The Hurry-Up: Ohio State Offers Three More Prospects and Five-star 2026 CB Elbert Hill Includes the Buckeyes in His Top 10 Schools

By Garrick Hodge on September 27, 2024 at 5:30 pm
Micah Rhodes
Twitter/@themicahrhodes
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Ohio State has been busy on the recruiting trail.

In the past few days, the Buckeyes have handed out three offers to new prospects in various classes. We’ll break down all three below. 

Samuelu Utu

Justin Frye has offered a top-110 lineman in the 2026 class. Four-star California offensive lineman Samuelu Utu earned an offer from OSU on Thursday, making him the 18th offensive lineman offered by the Buckeyes in that cycle. 

Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Utu is rated the No. 108 player and the No. 7 interior offensive lineman in the 2026 cycle. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound prospect has picked up nearly 30 Division I offers, including Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, BYU, Cal, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington.

Derrick Jackson Jr.

Carlos Locklyn has given out the first two Ohio State offers to running backs in the 2028 class.

Derrick Jackson Jr. was the first tailback to pick up an offer on Thursday, with the 6-foot, 185-pound prospect hailing from California. 

The Buckeyes were the seventh team that had offered Jackson, with the other six including Georgia, Ole Miss, Oregon, San Diego State, SMU and UNLV. 

Micah Rhodes

The 5-foot-10, 178-pound Rhodes earned his offer from Locklyn on Friday, which was his fifth Division I offer overall.

Other schools that have offered Rhodes include Boise State, Baylor, Houston and Oklahoma.

Elbert Hill includes OSU in top 10 schools

Ohio State’s top cornerback target in the 2026 class has started to narrow down his recruitment. Five-star Ohio prospect Elbert Hill released a top 10 on Friday consisting of Ohio State, Tennessee, Oregon, Michigan, Texas A&M, USC, Alabama, Notre Dame, Penn State and UCLA. 

Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Hill is considered the No. 18 prospect and No. 1 cornerback in the 2026 class. He’s been a frequent visitor to Ohio State over the past year and also plans on returning to campus for the Michigan game in November, and possibly another home game in addition. 

“My relationship with them is great,” Hill said of Tim Walton and Matt Guerrieri after a recruiting camp in June. “Every time I see them, it’s something new. (The relationship) just goes higher and higher every time I talk to those guys.

“One thing that makes coach Walton special is that if he wants you, he’s going to consistently keep coming after you. He’s not going to give up, he’s not going to back off you. He’s going to keep coming after you and talking and just having fun with it.”

Jireh Edwards to visit OSU on Nov. 30

A top OSU safety target in the 2026 class has set an OSU unofficial visit up for this fall. Four-star Maryland safety Jireh Edwards will visit Columbus for the Michigan game on Nov. 30. The top-50 prospect has also set up gameday visits to Oregon, Tennessee and Auburn this fall. 

“I make sure I call coach Matt Guerrieri almost every day,” Edwards told Eleven Warriors in June. “We call and it’s always a good conversation. I’m checking up on him, he’s checking up on me.” 

Edwards has OSU near the top of his recruitment and the Buckeyes should be a strong contender for the safety standout moving forward.

“The brand,” Edwards said about OSU’s most appealing factor. “What I can get out of the school, the things I can learn at the school and stuff like that.”

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