Ohio State's top remaining target for the 2023 class is headed elsewhere.
Despite a late push from Ohio State, five-star 2023 safety Caleb Downs chose Alabama over the Buckeyes. Instead of potentially being a pillar of Ohio State's defense for years to come, Downs will stay in the South for his collegiate career.
A Georgia resident who is rated as the No. 1 safety and the 12th-best player nationally in the 2023 class per 247Sports' composite rankings, Downs took four official visits over the summer to Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia and Alabama, though his final decision came down to the Crimson Tide and the Buckeyes.
After starting the summer on fire by landing three straight wide receiver commitments and three straight cornerback commitments in back-to-back weeks, Ohio State has had some high-profile misses of late as priority targets Tackett Curtis and Olaus Alinen also recently committed elsewhere.
Ohio State will now pivot to other options at safety. With two safeties committed in the 2023 class in Cedrick Hawkins and Malik Hartford, OSU would like to add one more in the current cycle.
The Buckeyes’ top remaining target is four-star New Jersey prospect Jayden Bonsu. Although Bonsu was trending to Miami in recent weeks, he delayed his original commitment date of July 20, which is good news for the Buckeyes considering the momentum the Hurricanes had. There remains some cautious optimism from OSU regarding its chances of landing Bonsu this cycle, and perhaps Downs going to Alabama only helps in that regard. Continuing to fight off Miami will be essential if it wants to land him, though.
