3-2-1: New developments in the trenches

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 a prospect in the 2021 cycle.

Some of the topics below include a discussion on a recent offer from the Buckeyes, thoughts on an in-state wideout decommitting from Michigan, Ohio State's pursuit of Tywone Malone and much more.

1. The offensive tackle board has expanded

On Tuesday, the Buckeyes made the decision to expand their options at offensive tackle as they dished out an offer to Louisville commit Zenuae Michalski.

This offer didn't necessarily come out of nowhere as Ohio State had their eye on him last season, and started up communication with Michalski about a month ago. After his performance against Elder High School this past Friday, Greg Studrawa and the staff decided they had seen enough to give him the green light.

Even though Michalski has been committed to the Cardinals since April, he is going to be someone Buckeye Nation should pay attention to over the next few months. For one, he told me during an interview that he is planning to take a trip to Columbus whenever the opportunity presents itself.

For another, this is objectively the biggest offer the three-star prospect has received thus far in his recruitment. Some noteworthy offers on the table for Michalski are Duke, Indiana and Michigan State, but Ohio State's football accomplishments definitely exceed those of the other schools he has the option to go to.

Michalski, who hails from Floyds Knob, Indiana, says he'll consider the Buckeyes, with their reputation of developing offensive linemen sticking out to him.

"Just the offensive line, man. It’s ‘O-Line U’ pretty much,” Michalski said. “The development of their players is amazing. For example, again, with me being a very young offensive lineman, that’s something that draws me there is just that atmosphere of offensive line and they would make me the best player I could possibly be at my position. That’s a big thing for me.”

Another key aspect of this week's news is the timing of the offer. The Buckeyes dipped into Michalski's recruitment shortly before OL target Nolan Rucci committed to Wisconsin. More notably, the offer occurred after five-star prospect Tristan Leigh's weekend stay in Louisiana.

Ohio State is still very much in it for Leigh, but them taking the next step with Michalski could be an indicator that they view their chances of flipping him as more likely than holding off LSU or Oklahoma for Leigh's services.

2. Five-star OT is looking to visit Columbus again

Speaking of Leigh, the third-ranked offensive tackle on Rivals and his family are hoping to make a return trip to Ohio State's campus.

Leigh, along with his mother, Laura Rigney, and his brother, Aidan, have taken visits to LSU and Oklahoma over the past few weeks. This occurred as a result of each program's commits organizing an event where fellow pledges and targets would meet up and hang out with one another.

According to Rigney, they are hoping that Ohio State will have a similar event in the near future. When asked about returning to the school, she said they "need to make that happen," but have yet to schedule a trip to Columbus as they are waiting to see if the future Buckeyes organize something for them to attend.

While a return visit to the Buckeye State hasn't occurred so far, Rigney says Tristan continues to have strong interest in the program.

One reason why Day and his staff are doing a good job in their pursuit of Leigh is that the coaches are consistently in contact with him. Day even makes it a point to personally call Leigh and Rigney every now and then, which Rigney described as "admirable."

Rigney noted that an appealing part about Ohio State is their success on and off the field. Their football accomplishments are undisputed, and the team's development of o-linemen, especially tackles, has caught Leigh's attention.

What is also keeping Leigh interested in the school is the opportunities for student-athletes in the classroom and for life after they hang up the cleats. They have an expansive alumni network and work to develop a player's brand as well.

While the Sooners and Tigers are almost certainly ahead of Ohio State for Leigh's services at this time, there is still a long way to go until he puts pen to paper. Remember, Clemson was viewed as a heavy favorite at one point in his recruitment, so the Buckeyes will hope to get Leigh on campus for an official visit to hopefully get some momentum going in their favor.

3. Four-star wide receiver decommits from Michigan

This section will be brief as we are still collecting information on the situation, but it is certainly worth mentioning.

On Wednesday, four-star wide receiver Markus Allen announced his decommitment from Michigan, otherwise known as "The Team Up North" by Ohio State fans. Allen had joined the Wolverines' 2021 class back in late April, but wanted to reopen his recruitment and consider all of his options.

One of those options could potentially be the Buckeyes, which have yet to extend an offer to him. Allen, who is the No. 44 wideout on Rivals, plays for Northmonth High School in Clayton, Ohio, which is just over an hour away from Columbus.

We are still in wait-and-see mode since Day's staff hasn't dished out an offer to Allen, but his recruitment is one worth monitoring. Emeka Egbuka continues to be viewed as an Ohio State lean, though it is not a 100 percent guarantee that he will sign with the school.

