The Hurry-Up: Four-star 2025 Safety DeShawn Stewart Says Ohio State is "definitely in My Top Three" and Will Visit This Spring, Buckeyes Offer Two 2026 Georgia Prospects

By Garrick Hodge on January 29, 2024 at 5:30 pm
DeShawn Stewart
Twitter/@shawnstewartjr
16 Comments

2025 New Jersey safety DeShawn Stewart was thrilled to no end on Jan. 19.

The four-star prospect picked up his 12th Division I offer after Ryan Day and Tim Walton stopped by DePaul Catholic High School (Wayne, New Jersey) to offer Stewart a scholarship. 

Stewart had long been familiar with the prestige of the Buckeyes program, saying his first memories of watching OSU date back to the Buckeyes winning the national championship in 2014 and that he has closely followed the program since. Picking up the offer was a surreal moment for the 6-foot-2, 185-pound product.

“It means everything to me,” Stewart told Eleven Warriors of receiving the offer. “Watching them growing up, you see all the great players come out of there. The offer means a whole lot.” 

During the visit, Stewart had a productive conversation with Walton and Day. 

“They said they see potential in me and think I’m a hell of a player,” Stewart said. “They see my lift and my speed, and they learned how smart I was throughout the game. They said they loved that about me.” 

A week before his OSU offer came, new OSU safeties coach Matt Guerrieri reached out to Stewart to begin a relationship. On Friday, Guerrieri stopped by DePaul Catholic, the same school that produced former Buckeye safety Ronnie Hickman, to meet Stewart in person and watched him work out.

“There were a couple of days of contact with him,” Stewart said. “He’s a pretty good guy and I feel comfortable enough to talk with him about anything even though I’ve only known him for a little bit. It’s great vibes all around.” 

Stewart said he plans on attending one of OSU’s spring football practices in March or April, but is still determining a specific date. After receiving the offer from the Buckeyes, Stewart added that OSU is “definitely in my top three right now.” He said he hopes to commit either late in the spring or early the summer. 

“Playing in front of all their fans,” Stewart said when talking about the most appealing thing about potentially playing for OSU. “Coach Day showed me they have the best fanbase in college football. The second college next to them is like (five million fans) behind. So that’s pretty crazy to play in front of all those people. And the brotherhood that they share.” 

Last year, Stewart racked up 56 tackles, one tackle for loss, 19 pass deflections for DePaul Catholic. In his sophomore season, he recorded 26 tackles, six pass breakups and three interceptions. 

“I see myself playing anywhere in the back end (in college), cornerback, strong safety or nickel,” Stewart said. “But I’d definitely describe myself as a free safety. (My strongest attribute) is my eyes, discipline and knowing where receivers are lining up and how to get leverage. Also reading the quarterback and knowing where the ball is going to go. I’d say I have pretty good tackling skills, too.” 

Buckeyes offer top-six 2026 CB Dorian Barney

Secondary coach Tim Walton has been on fire both on the field and on the recruiting trail since joining Ryan Day’s staff. On Monday, he offered another premier cornerback, this time in the 2026 class, with four-star Georgia prospect Dorian Barney being the recipient of the offer.

Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Barney is considered the 49th-best prospect and the sixth-rated cornerback in the 2026 cycle. He’s picked up nearly 25 Division I offers, including Arkansas, Auburn, Colorado, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, Kentucky, LSU, Memphis, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, UCF and USC. 

As a sophomore, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Barney recorded 32 tackles (two for loss) with two quarterback hurries, 10 pass deflections and four interceptions while helping Peachtree Ridge (Suwanee, Georgia) to a 10-2 record. 

Xavier Griffin picks up Ohio State offer

Ohio State graduate assistant James Laurinaitis extended an offer on Monday to a fast-rising linebacker in the 2026 class, Georgia prospect Xavier Griffin.

Griffin doesn’t hold a 247Sports composite ranking yet, but has earned 11 Division I offers, six of them coming within the last month. Other schools that have offered the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Griffin include Georgia, Florida State, Duke, Appalachian State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, UAB, USF, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. 

Griffin helped lead Gainesville High School (Gainesville, Georgia) to a 12-1 record in his sophomore year. He racked up 52 tackles (20 for loss) with nine sacks, seven quarterback hurries, two pass deflections and two forced fumbles.

 

Jaime Ffrench confirms he’ll take an official visit to OSU

One of Ohio State’s top wide receiver targets in the 2025 class has confirmed he plans on making an official visit to Columbus this summer. Five-star Florida wideout Jaime Ffrench told 247Sports the Buckeyes and Florida State are two schools that are “locks” to get official visits from him, while Miami and Michigan also remain in the mix.

Ffrench, who recently decommitted from Alabama following Nick Saban’s retirement, wore Ohio State gloves while competing at the Battle of Miami seven-on-seven tournament on Friday and remains deeply interested in the Buckeyes. 

"I am definitely hitting Ohio State," Ffrench told 247Sports. "Just the receiver production with what coach Hartline has been able to do. There is no question about that one."

Ryan Day and Brian Hartline stopped in to see Ffrench last week and he attended OSU’s win against Penn State in October. In Ffrench’s junior year, he racked up 62 catches for 1,247 yards and 14 receiving touchdowns.

Isaiah Campbell commits to Clemson

Last week, Ohio State and Larry Johnson offered four-star 2025 defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell. Campbell already had a destination in mind, though, and committed to Clemson on Monday. 

It’s still the modern recruiting era, so a commitment doesn’t necessarily mean a recruit’s commitment is over. But Johnson and company have a tough road ahead if they have hopes of flipping the top-75 player between now and signing day in December.

16 Comments

Watch Ohio State's Cinematic Recap of the Buckeyes' 42-17 College Football Playoff Win Over Tennessee

Ryan Day fires his Buckeyes up before facing Tennessee in Ohio Stadium

JT Tuimoloau, TreVeyon Henderson and Will Howard Are Pro Football Focus’ Highest-Graded Buckeyes Against Tennessee

JT Tuimoloau vs. Tennessee
View 16 Comments