3-2-1: Living in the present and planning for the future

In this recruiting-themed edition of "3-2-1," which is presented by Infinit Nutrition, BuckeyeGrove takes a look at some of the most recent news relating to Ohio State football recruiting.

Down below, we talk about three things we learned recently, a couple of questions that we still have and dish out one bold prediction for the 2021 and 2022 cycles.

Some of the topics below include a rundown on Ohio State's recruiting efforts on Sept. 1, which prospect the program should pursue following Jager Burton's commitment to Kentucky, and who could be the next junior to commit to the Buckeyes.

1. A number of 2022 prospects were contacted on Tuesday

As we all know, Sept. 1 was the first day college coaches could start initiating contact with prospects in the 2022 cycle. In case you missed our running list of juniors contacted by Ohio State’s staff, you can access that thread HERE.

Instead of going through each confirmed recruit to have been contacted by the Buckeyes, however, I’m going to take a look at everything that stood out to me on Tuesday.

The first overarching theme here is that although some players have yet to receive an offer from Ryan Day’s staff, the coaches did reach out to them to express interest. These players were Aamil Wagner, Derrick Shepard and Gi’Bran Payne, all of whom are from the state of Ohio.

Payne told me via direct message on Twitter that he believes the Buckeyes are close to extending an offer to him. The program has a number of running backs on their board and Payne does indeed have a top 10 schools list at this time, but Ohio State would almost certainly become a contender if they give him the green light.

I spoke with Shepard and Wagner over the phone, so I’ll be rolling out updates on them at some point next week. Wagner hasn’t heard from the staff about a potential offer in the near future, but Shepard says one could arrive soon after they get a chance to evaluate him as a pass rusher this season.

What also caught my attention on Tuesday was the presence of Ryan Day on the trail. The head man in Columbus didn’t take a laid-back approach as he made it a point to contact several top targets for his team.

We confirmed that Day spoke with multiple offensive linemen – Gunner Givens and Kenji Swanson – as well as coveted pass rusher Caden Curry and Benjamin Gosnell. Day also reached out to C.J. Hicks and Gabe Powers, the two highest rated pledges for the Buckeyes in their 2022 class.

Finally, the last point I wanted to touch on here is that Ohio State is doing well on both sides of the trenches based on what we heard earlier this week.

Five-star offensive tackle Kam Dewberry said the Buckeyes are recruiting him well, Rivals250 OT Aliou Bah called them a “phenomenal program,” and both Givens and Swanson heard from at least a trio of coaches on Tuesday.

Defensive tackle Walter Nolen, the No. 1 overall player on Rivals, told us that Ohio State contacted him, Rivals100 DE Mykel Williams said the school is “up there” in his recruitment, and borderline five-star Keithian Alexander received a nice edit from the staff.

There was a lot to unpack on Tuesday, but the Buckeyes definitely made a strong impression on the prospects we spoke with.

2. Ohio State will take two tight ends in next year's class

Tuesday was not only a big day for Ohio State in terms of showing junior recruits that they are a priority for the staff, but it also saw them reel in a commitment from yet another 2022 target.

For the third time in the past five weeks, the Buckeyes added a pledge to next year’s class as Peach State tight end Bennett Christian committed to them on Sept. 1. Christian becomes the first skill position commit for Ohio State in their 2022 class.

Christian and I were able to speak for an extended conversation, which we broke into two parts. Part One can be found HERE, and you can access Part Two with this LINK.

I won’t summarize both articles in this section, but I did want to highlight something Christian said in the second part of the interview we conducted. Christian told me that Ohio State is indeed going to be pursuing another tight end to join him at the next level.

This isn’t too much of a surprise as the Buckeyes were putting the full-court press on Rivals100 member Hudson Wolfe prior to his commitment to Tennessee in June. Kevin Wilson and company also extended an official offer to Kentucky-based senior Jordan Dingle, but the Wildcats and Vanderbilt are viewed as the ones most likely to land him.

Even though Christian just committed to the Buckeyes, he’s been recruiting another player at his position to join him in college in Columbus: Benjamin Gosnell. Gosnell is the fifth-ranked TE in the 2022 cycle, and has been building up a good relationship with Christian over the past couple of weeks.

Gosnell is a big priority for Ohio State, and the program showed that by having several coaches, including Day and Wilson, speak with him on Tuesday. He previously named the Buckeyes as his leader, but told me on Wednesday that Florida has somewhat evened things up with them.

I still have my FutureCast prediction in for Ohio State to land Gosnell, but Sept. 1 really opened his eyes and potentially pushed back his decision timeline. Gosnell was amazed at how many schools are interested him, and said he wants to evaluate his options more instead of making a rash decision.

3. Jager Burton is now a Kentucky Wildcat

To no one’s surprise, Rivals250 offensive lineman Jager Burton announced his commitment to Kentucky this past Sunday. This is one of several cases in the 2021 cycle where the prolonged dead period as a result of the coronavirus pandemic could be attributed to a decision a prospect made.

