Ohio State Buckeyes appear willing to roll the dice on versatile freak athlete after losing ground on elite recruit to Big Ten rival
On the heels of the Ohio State Buckeyes seemingly falling behind the USC Trojans for elite New Jersey edge rusher Luke Wafle, Ryan Day and his staff are prepared to bet on themselves. While the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Wafle would fit the mold of Jack Sawyer, going with an even better athlete could pay off too. […]
On the heels of the Ohio State Buckeyes seemingly falling behind the USC Trojans for elite New Jersey edge rusher Luke Wafle, Ryan Day and his staff are prepared to bet on themselves. While the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Wafle would fit the mold of Jack Sawyer, going with an even better athlete could pay off too.
An emerging Ohio State target is four-star talent PJ Dean. Dean recently visited the Buckeyes’ campus and made a significant decision to transition from an offensive line prospect to a defensive line player.
This shift reflects Dean’s efforts to reshape his physique to better suit the demands of a defensive role, aligning with Ohio State’s need for dynamic talent on defense. The Buckeyes, known for their strong recruiting classes, hosted several top prospects during the visit, with Dean standing out due to how his body can handle the change and huge potential.
The North Carolina native, standing 6-foot-3 and 255 pounds, is considered a heavy Ohio State lean despite being chased by Georgia and South Carolina. On3's recruiting prediction machine has the Buckeyes as an 88% lean to win.
What helped Ohio State get to this point is Dean's relationship with offensive line coach Tyler Bowen. Bowen was recruiting Dean while he was at Virginia Tech, so his offseason move to Ohio State simply made Dean more interested in Columbus.
“Ohio State was recruiting me as an offensive lineman at first,” Dean recalled. “Coach Bowen was hitting my phone hard. He was recruiting me at Virginia Tech and he was my guy there, so with him going to Ohio State, I started looking into them more. Then I started talking to the defensive line coach and I told them, ‘hey I might be on the defensive line side of things’. So they were like ‘alright we’ll make a cut up of your tape and see what’s going on and we’ll tell you’.”
“Coach J loved (the film),” Dean said. “So Coach J is making it a mission that I’m a priority for him.”
Ohio State’s defensive line has struggled to produce a superstar pass-rusher since Chase Young, a generational talent who dominated college football and became the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Young’s blend of size, speed, and explosiveness set a high bar, but the Buckeyes have yet to replicate that impact. Adding a high-upside athlete like Dean, who theoretically has an athleticism in a relatively same realm as Young, addresses this gap.
His willingness to transform his body suggests a rare combination of adaptability and athleticism—key traits for a potential game-changer on the defensive front. With Ohio State’s 2025 season revealing depth concerns at defensive tackle, as noted by head coach Ryan Day, a prospect like Dean offers the raw potential to develop into a disruptive force.
His transition aligns with the program’s need to rebuild its pass-rushing pedigree, providing a long-term solution to bolster a defense that has lacked a true star since Young’s departure.
