Some key news in the world of Ohio State football recruiting transpired on Monday as Rivals100 defensive tackle Tywone Malone left the program out of his top six.

In this edition of "Recruiting Roundtable," BuckeyeGrove's Andy Anders and Joseph Hastings share their reactions to this decision by Malone. The two of them also give their thoughts on who is the most important remaining 2021 target for Ohio State and backup options at defensive tackle.

Anders: I’ll start off by saying the Buckeyes aren’t in do-or-die mode at any position in this class. They’ve filled all their major needs with high-end talent, and are now more so looking to add can’t-miss players, luxury items and depth pieces at this stage.

All that being said, my pick would be five-star offensive tackle Tristan Leigh. Ohio State may not be considered the favorite for him like it is with fellow five-stars J.T. Tuimoloau and Emeka Egbuka, but honestly comparing the future of the offensive line to the future of the defensive line or receiver rooms is what swung my opinion toward Leigh on this one.

Should redshirt junior guard Wyatt Davis and redshirt junior center Josh Myers both leave for the NFL Draft after this season, Ohio State’s projected offensive line could start running short on proven commodities in the future. There’s a few former highly-touted prospects among the first- and second-year big men, such as guard Harry Miller and tackle Paris Johnson, but the room is rounded out by more former three-star guys than most others in Columbus.

If the Buckeyes want to keep the caliber of offensive lines they’ve enjoyed in recent years down the road, they’ll need to land more recruits like Leigh. Whether or not he can make the recruiting summit on Oct. 24 will be huge -- otherwise, Ohio State may not have the visits in hand to pull it off.

Hastings: I'm going to have to agree with Andy on this one for all the reasons he mentioned above, and a couple of more.

The Buckeyes did just land a commitment from Zenuae Michalski, but the competition for him was not extremely high. Sure, Florida State and Penn State arrived with late offers and Louisville was always appealing given his distance to the school, but these are not powerhouse football programs that Ohio State had to go up against.

Whereas with Tristan Leigh, all of his finalists are elite teams with rich traditions, especially recently. In the mix for the third-ranked offensive tackle on Rivals are Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Besides Oklahoma, all of the programs Leigh is considering have won a national championship in the past six years. Leigh has a lot of options to weigh, and his recruitment continues to take different turns.

Once viewed a Clemson lean, all of the momentum started to go in LSU's favor in the early parts of the summer. Now, a trio of FutureCast predictions have flowed in for Oklahoma.

If Ohio State is somehow able to hold off all of these schools and wind up with an NLI from Leigh on Signing Day, it would be one of their top recruiting victories in recent memory. For that reason, he is, in my opinion, the most important remaining target for Ryan Day's staff.

Anders: I admit to not being as connected as Joseph on this one -- my rolodex isn’t coming off its hinges with contacts for the class of 2021 -- but from all that I know about Tywone Malone’s recruitment, I was surprised. Ohio State was considered at least a leader, if not the leader.

Baseball probably played a large part in Malone’s decision to leave the Buckeyes out. It’s a known fact the 300-pounder wants to play both sports in college, with Austin Price at VolsQuest reporting baseball would be the deciding factor for him. And while the interest from Ohio State’s football team was always there for Malone, it’s unclear if the baseball program felt the same way.

Even if Ohio State head baseball coach Greg Beals and the staff did feel as though Malone made a good addition to their team, there’s no guarantee the interest was there on his part. The Buckeyes’ baseball team went on a surprising Big Ten title run in 2019, but haven’t made it out of NCAA tournament regionals since 2003.

That wouldn’t explain Rutgers making his top 6, however, as the Scarlet Knights haven’t even made an NCAA tournament in baseball since 2007. And, obviously, Rutgers isn’t known as the class of the Big Ten in football. Several other teams on Malone’s shortlist aren’t seen as cream of the crop baseball schools either.

Still, I don’t have any inside information to offer here.

I’ll end on this note: 30 of the 36 players on Ohio State’s current baseball roster are from Ohio.

Hastings: I am not too shocked based on the information I was given a couple of weeks ago.

I was told by a source close to the Buckeyes baseball team that there was "nothing to share" about their pursuit of Malone at the time, but they would reach out to me if there was anything to talk about. That never transpired, and Malone subsequently left Ohio State out of his top six on Monday.

Also, Tyleik Williams getting the green light to commit to the school over a month ago was, in hindsight, a sign that the tide may have been turning with Malone and Ohio State.

Simply put, Ohio State's football program wanted Malone significantly more than the baseball team wanted him. I believe if the baseball staff had been in touch with him on a regular basis, then the Buckeyes are on this list.

It is clear to me, based on his recent interview with Price, that Malone wants to play baseball professionally. That could change from now until he gets to college, but this appears to be his plan.

This is definitely unfortunate for the Buckeyes as a source told me that Malone is an exceptional defensive tackle and only got better this past offseason. Malone brings incredible athleticism, strength, footwork and size to the trenches, so this is certainly a tough miss for the staff, especially since it wasn't for a lack of effort on their part.

Anders: Honestly? I’d say nobody. Ohio State has two four-star defensive tackles without Malone in tow, and Michael Hall is my choice as the most underrated player in the class -- despite the fact he’s already considered the No. 77 prospect in the country.

Tyleik Williams, the Buckeyes’ most recent commitment, is the other four-star in the class at the position.

A glance at the depth chart leaves the Buckeyes looking somewhat thin at the position moving forward, with just two underclassmen listed at defensive tackle, but former four star defensive-end Jacolbe Cowan is a candidate to slide inside as well. One could go so far as to say former three-star defensive end Ty Hamilton projects there.

Should Ohio State land five-star defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, as it is the FutureCast favorite to do so, he’s a player capable of moving to three-technique defensive tackle as well.

With the dead period stalling any momentum the Buckeyes could build, it would be hard to make inroads with anyone this late in the process. If they really wanted to generate depth at the position, there’s always the possibility of taking on a local project. Hall is the only Ohio defensive tackle listed as three stars or better in Rivals’ rankings though.

Beyond that, it’s trying to flip somebody from another school.

Hastings: Interestingly enough, a change in the mind of Beals and company and Ohio State could be right back in the thick of things with Malone's recruitment.

Assuming that does not happen, however, then I would say that there are not too many legitimate options they could explore if they truly want another defensive tackle in this class.

Sure, they could try and push for a flip of Clemson commit and top-40 overall prospect Payton Page. The Tigers have seen a couple of decommitments already in this cycle and Demarkcus Bowman recently announced his intentions to transfer to Florida, but this would be a difficult one to pull off.

Maybe they explore Maryland commits Marcus Bradley and Taizse Johnson? Ohio State had some momentum for Bradley earlier this year, so it would not be far-fetched if they make a strong push for him.

One also has to wonder if Alabama pledge Damon Payne, who has visited Columbus a couple of times, would consider reopening his recruitment. The Buckeyes and Crimson Tide have been and will be battling it out for top prospects for years to come, so flipping a prized commit from the program would be a big win for Larry Johnson and the staff.

Even with these options on the table, the likeliest route that Ohio State takes is to stick with the two defensive tackles in this class. They can always look to add three or four in next year's cycle, so I don't believe there's a huge sense of urgency here.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.