I say this because Burton initially had a commitment date of Aug. 24, but pushed that back in June as a result of the dead period being extended. Then, in another 180-degree turn, Burton revealed less than a week ago that he would be deciding on Aug. 30.

Burton had a top five of Alabama, Clemson, Kentucky, Ohio State and Oregon before ultimately choosing the in-state Wildcats.

Now, I’m not going to say that Kentucky wouldn’t have added him to their class had it not been for the unusual times we are living in. What I am saying, however, is that his inability to utilize his official visits and spend time with coaching staffs on their campuses may have led to Kentucky being in a more advantageous situation because of his close proximity to the school.

As a result of this being the case, I am not ruling out any program, including Ohio State, from potentially flipping him down the line. What if official visits are allowed later this fall? More specifically, what if there is indeed a season for the Big Ten and Burton gets an up-close look at the team from the stands?

I haven’t reached out to Burton yet since his commitment is so fresh, but we are still a few months from him officially signing his Letter of Intent. That’s a lot of time in the recruiting world, and I could see Ohio State making a strong push to flip him as he gets closer to signing day.

1. Should Ohio State consider pursuing Laurence Seymore?

Several weeks ago, BuckeyeGrove released a piece detailing which prospects we believe should receive an offer from Ohio State. My choice on offense was Laurence Seymore not only because of his talent, but because I believe the program would have a legitimate shot at adding him to this class.

Seymore has been committed to the Miami Hurricanes for well over two years, but he is continuing to keep all of his options open. He is still talking with several other schools, including Florida, Georgia, LSU and Penn State.

I asked back on July 15 if an offer from Ohio State does come, if he would have any interest in them. The fifth-ranked guard on Rivals told me that he'd strongly consider the Buckeyes, and even referred to them as his "third dream school," with the other two being LSU and Miami.

This was not the end of our interaction, however, regarding the Buckeyes.

Seymore proceeded to message me four days later and then on Aug. 5 as well asking if he thought Ohio State would extend an offer to him. In my opinion, this isn't a case of a prospect simply looking to add a big-time school to his offer sheet; Seymore would legitimately consider heading up to Columbus if he receives the green light.

With Burton committing to Kentucky, Ohio State could evaluate expanding their offensive guard board or circling back to some players that may have been considered as backup plans.

I view Seymore as someone who should be a top candidate for an offer as he's a solid prospect who wants the Buckeyes to become an option for him. His tape speaks for itself as well as he bulldozes players with ease, moves his feet well in passing situations and does a good job of pulling from the guard spot and running up the field.

Tennessee-based recruit Noah Josey could also receive a look down the line, but we'll definitely keep our eyes on Seymore and if anything transpires with Ohio State.

2. Who is Dasan McCullough referring to?

I am currently in the process of receiving my PhD in the field of dissecting tweets from high school football players, so forgive me if I completely miss the mark here.

Buckeyes pledge Dasan McCullough took to Twitter on Tuesday night, shortly after Bennett Christian's announcement, and tweeted out, "We got more coming..." That was followed by a chestnut and a popcorn emoji.

The first, and really only name, to immediately pop into my mind after seeing this tweet was five-star linebacker Shawn Murphy. After scrolling through the likes section on his profile page, I saw that Murphy liked McCullough's tweet and Christian's tweet announcing that he committed to Ohio State.

I also spoke a little bit with his head coach, Carroll Walker, about Murphy's recruitment and where things stand with the Buckeyes. Walker said Ohio State is a strong contender for the Virginia native, and that his relationship with Al Washington is "going great."

It's interesting to note as well that Murphy's teammate, Tyleik Williams, recently committed to Ohio State. Williams even tweeted at Murphy by saying "[you know] what to do" following his commitment to the program last week.

Time will tell who McCullough was referring to with his tweet, but Murphy is my top candidate at this juncture and I wouldn't be surprised if he commits as he already made a trip up to the school last year.

This is probably my boldest prediction so far.

Ohio State has not secured a No. 1 class in the Rivals.com era; even with this being the case, I'm predicting they'll secure the top spot in back-to-back classes.

They are second in the rankings for the 2021 cycle behind Alabama, but would reclaim the No. 1 spot if they hypothetically added another commitment tomorrow. Their average star rating, 3.89, is better than the Crimson Tide's 3.85, and they have more five-stars committed and less three-star pledges as well.

As long as they land just a couple of their top targets, such as Emeka Egbuka, J.T. Tuimoloau or Tywone Malone, from this point forward, then I envision them finishing at the top spot in this current class.

Predicting their standing for next year's cycle is a lot more difficult as there is so much time left in the 2022 class. I'm just in the mindset that with Hicks and McCullough leading the way, they are going to be able to land several more Rivals100 prospects.

Ohio State will almost certainly be a national championship contender next year, so that would boost their chances even more of signing the No. 1 class on Rivals for the 2022 cycle.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.