Given how unpredictable the recruiting process is and how Egbuka is by no means a slam dunk for the Buckeyes, they could consider giving Allen the green light. Allen stands at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds and runs a 4.5 40-yard dash, so there is some things to work with here if you are Brian Hartline and the rest of the staff.

2022 pledges CJ Hicks and Dasan McCullough have already gone on Twitter expressing their desire to see Allen team up with the Buckeyes. We'll see if that ends up materializing down the line.

1. Is Tywone Malone Ohio State's to lose?

Roughly 24 hours ago, Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell released a piece that evaluated five uncommitted seniors along the East Coast. Those players were Derrick Davis, Dont'e Thornton, Drew Kendall, Tristan Leigh and Tywone Malone, with three of those being high priority Ohio State targets.

Farrell went on to predict where each player will wind up, with him giving the Buckeyes the edge in Malone's recruitment.

With that being said, should Malone be considered as Ohio State's to lose at this juncture? In my opinion, I believe that answer should be yes.

I recently spoke with a source close to the Rivals100 DT and while I won't reveal everything until Sunday's Skull Session, I was told that each school's baseball staff's pursuit of him is going to matter a great deal to him.

So, as long as Ohio State's baseball head coach, Greg Beals, and his assistants recruit Malone and make him a priority, then they should be in great shape for his services. It seems to me that Malone wants to feel wanted by a school for what he brings to diamond, so that will be something to monitor.

Another reason why I believe Malone is the Buckeyes' to lose is due to the belief that they've been the leader for his services for several months now, and have also had the most on-field success out of every program he's considering.

The main contenders for Malone, outside of Ohio State, appear to be Florida State, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Texas A&M and USC. There's no disputing the fact that the Buckeyes have been the most accomplished football team in recent years compared to each of these schools.

Also, the baseball team hasn't been stellar, but they've been respectable over the past few years. In the previous two seasons prior to their 2020 campaign, which was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Buckeyes went 72-51 in the diamond.

Everything is lining up for Ohio State to land Malone, so I agree with Farrell's prediction and would say "yes" to answer this question.

2. Which in-state 2022 Rivals250 prospect will be the first one to receive an offer from Ohio State?

At this time, there are a trio of uncommitted Rivals250 juniors based in Ohio who have yet to reel in an offer from the Buckeyes. These players are Aamil Wagner, Derrick Shepard and Gi'Bran Payne.

While Ohio State is still waiting to take the next step with each of these prospects, all of them did hear from the staff back on Sept. 1.

When it comes to Payne, he told me that he believes the staff is close to extending an offer to him. It will be interesting to see if this transpires for a couple of reasons.

First of all, the Buckeyes are in a good spot with several 2022 running back targets, most notably Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. It still remains to be seen if they will even take more than one RB since they are taking two in this cycle.

Secondly, Payne has a top 10 right now, which includes Alabama, Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin. If Ohio State jumps into the mix, look for the product out of Cincinnati to show the program legitimate interest.

Switching over to Wagner, he has yet to have a conversation with the coaches about a potential offer. He was contacted, however, by a trio of staff members just over a week ago, with those being Greg Studrawa, Kennedy Cook and Tim Hinton.

If you want to check out my full conversation with Wagner and what he likes about the Buckeyes, click HERE.

To answer the question posed above, I am going with Shepard.

Shepard, who is the highest-rated player in this section as he checks in at No. 80 overall in the country, was told by Ohio State last week that they are going to start picking up their pursuit of him.

They also said that Shepard checks off most of the boxes in their evaluation of him. The only thing they're looking for in the 6-foot-3, 295-pounder is to show that he can rush the passer.

Also, it doesn't hurt that five-star Ohio State commit CJ Hicks plays alongside Shepard at Archbishop Alter High School, which means the staff will almost certainly be tuning into every one of his games this season.

I envision each of these recruits hauling in an offer from the Buckeyes down the line, but I would imagine that Shepard would be the first one to receive it.

I have no inside knowledge here since the offer is so recent, but I just get the feeling that Zenuae Michalski will end up in Ohio State's 2021 class.

His first collegiate offer arrived on Feb. 16, and he wound up committing to Louisville just over two months later. This was a rapid development in his recruitment, and one has to wonder if the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent dead period lead to such an early decision.

Either way, the Buckeyes are the most well-known football program to have landed on Michalski's offer sheet, and he made it clear that he's going to evaluate them as an option. I know he's about 15 minutes away from Louisville, but I believe that the opportunity to play for a powerhouse like Ohio State will be too much to pass up on.

Michalski remains committed to the Cardinals, but he'll be a name for Buckeye fans to keep an eye on throughout the rest of this cycle.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.