It has been a month since National Signing Day wrapped up with Ohio State locking in yet another top-five recruiting class under Ryan Day.
In order to kick things off at Scarlet and Gray Report this week, we’re taking a look back at the Buckeyes’ 2022 recruiting class.
We graded out Ohio State’s offensive haul on Tuesday. Today, we’re giving a rundown of what the Buckeyes brought in on defense.
Defensive Line
Grade: A+
It’s pretty incredible that this positional haul eventually wound up being worthy of this grade. As of mid-October, the Buckeyes didn’t have any defensive line commitments when the goal was to sign three at a minimum and the main goal being to land four.
And then Kenyatta Jackson Jr. committed on Oct. 19, and the floodgates eventually opened in December. Caden Curry committed the day before the early signing period, Hero Kanu silently committed and silently signed during the early period, and Omari Abor followed by committing in January and signing in February.
Then, Larry Johnson did Larry Johnson things and became a guy Alec Baldwin in “Glengarry Glen Ross” would have loved when he followed the No. 1 rule in recruiting: Always Be Closing.
So, to recap: The Buckeyes defensive line class went from completely bare and had Ohio State backers understandably uneasy about what would happen down the stretch. And then finished as one of the best defensive line classes Ohio State has had in the past decade and, rankings-wise, polished off what is the best two-year stretch of defensive line recruiting since Urban Meyer took over.
And it’s one with just about everything: Jackson is an edge rusher, Curry is one of the most underrated recruits in the 2022 class and provides versatility as a defensive end and pass-rushing 3-tech, Kanu has the potential to be a devastating defensive tackle, and Abor is another edge player but could also give some versatility to be an interior lineman.
Linebacker
Grade: A+
Sonny Styles, C.J. Hicks, Gabe Powers: That is a terrific three-man group at the position. And they are three in-state players whom Ohio State absolutely could not allow another program to come into the state and take – especially Styles, the only one of the three who the Buckeyes had a legitimate shot at losing to another program.
As a very important caveat to this ranking: Both Styles’ and Powers’ positions are fluid, Styles more so than Powers.
Styles is a unicorn, and it’s hard to categorize him. Comparing players to Isaiah Simmons is a tired exercise, but it’s entirely accurate in this situation. Styles can play safety, linebacker and will develop pass-rushing skills to be a guy used off the edge in Jim Knowles’ system. He could be fairly categorized as a linebacker or a safety, and safety is where he is likely to begin his Ohio State career – and it’s where he played the most on defense during his final season at Pickerington Central. But I’m still predicting that he winds up playing more snaps at linebacker than safety during his Buckeyes career.
Powers, on the other hand, is a player a lot, a lot of people believe will eventually end up with his hand in the dirt as a defensive end. But the plan has always been for him to be an outside linebacker, and he is going to get every shot at staying there. It mostly depends on how his body changes as he tacks on weight in Mickey Marotti’s strength and nutrition program. If he winds up as a 6-foot-4, 260-pounder then he will be moved to the defensive line. But if he gets up to 240-245 pounds – which he has told us is the plan before he sees any game action – then he will stay at linebacker.
Defensive Backs
Grade: C
This grade is much more about the players Ohio State did not land than the ones it did.
Kye Stokes has the potential to be an explosive star in Knowles’ defense – either as a slot cornerback/cover safety or free safety.
Jyaire Brown has the makings of developing into a standout cornerback. He is physical in press coverage, he got teachings from some of the best cornerbacks he could have hoped would mentor him – including former Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowler Ryan Clark and former LSU star cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and Elias Ricks – and he combines it with classic cornerback swagger and trash-talking chops to boot.
Ryan Turner will need at least two years to develop into a contributor. But he has the trait that former Buckeyes cornerback developer extraordinaire and defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs once said is the No. 1 trait he believes gives a cornerback a chance to be great – speed.
However, seeing five-stars Jaheim Singletary and Terrance Brooks both commit and decommit really stings. Ohio State essentially split Turner and Toriano Pride with Clemson, but Pride has “future star” written all over him.
At safety, Zion Branch to USC hurts more so because it meant that the Buckeyes would lose out on Zachariah Branch, a five-star 2023 receiver who has a ceiling to become a player in the vein of Tyreek Hill. Not closing on Xavier Nwankpa is the one out of all of these players that hurts the most. Ohio State’s top-two defensive targets in this class – outside of Hicks and Styles, who barely counts because he was in the 2023 class until reclassifying just before the early signing period – were Curry and Nwankpa. So the Buckeyes went 1-for-2, but Nwankpa would have been a major signing.
Overall
Grade: B+
This was an Ohio State class defined by a loaded group of defensive players – in contrast to a 2021 haul that could be argued is the best set of offensive skill position players ever signed in the modern recruiting era.
The defensive line and linebacker hauls were fantastic. But it's hard to put this as an "A" when looking at the list of defensive backs that Ohio State was unable to bring in.
