Ohio State has missed out on its top remaining recruiting target for the 2025 recruiting cycle.
The Buckeyes weren't able to secure the commitment of five-star 2025 North Carolina offensive tackle David Sanders Jr., who committed to Tennessee on Saturday. The miss certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort, as Ohio State made Sanders a top priority in the class and lined up a lucrative NIL package for the standout offensive tackle, but he opted to play for the Volunteers instead.
Sanders had long been the No. 1 target along the offensive line for the Buckeyes and offensive line coach Justin Frye. For about a two-month stretch in June and July, OSU had seized momentum in the recruitment and was in a prime position to win it. Tennessee hosted Sanders' last visit of his recruitment in late July, however, and eventually secured the commitment of the 6-foot-6, 290-pound tackle.
Though it would have been massive to secure a player of Sanders' caliber, arguably the worst part of missing out on him is the perceived lack of backup options remaining to counter the miss. Ohio State has long been coveting a premier offensive tackle on the recruiting trail to pair alongside Carter Lowe for 2025, but the Buckeyes placed most of their eggs in the Sanders basket after missing out on several other offensive tackles who took an official visit to OSU but committed elsewhere, including Jackson Lloyd (Alabama), Josh Petty (Georgia Tech) and Micah DeBose (Alabama).
Of all the offensive linemen who took an official visit to Columbus this summer, OSU is still in heavy consideration for one of them, three-star Maryland prospect Jayvon McFadden. It was once thought Ohio State could take up to five offensive linemen in the 2025 class if they were the right fits, yet only two are committed so far: Lowe and in-state interior lineman Jake Cook.
Unless OSU goes back to the drawing board and either flips a previous target away from their commitment or finds a hidden gem in the prep ranks this fall, the Buckeyes will likely need to add multiple offensive linemen in the transfer portal next offseason, especially since they could lose as many as four starters on the offensive line after the 2024 season.
