Ohio State’s recruiting pipeline kept moving this past weekend, and a pair of future Buckeyes wasted no time making noise once the games started rolling.
The headline names were Huber Heights Wayne 2027 commit Jamier Brown and Philadelphia St. Joseph’s 2028 commit Jett Harrison, both of whom turned in strong showings in their season debuts.
Brown delivered a big performance against Lakewood St. Edward after missing the previous two games because of an OHSAA-imposed suspension.
Harrison, meanwhile, stood out in his team’s season opener.
Those two weren’t the only story, though. Ryan Day and his staff have already put together 19 commitments in the 2027 class, which is the current senior group.
That haul includes six players ranked in the national top 100, and it’s led by Georgia defensive end DJ Jacobs, the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect according to 247Sports. The class sits seventh nationally in the 247Sports rankings.
The 2027 group is spread out by position and geography. Ohio State has landed one quarterback, no running backs, two wide receivers, six offensive linemen, five defensive linemen, one linebacker and four defensive backs. By state, the class includes five players from Ohio, four from Florida, two from California and one each from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
The Buckeyes’ 2028 class is off to an even earlier strong start in the rankings. Ohio State has four commitments there, and every one of them is in the national top 100.
The group is headlined by Massachusetts quarterback Christopher Vargas, who checks in as the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect and No. 2 quarterback in the class. That group is currently ranked No. 2 nationally.
There’s already a piece of the 2029 class in place as well. California wide receiver Austin Miller is Ohio State’s lone commit in that cycle, and 247Sports lists him as the nation’s No. 50 overall prospect and No. 9 wide receiver.
For now, though, the weekend belonged to the on-field returns of Brown and Harrison, two skill-position commitments showing exactly why Ohio State is so high on both.
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For Ohio State fans, the appeal is obvious because it feeds into the never-ending question of what might have been and what the Buckeyes missed when Kienholz moved on. His path also says something about the fit in college football: sometimes a player needs a different setup, a cleaner runway and a coach like Jeff Brohm to let the full skill set show up on game day, even as the foundation built in Columbus still shapes how he leads and handles the position. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan's QB Uncertainty Just Added Intrigue To The Game
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Underwoods uneven play has only deepened the questions around Michigans offense, and it carries extra weight because of what this game means beyond one Saturday in September. For Ohio State, any uncertainty on the other sideline only adds to the intrigue heading into a meeting where the Buckeyes will be paying attention to whether Michigan can steady itself, or whether the Wolverines are heading toward a bigger change than anyone expected. [Read more 🡒]
