3-2-1: Moving forward

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 regarding the prolonged dead period.

Some of the topics below include a discussion on the Buckeyes' pursuit of a pair of Rivals100 offensive linemen, which prospects their commits are recruiting and if Ohio State will ramp up their pursuit of a coveted tight end.

1. Updates on the Buckeyes' pursuit of a pair of top-40 offensive linemen

When Dave Lackford and I started at BuckeyeGrove, we identified the offensive line as probably the most important position group that Ohio State needed to recruit for the remainder of this cycle.

As a result, we've spoken with several 2021 prospects in the trenches who are being courted by the staff: Garrett Dellinger, Jager Burton, Rayshaun Benny and Rocco Spindler.

This week, the two of us got a chance to speak with two of the top six (in terms of rankings) offensive tackles in the country: Nolan Rucci and Tristan Leigh.

I spoke with Rucci earlier this week, and he told me that contact remains consistent between him and o-line coach Greg Studrawa. A couple of other coaches he speaks with frequently are offensive graduate assistant Kennedy Cook and Ryan Day himself.

What's interesting is that although Rucci has not taken a virtual visit with the Buckeyes, he has been able to do virtual film breakdown sessions with Studrawa. In fact, on Monday, the two of them went over Ohio State's Big 10 Championship Game versus Wisconsin and broke down how the team's offensive line performed.

My general impression from this interview is that Studrawa and company are going to continue recruiting Rucci until the end, but it seems unlikely that they can pull this one off. Rucci lives about two hours away from Penn State's campus, his parents were former student-athletes at the school and there is a strong level of familiarity between him and the Nittany Lions.

Ohio State, which is in his top nine, could get an official from Rucci down the line, but it would be very surprising if he ends up in Columbus.

Switching over to Leigh, it's apparent that the Buckeyes' chances with him are much higher than with Rucci.

Leigh, who is the No. 4 OT on Rivals, also chops it up with Studrawa and participates in film sessions with him. Interestingly enough, those sessions involve 2020 Ohio State signee Paris Johnson.

I've been covering recruiting for a few years, but this is not something you see a program do on a regular basis. Maybe it is because of the times we are living in with a prolonged dead period; either way, this goes to show how important of a target Leigh is for the Buckeyes.

Dave will be posting his full update on Leigh later today, but here is a sneak peek of their conversation down below.

"Coach Stud gets dudes to the NFL and he recruits a specific body type," Leigh said. "So he knows what he's doing. So, that's why I like them. It's strictly business, man."

On top of speaking with Studrawa, Leigh is also a priority for a couple of members of Ohio State's 2021 class.

This past Monday, Evan Pryor quoted-tweeted one of Leigh's tweets, saying, "Come home bro" with the fingers crossed emoji. Just over a week ago, TreVeyon Henderson quote-tweeted a video of Leigh practicing, saying, "Buckeye nation waiting on you bro!!"

Both of those tweets were liked by Leigh.

It remains to be seen if and when Ohio State can get an official from Leigh, but they've certainly gained some momentum recently.

2. No visits elsewhere for TreVeyon Henderson

If you follow Rivals100 running back TreVeyon Henderson on Twitter, you would see that he is as vocal of a supporter of the Ohio State Buckeyes as you will find in their 2021 class.

Henderson, who committed to the Buckeyes a little under three months ago, has been open about his willingness to compete in the scarlet and gray at the next level. He has also recently tweeted at several priority targets, such as Clemson commit Jordan Hancock and Tristan Leigh, encouraging them to join the program.

Even so, it always remains to be seen how the recruiting process plays out for a prospect who committed to a school without ever actually visiting it. This was the case with Henderson as the coronavirus pandemic led to his April visit to Columbus being canceled.

I got in contact with Henderson earlier this week, and was expecting for him to tell me that he still has his options somewhat open. After all, a high school recruitment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but the No. 3 RB on Rivals shut the door on the possibility of checking out other schools later this year.

"I'm not taking no official visits, no unofficial visits anywhere. Just Ohio State, that's all," Henderson previously told BuckeyeGrove. "I'm not sure right now [about the OV date]. They haven't really talked about it. They just want to keep us safe and keep them safe, so I understand that."

This is excellent news for a program that has not signed a Rivals100 RB since the 2018 cycle, when they added Brian Snead and Jaelen Gill to the fold. With Evan Pryor also locked in, the Buckeyes will be adding a dynamic duo to their backfield in less than a year.

3. Ohio State's commits are recruiting, and have one common target on their radar

Besides speaking with top targets, we have also been able to catch up with some commits this week. Along with my conversation with Henderson, BuckeyeGrove also spoke with Ben Christman, Jack Sawyer and Reid Carrico.

Ohio State seemingly has no reason to worry as all of them are locked in, and are laser-focused on recruiting other big-time players to team up with them at the next level.

The one prospect that was mentioned each time in our updates on Carrico, Henderson and Sawyer was five-star wideout Emeka Egbuka.

