Ahh, the day is finally here.
Except that it’s not really that exciting if you’re a fan of the Ohio State.
The biggest enthusiasm for today’s national signing day is marred by the fact that the Buckeyes almost completely shut down their yard class in 2021 during the early signing period in December. They have already signed 21 of their commitments, and there are only two players who are not committed left on the board for the state of Ohio to possibly land.
But it’s OK. There are some more interesting events that will emerge from the semi-action of the day, and we look at five such storylines:
Where is Raessie Davis going?
When I visited Columbus more than two weeks ago, I felt good about the prospect of the state of Ohio landing fourth-star Mater Dei (California) linebacker Raessie Davis. Even though I thought about the visit, I thought the Buckeyes should take the lead and finally sign him today.
Davis and his family already had a good relationship with Al Washington, and I felt good about his visit to Columbus that concluded the agreement there.
“We are not even talking about football,” Davis said. Elf Krygers before his visit. “We’re just talking about ordinary things in life. I know he’s out in Florida with his family right now and just enjoys family time. We really do not talk too much about football, it’s more like a family. This is really what it is; that’s why I love him so much. When I think about where I want to go, I always keep the state of Ohio in my mind.
‘I think it’s the personality, because my father does not like many such coaches. So he likes him a lot. ”
Raessie Davis is likely to sign with USC when he announces his decision today. (Ken Ruinard / USA Today)
But then there were crickets. No real momentum of the momentum that follows that the Buckeyes would be the choice.
And as we stand here today, I have no confidence that Davis is going to sign with the state of Ohio. My choice, like almost everyone else’s, is for Davis to stay in Southern California by signing with USC. He will give the Trojans the country’s overall No. 48 player and the No. 4 fullback of the country along with fellow top 50 prospects and fellow Californian Korey Foreman, the country’s no.
Waiting for Tuimoloau
When Ryan Day was asked on January 22 – not ironically the day Davis and his family flew into Columbus – how much space was left in the Buckeyes’ 2021 class, he gave a cryptic answer at the time.
“We really do not have much,” Day said. “We are pretty full now. Fairly healthy grill. It can always change. There may be one place available. But other than that, we are pretty saturated. But we will continue to evaluate and look at it. We are definitely constantly recruiting some guys here for the next signing day. And we’ll probably have room for one man. ‘
We were not entirely sure if Day’s response should have been a message to Davis to include his name in the class, or perhaps it was a hidden way of saying that Davis would not end up with the state of Ohio.
Either way, we’ll probably find out at 11:30 a.m., when Davis announces his decision, that the ‘one man’ Day referred to is Washington’s five-star defensive end, JT Tuimoloau.
Tuimoloau, the No. 3 player in the country from Eastside Catholic High School,’s decision does not come today and it will come next month.
Tuimoloau has already said that his decision will only come in April at least, which means that today will not be the characteristic day that gives the Buckeyes half of the players in the top 10 in the 2021 rankings.
That day may come this spring, but as soon as visits reopen (as visits must be opened, we must say carefully) and he may come in his last five to Ohio State, Alabama and the trio of Pac-12 schools.
And speaking of one of the Pac-12 programs, how incredible would it not be if USC all stunned by landing Tuimoloau to give the Trojans some five-star defensive points that top the overall three (Tuimoloau, Foreman ) and the No. 4 OLB (Davis)? I’m sure this is exactly what Ohio State fans wanted to hear from me today.
Buckeyes have no chance to win a crown …
Speaking of things Ohio State fans definitely wanted to hear today, the Buckeyes have no chance of finally winning their all-time recruiting crown.
About two decades ago, in March-April of 2020, it felt like anyone who was great with football in the 2021 recruiting class would print an image on Instagram and Twitter that said “1000 percent dedicated to THE Ohio State University.”
This is the kind of momentum the program has had. (You should see the number of assignments you have actually prepared in case more news falls.)
And then Alabama crashed and spoiled the Buckeyes’ party. As soon as Camar Wheaton, the No. 2 running back in America, retires with five stars, he signs with Alabama that it will officially give the Crimson Tide the best yard class of all time (325.95 points), beating Florida’s 2010 class ( 324.62), and if top-50 safety Terrion Arnold signs with the Tide, they will finish with 327.91 points.
… and they do not care
As a reservation for the next, I care who wins the recruiter crown. We, at Eleven Warriors, care. It’s nice to talk about, even if there are only a few points that differentiate the two programs, and even if one team (Ohio State with 21 participants) would bring in significantly fewer participants (Alabama with 27 likely participants) than the other.
So we’re going to write about the rankings and recruiting titles and talk about it at the end of the time, because it’s great to debate and talk about.
Do you know who does not give a speech (because it is a family friendly website) about who wins the recruiting crown? Ryan Day and Mark Pantoni.
Day, during his earlier signing period, whether it was important for him to have the No. 1 class in the state: ‘This is the best class in the country for the state of Ohio. What is the best class in the country for another school? It is not the same for us. One of the things you know when you come here is that it’s going to be difficult. You will have to compete to get on the field. You have to compete to play for a national championship. This is what we’re looking for here. ”
Pantoni: ‘I heard what Ryan said, and I honestly agree with him. This is not a big story. We’ve had four or five classes in the past, and we’ve probably had more NFL drafts in the top two rounds than some of these other classes. The way I recruit classes, in my opinion, is how it ends. The NFL is a big part, but also a major contributor, also to begin with, so we’ll be looking forward to it here in three or four years’ time and see, this is how we will rate it. ‘
Average at best per player
Well, with everyone That said, the state of Ohio still has a chance to reach its best class of all time when it comes to the average player rating.
The famed 2017 class finishes with an average player rating of 94.59, which is the best in the modern recruiting era. Whatever Alabama ends up with in this cycle (predicted at 95.00 as Arnold signs), is the best ever. But the state of Ohio has a chance to get the number 2 class in that regard.
When Tuimoloau signs with the Buckeyes, they finish with an average of 94.77 per player (with a total of 316.01 points). Would still be pretty amazing.