Ohio State football dealt rough news over the Easter weekend, and it follows a common theme for Ryan Day’s program
Ohio State was in contention for one of the best offensive tackles in the country, until they weren’t. The Buckeyes fell out of the race for a five-star player, and now must turn elsewhere.
It was a big recruiting weekend for the Ohio State Buckeyes, with Student Appreciation Day on Saturday. There were several key visitors in town, including recruits and even past players dropping back in.
The majority of Ohio State football’s recruiting efforts are currently on the class of 2027 where they have nine players committed. Ohio State received tough news on Saturday surrounding one of its top targets.
Ohio State no longer in the mix for five-star offensive tackle
The Buckeyes’ top target along the offensive line has been St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) five-star OT Mark Matthews. Matthews announced he was down to four schools over the weekend, and the Buckeyes were cut from consideration. The final four schools for Matthews are Miami, LSU, Georgia, and Texas A&M.
Along with Ohio State, other teams cut from Matthews’ recruitment were Notre Dame, Florida, and Oregon. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive tackle is the No. 1 player at the position and No. 3 overall player in the class of 2027, per 247 Sports’ composite rankings.
Matthews has been shading away from Ohio State for some time, and it’s another missed five-star talent along the offensive line for Ohio State. We’ve seen this play out time and time again the last few years with David Sanders picking Tennessee over Ohio State being one that sticks out.
Ohio State football typically recruits the state of Ohio strongly for offensive linemen, then takes a couple of big swings outside of state borders. Matthews was a big-time talent Ohio State was after hard at one time for the class of 2027 — not being in his final four even is a loss.
The Buckeyes have the No. 3-ranked recurring class with nine players committed. Ohio State has nine players committed with three listed as offensive tackles. Kellen Wymer is a top 50 player in the country as an offensive tackle, and he along with three-star Mason Wilt are in-state commitments for the Buckeyes. Brody McNeel is a three-star offensive tackle commit from the state of Virginia.
Ohio State will want to add at least one more tackle this class, but it won’t be Matthews, the top player at the position. This news is a common occurrence with Ohio State recruiting premier offensive linemen for the most part.
