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.
Ohio State has had a heavy Cincinnati influence on its 2020 class, and will add yet another 513 player in the form of offensive lineman Jakob James.
Ohio's very own @jakobjames00 is an official Buckeye #GoBucks #XXclusive pic.twitter.com/4h6pKnELEj
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 18, 2019
The James File
- Class: 2020
- Size: 6-foot-5, 285 pounds
- Pos: OG
- School: Elder (Cincinnati, OH)
- Composite Rating: ★★★
- Composite Rank: 53 (OG)
The 27th highest ranked player in the state of Ohio, James was basically a Buckeye lock from the moment he received a scholarship offer from Ryan Day back in January. He made it official on the 21st of that month.
Hailing from GCL powerhouse Elder, who reached the state finals this season, James comes from a big Buckeye family and seemed destined to join the Buckeyes, and he will do so alongside his current teammate, tight end Joe Royer.
This is a dream come true... Officially Committed!! pic.twitter.com/lZ0GoomTAr
— Jakob James (@jakobjames00) January 22, 2019
It was relatively easy for the Buckeyes to lock down James. Despite offers from schools such as Penn State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Tennessee, James wanted to be a Buckeye and decided as much very early after he received an Ohio State offer.
Rated as the country's No. 53 offensive guard, James helped lead Elder to the state finals this season as part of an elite offense which put up the best numbers in the GCL this year basically across the board.
It will be interesting to see how the Buckeyes use James. At 6-foot-5, he possesses the necessary height to potentially play offensive tackle, but isn't really quite there yet in terms of his weight, which could shift him to guard, where he is rated right now and where he will probably end up when all the dust settles.
James joins several other Buckeyes in the 2020 class in coming up from the Queen City on I-71 North: his current teammate at Elder Joe Royer, the Princeton High School duo of Paris Johnson Jr. and Darrion Henry, LaSalle kicker Jake Siebert, and Winton Woods running back Miyan Williams.
James is one of several offensive lineman in Ohio State's 2020 class, joining New Jersey center Luke Wypler, Norwalk (OH)'s Trey Leroux, Indiana guard Josh Fryar, Michigan tackle Grant Toutant, and the aforementioned five-star Paris Johnson Jr. from Princeton in Cincinnati.
It is hard to imagine James having a significant role whatsoever in the 2020 season. He is not enrolling early, and the impending return of several offensive lineman at all positions (in addition to the five others in the 2020 class) will make it extremely difficult for James to see the field this upcoming year.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how James develops throughout his career, as the potential is there for a very solid career.
