Ohio State's football program is currently preoccupied with spring practice and preparing for what will hopefully be a normal season compared to what they endured last year.

The coaches are getting their team locked in for what they hope to be yet another season where they get to the College Football Playoff, but they're also focused on off-the-field work as well.

The staff is continuing to be active on the recruiting trail, and even received some good news last week as five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen included them in his top eight.

In this edition of Recruiting Roundtable, we discuss whether or not we believe Ohio State is a contender or pretender for Nolen. BuckeyeGrove also shares their thoughts on which side of the ball they believe will get the next commitment, and how many 2023 prospects from the Sunshine State they envision the program signing.

MacRae: Walter Nolen has been someone that obviously every Power Five school would like to get their hands on. With an enormous frame and a complete understanding of how to disrupt the pass rush and ground game, Nolen is Rivals No.3 player for a reason.

In this case, unfortunately for the Buckeyes, they seem to be on the pretenders end of it.

There is often a preconceived notion that the Buckeyes should be a top school for every high-end defensive-linemen.

With Larry Johnson having so much success at Ohio State, it feels like it can just become expected that these types of players will have the Buckeyes in their top three-to-five schools every time around.

The Buckeyes, as I have mentioned in previous Skull Sessions and Roundtables, are probably sitting around that five-to-eight area on Nolen's list of schools. Joseph Hastings and I have both spoke with a variety of separate sources who all seem to be implying the same thing, "SEC".

The direction in which this one is going seems to be in Nick Saban's favor. As a player from Tennessee, Nolen is right in many SEC schools' backyards. It would take a lot for Ohio State to make a push on Nolen like some SEC schools having some major down years and ultimately Ohio State needing another National Championship type of year.

Although it is not impossible, it seems more likely than not it is not going to happen with Nolen. Another good indicator is the extensive amount of offers they have given to 2022 DTs over the past couple months.

Buckeyes= Pretenders in this recruitment.

Hastings: This is the question Buckeye fans want to know the answer to.

Most people do not want to get their hopes up for a potentially game-changing type of prospect, especially one at a position of need, if they feel their program does not have a realistic shot at landing him.

And yes, there is a good reason for someone following the Buckeyes to not get too excited for Nolen. After all, our sources indicate to us that he is likely heading to the SEC at the next level, and Alabama and LSU appear to be in a really good spot for his services.

But, to answer this question, I find it hard going as far as to say Ohio State is simply a pretender for Nolen and no more than a hat on the table.

Nolen's interest in the program did not just begin this year or even when he received his offer back in October; he labeled the Buckeyes as one of his top two schools in July 2020.

On top of that, contact between him and Larry Johnson is still strong, and Nolen has gone on record several times saying that Johnson's resume is playing an important role in his evaluation of tOSU.

Also, the Buckeyes compete for championships every single season and have a need for interior defensive linemen. Ohio State passes the logic test as most elite prospects seeking a place where they can both win and contribute almost immediately.

I am in the mindset that Ryan Day and his staff are a contender here; I won't go as far as to say I like them above the Crimson Tide or the Tigers, but he's absolutely still worth pursuing.

MacRae: Right now, it is very difficult to say which side of the ball as there are a few guys who the Buckeyes could get at any moment. Now, if I had to choose based on what information and where many of the current players in the 2022 class see the direction they are going, then I would probably have to say the deffensive side.

As of late, there has been belief that Xavier Nwankpa is leaning more and more every day towards Ohio State. The base of that belief comes from the Buckeyes current commits like CJ Hicks, Dasan McCullough, and Kyion Grayes speaking to Nwankpa on a daily basis. When it comes to the Grayes side of it, he has been playing 7-on-7 with Nwankpa on the Tucson Turf.

The two seem to have grown a pretty strong bond with each other as teammates. If you followed Grayes' recruitment closely, then you would know he was a Buckeye lean heavily the whole recruitment process.

This might be the perfect guy to have a top safety in the country's ear, someone who you see as a teammate now but will also help you develop as a player when you get to campus.

So, if I had to pick which side of the ball earns a commitment next, it's pretty hard to look past a guy who some of the commits already joke about being in their class.

Hastings: It was around this time last year that Ohio State went on an incredible run of landing commitments from key targets in both the 2021 and 2022 classes.

