Sometimes, a look at some recent recruitment rankings reminds us of how good Ryan Day must be.
He will spend the next season of the state of Ohio working with the 2018 class that placed second in the country, class of 2019 that ranked 14th in a transition year of Urban Meyer, class 2020 that ranked fifth and 2021 class that ended in second. Each group had at least three five-star candidates, each of whom will prepare for the Buckeyes once again this fall.
In total, 14 ex-five stars will enter the field in Ohio later this year.
Often, these are the types of recruits that the coaching staff has a chance to transform into the team’s Chase Youngs, Jeff Okudahs, and Nick Bosas. The superstars who can propel a team full of talent to the highest peak. The nails without a doubt.
Of the 14 ex-five-star candidates on the Buckeyes list, only two of them – Garrett Wilson and Nicholas Petit-Frere – are wavering to be that type of artist in the field so far. These two are not finished products at all, and the other 12 still have a lot to prove.
Thus, Ohio’s ability to transform its five stars into legitimate field stars in 2021 could determine the team’s final fate in the fall.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at each of the 14 players in the squad who were five-star recruits out of high school and what to expect from each of them this season.
Nicholas Petit-Frere
No. 7 overall, No. 1 offensive tackle (2018)
No one on this list played more than the 822 photos Petit-Frere accumulated in his first three years on the Ohio state show.
After becoming a real freshman, supporting Branden Bowen after losing the competition to start on the right, he finally started out as a sophomore redshirt in 2021 and looked like an experienced veteran. Petit-Frere, once the best offensive striker in his recruiting cycle, added the necessary weight throughout his first two years to thrive in the right tackle and allowed pressure on less than 1 percent of passing plays, for example. Focus on professional football.
With a prominent 2021 season in tow, the Buckeyes – who also bring back left striker Thayer Munford – can expect Petit-Frere to remain as stable as ever in his second year as a starter.
Taron Vincent
General No. 20, No. 1 defensive tackle (2018)
The Buckeyes return Haskell Garrett to start in 3-technique, and if Vincent can become the impactful player that many designed when he signed as a five star outside the IMG Academy, they could have an attractive pair to complement each other in the position.
This, however, is a big if.
Vincent played 98 defensive plays like a real freshman, then suffered an injury at the end of the season just before the start of his sophomore campaign. He landed nine tackles, including two strays and half a sack in 150 shots last season. In short, he still hasn’t had any progress in the field. Can it happen in 2021? Larry Johnson will try to make that happen.
Tyreke Johnson
General No. 21, No. 2 security (2018)
First, Johnson committed to Kerry Coombs. Then, when Coombs left, he worked for a year under Taver Johnson in the cornerback. Johnson’s expulsion brought Jeff Hafley, and by the end of the 2019 season, the singing of the then sophomore had bought into the former NFL coach’s approach. But Hafley also left and met with Coombs, along with Matt Barnes.
For the first time in his university career, Johnson will enter the 2021 season with the same position as coaches. Perhaps this will help to put you on course. So far, his career has not gone as he expected. He played 77 defensive snaps last season, but only three snaps in the last three games combined.
Johnson will need to make a significant leap in this off-season to show that he deserves a place in the 2021 cornerback plans.
Zach Harrison
12th overall, 4th defensive winger (2019)
Ohio needs several ex-five stars to make big strides in the off-season, but Harrison may be the one he needs most.
The Olentangy Orange graduate was one of the most impressive pure athletes to grace a college football field last season, but his production has not matched his physical gifts so far. Johnson talked about him last year as if putting it in the same sentence as the brothers Bosa and Chase Young made sense. His second-year season with 14 tackles and two sack fell far short of where those three were in their production as second-year Buckeyes.
No one doubts Harrison’s potential. He will need to turn that into more bags and pressures this fall, however, to become the first shift choice that many expected him to become.
Garrett Wilson
No. 20 overall, broad receiver No. 2 (2019)
Already a stallion, Wilson will go through this offseason appearing in many draft of the 2022 NFL as a first round player, and for good reason. The Texan accumulated 43 receptions for 723 yards and six touchdowns in eight games as a sophomore.
Once again paired with Chris Olave and a plethora of other prominent possible receivers, expectations for even greater production will follow Wilson in the 2021 season. With Wilson helping to lead the way, the wide receiver group can – and, depending on the In his opinion, it must be the best of all in Ohio this fall.
Harry Miller
General No. 30, No. 2 center (2019)
Miller’s first season as a starter did not go exactly as planned. He received many positive comments as a real freshman who played 181 offensive snaps, but as a second-rate left guard in the second year, he fought both penalties and consistently taking care of his assignments the way Greg Studrawa would like.
