Bennett Christian committed to Ohio State Sept. 1, 2020, right in the middle of one of the strangest recruiting years ever.

On-campus and off-campus recruiting came to a screeching halt in early March, introducing hundreds of college football coaches and thousands of prospects and families to Zoom.

But this wouldn't slow down the Buckeye coaching staff from recruiting Christian: a 6-foot-6 tight end out of Allatoona High School in Acworth, Ga.

Christian said he would have video calls with Ohio State tight ends coach Kevin Wilson at least once a week.

"Over all the times we talked, (Wilson) was just constantly showing me what the program could do for me on and off the field, going over what the program is all about, how he can develop me into a better player and what they have already done with current and former players," Christian said. "Really just all the benefits of being a Buckeye.

"It really was too good (of an opportunity) to turn down at the end of the day.”

But there is only so much Christian could do on Zoom.

The tight end prospect and his father loaded up their car and drove to Columbus to see what Ohio State was all about, taking a self-guided tour to help Christian know whether he could feel comfortable committing.

For Christian, though, his decision to choose the Buckeyes didn't come down to just a physical campus.

“Coach Wilson’s recruiting was so undeniable," Christian said. "The fact you are playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes, competing for National Championships year in and year out, a lot of stuff combined, being able to be developed under Coach Wilson, making me a better receiver, a better blocker.”

In Christian, Ohio State was able to identify a tight end athletic enough to be a weapon in the passing game and physical enough to be an asset in the running game.

In an era when high school offenses tend to spread out more and more, getting their biggest athletes out wide running routes, Christian's skills are not what a typical high school tight end provides.

The senior's approach to the position is not a normal one either.

“Expect them to play left tackle and wide receiver," Christian said. "In order to be a really successful tight end in the NFL you have to be able to do both and at a high level.

:When Coach was recruiting me he would always say, you have to be able to block Chase Young and then go run routes on Jeffrey Okudah. It’s really hard. You have to be a complete hybrid, you can’t do one better than the other, especially at Ohio State, you need to be elite at both.

"(At Allatoona) we run the ball probably 90% of the time. We rarely pass the ball. It’s rare I get an opportunity and every time I get the ball thrown at me, I make a play. I never really get to show how good of a receiver I can be, but that’s just part of the job.”

To Christian, this is a job he sees the Ohio State tight end room doing day in and day out, showing "how nasty" they are and playing with the tenacity that Wilson expects.

"When you are on the field you go full speed, you strain, play with tenacity, and so I try to just do everything I do now here, like at practice or whatever it is, I go hard, play fast, be physical," Christian said. "I know Coach Wilson will get me on the technique and all that stuff when I get up there. The stuff that’s hard to coach: be an animal, have a high motor. You see that from them and it makes me want to go even harder.”

Christian has a unique mindset.

Sure he would like to be out running routes and catching balls to get his name in a box score, but that's not what his team needs from him and he embraces it.

Christian knows his time will come to make plays — and he will be ready. But he thinks it's important to be well-rounded, something that comes from the tight end position, but also from the family.

“The physicality part comes from the Christian name. My dad was nasty when he played at Tennessee, my uncle too, all defensive players. I’m the first offensive player, My uncle played at Penn State. He was freaking nasty,

"It’s just in the Christian name: if you play football you are violent. I had to learn the family trait."

Going into his sophomore year of high school, Christian said the only way he knew he was going to play was beating the player in front of him through that physicality.

"I had no other choice but to be a really good run blocker," Christian said. "If you aren’t physical, you aren’t going to play.”

This is something Christian plans to bring to Ohio State, continuing in the tradition of physicality that Wilson expects from his tight end room, but also continuing in the brotherhood the football program cultivates in each class.

"Since I joined, it was really the foundation of the class and we have become so close," Christian said. "Having chemistry already before (we get to Columbus), helps us be more relaxed and be more comfortable with each other, we will be ready to get to work."