Buckeyes Hosting Big Recruiting Weekend for The Game

Ohio State will have plenty of big name visitors on campus Saturday when the Buckeyes host Michigan with a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game on the line.

There will be plenty of updates throughout the weekend and plenty of recruiting talk, but here are a few of the major storylines to watch this weekend.

Buckeyes Look to Shore Up Defensive End Recruiting

Ohio State has lost a pair of defensive end commits in the past few weeks and five-star Jahkeem Stewart is now not expected to be in Columbus on Saturday.

However, the Buckeyes are bringing in two intriguing replacement options in Warren (Ohio) Harding standout Chaz Coleman and Bellflower (Cali.) St. John Bosco’s Epi Sitanilei. Both players are composite four-star prospects with Coleman being committed to Penn State and Sitanilei committed to UCLA.

Coleman has been one of the fastest rising prospects in the nation this fall. A standout basketball player, Coleman’s raw physical tools are intriguing and allowed to him land several big offers during his senior season.

Sitanilei hails from arguably the best high school football program in the nation and is one of the crown jewels of the UCLA class under first year head coach Deshaun Foster.

Ohio State would take both players if they wanted in the class and it’s now or never with Signing Day less than a week away.

Can the Buckeyes close the Deal with Five-Star QB Brady Edmunds?

It seems silly that we’re talking about closing on a class of 2027 prospect this early but Edmunds is once again on campus this weekend, his second trip in the last few weeks.

Edmunds is a five-star type of talent and if you pair him with five-star wide receiver commit Jamier Brown, it would be an unbelievably impressive start to the recruiting efforts in that cycle.

Edmunds has told us in the past that a decision could be coming soon, maybe in mid to late December. But could this visit speed up that timeline even more? We’ll see, but it’s something to watch this weekend for sure.

Will Alford and Offord Show up?

Ohio State has been holding on for dear life with five-star cornerback commit Na’eem Offord, really since the day he committed to the Buckeyes. The drumbeats have gotten even louder in recent weeks that Offord may end up elsewhere at either Auburn or Oregon.

Offord is expected to be in Columbus this weekend. If he’s not, that likely signals bad news could be coming for Ohio State.

While the buzz has also picked up regarding long-time linebacker commit T.J. Alford potentially flipping to one of the Florida schools in the final days of the cycle, Alford is expected on campus this weekend for the Buckeyes where they hope to close the deal.

Alford reiterated with BuckeyeHuddle at roughly 2:30 PM on Friday afternoon that he intends to be in Columbus on Saturday, a good sign for Ohio State’s efforts in keeping the elite linebacker prospect in the fold.

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