The Ohio State Buckeyes are seemingly close to offering several 2022 prospects in the coming weeks.

In the past 48 hours, we have reported that the Buckeyes are going to host an unoffered offensive lineman for an official visit next month, and they are in touch with a Ohio-based running back.

In this edition of Recruiting Roundtable, Carson MacRae and Joseph Hastings discuss their thoughts on Ohio State’s pursuit of Carson Hinzman and Kaleb Johnson. We also talk about five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson, and what shot the staff has with him.

Hastings: To answer this question right off the bat, I’m going to say they have a slim chance at landing Nelson. If they do, I would be fairly stunned.

Yes, Ohio State has a quarterback-friendly offense that should be attractive to any elite signal caller. They also have the best wide receiver room in the nation, and have shown no signs of slowing down when it comes to recruiting the position.

Also, Nelson has spoken well of the Buckeyes, who joins LSU, Oklahoma and USC as the top schools in his recruitment. Nelson recently referred to Ohio State as a “stepping stone” to the NFL, and praised Corey Dennis and Ryan Day for their quarterback knowledge.

Those reasons above are why I give the Buckeyes even a small chance here, but I don’t see this one going in their favor.

The main reason for this belief is that Ohio State currently holds a commitment from the top-ranked 2022 quarterback in the country — Quinn Ewers. Anyone who has seen Ewers knows he is one of the best high school signal callers in recent history, and a case could be made he will compete for a starting job as soon as he steps foot on campus.

Oklahoma, on the other hand, has no quarterback committed in their 2022 class, which presents an opportunity for Nelson to take over the reigns from Caleb Williams a year after he arrives in Norman. They also have a solid crop of wideouts committed, Lincoln Riley has a proven track record of developing QBs, and they’ll host him on campus next month.

With Nelson set to commit on July 18 and no visit scheduled to Ohio State, I believe the Buckeyes will more than likely end up striking out here. It will be interesting to see what they do when that happens as Nelson is the only 2023 signal caller they have offered thus far.

MacRae: Malachi Nelson comes as advertised as Rivals.com No. 2 player nationally in the 2023 class and No. 1 QB across the board. It would be nice to think that the Buckeyes would have a good shot at landing Nelson but at this time, it looks very unlikely.

Nelson at this time looks to be an Oklahoma lean right now and if I had to submit a FutureCast, it would definitely be in favor of the Sooners. Lincoln Riley has been on that recruitment from the get-go and their history of landing the No. 1 QB in the past five cycles has actually been more beneficial than not.

On the other hand, if I were to play devil's advocate, it would sound like this. If Quinn Ewers were not in play, I believe the Buckeyes would be battling this one out with Oklahoma. The major factor in why I believe this to be true is Nelson has said on a few occasions that he is looking for a program and coach that will develop him for the next level. On top of development, he wants to be a part of a winning program.

In terms of being a part of a winning program and developing QBs for the next level, there really are no better programs right now than the Buckeyes and Sooners. Clemson, of course, could be looked at as well, but most recruits are aware that in terms of developing QBs Day and Riley are on another level.

Nelson is an amazing prospect but he is not nearly the prospect that Ewers is and I’m under the impression that was what has deterred him from taking a serious look at the Buckeyes’ program. Most recruits across the country are familiar with the talent Ewers will be bringing when he gets to Columbus and they also understand he will be the guy for at least three years. So, I do not believe Nelson will take a chance on the Buckeyes.

Hastings: Last week, Rivals.com’s Sam Spiegelman published an article on top-50 overall junior Trevor Etienne. Although Ohio State has yet to dip into his recruitment, Etienne revealed that he’s been in touch with Tony Alford as of late.

Now, we can confirm that Alford is indeed after at least one other 2022 running back without an offer from the Buckeyes: Kaleb Johnson. The product of Hamilton (Ohio) told me on Monday that he is indeed in touch with Alford.

Not only that, but Johnson is slated to lace up his cleats and camp at Ohio State on June 15. It hasn’t been indicated to us that an offer is on the way, but one could arrive if the 6-foot-1, 210-pounder makes a strong impression.

As for what Johnson brings to the table, he is a running back with size and solid speed to accompany him. In fact, he recently ran the 200-meter with a time of 22.25 seconds; while he doesn’t seem to have breakaway speed on his highlight reel, Johnson runs well for someone with his body frame.

