Burrell makes the call
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The Buckeyes added a big piece to the puzzle with the commitment of offensive lineman Matthew Burrell Jr.. The Woodbridge (Va.) product picked Ohio State over a slew of offers but ultimately over finalists of Tennessee and Penn State.
I will be recieving my degree and competing for a national championship @ The Ohio State University #Buckeyes !!- Matthew Burr€ll Jr! (@HeaftyLefty) November 18, 2014
The 6-foot-4, 286-pounder is rated as a four-star by Rivals.com and is the No. 147 player in the country regardless of position. Burrell has had a chance to see Ohio State play in person twice this season with an official visit to Ohio State in early September and then seeing the Buckeyes once again as he made an official visit to Penn State to see a double-overtime thriller.
Burrell had made several trips to Columbus in the offseason and had struck up a close friendship with current Ohio State commits Jashon Cornell and Justin Hilliard. Burrell's closeness with several members of the recruiting class as well as a solid relationship with the coaches did not hurt Ohio State's chances of landing the talented offensive lineman.
"I like the coaching staff and their overall stability at Ohio State," Burrell said in an interview with Rivals.com several weeks before making a decision public. "I could get early playing time too."
Burrell joins an offensive line class that includes Kevin Feder out of New Jersey and Grant Schmidt out of South Dakota. The Buckeyes could be looking to add at least one more offensive lineman to the class to give the team some depth moving forward as the Buckeyes will lose Darryl Baldwin after this season to graduation and Taylor Decker could opt to leave early for the NFL if he hears positive things from the league.
We will have more on this breaking news including the impact that Burrell means to the Ohio State program and Burrell's thoughts on his commitment in his own words.
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