Despite the recruiting dead period imposed by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 crisis, Ohio State has been on fire lately with landing prospects for the 20201 class. The lastest pledge is a huge one from the nation’s top-rated running back according to 247Sports’ recruiting (not the composite). Getting TreVeyon Henderson to leave Virginia to play in Columbus is a big one, and there are ramifications to discuss (frankly, all good).
So, we’re taking a high-level view to discuss what this commitment means for the Ohio State football team, fans, and coaches. Here are three impacts of Ryan Day and staff landing one of the best talents in the 2021 class last week.
NEXT … Depth going forward
Depth in the backfield for 2021 forward
Remember when Bijan Robinson and Jaylan Knighton both pulled the rug out from under Ohio State late in the 2020 recruiting period? Both were top ten type running backs coming out, and both were rumored to be a silent commitment just waiting to announce.
Then, a funny thing happened. Robinson — from Arizona — decided to stay closer to home at Texas, and Knighton took a Cloak and Dagger type of visit to Tallahassee and ended up committing to Florida State. Suddenly, Ohio State lacked depth for 2020 and beyond with Dobbins likely leaving for the NFL and nothing really proven behind him.
The Buckeyes recently put a bandage on that issue with the transfer of Trey Sermon from Oklahoma, and now with Henderson and Evan Pryor also committing as of late, the running back room is suddenly in much better shape. And that’s before we even talk about Miyan Williams, Marcus Crowley, or Steele Chambers in the mix.
NEXT … Not just depth but talent
A ton of talent to choose from
Aside from just warm bodies to hand off to, there’s now some extremely talented options in the backfield. Having a top-end guy is one thing, but adding so many options to compete only makes each individual in the room that much better.
Ohio State will now have (at some point) a healthy Master Teague, Evan Pryor, TreVeyon Henderson, and a few other guys that will all push each other. That should result in all of them get better, and a handful for opposing defenses to handle from whoever comes out of it all.
Justin Fields will be gone by 2021 most likely, but it’ll be nice to have an elite option to hand-off to for whatever quarterback takes the reigns once he’s gone.
NEXT … Keeping talent from the opposition
Keeping talent from other rivals
Not often discussed is that for every big-time recruit that chooses the Buckeyes, it’s one less that goes to the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Penn State, and yes — Michigan. In fact, it’s a little cute the Wolverines even thought they had a chance at Henderson.
The Buckeyes are soaring with the 2021 class right now and far and away the leader across the country — blowing everyone away. There’s still time to go, but with all these four and five-star recruits flocking to Columbus, that means when they match up with other blue-bloods (or Michigan), the talent gap will make a difference.
It all plays well for the future as long as the transfer portal doesn’t cause more chaos than expected.
