Is Ohio State Changing The Way It Recruits Running Backs?

Ohio State just offered another in-state running back in the class of 2025, bringing the total for in-state offers at the position to four in the next two years. Who are these potential future Buckeyes and how many of them could OSU end up taking? Marc Givler of BuckeyeHuddle.com joins host Tom Orr to discuss...

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[My T Sharp]

@Tom Orr
@Marc Givler
How is NIL changing the strategy in recruiting, at least for recruiting RBs, so that Ohio State offers in-state kids earlier? Are they concerned that the in-state kids will get NIL deals from other schools and commit before Ohio State has a chance? Or does Ohio State have less confidence in out of state kids due to NIL, which causes them to offer their plan B in-state kids earlier? Or is it something else I am missing?

I did not consider NIL. I figured Ohio State swung and missed on so many top out of state RBs recently that they simply want to make sure they secure RBs in each class.

• 2023: They missed out on Fletcher, Young, and Haynes this past season, and were too late to get Wilcox or other plan B RBs.
• 2022: I am not sure which RBs were the main targets before landing Hayden, but I think Hayden was a main target all along.
• 2021: They landed their targets in Henderson and Pryor.
• 2020: They missed on Bijan & Kendall Milton, and were able to flip their plan B in Miyan Williams.

Missed 3 out of 4 years has created the gap in the RB, which will produce a major lack of depth in '24. It seems like they are implementing this strategy to avoid this situation in the future. But maybe there is more too it, i.e. NIL?

 

[Marc Givler]

I think these offers are mostly because these guys are just that good, but the general thought is that NIL won't be *quite* as much of a factor/hurdle with the local talent as with pulling a kid out of Florida or Texas or California.