Better Know a Buckeye: Jeffrey Okudah

This week's Better Know a Buckeye feature continues with a profile of Jeffrey Okudah, a cornerback from Grand Prairie, Texas.

Okudah had offers from every major program across the country, stretching from Florida State to USC and all points between. Ohio State offered Okudah in May 2015, which is early into the process but only after every other program of consequence in his recruitment had already made its move. Ohio State's offer may have been lost in the shuffle if not for a one-day camp at Ohio State in the summer of 2015. Okudah visited and fell in love with Ohio State. That interest made Ohio State the team to beat, ultimately leading to his commitment at the 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

I retell his recruitment below and discuss why he chose Ohio State. Thereafter, I provide a scouting report of the No. 1 cornerback prospect in the country who is already enrolled on campus. I project some early playing time for Okudah before closing with some highlight film for the reader to watch at the end of the feature.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Jeffrey Okudah was already a standout as a true freshman at South Grand Prairie High School. His freshman season resulted in some strong interest from in-state programs, even the heavy-hitters like Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Christian. No offers immediately followed, but it was clear Okudah was going to be one of the best Texas prospects in his 2017 class.

The offers started coming early into his sophomore year. The first offer appears to have been Oregon State, which targeted Texas under then-head coach Mike Riley. Texas Tech offered in late November 2014. The major attention started to come in February 2015 in which Okudah acquired offers from Oklahoma, Michigan, Missouri, Florida State, Auburn, and Ole Miss in a 10-day span. Florida State and Oklahoma resonated most among these offers. Oklahoma, in particular, would solicit strong attention from Okudah and prove to be an important player in Okudah's recruitment.

Ohio State offered on May 4, 2015. This is early into the recruitment process, all things considered, but Baylor, LSU, Tennessee, UCLA, Texas A&M, Florida, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Stanford, Texas, Miami, USC, and Alabama (among the others already listed) had beaten Ohio State to the punch. Okudah had already visited Oklahoma, Texas, and Georgia and had already fielded visits from visiting coaches from Alabama and Florida State.

It's any wonder anything came of the offer for Ohio State. Okudah had no shortage of options, certainly great ones closer to his Grand Prairie home than Ohio State. Here, a camp visit in June proved to be definitive. Okudah dedicated much of the summer of 2015 to taking visits across the country and performing in football camps to improve his craft. It started with a trip to Tuscaloosa, then Knoxville. Columbus was the next stop.

The trip and one-day camp made a lasting impression on Okudah. He recounted that he loved his visit to Ohio State and that it was amazing to be there. Okudah still had visits to Florida State, Auburn, and Oklahoma (again) on his schedule. His recruitment was still young. That said, the next time Ohio State fans heard his name, he had declared Ohio State as his leaders in October of his junior year.

Right now, I can say that Ohio State is my leader in the process... It’s my first time naming a leader in the process. I’m pretty confident that Ohio State is the school that is number one with me right now with the relationships I have developed with the coaching staff... It’s also kind of going back towards the East Coast near New Jersey where I’m from... Academics are big too. I know Ohio State has a really great network. Coach [Urban] Meyer helps the job fair every year. So that is something great after football ends.

This feature would be lacking if it did not note that Chris Ash was instrumental in attracting to Ohio State while Okudah was still on the recruiting trail. Okudah noted that, should Ash leave Ohio State for another position, it would lead him to re-evaluate Ohio State's replacement and whether he still thought Ohio State was his leader. Fortunately, that replacement was Greg Schiano, who made Okudah one of his first orders of business on the recruiting trail. 

Okudah liked his new bond with Schiano, securing Ohio State's status as leader. Through March of last year, Okudah was even wearing Ohio State gear for camp appearances.

Jeffrey Okudah at the Dallas Nike camp in Ohio state gear pic.twitter.com/qfrXlHalte

— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) March 13, 2016

Okudah's recruitment continued into the fall of his senior year with an eye toward an early graduation and early enrollment. He started taking his official visits, starting with Oklahoma for the highly anticipated clash with Ohio State. Okudah's presence at this game in Norman was conspicuous. While Oklahoma had been one of his early favorites, he was fighting off rumors that his strong interest in Ohio State belied the fact he was already silently committed to the Buckeyes.

