Recruiting Roundtable: Chance at landing Rice, is Goodwin Kentucky-bound?

For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is some light at the end of the tunnel as it pertains to visits opening back up in the near future.

Prospects are starting to lock in their official visits, others are working to schedule their officials, and some are narrowing down their recruitments to a group of schools that they plan on taking trips to.

In fact, two of Ohio State's top 2022 offensive linemen targets — Kiyaunta Goodwin and Zach Rice — included the program in their top five lists last week, and the staff is likely to host them for OVs in the summer or the fall.

For this week's Recruiting Roundtable, we discuss the Buckeyes' chances with each of these coveted prospects. BuckeyeGrove's Carson MacRae and Joseph Hastings also reveal which commit they believe Ohio State fans should be the most concerned about in terms of potentially leaving this class.

MacRae: In an offensive line class that is loaded this year, I would have to say I have not seen this much offensive tackle depth in the past five cycles at least. One of the guys contributing to such depth is the Rivals100 OT Zach Rice.

Rice just listed his top five via Twitter yesterday; Those were Virgina, Ohio State, North Carolina, Alabama and Notre Dame. Usually, when it comes to highly touted blue-chip prospects like this, they may list a top five, but in reality, we know it's coming down to two to three schools.

This is not the case with Rice as four of his five top schools are legitimate threats to land his services.

In the Ohio State regard, I would say as of right now that they are in a deadlock in the passenger seat at number two with Notre Dame. Virginia was simply a courtesy that you often see kids from there do. They include the Hokies, Cavaliers or Mountaineers in their top schools, but it's never legitimate when going up against national powers.

Rice has been pretty active with North Carolina's recruiting class, which has given the Tar Heels the slightest lead over the other two schools. Alabama surprisingly seems to be sitting at the four spot among his top four. The last time I spoke to Rice, he made it very clear that playing early is a major priority in his recruitment.

With Nick Saban taking JC Latham and Tommy Brockermeyer in the last cycle, it's going to be very difficult for Saban to jump this hurdle to land Rice. Although, as everyone has come to learn, never count out Saban in a recruiting battle.

Where the Buckeyes come in to play is the pedigree of the program compared to his top school and Rice's mom being a huge advocate of Ohio State. Although, that does not seem like a major beneficiary in a recruitment, parents play a vital role in recruiting whether you choose to believe it or not.

With that being said I have the Tar Heels with about a 40% chance, the Buckeyes with 25%, Notre Dame with 25% and the Tide with about 10% to land Rice. This battle is on the closer end of its due date but I can assure you it is not over.

Hastings: In my opinion, Ohio State has roughly a 15-20 percent shot at landing Zach Rice.

This is not necessarily an indictment on the Buckeyes as much as it is a reflection of where North Carolina stands with him.

I heard a couple of weeks ago that the Tar Heels are separating themselves from the pack, and are viewed as the likeliest landing spot for Rice. It’s important to note that the five-star o-lineman has several connections to UNC, with his family being close to Deon Glover, father of cornerback Tony Grimes.

In North Carolina, Rice sees a program on the rise under Mac Brown, but I still think Ohio State has a small chance at landing the top-20 overall junior.

Kennedy Cook, Greg Studrawa and Ryan Day are all speaking with him on a consistent basis, and Rice likes the way Coach Stud has carved out time before and after early morning workouts to text him.

Also, Rice told Rivals.com’s Adam Friedman that he has good relationships with their commits. During our conversation with him in November, Rice even used the word “we” when talking about Ohio State’s 2022 class.

In the end, however, I think Rice’s recruitment will play out to fellow five-star Virginia OL Tristan Leigh: Interest in the Buckeyes will be there until the end, but he’s likely to end up in one of the Carolinas at the next level.

MacRae: This is another Rivals100 OT who has started to rise on a lot of schools' radars. Goodwin is also another kid who already has a top five listed, which consists of Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan State, Clemson and Alabama.

Usually, as I stated before, only two to three of the schools are legitimate contenders for big-time prospects. This is the case for sure with Goodwin, as of right now as Kentucky leads, and many believe it is all Wildcats, but I do not believe this to be the case.

