Recruiting Roundtable: Davis prediction, thoughts on NCAA game coming back

We are less than 24 hours away from the start of National Signing Day, but there's only one key announcement Ohio State fans will be paying attention to.

With J.T. Tuimoloau not slated to sign tomorrow, all eyes will be on Rivals100 linebacker Raesjon Davis. Davis, who is down to a top three of Ohio State, Oregon and USC, will announce his decision at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday.

In this edition of "Recruiting Roundtable," Andy Anders and Joseph Hastings share their final prediction for where they believe Davis will sign. They also discuss which 2021 signee they believe will make the biggest impact in Columbus this upcoming season, and share their reaction to EA Sports announcing that they will be creating college football games again.

Anders: With everything settled, again all I can do is go with my gut.

Ohio State’s made a strong push through to the end, but I don’t think it will be enough to overtake USC.

The visit Davis took to Columbus recently gives the Buckeyes a legitimate shot, but in the end, Davis grew up a fan of the Trojans and the work their staff has put in, especially since his decommitment from LSU, has been superb. There are some doubts about the program’s future under head coach Clay Helton but clearly the team has eased any concerns Davis might have there.

Obviously, Ohio State is the more successful program in the College Football Playoff era. Davis also maintains a close relationship with current freshman quarterback CJ Stroud, and much like his relationships with the staff out in southern California, he’s close with Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington.

In the end, one visit can’t sway somebody. If the normal amount of in-person contact were allowed I think the Buckeyes could have pulled this one off. But, unfortunately, COVID-19 swung things in favor of local schools like USC, and I believe the Trojans capitalized for the California native.

Either way, it’s been a great job by Washington and company to pull the Buckeyes back into this one. And I can’t say I’m confident either way.

Hastings: Interestingly enough, I'm in the opposite boat as my gut says Ohio State.

It comes from the feeling that you don't book a flight and hotels only two days in advance just in order to have a fun trip. Plus, the Davis family staying roughly three days in the Buckeye State instead of conducting a two-day visit, like Emeka Egbuka did with Oklahoma, informs me they wanted to see more from their time in Columbus than just the school.

This was about checking out the city and getting an up-close look at the campus to see if this is where Davis can envision himself living for the next three-to-five years.

Plus, Davis has already been to Columbus before. The only reason to take another trip there would be to get his parents on board with the possibility of him moving that far out east.

So, everything in my gut is telling me that Ohio State will receive a Letter of Intent from Davis on Wednesday, securing their first signee from powerhouse Mater Dei in the Rivals.com era.

But, I do not go with my gut when making FutureCast predictions; I rely primarily on my sources. And, from everything I've been told these past few days, I decided to FutureCast Davis to USC on Sunday.

Davis' dad is, from what I was told, a "die-hard USC fan," and the recent additions of Domani Jackson and Korey Foreman make the program a really appealing option for Davis. The Rivals100 linebacker also has a strong relationship with defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, and is impressed with the new scheme he saw from his defense last season.

This is admittedly one of the toughest picks I've had to make as a recruiting analyst, and part of me just wanted to sit this one out because I believe it is extremely close. I'm sticking by my Trojans pick, but I will not be surprised if Ohio State comes out on top tomorrow.

Anders: My answer on this has actually shifted in the past few months.

Had you asked me in December, I’d have said five-star defensive end Jack Sawyer due to defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s penchant not only for player development but for rotating his linemen. Perhaps four-star quarterback Kyle McCord because he’ll compete to fill the void left by Justin Fields.

But I’m convinced now that four-star running back TreVeyon Henderson will emerge as the best rusher on Ohio State’s team by the end of his freshman season.

I’ve watched Henderson’s highlights a few times now and, every time, I’m simply flabbergasted by his combination of cutting ability, acceleration and vision. And he’s a North-South runner. And he’s really fast.

He can catch out the backfield and he’s a willing blocker. He’s entering Ohio State as one of the most complete high school running backs I’ve ever seen.

Then you look up and down the roster at his competition. Redshirt sophomore Master Teague has played some quality reps and earned a bit of starting time to this point in his career, but he’s shown to be limited as a pure downhill rusher. Ask him to cut multiple times and find his hole in a zone running scheme, a scheme that is a bread-and-butter type play for Ohio State? He has trouble.

Backing him up at the end of last season was freshman Miyan Williams, who looked good in limited reps but I don’t think he’s as talented as Henderson or fellow four-star running back and 2021 Ohio State signee Evan Pryor.

There’s also redshirt freshmen Steele Chambers and Marcus Crowley -- again, I just think Henderson is too big a talent not to see the field early. And the top end of the room isn’t where it’s been in recent years. Henderson could very well be the starter by the time this season closes.

Hastings: I will have to go with Sawyer for this one.

The main reason for this is that no current pass rusher on Ohio State's roster has really separated themselves from the pack, in my opinion. Only one of them had more than two sacks this past season.

Want to know who that was? Jonathon Cooper was that player, and he will not be with the program moving forward as he declared for the NFL Draft a couple of weeks ago.

Zach Harrison is somebody I expected to make a big jump in 2020, but that did not transpire. That's not to say the incoming junior, who was a five-star prospect in the 2019 cycle, won't take that next step this upcoming season, but I need to see more from him before I make any predictions here.

We'll also see what Tyreke Smith will bring to the table in his senior campaign, but he only has five total sacks in his college career. So, in my opinion, Sawyer will be entering a DE room that is wide open for the taking.

Also, Sawyer is just a talent that you can't keep on the bench. He's an athletic freak who combines power, speed and multiple pass rushing moves that makes him nearly impossible to stop. It's worth noting as well that Sawyer did not play this past season, so he'll be coming in fully healthy and ready to go as an early enrollee.

Henderson is my second choice, but I think you'll be hearing the name Jack Sawyer a lot this upcoming season.

Anders: Know when I type this in all caps that I mean it: I’m EXCITED. PUMPED. ELATED.

NCAA football is my single favorite video game franchise of all time. NCAA14 is my single favorite game. The gameplay (other than some odd sideline catch animations), in my opinion, is the best on any football release, even with the seven editions of Madden that have followed since.

My main hope actually relates to Madden. The reason NCAA gameplay felt better is that instead of having game developers that focused on graphics, flashy animation and gimmicks, they simply created a football game that had the flow and feel of the real thing. Fun offensive playbooks. Offensive and defensive line animations that actually made sense.

And it was still possible to run the ball with success on high difficulties or against other players.

That’s all without mentioning my favorite part of NCAA football games, recruiting. Scouting and competing for the best talent is a much better experience, again in my opinion, than anything Madden could ever do with the NFL Draft.

I’d say I’m waiting impatiently for it to drop, but if it takes longer for a better product, I don’t mind. Just excited that it’s returning.

Hastings: I knew this day was coming. The game was just too popular for it not to make a return in some fashion.

But, for it to finally be made official, I still got this rush of excitement when it was announced today that EA Sports is going to be making college football games again.

Madden has been nearly unplayable for the better part of the last decade. With them being the only real football game on the market, it has led to poor gameplay as a result of the lack of competition.

There is no motivation to provide a high-quality product because the creators know people will continue to buy it every year. Now that college football is coming back, however, I think there will be an incentive from the developers of Madden to make an even better game because, even though they're both created by EA Sports, there's another football game on the market.

I am disappointed that player likeness will not be in this game, whenever it is released, but I'm hoping that will change in future editions. Besides that, everything Andy mentioned above has me excited about the return of a college football game, especially the recruiting aspect of it (I'll admit that I am a little biased here).

The game won't come out this year, but I'm crossing my fingers for a release date sometime in 2022.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.