He next visited Georgia for its homestand against Tennessee and Florida State for its game against Clemson.

His most anticipated visit came at the end of November when he traveled to Ohio State alongside Baron Browning for the Michigan game. Okudah enjoyed the visit, and fielded an in-home visit from Urban Meyer a few days later as Meyer worked to shore up commitments from both Browning and Okudah. Okudah formalized a commitment ceremony for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl even if the decision was ultimately academic.

HIS COMMITMENT

Jeffrey Okudah committed to Ohio State on Jan. 7 2017 as the 17th member of what would become Ohio State's full 2017 recruiting class. He chose Ohio State over offers from across the country, though the two other finalists at the decision table were Oklahoma and Florida State.

Okudah followed it with an article on The Players' Tribune in which he writes a letter to his mother, ill with lymphoma. The whole thing is worth a read but the passage contains an illustrative quote of what may have led Okudah to choose Ohio State.

Mom, of all of the memorable experiences I had, there’s one in particular that stands out. I think you’ll understand why.

Last June, Coach Schiano at Ohio State said something that really stuck with me. In fact, I think it ultimately played a big part in my decision to go there. He told me, “Jeff, you’ve had a tough life up to this point. It’s time for some good things to happen to you.”

Okudah enrolled at Ohio State two days after his commitment.

Next Chapter, The Ohio State University. pic.twitter.com/w2JONSKXn8

— Jeffrey Okudah III (@TheJeffOkudah) January 7, 2017

WHERE HE EXCELS

Jeffrey Okudah is one of five five-stars in Ohio State's 2017 class, which ranks as the No. 2 recruiting class in the country. Okudah is also the highest-ranked prospect in that class, out ranking Chase Young by one ten thousandth of a point on 247's composite scale.

A five-star No. 1 cornerback prospect in the country will have a lot of superlatives and will be well-rounded overall. That certainly describes Okudah. Okudah will do almost every aspect of the cornerback job well, making it difficult to highlight one superlative to highlight first.

I'll start with Okudah's ability in run support. Strength in run support is an ability sine qua non for Ohio State's defense, i.e. without which, a cornerback does not play. Yet, cornerback at the high school level are stereotypically skittish in run support and Ohio State will even accept servicable corners in run support if their ceiling is high elsewhere. Okudah might be the best run-support corner Ohio State has recruited yet. He flies through defenders, tackles well, and importantly takes excellent pursuit angles to the ball carrier.

Okudah's back-pedal shines in coverage as well. It's among the fluid Ohio State has recruited to the program in several years. Importantly, watch Okudah after his back-pedal stops (i.e. after he diagnosed the play). His ability to break from his back-pedal to pursuit is seamless. It's one of many reasons Okudah shines as a sideline-to-sideline defender.

This feature would be remiss without highlighting his overall athleticism (see his score of 142.56 during the The Opening). He's a high IQ player too. Jeffrey Okudah is the total package.

MUST WORK ON

This section is difficult because five-stars are five-stars because they don't have a lot of weaknesses. One misgiving I have concerns where he ultimately lands. Ohio State thinks he's a cornerback right now. I think he's a cornerback. 247 evaluated him as a cornerback but think he's ultimately a safety. Scouting reports are torn on whether he has "corner speed" or "safety speed." The implication is Okudah's ability to get bigger in the weight room without losing his speed would make him an All-American cornerback with high first-round potential. If he slides to safety, he could still well be an all-conference performer, but his ceiling is higher at cornerback. This will be worth watching as Okudah's career develops.

REDSHIRT?

Okudah is too good, started his Ohio State career too early, and is on a depth chart with too many holes right now for Okudah to not ultimately play as a true freshman. I think he at least cracks the two-deep at secondary

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are junior-year highlights for Jeffrey Okudah, the most complete on the web.