The other two contenders are Ohio State and Clemson with Alabama and Michigan State sitting on the outside looking in. With Clemson, it is tough to really ever count them out of a recruiting battle but to their advantage, they really only have one major OT they have picked up in the past couple cycles in that being Tristan Leigh.

Dabo Swinney has done a great job in bringing in B1G country recruits with guys like Jackson Carman and Blake Miller, who both happen to be Ohio natives. On the Ohio State side of it, Goodwin has a great relationship with the staff and the Buckeyes were among some of the first schools to ever offer him.

Ohio State has always done a great job of identifying talent early. It helps often in long term recruitments similar to Quinn Ewers. Goodwin's recruitment is far from over, but I do have the Buckeyes and Wildcats going down to the wire in this one, similar to Jager Burton's recruitment.

Hastings: The school trending for Goodwin right now is the Kentucky Wildcats. Josh Helmholdt, who has been closely connected to Goodwin’s recruitment, said so as much, and I trust what he says.

It’s not too surprising that UK is in the mix for one of the top offensive linemen in the country. They signed Rivals250 guard Jager Burton back in December, and they typically do a good job recruiting in Kentucky and the Midwest.

For some reason, however, I just can’t see Goodwin ultimately choosing Kentucky over the programs he’s considering. The other schools in his top five are Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State and Ohio State. Besides the Spartans and the Wildcats, most of the schools in his top five are considered powerhouses on the field.

So, while I’m not ruling out the possibility that Goodwin could commit to Kentucky after his visits, I do think it’s possible he would be a prime flip target for programs like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State.

Kentucky had just five wins in 2020 and have recorded double digit victories just once under head coach Mark Stoops. Meanwhile, the trio of programs listed all went to the College Football Playoffs last season, and are considered by most as the top three teams in college football.

I’m not backing off of my Buckeyes pick just because I can see a situation where Goodwin commits to Kentucky, but decides to change his mind as the season progresses. If he does, then Ohio State would be the school I give the best shot at flipping.

MacRae: At one point in time, I could not have foreseen any Buckeyes leaving this class. But this, as everyone knows, is not always the case. Players are being recruited nonstop, even once they have committed.

In this class, specifically, about two months ago I would have told you the biggest concern is holding on to Jyaire Brown as the Buckeyes were in a great position to land Will Johnson and or Denver Harris. Many things transpired in those recruitments that obviously were not in favor of the Buckeyes but were in favor of Brown.

Now, the biggest worry I see currently is Tegra Tshabola, out of Lakota West High School in West Chester (Ohio). Tshabola is an OT who has started to gain eyes from the South as of late.

Just like the two guys we have spoken about above, the OT position for this 2022 group is loaded and the staff definitely has targets on their board ranked higher than Tshabola. Although I do not think the chances are very high of Tshabola decommitting, he would just be the guy I have highest right now on my radar.

I would also like to point out that I do not believe anything will happen unless Ohio State was to bring in two more OTs. I would also like to point out that with picking Tshabola, that shows the confidence I currently have in each of these players commitments to the staff and program.

Hastings: There has been speculation, most of it not being backed by any proof, about a few Buckeye pledges opting to leave the program's 2022 class.

There was Twitter talk a few months ago about CJ Hicks potentially flipping to the Cincinnati Wildcats. With Dasan McCullough making the move to Indiana, people were concerned about the Hoosiers poaching him from Ohio State.

And, as will probably be the case for the remainder of this cycle, there will be those who monitor Quinn Ewers' situation as the in-state Texas Longhorns will always be seen as a threat.

In my opinion, however, the player to be the most concerned about out of the 11 junior pledges is Jyaire Brown.

The school I'm monitoring the most in his recruitment is definitely Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish extended an offer to him on Feb. 1, and I heard that he has a great relationship with the coaching staff. More specifically, he has developed a strong bond with cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens.

This is not to say I definitely believe Brown is flipping or that he is reconsidering his decision; I just believe he is the most open-minded of the current group of commits when it comes to his recruiting process.

I would say right now it's more likely than not he signs with Ohio State, but I've been told to pay attention to Notre Dame in this one.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.