{"id":75951,"date":"2025-08-04T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=75951"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:34:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:34:17","slug":"ohio-state-in-contention-for-three-top-2026-recruits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/08\/04\/ohio-state-in-contention-for-three-top-2026-recruits\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio State in Contention for Three Top 2026 Recruits"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns are preparing for the title card in a loaded Week 1 slate. Even though the two face off in just 26 days, the recruiting battles never end. According to 247Sports<\/em>‘ ratings, three five-star athletes have yet to pledge their futures to a program. Coincidentally, the Buckeyes are positioned to fight for one of the top running backs, safeties, and offensive linemen in the nation.<\/p>\n

Could Ohio State land Bralan Womack, Darius Gray, and Savion Hiter for the only five-star pledges in the 2026 haul?<\/p>\n

Buckeye Recruiting Battling for Three Elite Prospects<\/h2>\n

Crystal Ball is Crystal Clear<\/h3>\n

Currently, the highest-rated Buckeye commit is Chris Henry Jr.<\/a>, the 39th-best player in the country, according to 247Sports<\/em>. The best bet to join the cause is Womack, the top-rated safety in the nation. Crystal Balls are not the law of the land, but 247Sports<\/em>‘ staff seems to think Womack is headed to Columbus.<\/p>\n

The recruiting service\u00a0compares Womack to current superstar Caleb Downs<\/a>, setting the bar high. He possesses every trait a coach would dream up when creating their ideal safety. He has size, athleticism, and a natural football IQ that would give him a legitimate chance to play right away. As a junior in 2024, Womack earned Mississippi Player of the Year honors over the likes of Caleb Cunningham and Deuce Knight, who were both seniors and will be playing in the SEC this fall.<\/p>\n

The comparison to Downs fits. Womack has a knack for knowing what the offense is doing before the offense knows it themselves. He can cover the zone with ease, but can also play man coverage with the best of them. Just like Downs, Womack comes downhill as a run defender and is as sure of a tackler as any in the 2026 class. His athleticism is on display as he is a three-phase star as a receiver, safety, kick\/punt returner, and on special teams coverage. He was all over the statsheet with 39 tackles and eight interceptions on defense, with 1,045 yards and 13 touchdowns on 54 receptions on offense. As a returner, he added both a kick and punt return for touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Currently, Ohio State has two safeties in the 2026 class: composite five-star Blaine Bradford (for whom LSU is putting on a full-court press for a flip) and four-star Simeon Caldwell.<\/p>\n

Womack is set to commit on August 23.<\/p>\n

Fortify the Trenches<\/h3>\n

Tyler Bowen has been the Ohio State offensive line<\/a> coach for only a few months, and he’s locked down the commitments of four high school recruits, two of whom are four-star athletes. The two top-end talents are both tackles, so Bowen and the Buckeyes are hoping to land a top guard. That’s where six-foot-three, 285-pound Virginian Gray comes in.<\/p>\n

The Buckeye recruiting efforts have not landed a five-star lineman since Donovan Jackson<\/a> in 2021. Last year, the Buckeyes struck out with David Sanders, and they have an uphill battle for the nation’s top guard. Gray was a star at the 2025 Navy All-American Bowl with bigger, older, more established defenders. He has potential first-round pick written all over him and is an impressive athlete. Gray is a two-way player, and he is a star on the basketball court.<\/p>\n

He’s relentless as a run blocker and can anchor and recover in his pass sets. 247Sports<\/em> compares Gray to Zion Johnson<\/a>, an All-American and stalwart on the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive line.<\/p>\n

Gray will commit on August 22.<\/p>\n

Another Top Playmaker<\/h3>\n

Hiter is the nation’s top running back recruit, an area the Buckeyes have had success<\/a> in the past. Despite both running backs from last year being drafted as the third and fourth backs with the 36th and 38th picks, landing Hiter seems to be a long shot. Ohio State has to beat out Tennessee and former Buckeye running back coach Tony Alford at Michigan.<\/p>\n

One of those two running backs selected before either former Buckeye was Omarion Hampton<\/a> from North Carolina. 247Sports<\/em> likens Hiter’s game to Hampton’s. Earlier this summer, Ohio State brought Hiter to campus for two visits over a five-week window<\/a>, showing how important he would be to the Buckeyes’ efforts.<\/p>\n

He is a shade under six feet tall and is already 200 pounds of muscle. 247Sports projects him as a star with a Power 4 program and one who can develop into a true three-down back. If there is any aspect of his game that will need developing, it’s in the passing game as a receiver. Considering Ohio State turned Quinshon Judkins<\/a> into a top pick as a primary runner who just so happens to have hands, it can do the same for Hiter.<\/p>\n

Hiter will commit on August 19, kicking off a crucial week for Buckeye recruiting.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With just a few weeks until the 2025 season, the Buckeye recruiting efforts for three five-star athletes are about to finish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":72231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2,35609],"tags":[35009,35329,34992,73,34877,35010,33471,7575],"class_list":["post-75951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-featured","category-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-blaine-bradford","tag-bralan-womack","tag-darius-gray","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-savion-hiter","tag-simeon-caldwell","tag-tony-alford","tag-tyler-bowen"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75951"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75954,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75951\/revisions\/75954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}