Recruiting Roundtable: Egbuka chances, Ewers' ranking, underrated commit

We are exactly one week away from the official start of the Early Signing Period.

While there is not too much expected Ohio State-related drama to transpire on Dec. 16, there will be some big news coming up this week. Five-star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who recently visited Oklahoma, is slated to announce his decision this upcoming Friday.

In this edition of "Recruiting Roundtable," Andy Anders and Joseph Hastings discuss their thoughts on Ryan Day's program's chances with Egbuka, OSU commit Quinn Ewers' new ranking and the most underrated 2021 Buckeyes pledge.

Anders: Until the Oklahoma visit, I felt as though Ohio State was the surefire leader for Egbuka’s commitment. Now, I’m not as sure.

It says a lot that the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver took a trip to Norman on his own dime to watch the Sooners play, and any loosely related piece of a passing attack is going to love the offense of Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley.

I really feel as though this is a two-horse race between the Buckeyes and Sooners now. Washington is more on the outside looking in, even though they are the in-state school.

Ohio State’s ability to place receivers into the league stands out to Egbuka, and he has a tremendous relationship not just with wide receivers coach Brian Hartline but with the entire Ohio State staff. The problem is the dead period. Egbuka has visited Ohio State before, but another trip could have sealed the deal -- before this weekend he had not visited Oklahoma.

Another reason Oklahoma is threatening Ohio State’s lead here is Egbuka’s relationship with five-star quarterback commit Caleb Williams.

The two hit it off, according to Williams, at Egbuka’s visit this past weekend. He fits Williams’ throwing style -- as he does with most quarterbacks -- and the gunslinger served as his tour guide for the trip.

I still lean Ohio State on this one, but it’s been a real push from Oklahoma as of late.

Hastings: There's no other way to put this: Egbuka visiting Norman this weekend was not a good sign for Ohio State.

One can make an argument that he wanted to leave no stone unturned and check out one of his top options in person before committing; in my opinion, however, this trip showed that the Buckeyes are not as far out in front as I previously thought.

Oklahoma is a legit enough threat that Egbuka and his father flew out to the school on their own dime and got tickets to a game. Throw in the fact that Williams was seated right next to them and how this visit occurred the weekend before he will commit, and the timing could not have been worse for Ohio State's staff.

From what I'm hearing, however, I am going to keep my pick in for the Buckeyes. I'm sure Egbuka enjoyed his time at the game and expressed his excitement with the commits, who relayed that to Lincoln Riley's staff. There is no reason for them not to feel confident after that visit, especially since Egbuka has not checked out Columbus in over a year.

In the end, I'm in the mindset that cooler heads will prevail and the five-star wideout will choose Ohio State this week. He has a great relationship with coaches, he loved the school enough to visit twice in the span of a year and the staff feels the opportunity to be coached by Brian Hartline will be hard to pass up.

This is 55-45 in favor of the Buckeyes, in my opinion, and I expect them to come out on top Friday.

Anders: Did I see it coming? No. But it’s deserved for sure.

Anyone who’s seen the film knows why. Ewers can make every throw. Rolling out, back foot, different arm angles, backside, it doesn’t seem to matter. It’s on the money, tight spiral, every time.

There’s the intangibles and football know-how too. Ewers’ ball placement is outstanding for a high schooler. He hits back shoulder fades and leads receivers coming across the field.

Ewers plays for Carroll, one of the better teams in one of the better football states, Texas, and the Dragons are 7-1 in part under Ewers’ leadership. He’s missed a few games due to injury but will be fresh for Carroll’s first playoff game against Haltom Friday.

He’s already undertaken a leadership role in this class, helping pull in four-star wide receiver Caleb Burton and he should be a major recruiting chip to play for Ohio State moving forward.

Hastings: There was no question after the initial 2022 national rankings were revealed that Ewers would be in contention for the top spot in the country. It was somewhat of a surprise that he came in at No. 6 in the previous rankings, but him rising to the top spot is well-deserved.

Ewers is the textbook definition of what you are looking for in a quarterback. He's mobile, can throw on the run with as much accuracy as he does when he's in the pocket, his deep throws are a thing of beauty and there is essentially no throw he can't make.

When he committed, which was before the rankings were created, I compared Ewers to future NFL Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. Now, I'm not saying Ewers will eventually become one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, which would be unfair to say about someone who is still in high school.

What I will say, however, is that his playing style reminds me of Rodgers, and his ceiling as a signal caller is very high.

Not only is Ewers one of the top players in this cycle, but he's one of the best players I've seen in my time as a recruiting reporter.

Anders: Anyone who heard my first appearance on B.I.A. with BuckeyeGrove publisher Kevin Noon or read my film review of four-star defensive tackle Michael Hall knows my answer to this question.

Well, I spoiled it. It’s Michael Hall.

Those that make our rankings list at Rivals HQ apparently don’t agree with me, dropping him 12 spots from 77 to 89 in the latest batch of 2021 rankings (still a pretty high rating) but the film has me sold here.

Hall possesses the first-step quickness seen from the string of successful defensive tackles under defensive line coach Larry Johnson, but at 6-foot-3, 275 pounds, he’s more prototypical in his measurables.

He’s also an interior lineman that can close from the backside of a play -- that’s not something you see too often.

I’d like to see his pad level improve, but Johnson will coach that up in a hurry and Hall is willing to learn.

Hastings: I'm rolling with Jaylen Johnson for this section, but there were a lot of players in consideration.

Kyle McCord should be a five-star in my estimation, TreVeyon Henderson is at least a top-40 prospect in my book and you can even make the argument that Jack Sawyer at No. 12 is too low.

I also agree with Andy on Hall's ranking, and I believe Jantzen Dunn should be in the conversation for his fourth star as well.

In my opinion, however, Jaylen Johnson did enough this season to move up and earn his fourth star. I'm not saying he should've been immediately put in the Rivals250, but Johnson was a key catalyst on defense for a La Salle team that advanced to the Division II State Final Four.

In the six games we received statistics from him, Johnson had 54 total tackles, one sack, nine pass breakups and four forced fumbles. He was everywhere on the field and was a versatile defender for his team game in and game out.

We'll see if Johnson gets his fourth star down the line, but he would be my pick for the most underrated prospect in Ohio State's 2021 class.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.