In a video interview with Kevin Noon on Wednesday, Carrico said the number one guy on his board at this time is Egbuka. He also mentioned that he is after J.T. Tuimoloau, and that he believes they need another linebacker and an offensive lineman as well.

With Henderson, he listed Egbuka, Tuimoloau and Leigh as the top three targets on his radar. His main message to them is that Ohio State is the place to be, and cited his decision to commit without ever needing to visit the school as evidence of that.

Sawyer is the longest tenured verbal pledge in the Buckeyes' class, and says he talks with Egbuka "a lot." The five-star defensive end went in-depth on his pursuit of Egbuka, and is in the mindset that he can be an immediate impact player at tOSU.

"I think he's as good as anybody and looking at the receiver room right now, it's very deep," Sawyer previously told BG's Dave Lackford. " I think he loves the feel of competition. I think if he gets in that room, it's gonna make him blossom even more as a player. He could easily get on the field as a freshman and become one of the main guys as a sophomore."

Some players leave the recruiting duties up to the coaching staff, but these future Buckeyes are certainly making it a point to contribute as much as they can in this cycle.

1. How likely is it that Ohio State makes a stronger push for Rayshaun Benny?

As it was mentioned above, Dave caught up with Rivals100 offensive lineman Rayshaun Benny last week.

Benny, who hails from Oak Park, Michigan, is not being recruited as hard by Ohio State as he is by other schools on his offer sheet. The No. 15 OT in the nation is in touch with Studrawa about once per week, but hears from Michigan (almost every day) and Michigan State the most.

That conversation occurred a day before J.C. Latham's decision to team up with the Alabama Crimson Tide, however, so one has to wonder if Benny will become even more of a priority down the home stretch.

The Buckeyes have shown their willingness to push for o-linemen based in Michigan with their pursuit of Dellinger and Spindler, so competing with the team up north is not a concern for them.

Not staying in touch with him on an every day basis could also be something that works in Ohio State's favor. Benny admittedly has been worn down by the recruiting process and needed to focus on schoolwork, which means that Studrawa and the rest of the staff could probably get back into the mix fairly easily.

Kentucky and Michigan seem to have the edge right now, but the 6-foot-5, 270-pounder is intending on releasing a list of his top six or seven in the near future. Ohio State is likely to make the cut, and Benny intends on visiting the school once the dead period concludes.

With an official visit to the program a possibility and only one offensive tackle committed in their class so far, it is very likely that the Buckeyes could be a serious contender for Benny if they start pushing harder for his services.

2. With Hudson Wolfe's commitment to Tennessee, will the Buckeyes focus their attention on Michael Trigg?

Earlier this week, Rivals100 prospect Hudson Wolfe announced his commitment to Tennessee. There were previously several FutureCast predictions in for Ohio State, but the in-state Volunteers wound up landing the No. 1 tight end in the country.

We'll see if the Buckeyes continue recruiting Wolfe and push for a flip, but they might also turn their attention to some other tight ends in this class. Although Ohio State has Sam Hart in the fold, they could still try their hand at another four-star tight end: Michael Trigg.

The Florida-based recruit dished out a top 10 earlier this month in which every school was outside of the Sunshine State, including Ohio State. Some of the Buckeyes' noteworthy competitors here are Auburn, LSU, Penn State and USC.

I was not able to conduct a full interview with Trigg following that announcement, but I did exchange a few messages with him. Here is what he had to say about the Buckeyes being labeled as one of his 10 finalists.

"Because I like the way they run their program and their coaching staff," Trigg said of why tOSU made the cut. "[Kevin Wilson is] very good. He's a very good coach."

Trigg is also impressed with the way Ohio State develops their tight ends and gets them ready for the NFL. The ninth-ranked tight end on Rivals also told me that he intends on officially visiting the school as soon as he's allowed to.

I could certainly see the Buckeyes making a move for Trigg, especially if the numbers allow them to do so. As a junior, Trigg put up video game-like numbers as he reeled in 82 receptions for 1,232 yards and 16 touchdowns, according to his MaxPreps profile. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder, who also plays basketball, rushed for 196 yards and a handful of touchdowns last season as well.

The recruiting dead period will be extended yet again

Call me a pessimist or a Debbie Downer, but I just don't see recruits being able to step foot on college campuses by Aug. 1.

We have seen an uptick nationwide, in terms of new COVID-19 cases, over the past few days. The daily death total isn't as high as it was back in May, but there will still 742 reported coronavirus-related deaths in the United States yesterday.

The challenges of even hosting recruiting visits would be tremendous. Would prospects have to practice social distancing with one another? If they do, how would that be enforced? Is there going to be a COVID-19 test administered to every recruit prior to their visits beginning?

It's one thing to bring back college student-athletes and be able to somewhat keep track of their daily movements because they're on campus; it's impossible, however, to know if high schoolers are taking proper precautions and doing everything in their power to avoid catching the virus.

At this point, I'm unsure if we will even be able to have fans attending college football games this year, much less have recruiting visits. Unless we see a drastic decline in the novel coronavirus cases around the country, I believe the dead period could be extended yet again, possibly another month.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.