The Hurry-Up: Five-star Signees Jeremiah Smith and Eddrick Houston Standing out at All-American Practices, 2025 RB Tory Blaylock Puts OSU in His Top Schools

By Garrick Hodge on January 3, 2024 at 3:45 pm
Jeremiah Smith
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The transfer portal has closed. Well, mostly.

The deadline for players to officially enter their name in the portal was 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, but players who played in a later bowl game have five days from the day of their bowl game to still enter the portal. For example, the deadline for Ohio State players to enter the portal is 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, while each player from a team that played on New Year’s Day has until the end of the day Saturday.

Long story short, don’t be alarmed if you see a few more players around the country enter the transfer portal between now and Saturday despite the window being closed for most other schools. In the meantime, Ohio State has its eyes set on adding a few transfer targets, but we’ll get to those in a minute.

OSU signees standing out at All-American practices

All-American practices are underway in San Antonio, Texas, ahead of Saturday's All-American game on NBC. Several Ohio State signees are among the recruits standing out among their peers. Five 2024 OSU signees are expected to play in the game: Jeremiah Smith, Eddrick Houston, Ian Moore, James Peoples and Garrett Stover, all of whom are playing on the East team.

All eyes have been on Smith, which is no surprise considering he's the No. 1 prospect in the nation. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound wide receiver has lived up to his billing in the practices so far, making several highlight plays.

Houston has been equally impressive in individual and one-on-one drills, with his highlight rep coming when he bulldozed Georgia offensive line commit Nyier Daniels.

Tory Blaylock puts OSU in top 13

One of Ohio State’s top running back targets in the 2025 class has narrowed down his recruitment. Four-star Texas prospect Tory Blaylock released a top 13 Wednesday that consists of Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas, Alabama, Florida State, Miami, Wisconsin, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Penn State. 

Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Blaylock is considered the 155th-best prospect and the 12th-ranked running back in the 2025 cycle. In his junior season, Blaylock ran for 616 yards with 11 rushing touchdowns while also catching 19 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. 

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound running back visited Ohio State over the summer for a recruiting camp for the opportunity to work out with OSU running backs coach Tony Alford.

“We have a pretty good relationship,” Blaylock said of Alford in June. “He's always pushing me to be better,” Blaylock said. “(It started) when I came to camp for the first time going into my ninth grade year, I think. Since then, it's been really good. … (He’s) just teaching me the blocking schemes, how to run outside zone, how to run inside zone, just basic football stuff. He really furthered my knowledge on how to run the plays.

“A lot of coaches, they know the game. But he really, really knows the game, man. I feel like he's a step further than a lot of coaches.”

Transfer OT Derrick Graham visiting OSU Wednesday, QB Will Howard taking official this week

In case you missed it earlier Wednesday, Ohio State will receive visits from two intriguing transfer portal targets this week. Troy offensive tackle Derrick Graham is visiting Ohio State Wednesday (along with a handful of other teams this week), while Kansas State quarterback Will Howard plans on taking an official visit to Columbus sometime within the next few days.

Starting with Howard, the former Wildcat appears to be the Buckeyes’ most likely option for a signal-caller in the portal, and rumors have picked up steam over the last few weeks.

Howard completed 219 of 357 (61.3%) passes for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions across 12 appearances in 2023, earning him second-team All-Big 12 honors. He also brought value as a read-option quarterback, compiling 351 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 81 carries. 

In all, Howard spent four seasons at Kansas State, appearing in 34 games with 27 starts. The 6-foot-5, 242-pound quarterback completed 458 of 779 passes (58.8%) for 5,786 yards, 48 touchdowns and 25 picks over four seasons in Manhattan. He led the Wildcats to a Big 12 championship and Sugar Bowl in 2022.

Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Howard is still considering entering the NFL Draft after visits to Miami and USC in recent weeks. But the most likely course of action is Howard eventually donning the scarlet and gray.

Graham could be an impact addition to OSU’s offensive line, but the Buckeyes will have plenty of competition for the 6-foot-4, 314-pound offensive tackle. OSU is hosting Graham on Wednesday, then he’ll head to Pittsburgh on Thursday, Texas A&M on Friday and Missouri on Saturday. 

A three-star recruit in the 2020 class, Graham helped lead Troy to a Sun Belt championship this season as its starting left tackle. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. 

Per Pro Football Focus, Graham allowed three sacks and 13 hurries in his 14 starts this season, which included 523 pass-blocking snaps. His overall grade of 62.9 was comprised of a 71.8 pass block grade and a 53.4 run block grade.

Aaron Scott, Bryce West and Mylan Graham competing in UA All-American Game at 4 p.m.

Three of Ohio State’s 2024 signees will get their chance to showcase their skills to the nation on Wednesday. Five-stars Aaron Scott and Mylan Graham along with four-star prospect Bryce West will compete in the Under Armour All-American Game starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game is being televised on ESPN. 

Graham, West and Scott will all compete on “Team Ice,” making it easy for OSU fans to decide which team to cheer for should they feel like tuning in. 

Scott and West will both be early enrollees for Ohio State and arrive on campus next week, while Graham will be a summer enrollee.

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