The Hurry-Up: Ohio State Offers Transfer Offensive Tackles Jeremiah Byers and Dillon Wade, Corey Dennis Visits Tavien St. Clair and Reactions from Jeremiah Smith's Commitment

By Garrick Hodge on December 15, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Jeremiah Byers
Ivan Pierre Aguirre/USA TODAY Sports
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Ohio State continues to explore its transfer portal options.

Wednesday, we wrote about the Buckeyes offering one of the premier offensive tackle prospects in the portal in Rhode Island tackle Ajani Cornelius. You may have missed it because it was sandwiched between the commitments of Lincoln Kienholz and Jeremiah Smith, but Cornelius’ offer was important nonetheless because offensive tackle is likely the biggest need for the Buckeyes to attack in the portal given the likelihood that Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones both declare for the NFL draft. 

The Buckeyes widened their net by offering UTEP tackle Jeremiah Byers Wednesday and also extended an offer to Tulsa tackle Dillon Wade on Tuesday. 

Byers made 12 starts at right tackle this season for UTEP and graded as the 18th-best offensive tackle overall (79.4) among FBS offensive tackles who played at least 200 snaps this year per Pro Football Focus. Coincidentally, the 6-foot-4, 331-pound offensive tackle was tied for the 17th-best pass-blocking grade (83.2) nationally amongst offensive tackles with Jones. He also ranked 18th in run blocking with a 79.3 grade. 

In 855 total snaps this season, Byers only allowed eight total pressures (one sack, seven hurries) in 419 pass-blocking snaps while committing eight penalties. He had been with the Miners since the 2019 season and will have up to two years of eligibility remaining. 

Meanwhile, among the three prospects, Wade is the only one that has experience at left tackle. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound prospect’s PFF grades aren’t as eye-popping as the other two prospects OSU has offered, as he’s ranked 132nd amongst FBS offensive tackles who played at least 20 percent of their teams’ snaps with an overall grade of 65.1. As a run blocker, he graded at 65.1 and turned in a grade of 65.2 as a pass blocker with 30 pressures allowed (five sacks, nine hits, 16 hurries) on 448 pass-blocking snaps. He also committed six penalties. Like Byers, he’ll also have two seasons of eligibility remaining. 

As a refresher, the 6-foot-5, 310-pound Cornelius turned in an 89.5 grade, the highest overall grade of any tackle prospect OSU has offered thus far, for the 2022 season. That mark sits as the third-highest mark in the entire FCS for offensive linemen behind North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch (91.9) and William and Mary’s Colby Sorsdal (89.6). He also had the second-highest run-blocking grade in the FCS at 91.0, just behind Mauch’s 91.5. 

Factoring in FBS grades too, Cornelius turned in the 13th-highest PFF grade in the country for all offensive linemen (and the ninth-best among offensive tackles) this season. As a run blocker, Cornelius had the third-best grade among all FBS and FCS offensive tackles nationwide. If there’s one drawback to his game, Cornelius committed 10 penalties in 11 games this season. 

Per The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, Cornelius has visited Nebraska and Oregon and plans to visit Ohio State and Tennessee this weekend. 

Following Samson Okunlola eliminating the Buckeyes and eventually committing to Miami Thursday, It’s abundantly clear the Buckeyes would like to grab a tackle through the portal and resolve one of their biggest needs sooner rather than later. 

Dennis visits St. Clair

Ohio State quarterback coach Corey Dennis now has his quarterbacks for the 2023 and 2024 classes in Kienholz and Dylan Raiola. But recruiting never stops. So naturally, he’s on to 2025. 

Currently, OSU only has offered two quarterbacks for the 2025 cycle: Ryan Montgomery and Colin Hurley, the latter of whom is already committed to LSU. That may change in the coming months, as the Buckeyes continue to show interest in Ohio quarterback Tavien St. Clair after Dennis visited St. Clair at Bellefontaine High School Wednesday.

St. Clair took two visits to Columbus this fall, once for the Wisconsin game and his other trip coming during the Indiana game. As a sophomore, St. Clair helped lead Bellefontaine to an 8-3 record by completing 208 of 294 passes for 2,453 yards, 25 touchdowns to only four interceptions. 

Social media reaction to Jeremiah Smith’s commitment

Signing day for the 2023 class may be less than a week away, but one would forgive you if you’re distracted by salivating over the potential of what the 2024 cycle could be. OSU already had the No. 1 prospect in the country committed in Raiola, then Wednesday landed the No. 2 prospect in Jeremiah Smith. 

As you’d expect, a commitment as monumental as Smith’s drew lots of reaction from Ohio State commitments and staff. Even from targets as well, such as 2024 running back Stacy Gage. 

We’ve compiled a bunch of their reactions below. 

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