Back in his third year as a Buckeye, Miller is designed by the majority to be the team’s starting center.
As long as that happens, he will be surrounded by first-time holders on guard – probably a combination of Matthew Jones, Paris Johnson and Dawand Jones. And if he’s a starter again, Miller will try to remind people why he was a guaranteed five-star recruit out of high school.
It would not be the first time that a praised striker would fight as a starter for the first time and then recover the following year. He has to follow this trajectory, however, to be the center that the Buckeyes count on him in 2021.
Julian Fleming
General No. 3, broad receiver No. 1 (2020)
Perhaps no one synthesizes the ridiculous talent of the wide receiver at Ohio State better than Fleming.
He entered the building as the Buckeyes’ third highest rated signatory in the era of modern recruitment, but recorded only seven catches in 74 yards as a true freshman. That’s it. Now, a sophomore with a year to learn from Brian Hartline, expectations for Fleming will rise. He will rejoin Olave, Wilson, Jameson Williams and others at the receiver, but he will almost certainly see a significant increase in targets.
In a ridiculously talented position, his status as a recruit was superior to that of anyone else. Therefore, in the second year, it is fair to expect more from Fleming.
Paris Johnson
Overall No. 9, No. 1 offensive tackle (2020)
Josh Myers raised the stakes for Johnson when he said that as long as nothing goes wrong, he expects the Cincinnati native to win the Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the best college football striker, before leaving Ohio. It can be good. Very very good. Good enough that, although Ohio will bring both tackles back, it can’t keep him off the field.
Johnson saw crackles at the end of the season on the offensive guard, and if Myers’ words were accurate, it would be fair to expect him to be the favorite to start from the inside. Our own Dan Hope has already defined him as a projected beginner.
Starting and standing out as a first-year initiator are two entirely different things. If Johnson manages to win a job, it is up to him to perform at a high level. However, he is not someone who has never escaped expectations.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
No. 29 overall, broad receiver No. 5 (2020)
The reception of a finger touchdown in the middle of Smith-Njigba’s freshman season showed how much talent the young man from Texas has. Hartline did not fully release him, however, with the wideout getting 10 receptions for 49 yards and a score.
Perhaps the break will happen in the second year.
Smith-Njigba, who mainly supported Wilson in the slot as a freshman, could challenge starting in the slot – if Wilson went outside – or in the X receiver in 2021. Regardless of exactly how it works, he will have ample chances of appearing.
Jack Sawyer
General No. 4, No. 3 defensive end (2021)
The state of Ohio will mainly feature Harrison, Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday and Javontae Jean-Baptiste on the defensive end in 2021. Thus, although he is ultra-talented, Sawyer will not enter the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for a spot as a real freshman. He could, however, still work his way into the rotation of Johnson’s defensive tips right away.
Pickerington’s longstanding commitment brings with it the potential for high-level pass racing.
Emeka Egbuka
General No. 9, No. 1 wide receiver (2021)
As talented as Egbuka is, it’s hard to imagine him having a much bigger role as a real freshman than Smith-Njigba or Fleming last season. The Washington native enters a room absolutely full of alarms.
Of course, Egbuka has a chance to win a rotating show supporting a starter. But that’s almost as much as anyone should expect from him in year 1.
Donovan Jackson
Nº 18 general, guard nº 1 (2021)
Of every five stars in the squad, Jackson is likely to play the most minute role in 2021. Strikers typically need more time than players in other positions to develop, and although Jackson has the potential to be Ohio’s next Wyatt Davis , even Davis did not start full time until his third year on the show.
Jackson could end up on the two-depth chart. But it would be a legitimate shock if he had a bigger role in this team’s 2021 plans than that.
TreVeyon Henderson
No. 22 overall, No. 1 running back (2021)
Master Teague is solid. Miyan Williams is intriguing. Henderson can be a star.
The best running back of all high school football signed with Ohio State before he even set foot on campus, and because of that decision, Tony Alford has a new, more naturally talented ass. Could Henderson pull a JK Dobbins and become a starter – or co-starter – like a real freshman? It is absolutely possible.
Kyle McCord
General No. 27, No. 3 pro-style quarterback (2021)
Here is the wildcard, as it is possible that McCord will become the most important player on the list as a real freshman.
If McCord manages to be a starter as a defender, the team’s reins will be in the hands of this five-star Philadelphia freshman. Ryan Day said he plans to give him a chance, and McCord is not afraid to be the next Ohio State defender.