Ohio State looks to kickstart 2021 offensive line recruiting in major way

Have a question about Ohio State recruiting? This is the place for you, five days a week. Submit your questions on Twitter or on the Lettermen Row forums. Check-in daily to see what’s on the mind of Buckeyes fans all over the country. Tuesday, we’re taking a look at what could soon be a rush of 2021 offensive line additions.

Ohio State Recruiting Question of the Day

Who do you think OSU ends up with on the OL in 21'. I know it's a guess,

— Shawn J (@jimenez0523) December 2, 2019

It’s early to attempt to piece together a realistic prediction for the Class of 2021 at any position, but the task gets more difficult when trying to project who ends up where along the offensive line — a group that includes five different positions and dozens of potential prospects.

Thanks to the Penn State game two weeks ago in Columbus, however, there is at least a pretty good starting point to work with on the board. The Buckeyes hosted almost 75 recruits that weekend, but no position was better represented or more star-studded than the offensive line. That provided a really good launching point for Ohio State verbals like Paris Johnson, Ben Christman, Jakob James and others to crank up the recruiting pressure on players that could be top targets in 2021 and beyond.

Christman is the lynchpin to the 2021 class, and he’s really turned up his own energy as a recruiter in the last few months. The belief is that there could be some dividends coming soon because of those efforts. It was easy to see during that Penn State visit who Christman’s priorities were, and it’s fair to assume that those priorities are shared by the coaching staff in Columbus.

Donovan Jackson looked very comfortable during his most visit to Ohio State. (Birm/Lettermen Row)

Donovan Jackson, Tristan Leigh, Rocco Spindler, Jager Burton and J.C. Latham were all there at Ohio State together and all in the sights of Christman and the 2020 offensive line commitments throughout the pregame activities. From that group of kids, it’s easy to see where the Buckeyes are prioritizing their own efforts, so as we try to put together an early prediction, it’s probably smart to start there. That group, all brought together for the same weekend, is likely to define the 2021 class of offensive linemen.

How many of them? That remains to be seen, but there’s a lot of buzz on the recruiting trail that the Buckeyes are in a very good position to land each of them at this point. Sure, there is a lot of work to be done still, but sometimes in recruiting it’s all about the impact one domino can make.

Who will be the first domino to fall and join Christman in the committed column? Will it be soon? That could set the tone for the rest of the 2021 offensive line class. It sure looks like it will be a good one.

Need more Ohio State recruiting #Stuff? Join the conversation below in the comments and sign up for Scarlet Sunrise, Lettermen Row’s morning newsletter that will get your day started with all the important Ohio State news you need to know. Prefer video? Follow Buckeyes football on YouTube with Lettermen Row. You can also get your recruiting fix by subscribing to Talking Stuff: The Ohio State Recruiting Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Stitcher.