The first day of the Early Signing Period has come and gone, and there weren’t nearly as many twists and turns as last year’s National Signing Day.
But for a program that could use some stability right now, that’s not a bad thing whatsoever. Sure, five-star 2025 cornerback Na’eem Offord ultimately flipped, but lots of analysts and even Ohio State fans had essentially been forecasting a flip from him for months.
The Buckeyes also made two new additions on Wednesday, earning commitments from four-star running back Anthony Rogers and Epi Sitanilei.
As of now, the Buckeyes sit at No. 5 in 247Sports’ national recruiting class rankings, and are also expected to be active in the transfer portal when it opens next week.
With the class now all but finished, it's time to have some fun and hand out some superlatives for the 2025 class, which will surely be fun to mock a few years from now. Though I will say, mine from last year haven’t aged too horribly, yet.
Chance to become a legend: Tavien St. Clair
St. Clair had a transformative summer going into his junior year of high school. When he worked out at Ohio State’s recruiting camp a year prior, he was a thin, intriguing prospect with a lively arm.
In the summer of 2023, St. Clair had shot up in height and developed a sturdy frame, with more accuracy and zip on his passes. He turned into a five-star prospect seemingly overnight and became the first commit of Ohio State’s 2025 class (that stuck at least, does anybody remember Jontae Gilbert?)
It became an instant fairy-tale-like story, with St. Clair always dreaming of playing for the Buckeyes growing up in small-town Bellefontaine an hour away from Columbus. He became the first in-state quarterback to commit to Ohio State since Joe Burrow. There are five composite five-star quarterbacks in the 2025 class, and St. Clair is one of them.
Welcome to The Brotherhood, Tavien St. Clairhttps://t.co/CB0ECDSkH3 pic.twitter.com/BxkhjPApqK
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 4, 2024
Another is Bryce Underwood, who grew up in Michigan and obviously signed with the Wolverines. You’ll hear about each of their journeys numerous times over the next few cycles, with each representing their home state with pride. If St. Clair gets the better of Underwood, you won’t be able to say enough about St. Clair’s potential legacy in Columbus.
Game-changer defensively: Devin Sanchez
The No. 1 cornerback in the 2025 class has the best chance of any of OSU’s commits to make a Jeremiah Smith-like impact right away. Sanchez is one of the better cornerback prospects I’ve seen in a long time and could contend for a starting job right away next season.
On to the next!!!
— Devin Sanchez (@Devin2416) December 4, 2024
BIA. https://t.co/grZn9mNYxE
It’s even easier to root for Sanchez because he’s the rare premier recruit – along with St. Clair, to give more credit where it’s due – to shut down their recruitment when they commit early to a school and mean it. Neither Sanchez nor St. Clair took a single visit to another school for the entirety of their commitments. That’s extremely impressive to say about both prospects, but the gesture is slightly more impressive when Sanchez grew up in Texas and had no previous connection to Ohio State.
Sanchez is a cornerback with true lockdown potential and made mincemeat of wide receivers in his high school career and in the camp circuit. Watching him and Smith go head-to-head in spring football will be fun.
Prospect most likely to see the field early: Zion Grady
If I allowed myself to double up, I’d probably pick Sanchez here, but to change it up, I’m going with Grady. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound prospect has a frame that’s ready to see some snaps right away in Year One and considering Ohio State will lose plenty of talent on its defensive line this season, I’m not ruling out Grady cracking the two-deep as a freshman.
Player most likely to see snaps out of position: Anthony Rogers
Rogers was used all over the field in high school, as a running back, a wide receiver, special teams, you name it. While I have no doubt he’ll start his career as a tailback, Rogers is twitchy and special enough that he could be a weapon on occasion as a slot wide receiver.
Best story: Bodpegn Miller
Hand up, when we were configuring internally which prospects we wanted to get a look at the most at OSU’s recruiting camp the first time Miller camped in Columbus, he wasn’t on our radar whatsoever. Then, this 6-foot-4, rising senior from Mansfield who’s played quarterback his entire football life started running routes like a pro and making dynamic plays as a wide receiver. Brian Hartline was so impressed he wanted to see Miller work out again. Next thing you know, Miller received an Ohio State offer and joins the class within a week.
— Bodpegn Miller (@BodpegnM) December 4, 2024
Miller had the biggest rise of any OSU commit from a recruiting rankings perspective too within the past few months, starting as a zero-star prospect and finishing as a four-star wideout in the 247Sports composite. He still played quarterback for his high school his senior year, so Miller will be entering OSU extremely raw at the position. But in terms of measurables, there’s unlimited potential here.
Bleeds scarlet and gray: Jake Cook
I also wanted to put Cook in the best story category, but this aptly describes him. Cook worked his tail off over the past year to transform his body into an Ohio State caliber athlete and camped with the Buckeyes numerous times trying to obtain an offer. It didn’t come right away, which led to some frustration since Cook wanted nothing more than to play for the team he grew up rooting for, going to Buckeye games when he was super young. Eventually, Justin Frye called Cook right before Father’s Day and told him he’d be able to give the gift of being a Buckeye to his dad. He accepted instantly, flipping from Louisville.
Biggest recruiting win: Riley Pettijohn
Another linebacker commit, Tarvos Alford, would also be an acceptable answer considering his talent and considering the Buckeyes had to hold Miami off throughout his recruitment, even through Wednesday. But I’m rolling with Pettijohn here considering he could be the best linebacker in the entire 2025 class.
lets work https://t.co/Pu02gM2XGo
— Riley Pettijohn (@r_pettijohn) December 4, 2024
Until the summer, I wasn’t sure there was a puncher’s chance in hell the Buckeyes could land him considering his ties to his home state and interest from Texas and Texas A&M. Still, James Laurinaitis worked his tail off to build a strong relationship with Pettijohn, who had a drama free recruitment once he committed to the Buckeyes in August. He could be a game-changer on defense and his commitment to OSU wasn’t expected until the decision was on the horizon.
Media good guy award: DeShawn Stewart
This superlative is for nothing else but a show of appreciation to Stewart for being incredibly accommodating and respectful all throughout his recruitment of interview requests. I'm always appreciative of any high school athlete willing to sacrifice a few minutes of their time to give us one interview. But I don't think Stewart ever turned down a single interview request from us once, which is very much appreciated since athletes are extremely busy these days and also receive no shortage of them when they're being recruited to Ohio State of all places.
That aside, Stewart also seems a bit underrated on the field and could be a big contributor to Ohio State's defense within the next few seasons.
