The future stars of Ohio State football officially begin their college careers, as standouts from all over the country put pens to their National Letters of Intent.
Securing Grant Toutant's commitment was a coup for the Buckeyes.
Grant Toutant football player, now a Buckeye Welcome, @toutant_grant#GoBucks #XXclusive pic.twitter.com/Xm9xRu7LYy
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 18, 2019
The Toutant File
- Class: 2020
- Size: 6-foot-7/320 pounds
- Pos: OT
- School: De La Salle Collegiate (Warren, MI)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★
- Composite Rank: #37 (OT)
The 6-foot-7 offensive lineman out of Warren, Michigan was committed to Penn State for more than six months, but ultimately saw no future in State College when compared to Ohio State – but in quite a unique twist, his decision had almost nothing to do with football.
Toutant wanted to join an automotive engineering program that would help him with his goal of eventually developing high-powered engines for sports cars and race cars. He thought Penn State offered just that, but he later learned that was not the case.
“When I initially committed, I looked into the engineering program at Penn State, and from what I had seen, it was a really good program,” Toutant told Eleven Warriors in June. “But as time went along and I started to ask more specific questions about the field I wanted to go in, I was finding that the specific automotive aspect was kind of missing in the undergrad program and was more available as a senior or grad student.”
After seeing Ohio State's offerings, which included hands-on learning experience and partnerships with Honda and Ford, Toutant decided Ohio State was a better fit, which meant flipping his football commitment, as well.
Though Toutant's flip was due almost entirely to academic reasons, Ryan Day and Ohio State's coaching staff still played a roll in supporting his academic pursuits.
“Coach (Ryan) Day and Coach (Greg Studrawa) have always been 100 percent supportive in me pursuing the engineering program,” Toutant said. “I have never heard once from them or from the OSU engineering department that it couldn’t be done. Academics have always been stressed from day one, but not just academics in general. They have always stressed pursuing your dream and not settling because of football.”
But the Buckeyes are getting much more than just a future engineer – they're getting a hell of a football player. Toutant is a massive 6-foot-7, 320-pound offensive tackle with unteachable size and uncanny athleticism to go with it.
Toutant is one of six offensive line commits in Ohio State's 2020 class, joining five-star tackle Paris Johnson Jr., four-star center Luke Wypler, three-star guard Josh Fryar, three-star guard Jakob James and three-star tackle Trey Leroux.
With four-star athlete Cameron Martinez of Muskegon, Michigan delaying his signing until February, Toutant will also be the first player from the state of Michigan to sign with Ohio State since Michael Jordan in 2016.
