Recruiting Roundtable: November predictions, Benji Gosnell, 2022 OT targets

Ohio State football is off to a 2-0 start after double-digit victories over Nebraska and Penn State. They'll look to maintain their perfect record when they face off against Rutgers this Saturday.

While things have looked good on the field for the Buckeyes, Ryan Day and his staff are also putting in the work behind the scenes. The program has been recently trending for several big-time recruiting targets, including a pair of five-star juniors.

In the piece below, BuckeyeGrove's Andy Anders and Joseph Hastings share their predictions for this month, discuss the importance of Ohio State potentially adding Benji Gosnell to the fold, and 2022 offensive tackle targets to monitor.

Anders: I’d say the Buckeyes could land as many as five commitments this month for the Class of 2022.

First comes four-star tight end Benji Gosnell’s announcement Wednesday, and as we’ll discuss below, Ohio State has an inside track to land the North Carolina native. Then, there’s also the series of cryptic tweets that have been pouring in lately from 2022 commits and targets alike.

Five-star linebacker CJ Hicks, four-star linebacker Dasan McCullough and three-star tight end Bennett Christian have all hinted at a series of booms on the horizon via their Twitter accounts. A number of top targets responded with Ohio State-related tweets of their own or by changing their bios on certain social media -- although this doesn’t guarantee those players will commit to Ohio State.

There are prospects that tease a commitment to certain big-time programs simply to “clout chase,” as Hicks put it on Twitter, which sometimes makes it hard to sift through what’s real and what isn’t. But rest assured, there will be some big names coming on board this month.

Five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers, four-star wide receiver Caleb Burton and four-star safety Xavier Nwankpa are all trending strongly toward Ohio State and could pop in the next few weeks. Five-star cornerback Domani Jackson is another that many are linking to the Buckeyes, and the California native did add Ohio State football to his Instagram bio.

He’s not committed, however, as Joseph reported.

So it remains to be seen whether the bio switch is just to mess with Ohio State fans or if he’s actually close to pledging his services.

Hastings: Over the past couple of weeks, I have submitted FutureCast predictions for a half-dozen Ohio State targets.

Only one, however, has a commitment date set, and that is Benji Gosnell. The Rivals250 tight end is slated to commit tomorrow night, and I expect the Buckeyes to add him to their 2022 class then.

As for the others, it’s hard to definitively answer this question as they don’t have decision dates locked in.

Texas-based prospects Caleb Burton and Quinn Ewers could commit soon, though it’s up in the air. Ewers recently decommitted from the Longhorns and could opt to wait it out a little in his recruitment, but I think a decision could come sooner rather than later.

As for Domani Jackson, I’ve noted before that he is a little bit of a wild card. Due to this, it’s hard to really predict when he will wrap everything up. It’s interesting to note that he still has the Ohio State football Instagram page handle in his IG bio section.

The two prospects that could potentially commit at any time are Shawn Murphy and Xavier Nwankpa. We’re not too sure when that will happen, but the Buckeyes are trending for both of them.

Even circling back to 2021 Rivals100 prospect Derrick Davis, I don’t believe he should be counted out from this discussion. He is set to commit on Nov. 7, and I think the Buckeyes are in the thick of things in his recruitment. Don’t be surprised if Ohio State comes out on top this weekend.

Just to be clear, none of these prospects are guaranteed to commit to Ohio State. OSU appears to be out in front for each of them but, as longtime followers of recruiting know, anything can change at any time.

To respond to the question posed above, I am going with six as my answer.

Anders: There’s going to be plenty of attrition in Ohio State’s tight end room these next two seasons.

Luke Farrell, Jake Hausmann and Jeremy Ruckert will all be gone by the time class of 2022 commitments arrive. With the addition of 2021 four-star Sam Hart, the Buckeyes will have just four total tight ends on scholarship, one of which is a converted linebacker in redshirt freshman Cade Stover.

That’s the reason Ohio State wanted to add two tight ends in the class of 2022, and Gosnell could join three-star Bennett Christian as the second.

Gosnell serves as a tremendous complement to Christian on the roster. While Christian grades out as a player with strong run blocking potential and versatility as a blocker, Gosnell is more of an athletic, pass catching option off the line at the next level. A two-tight end set with Christian on the interior blocking and Gosnell offset going out for passes could be in the cards in Columbus.

Not that Gosnell isn’t a solid run blocker in his own right. The nation’s No. 5 tight end has all the physical tools to do so and put a great collection of linebacker highlights on film to demonstrate just that.

Hastings: As Andy noted above, it is crucial for the Buckeyes to add a second tight end in the 2022 cycle.

We know that the program had this goal in mind for the 2021 class, but that did not pan out. Top-50 senior Hudson Wolfe committed to Tennessee in June, and while an official offer was extended to Kentucky-based prospect Jordan Dingle, there hasn't been much traction with him.

Even when Gosnell started to trend toward Florida, Ohio State dished out an offer to three-star prospect Oscar Delp just under a month ago. They're not just looking to add another player to Kevin Wilson's group; they want someone who can make opposing defenses pay with their receiving ability.

Gosnell can block, but he'll have a lot of opportunities to haul in catches if he winds up with the Buckeyes. He may be seen as a little undersized at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, but he'll excel in Ohio State's receiver-friendly offense.

Although he was unable to play football with his high school team this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Gosnell told me a few weeks ago that he's playing 7-on-7. This will give him even more time to perfect his craft when it comes to catching the football, so it will be exciting to see how he complements Christian at the next level if Ohio State is his choice tomorrow.

Anders: Fortunately for Ohio State fans, there seems to be a pretty long list here.

I’ll admit the Miller commitment came as a shock to me. I’d spoken to him a couple of weeks prior and every indication was that his top schools were all on equal footing, and from the way he talked about the Buckeyes, it seemed as though they had a real relationship built with him.

Regardless, it’s still pretty wide open as to who joins Tegra Tshabola at offensive tackle for the class. Five-star Zach Rice has been in steady contact with Ohio State but his recruitment is still pretty open. He also put Ohio State football in his Instagram bio at one point, but there’s been nothing to indicate he’ll actually commit soon.

Ditto for top-50 junior Gunner Givens, minus any Ohio State hints on social media. The Buckeyes made his top 12 in September, and he should be dropping a top six soon.

Rivals100 OT Addison Nichols could be one of the most likely additions, with what appears to be a two-horse race between Ohio State and Tennessee brewing. Georgia is also making a strong push as of late.

Joseph has already crystal balled five-star Kam Dewberry and four-star Kiyaunta Goodwin to Ohio State, and Julian Armella is another the team talks to regularly. Long story short, there’s a lot of options for the Buckeyes at the position

Hastings: I completely agree with everything that Andy had to say above.

Look, we know the Buckeyes are not going to land every single prospect on that list. There are just too many big names being pursued by a plethora of elite programs to make any definitive predictions about them at this juncture.

I do believe they can land one five-star out of this bunch, with my pick being Dewberry. Dewberry has gone on record saying multiple times that Ohio State is his dream school, labeled OSU as one of the best schools in the country and we just saw the Buckeyes land another Houston area recruit -- Donovan Jackson -- earlier this year.

Keep an eye out for Rice, but a lot of colleges are in hot pursuit of him as well.

I would also not rule out Ohio State offering in-state prospect Aamil Wagner down the line. The Huber Heights, Ohio, offensive lineman heard from several coaches on Sept. 1, and could be due for an offer in the future.

Things have not panned out exactly the way Greg Studrawa and company were hoping for in this cycle at the tackle position, but the staff has a chance to bounce back strong next year.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.