In the increasingly cutthroat world of college football recruiting, summer is not a time for laying around in the sun. It’s a year round endeavor to get the top high school prospects to give their pledge to your program. For 2017 Ohio State recruiting, the past few months have been remarkably productive in that regard.
From the month of June onwards, head coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeye coaching staff received commitments from six players. All of them are rated as four-star recruits or higher by Rivals.com. In fact, two are very highly touted five-star standouts expected to be among the highest profile hauls of the 2017 class.
All in all, 18 players have given their commitment to the Buckeyes for 2017. The class is currently rated as the best in the country by Scout.com and 247Sports and second nationally by Rivals. What OSU has been able to accomplish on the recruiting trail this summer has paved the way for their solid standing in the eyes of the experts.
Of course, a lot can still happen between now and Signing Day. Players aren’t truly locked in until they fax in that letter of intent. But for now, these six recent commits are part of the future for the Scarlet and Gray.
Below is a synopsis of what each player brings to the table. Their current high school is listed in parentheses.
2017 Ohio State Recruiting: A Bountiful Summer
Tate Martell – quarterback – Las Vegas, NV (Bishop Gorman)
Tate Martell was among the more highly sought after quarterbacks of the 2017 class. The dual-threat sensation had offers from a plethora of big-time collegiate programs. Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin personally made a pitch to have him come to Tuscaloosa. But in the end, it was Meyer who received his commitment on June 11th.
Expectations are high heading into Martell’s senior season. His Bishop Gorman Gaels are ranked third in the nation according to MaxPreps.com. Last season, he accounted for 3,212 all-purpose yards and 41 total touchdowns as his team romped to a 15-0 season and a Nevada Division I state title.
Martell will enter a crowded OSU quarterback situation in 2017. With J.T. Barrett expected to declare for the NFL Draft after 2016, the competition should be fierce to be his successor next season. Expect Martell to be in the mix to become a true freshman starter. But players such as Joe Burrow, Dwayne Haskins and Stephen Collier will certainly have their sights set on the Buckeye starting job.
Wyatt Davis – offensive lineman – Bellflower, CA (St. John Bosco)
Wyatt Davis was the second five-star offensive lineman to give his pledge to the Buckeyes when he committed on June 23rd. He joins Josh Myers who was one of the first members of this class. The two will be part of a multi-year rebuilding effort for this unit considering how much was lost last year and anticipated to be lost after 2016.
Tackles Taylor Decker and Chase Farris along with center Jacoby Boren all departed in 2015. Senior Pat Elflein will do so next year, meaning much will need to be replaced. Davis and Myers will join five commits (Malcolm Pridgeon, Gavin Cupp, Michael Jordan, Jack Wohlabaugh, and Tyler Gerald) from the 2016 class as the future of the Buckeye offensive front.
Much will be expected out of Davis and the rest of these young linemen. It will be their responsibility to take up the mantle of “The Slobs” from Decker and company who set the bar fairly high.
Chase Young – defensive end – Hyattsville, MD (DeMatha)
A month after Davis committed, the Buckeyes got two four-star pledges in the span of as many days. The first of these came from Chase Young, rated as the fifth-best weakside defensive end according to Rivals. He had drawn interest from in-state school Maryland as well as Alabama before ultimately picking Ohio State.
Young will need to bulk up from his current weight of 220 pounds if he wants to withstand the physicality of the Big Ten. He need only follow the example of fellow OSU defensive end Sam Hubbard. Originally recruited as a linebacker, Hubbard put on 40 pounds and moved to the perimeter up front in the Buckeyes’ 4-3.
Hubbard finished his redshirt freshman season with 6.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss. Those totals were good enough for second and fourth on the team respectively. His sack total was higher than Joey Bosa’s last season. Him, Tyquan Lewis and Bosa’s brother Nick all should feature prominently in 2016. It will be Young’s responsibility to learn from them and put the requisite work in to earn his spot.
Amir Riep – cornerback – Cincinnati, OH (Colerain)
Just a day after Young’s commitment, the program received more good news on the recruiting front when Amir Riep announced he was choosing Ohio State. The Cincinnati native is ranked 23rd nationally among cornerbacks by Rivals. Though Michigan State and Alabama were reportedly also in the conversation, Riep revealed that OSU had always been the favorite even before he made it official.
Current Buckeye cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs has connections with Riep’s high school. Coombs was head coach at Colerain for 16 seasons from 1991-2006. During his tenure, the Cardinals made the Ohio state semifinals five times and went 15-0 in 2004 en route to the Division I state title.
Riep joins three other players at his position who’ve already committed to OSU for 2017, including five-star prospect Shaun Wade. The secondary as a whole has continually been a strength for this program over the years. That’s evident in the fact that a total of 29 Buckeye defensive backs have been drafted by NFL teams over the past 19 seasons including nine in the first round.
Riep and the rest of this group will be looking to continue that tradition a few years down the line.
Trevon Grimes – wide receiver – Fort Lauderdale, FL (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Meyer has established a pretty consistent recruiting pipeline out of the state of Florida during his tenure as Ohio State head coach. And St. Thomas Aquinas High School has played a major role. Four of his recruits have hailed from there, the most recognizable of which to this point is Joey Bosa. But Trevon Grimes is the latest to make the move from South Florida to Columbus.
Rivals.com’s top wide receiving prospect for 2017 (seventh nationally) will be looking to help lead the Raiders to their third straight Class 7A Florida state title in his senior year. And he’ll have a chance to showcase his skills to a nationally televised audience when his school faces Las Vegas Bishop Gorman September 30th on ESPN.
In that game, Grimes will be adversaries against players who are about to become his teammates at Ohio State. One we’ve already discussed in Martell, the next will be elaborated upon next.
Tyjon Lindsey – wide receiver – Las Vegas, NV (Bishop Gorman)
Ohio State recruiting’s summer of success begins and ends in Las Vegas. After getting Martell to commit in early June, his Bishop Gorman teammate Tyjon Lindsey did the same just this Monday. The four-star wide receiver is ranked sixth at the position according to Rivals. This makes the Buckeyes the only school to boast two wideouts in the 2017 Rivals Top 10 for wide receivers after Grimes committed a day earlier.
Lindsey’s a diminutive prospect at 5’9″ and 175 pounds. He’s an ideal fit for the hybrid back position which is such a staple of OSU’s offensive identity under Meyer. With Jalin Marshall having declared early for the NFL and Dontre Wilson set to graduate this year, the opportunity is there for someone to assume the role moving forward. Expect Lindsey to be a potential instant impact player on special teams to start.
