On paper, Ohio State’s 2017 recruiting class was the best ever signed under Urban Meyer.
Through six spring practices, the 10 Buckeyes in the class who enrolled early appear to be living up to that rather lofty billing.
“Maybe our best group that we’ve had come in,” Meyer said of his early enrollees following Tuesday’s practice.
Kendall Sheffield already lost his black stripe. J.K. Dobbins moved up the depth chart and is now competing to back up Mike Weber at running back. Shaun Wade stood out on more than one occasion in open portions of practice.
Baron Browning is sidelined for the rest of spring with a shoulder injury, but Meyer said he expects the five-star linebacker to be ready by June and anticipates he’ll play in the fall “because of what he was doing.” Jeffrey Okudah, Marcus Williamson, Brendon White, Josh Myers, Tate Martell and Isaiah Pryor round out the rest of Ohio State’s early enrollees.
The Buckeyes' 2017 haul ranked No. 2 nationally behind only Alabama, but Ohio State signed just 21 players compared to the Crimson Tide's 29-man class. There were five five-star prospects and 14 four stars in the Buckeyes' class.
Roughly half the members of that group are already on campus and just a few weeks in, it’s pretty clear there’s a lot to like.
“This is a very mature group. I love this group,” Meyer said. “‘[The 2016 class] was very similar. They’re all good students, they’re all just taking care of their business and they’re all progressing at a very rapid rate.”
“A lot of those guys are going to play.”