Carson will do a more in-depth breakdown below, but I’ll also note that Johnson won the RB MVP honors at this month’s Rivals Camp Series event in Indianapolis. He was also named by Adam Friedman as the No. 8 offensive performer at the camp.

Johnson does hold over a dozen offers and has officials locked in to California, Iowa and Iowa State, but it would be hard to see him turning down an opportunity to go to Ohio State if given the chance.

MacRae: Each week, it seems like we're hearing about a few new names at the RB position. Kaleb Johnson is the newest name as a three-star prospect listed by Rivals.com in the 2022 class. Tony Alford has recently been in touch with Johnson and an offer could be on the horizon. Johnson is a Hamilton (Ohio) native who comes in at a solid 6-foot-1, 210 pounds.

I reported last week that I received news from Columbus stating the Buckeyes would be willing to take two RBs in this class. I’m starting to get the sense that Dallan Hayden’s commitment is only a matter of time and that they’re eyeing a second running back who is going to be a more physical runner. The reason I believe this is because some of the new names as of late, like Omarion Hampton, are definitely downhill runners who are going to inflict physical play before they are going to get outside.

When looking at the type of player Johnson is, his high school offense runs a lot of shotgun sets with a single ace back similar to Ohio State. On film ,you can see Johnson running a read option and playing off gap reads very smoothly. As well, I can imagine something that caught Alford’s eye with Johnson is he is an elite decision maker.

On film, it is hard to find running backs who can read the gap and trust their instincts to explode through it. Johnson excels at this, while playing in pistol formation, single ace back sets, and on read option plays.

Johnson may not be seen as a high-end prospect nationally but he would be a very good plug-and-play type of player for the Buckeyes as he already plays in a similar offense. Let’s not forget Alford went out and found a plug-and-play type of player in an Ohio running back prospect before with Miyan Williams.

Williams now seems to be a front runner for the starting job week one against Minnesota. With Alford searching for a second physical back to eventually join the expected Dallan Hayden, Johnson may be a great option if they were to miss on a guy like Omarion Hampton.

Hastings: This is definitely a tough question.

Some may view it as a no brainer that Ohio State should offer Hinzman either before or during his official visit. After all, his tape speaks for itself.

Hinzman is a road grader who is a nightmare for opposing defensive linemen to go up against. The 6-foot-5, 280-pounder, who is likely to play guard at the next level, routinely puts people on the ground, is athletic enough to pull from his guard spot to make the necessary block, and gets down the field with ease.

All the tools are there, so I don’t think this is a matter or whether or not Hinzman is talented enough to receive an offer from Ohio State. What this boils down to, however, is whether or not the Buckeyes envision themselves having a legitimate shot here.

One thing Ryan Day’s staff does not do is just hand out offers for the heck of it. I’ve had multiple players even tell me before that tOSU has wanted to make sure that before they offer them, that the program would get a fair shot at landing them.

So, I believe Ohio State may want to get a read on Hinzman and his recruitment before offering. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Wisconsin Badgers seem to be the two schools in the best position to get him, but if they think he’s a real possibility, then an offer will arrive; if not, I can’t see them extending a late offer only for Hinzman to commit elsewhere.

My final answer is I would lean toward saying Hinzman gets offered, but it’s far from a guarantee.

MacRae: I absolutely believe that Ohio State will offer Carson Hinzman. As the top-ranked center in the country, you can’t miss on an offer here. The signs are all very telling as Joseph reported in speaking with Hinzman, Greg Studrawa is really hyping up the program to Hinzman, which is a good sign.

I would say Hinzman is accurately rated by Rivals.com as he really is the most athletic center in the country. Playing a variety of sports allows him to be more versatile, while gaining footwork from basketball, and learning how to move while being off balanced in wrestling, he really is the perfect interior lineman prospect.

If I’m being quite honest, as a 2022 prospect, I am surprised the work on this recruitment is coming so late. With offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin, who are notoriously putting great offensive lineman into the NFL, I would have expected the Buckeyes to really be all in on this one awhile ago.

Nevertheless, I still believe the Buckeyes will get their shot at the Wisconsin native, but I have spoken to a source who believes that it is going to be pretty hard to land him as he grew up a fan of the Badgers. Of course, I feel like I say it every week, but you really can never count out Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide in any top level recruit, especially on the o-line. Not to mention there are some Wisconsin ties on a top level o-lineman who — although he played at IMG — was from the Badger state and ended up with the Tide in JC Latham.

Ultimately, I’ll still predict the Badgers to be the team in this one.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.