyes would like to keep four scholarship quarterbacks in a perfect world, and OSU would be down to two in 2023 without adding an additional signal-caller, assuming Stroud departs for the NFL.
Five-star Dante Moore and four-star Dylan Lonergan, two of OSU’s top targets in the 2023 cycle, were already probably not leaning toward joining OSU before Raiola committed, and his decision probably won’t help sway either of them to pick OSU. It’s incredibly likely the Buckeyes’ 2023 starting quarterback will be either McCord or Brown, and Raiola arrives in 2024, so Day and Dennis may need to get creative finding another quarterback to add to its room next year.
Perhaps there’s a late bloomer in Ohio that comes out of nowhere his senior season, or OSU punts on taking a high school player and tries to nab one in the transfer portal.
One thing’s for sure, Day has absolutely earned the benefit of the doubt regarding landing highly-touted quarterbacks when faced with crowded quarterback rooms before. This time last year, absolutely nobody expected the Buckeyes would add an out-of-state quarterback of Brown’s caliber in the 2022 class, yet here they are.
Maybe Day will continue to be a magician and land another highly-touted signal-caller in 2023 nobody is considering at the moment despite McCord and Brown’s presence and Raiola’s impending arrival in 2024.
Griffin picks up Ohio State offer
While Raiola's commitment (deservedly) dominated headlines, OSU made two more offers to prospects on Monday during the spring evaluation process.
The first is Elijah Griffin, a 2025 defensive end from Georgia. OSU was Griffin’s eighth offer thus far, with Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Penn State, Pittsburgh and UCF being the others.
I am blessed to receive an offer from The Ohio State University! @CoachM_Patrick @ryandaytime @ChadSimmons_ @RecruitGeorgia @Rivals @RivalsFriedman @SCPSAthletics @247Sports @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/s32C034AQS
— Elijah Griffin (@ElijahGriffin95) May 9, 2022
In 10 games for Savannah Christian Prep (Savannah, Georgia) last season, Griffin racked up 69 tackles (8 for loss) with 3.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery.
Gilbert lands Buckeyes offer
The second prospect Ohio State offered Monday was 2025 Georgia cornerback Jontae Gilbert.
#AGTG Im Blessed and humbled to receive an offer from The Ohio State University @Coach_Eliano @CoachTimWalton @coachspritchett @coach_uzzi @coachcoreye @On3Recruits @ChadSimmons_ @Mansell247 @RecruitGeorgia @RivalsFriedman @247recruiting @DemetricDWarren #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/tzRQYJdciM
— Jontae Gilbert (@J7ontae) May 10, 2022
Ohio State was Gilbert’s fourth Division I offer, joining Arkansas, Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh as the other schools that have offered the 6-foot-1, 175-pound prospect. Gilbert does not yet hold a composite ranking.
