The Hurry-Up: Four-star 2024 Tight End Jaden Reddell Gets Ohio State Offer, 2024 Prospects Jaylen Heyward and Michael Smith Put OSU on Top Schools List

By Garrick Hodge on November 1, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Jaylen Heyward
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Ohio State has offered a tight end in the 2024 class.

Four-star Missouri prospect Jaden Reddell announced he had received an offer from Ohio State on Sunday, as it was presented by tight ends coach Kevin Wilson.

According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, Reddell is considered the 291st prospect nationally and the 16th-ranked tight end. He holds 16 Division I offers, including Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Penn State, Oregon, Missouri, Auburn, Cincinnati, Kansas, Kansas State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Nebraska. 

In nine games this season for Raymore-Peculiar (Peculiar, Missouri), the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Reddell has caught 47 passes for 945 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 105 receiving yards per game. He’s also returned kickoffs for Raymore-Peculiar. As a sophomore, Reddell caught 21 passes for 549 yards and seven touchdowns in nine games. 

Heyward includes OSU in Top 6

One of Ohio State’s safety targets in the 2024 class has narrowed his school list down to six. Four-star prospect Jaylen Heyward announced a top six of Ohio State, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, Alabama and Florida on Friday. 

Heyward picked up his Ohio offer in May but has yet to visit Columbus. Of his top six, the Sunshine State prospect has visited Alabama, Florida and Georgia. 

“Ryan Day stands out to me as a head coach,” Heyward told On3. “He is hands-on and there for the players. It is a family at Ohio State under coach Day. I talk to coach Eliano, coach Alford and coach Day up there. They are great guys, they really want me to visit and I want to check it out. They think the environment would really fit me.”

Heyward is considered the 38th-best prospect and third-ranked safety. Other safeties high on Ohio State’s list for the 2024 class include five-stars Peyton Woodyard and KJ Bolden.

Buckeyes crack Top 8 for Smith

Heyward wasn’t the only key 2024 prospect to include the Buckeyes in a top schools list. Four-star Georgia tight end Michael Smith released a top eight on Monday: Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Texas. 

Smith, who Ohio State offered in June, attended the Buckeyes’ victory over Wisconsin earlier this fall and said after the visit the Buckeyes are one of the schools recruiting him the hardest. 

“They’ve been contacting me since the spring,” Smith told On3. “Coach (Kevin) Wilson, he’s really been doing a good job keeping in contact with my family. The communication is real big with Ohio State. It’s always checking in. I feel at home when I’m there or on the phone. I went for the Wisconsin game. That was the blackout game. I loved it. The atmosphere was just off the charts, hearing the fans go crazy. I liked how they used a lot of their tight ends in their playbook.”

Smith is considered the 152nd-best prospect nationally and the sixth-ranked tight end. Other top tight end targets for OSU in 2024 include Damarion Witten, Christian Bentancur and Kylan Fox. 

Social media reaction from McDonald’s commitment

In case you missed it Monday, Ohio State got a big Halloween treat with the commitment of four-star 2023 defensive tackle Kayden McDonald. Ryan Day and Larry Johnson were pivotal in convincing McDonald to join the Buckeyes. The Georgia native will give the defensive line a genuine tackle prospect capable of clogging up the middle for the next few seasons. 

After his commitment, there were plenty of social media reactions from Ohio State commits and the football staff celebrating his announcement.

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