From March 15 to May 24, the Buckeyes landed 10 prospects. Amongst that group were now five-star junior CJ Hicks, as well as Rivals100 targets Evan Pryor, Jakailin Johnson and TreVeyon Henderson.

The Buckeyes would more than welcome another stretch like this one, but it's difficult to tell if they would be able to pull this off. If they do, it seems more likely than not that it would be in June, when they are allowed to start hosting prospects on campus again.

I do not see a scenario in which they go the next two months without adding a commitment, though there are not any players that appear to be on the verge of committing.

Some of my guesses a few weeks ago would have been Aamil Wagner, Dallan Hayden or Xavier Nwankpa; I'm not too sure that any of them would be the next to team up with the Buckeyes as they all have multiple official visits scheduled in June.

Christen Miller is a recruit worth monitoring, but I believe he's waiting to return to the campus in a couple of months to interact with the coaches in person.

All of this is to say that if a junior target does commit over the next couple of months, it would probably be one that isn't currently trending for the Buckeyes, or is a new offer (such as three-star Chris McClellan).

This makes this question difficult to answer, but I'm going to say the defense is the side of the ball that will get the next commitment.

My thought process here is that Ohio State absolutely needs defensive linemen, specifically in the interior of the d-line. This is evident by the recent offers they've dished out to McClellan, Jamari Lyons and Domonique Orange.

I absolutely could see a scenario in which one of these prospects (I'm leaning toward McClellan) would want to jump on that offer and save themselves a spot in this class.

A close second would have been offense because Hayden committing would not shock me based on what I've heard, but I'm going with defense to answer this question.

MacRae: I have spoken to a variety of the Florida-based 2023 prospects and they all seem to view the Buckeyes in a similar light. The common words or phrases that get thrown around when talking about the Buckeyes are "Blue blood, "National Championship contender," and usually "Great program with excellent coaching".

With the pre-established notion of success that a lot of these Florida prospects already have of Ohio State, I think it is going to be not only easier to land some of them now but in years to come. Certainly speaking to three, in specific, I think if they were to have to choose a school tomorrow when they wake up, it would probably be the Buckeyes if I had to place a Futurecast.

The three being Daemon Fagan, TJ Shanahan Jr. and Richard Young. They all seem to be very high on the Buckeyes and all feel like they will definitely be taking visits to Columbus in the near future. It is always tough to tell with Florida prospects as they are all very familiar with the spotlight and some do tend to enjoy it more than others.

When looking back at Tunmise Adeleye, he is just one name who Ohio State had committed and he ended up decommitting. The Buckeyes have led with a number of recruits from Florida and, last minute, they may change their direction elsewhere.

Although this may seem like an optimistic number knowing the Buckeyes have had many cases like this in Florida, I have the Buckeyes ending the class with five players out of Florida in a talent wealthy 2023 class.

Hastings: Ohio State is heavily prioritizing Florida in this recruiting cycle.

Here is a list of all the sophomores from the state that the Buckeyes have offered: Brandon Inniss, Clay Wedin, Cormani McClain, Daemon Fagan, Derrick LeBlanc, Joenel Aguero, John Walker, Malik Bryant, Malik Muhammad, Payton Kirkland, Richard Young, TJ Shanahan and Treyaun Webb.

No other state has more than five sophomores that Ohio State has extended offers to thus far. Not to mention the possibility that even more Sunshine State recruits could receive the green light from the program in the future.

I absolutely could see the Buckeyes signing five players from the state when it's all said and done. The reason for this is because Tony Alford is the area recruiter (and he is excellent when it comes to forming relationships with both players and their family members early on), and where Ohio State stands with these players right now.

Inniss, a five-star recruit, is already intrigued by their development of wideouts, and says the program fits into his recruitment "very well."

Shanahan and Wedin are expected to be on campus in June, while fellow o-lineman Payton Kirkland, who has the Buckeyes in his top five, says he's figuring things out now.

LeBlanc is slated to visit on June 4, while the likes of Bryant, Fagan and Walker are currently exploring dates when they can make the trip up to Columbus.

Webb is another prospect eyeing a visit to Ohio State in June, and he's definitely one worth monitoring. The No. 56 overall sophomore on Rivals has the school in his top six, and the pipeline they've established from Jacksonville to Columbus has caught his attention.

Five may sound like a lot of signees, but look what the program did just a few years ago. They signed at least four players from Florida from the 2015 to the 2018 cycles, so this is not a far-fetched prediction.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.