The Hurry Up is your nightly dose of updates from the Ohio State football recruiting trail, keeping tabs on the latest from commits and targets from around the country.
When Kevin Wilson saw Joe Royer during a spring workout this past year, he wasn’t quite sure what to think of him.
Wilson, Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, saw this tall, skinny kid and didn’t know where Royer fit positionally. That’s part of why the Buckeyes had yet to offer the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder (then a second-semester junior) out of Cincinnati.
“‘Is he a receiver? Is he a tight end?’” Wilson remembered asking himself.
Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State were among the programs on Royer’s tail. But not Ohio State.
And then, Royer made a lasting impression that changed his recruitment – and, frankly, his future – forever.
“Joe had a bunch of offers, and we didn’t offer him,” Wilson said during Tuesday’s Fiesta Bowl Media Day. “He had to come to camp and earn it. He came in and had a kick-tail performance in a camp setting. He was off the charts. Because we didn’t know.
“He came to camp and knocked our socks off, and he backed it up with 70 catches and 1,200 yards and played for a state championship.”
Royer got his Buckeyes offer after that camp, committed to Ohio State in early July, and in his final season for Elder High School, he improved on his junior season (617 yards receiving and five touchdowns on 32 catches) by finishing second in the Greater Catholic League with 914 yards receiving in the regular season.
Including the playoffs, he hauled in 15 touchdowns and finished with 1,258 yards receiving (15 games) and led Elder into the Division I Ohio High School Athletic Association state championship, falling 21-14 to fellow Ohio State 2020 commit Ty Hamilton and Pickerington Central.
Those numbers helped Royer earn a First-Team All-Ohio honor in Division I, but that output came mostly because of him being used as a receiver. When he gets on campus, he has some improvements to make physically in order to sustain the Big Ten slate – but the nation’s No. 11 tight end still has plenty of potential.
“He’s gotta get bigger,” Wilson said. “I gotta make sure he’s eating breakfast every day, and he’s gotta gain some weight. But I think he has the skillset.”
What makes Royer more of an intriguing prospect to Wilson is the dichotomy he will provide alongside another young three-star tight end on the Buckeyes’ current roster.
“He’s different from Cormantae Hamilton, who weighs 260,” Wilson said. “We brought him in as a bigger, fullback blocking guy, and I think he’s gonna do really well for us. He’s a little bit more like Jeremy Ruckert. They kind of have different skill sets.
“(Royer) comes from a great program. Love where he’s from and his family – west-sider. Skyline Chilli. Don’t tell my wife that. I’m vegan. But I’ve got a lot of respect for Joe. I’m excited. He will not be coming early because with the Elder academic deal he has to finish out his spring semester so we’ll have to do a really good job with him this spring to keep him developed. Great future.”
Fields has advice for Stroud, Miller
After so much talk over the last few months about the need for Ohio State to bring in another quarterback, the Buckeyes finally did it by landing C.J. Stroud at the start of the Early Signing Period to pair with Jack Miller.
Those two will be coming into the program at the same time (both are early enrollees) and will be competing to be QB2 behind Justin Fields before the battle for QB1 begins the following year. Fields could end up becoming a bit of a mentor to the two if he so chooses, and he says he’s ready for them to get to campus.
“I’ve met C.J., but I haven’t talked to Jack that much,” Fields said. “I haven’t really seen them play a lot, but the coaches tell me they’re both great players and all that, so I’m excited to meet them and actually get to work with them.”
Fields says he didn’t host Stroud when Stroud made his official visit Dec. 13-14, but he “did talk to him when he was there. He’s a great, great person, and I really like him a lot.” Fields said he congratulated Stroud on his commitment and expects that he and Stroud will “have a pretty great relationship at Ohio State.”
Fields says he has never been involved in any talks about quarterback recruiting with his coaches. But now that Stroud and Miller will be coming into the same quarterbacks room with him, Fields is ready to step up in a leadership role.
“I think I am the leader of the offense,” Fields said. “I don't think that will be a big hassle. Just teaching those guys as they come in and try to learn the offense, I think I can be a big help to both of those guys. … The thing is with them, I know how it’s gonna go with the two-quarterback competition. I’ve been through that plenty of times. I would just say no matter what happens, don't get down. Just keep working. Just go out there and play your game.”
Buckeyes a finalist for two more
It was just two weeks ago when we detailed the Buckeyes’ steady rise in their focus of Maryland prospects. Nine players in the 2021 class from Maryland hold an Ohio State offer, with three of them – linebacker Greg Penn III and defensive linemen teammates Demeioun Robinson and Marcus Bradley – being guys worthy of keeping a closer eye on moving forward.
It’s not just Maryland in the DMV area that Larry Johnson and Ohio State has their sights set on.
Taizse Johnson, a four-star defensive tackle from St. John’s (Washington D.C.) High School, placed Ohio State in his top six programs on Christmas Eve, including the Buckeyes with Alabama, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Florida and Maryland.
solid six pic.twitter.com/PocilWNBTj
— Ta (@TaizseJohnson) December 24, 2019
Johnson, a 6-foot-1, 290-pound junior ranked in the top 15 at his position and rated as the No. 2 overall prospect in D.C., is a strong tackle who plays with leverage and will fit best on the interior.
We a package deal.... just saying https://t.co/KBwxttcX03
— Greg Penn III (@3golivee_) December 25, 2019
Johnson made Ohio State a late December finalist just hours after the program had made its way onto the final list of another top priority defensive lineman – five-star strongside defensive end Tunmise Adeleye, the No. 3-ranked SDE in the country.
It seems Johnson is continuing his strong recruiting efforts nationally and is making just as great of an impression on the country’s top defensive linemen.
Another player put Ohio State as a top-six finalist in his recruitment when three-star receiver Troy Stellato out of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale announced he had trimmed his list on Wednesday evening.
It was all a dream, Words cant even describe how thankful and blessed I am thank you God. Recruitment still very much open to all schools #merrychristmas
— Troy Stellato (@troystellato) December 25, 2019
Edit:@Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/j5idMEaVNG
The Buckeyes, Alabama, Clemson, LSU, North Carolina and USC are the six schools mainly competing now for Stellato's commitment.
