Tavien St. Clair and Ryan Montgomery, Three Four-star 2025 Running Backs Headline Ohio State’s Fourth Recruiting Camp As Four New Prospects Get Offers

By Garrick Hodge on June 15, 2023 at 7:27 pm
Tavien St. Clair and Ryan Montgomery
Tavien St. Clair and Ryan Montgomery
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Ohio State’s fourth recruiting camp of the summer arguably had the deepest pool of talent competing at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Thursday.

Five intriguing quarterbacks worked out with Ohio State quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis and Ryan Day: four-star 2025 Ohio quarterbacks Ryan Montgomery and Tavien St. Clair, four-star 2025 Texas standout Ty Hawkins and 2026 Florida quarterbacks Will Griffin and Carter Emanuel.

St. Clair and Montgomery, two of three quarterbacks in the 2025 class with Ohio State offers, were impressive in the pre-camp workout with Dennis, excelling in one-inch throwing drills. Montgomery had a basketball obligation later in the afternoon so he didn’t stay for the entire camp. Still, OSU’s coaches got a good look at both quarterback targets before the afternoon session started. Both Montgomery and St. Clair are expected to return to Columbus next week for Ohio State’s yearly seven-on-seven camp. 

St. Clair has seen his recruitment take off in recent weeks, picking up offers from Alabama, Michigan, LSU, Michigan State, Penn State and of course, Ohio State. He received plenty of coaching and suggestions from Dennis throughout the day.

“I got some coaching tips from coach Dennis, he’s always helping me refine my mechanics and stuff like that,” St. Clair said after the camp. “Every time I get to learn from someone like coach Dennis or coach Day, it’s big-time. (They told me) keep my feet moving constantly so we’re not stuck in the ground and it helps me throw a better ball.” 

Griffin flashed throughout Thursday’s camp with a strong, accurate arm and impressive mobility for a prospect of his age. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Florida 2026 prospect already has a bevy of offers to his name, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he adds an Ohio State offer to that list after Thursday’s performance.

“It was fantastic, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Griffin said. “Especially learning from two coaches that know all about the position and football so that was great. I’m really good friends with Tavien, Ryan was here earlier and I made some new friends. Competition makes each other great and all of us got better today.” 

Ohio State is primarily focused on Bryce Underwood, Montgomery and St. Clair at quarterback in the 2025 class. But Hawkins kept pace with the rest of the quarterbacks Thursday and made some impressive throws of his own. 

“They helped me a lot being more consistent with my throws and picking out small things that could help me become a top quarterback in the nation,” Hawkins told Eleven Warriors of working with Day and Dennis. “Ohio State is a top-five program every year and put guys in the NFL so there’s a lot of good exposure, I love it here, it’s great.” 

Running back talent on display

Three four-star 2025 running backs who had already been offered by Ohio State participated in Thursday’s camp: Marquise Davis, Bo Jackson and Tory Blaylock. Each performed well in individual drills and one-on-one competition, giving OSU plenty of talented options to pursue at tailback for the ‘25 cycle.

“I had a great time competing out here with some of the best coaches and best athletes around me,” Blaylock said after the camp. “It was a great experience to be out here and I enjoyed myself. Coach Alford and coach Day are some of the best coaches in the nation, they set the standard. (Alford) always pushes me to be better.” 

While three running backs came into camp with an offer, 2025 Texas prospect Chad Gasper impressed Alford enough to leave Columbus with one. Gasper does not hold a 247Sports composite ranking yet but has earned nearly 10 Division I offers, including Michigan, Oregon, Arizona State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Last season, Gasper ran for 675 yards on 145 carries with 10 rushing touchdowns. 

Two wide receivers add offers

Two more wide receivers earned an offer from Brian Hartline and Day Thursday: three-star 2025 wideout Vernell "Trey" Brown and 2026 Florida prospect Jabari Brady.

Brown is ranked as the 378th-best prospect in the 2025 class and has amassed nearly 20 Division I offers, including Auburn, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee and Wisconsin. In a shortened season due to injury, Brown caught six passes for 115 yards and three touchdowns last year. 

"It feels amazing," Brown told Eleven Warriors of getting the OSU offer. "Ohio State is the cream of the crop as it pertains to developing and producing the wide receiver position. To earn an opportunity to become part of that meant a lot and reiterates that I am one of the top guys at the position in my class."

Brady has nearly two dozen offers, including Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Penn State, Oregon, Miami, Florida State, Florida and Arkansas. In 2022, Brady caught 43 passes for 864 yards with six touchdowns. 

They join two wide receivers who received offers after Wednesday’s camp: Joshua Moore and Jayvan Boggs, the latter of which announced his offer on Thursday.

Other wideouts who impressed in Thursday’s camp included 2025 Texas receiver Dane Jones, 2025 Ohio prospect Preston Bowman and 2026 Ohio wide receiver Payton Cook. 

“I was getting firsthand coaching by the best wide receiver coach in the country,” Cook told Eleven Warriors. “The biggest thing I learned is definitely my route running, coming off routes, breaking down, cutting, just little things like that to get my routes perfect.” 

Strayhorn, Merritt stand out in trenches

Four-star Florida offensive lineman Kaden Strayhorn picked up an offer from OSU offensive line coach Justin Frye after a sharp camp. Strayhorn is considered the 264th-best prospect and the 12th-rated interior offensive lineman in the 2025 class and has earned nearly 20 Division I offers, including Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, Texas, Penn State and USC. 

"It felt great to get the offer," Strayhorn told Eleven Warriors. "Coach Day told me coach Frye said I did outstanding in the camp and that I was offered a scholarship. In camp, coach Frye told me chest over knees, knees over ankles. (I'll be back) definitely for a game."

Defensively, top-60 2025 prospect London Merritt was among the most talented players camping at Ohio State on Thursday, as the defensive end thrived in individual drills with OSU defensive line coach Larry Johnson.

“It was great, we came out here and got some great work in,” Merritt told Eleven Warriors. “Coach Johnson talks a lot about hips, you have to have great bend and he’s one of a kind of a coach, I like him a lot. I still have a lot to learn.” 

Ohio 2025 four-star linebacker Dante McClellan also looked sharp Thursday, winning a good amount of his one-on-one drills against running backs. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound McClellan is a converted wide receiver but says he feels comfortable sticking at linebacker in the future. While he doesn’t have an offer from Ohio State yet, he could be a candidate to receive one in the future.

“It was great to get in front of the coaches and show them what I can do," he said. "They’ve never seen me at linebacker previously (when I camped here), because I was at receiver. Jim Knowles saw what I can do at linebacker and what I need to work on and what I can be great at. He told me to play with more energy, because I play with a nonchalant face, so I think it’s just my facial expressions I have to change and I’ll be straight.”

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