Recruiting Roundtable: Will Johnson, Davis' top five, next to commit

BuckeyeGrove is back with another edition of "Recruiting Roundtable," which sees our analysts Andy Anders and Joseph Hastings discuss three topics relating to Ohio State football recruiting.

In the story below, we share our thoughts on the possibility of five-star cornerback Will Johnson, Rivals100 linebacker Raesjon Davis' top five, and who we believe could be the next prospect to commit to OSU.

Anders: The rich get richer.

After a dismantling of the unit against Alabama, secondary is a clear need for Ohio State in recruiting going forward. It’s safe to say head coach Ryan Day and staff have addressed it.

In December the Buckeyes signed the No. 1 cornerback for the class of 2021, four-star Jakailin Johnson, and with him another borderline Rivals100 corner in Jordan Hancock.

Then in January, five-star 2022 corner Jaheim Singletary pledged his services to Ohio State.

To grab a second five-star outside defensive back in the span of a few months? That’s simply unreal.

Will Johnson provides great length at 6-foot-2 and tremendous athleticism for whichever school he elects to go to.

It also means another victory for Day over Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh on the recruiting trail. The two haven’t clashed as much as anticipated, with Harbaugh pulling less talent from Ohio than the majority of Wolverine coaches before him, but when they have, Ohio State’s run of on-field results and penchant for NFL development have provided an edge.

Landing Will Johnson would be a huge boost for an already speeding 2022 class, no doubt.

Hastings: It can not be understated how much of an important win this wold be for Ohio State's coaching staff.

For one, Will Johnson checks in as the fourth-ranked cornerback in the 2022 cycle, and the 11th-ranked overall junior prospect. If he committed, let's say in the next week or so, then Ohio State would have pledges from four of the top 11 juniors in the country.

That is unheard of.

Rivals.com's Adam Gorney summed up his skill set succinctly a few months ago, and even compared him to former OSU signee Eli Apple.

"The five-star cornerback already has elite size at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, he’s filled out and looks college-ready right now," Gorney wrote. "Even at that size, Johnson is smooth, he can turn and run or he can come up and make plays.

On top of getting an elite recruit at a position of need, the Buckeyes would have successfully dipped into Michigan and lured the top-ranked player from the state away from the Wolverines.

This would be a huge victory as The Team Up North was initially favored to land Johnson after he took an in-depth visit to the school back in November. Also, what can't be overlooked here is that Johnson's father, Deon, used to play for the Wolverines back in the 1990s.

Considering all of the factors above — Johnson's skill set, him being a legacy target for Michigan, UM having been viewed as the favorite for several weeks — it's safe to say this would be one of the most impressive gets in the Ryan Day era.

As most fans will point out, however, the biggest challenge may actually be keeping Johnson until he signs, assuming he commits to the Buckeyes. New Michigan defensive coordinator Michael Macdonald will continue pursuing the five-star prospect, so this one almost assuredly won't be over until Johnson signs his Letter of Intent.

Anders: Nothing in Davis’ top five surprised me, except perhaps the inclusion of Vanderbilt.

The Commodores aren’t a real contender, but after a recent push, Davis included the Tennessee school to round out his top five.

Truly, I only see two schools listed as real contenders: USC and Ohio State. Davis is considered by many to be a USC lean after his decommitment from LSU a few months ago, and the FutureCast places the Trojans at 100 percent currently.

But the Buckeyes have made plenty of inroads here. Davis has developed a good relationship with the coaching staff, and although a commitment may be hard to land if he doesn’t take a visit to Columbus before deciding -- as he might -- the team is making a real push for the prospect as one of its final pieces for the 2021 class.

I don’t see Davis returning to LSU after his decommitment and Oregon seems to be on the outside looking in alongside the Tigers and Vandy. We’ll know for sure soon.

Hastings: I would have to say that I'm somewhat shocked Davis unveiled a top five, especially considering one of the schools that made the cut.

The Rivals100 linebacker had already told multiple media outlets what his top four was, which is LSU, Ohio State, Oregon and USC. I understand that making it official helps to generate some of the hype in his recruitment, but most figure this one to be down to two schools, if even that.

Also, Vanderbilt landing on his list absolutely caught me off guard. I can't even recall the Commodores extending an offer to him, let alone being in contention for his services.

To be fair to Davis, he has done his part on social media to hype up the impending announcement, which is expected to be on National Signing Day on Feb. 3. He's tweeted out "Go Buckeyes," posted a photo of him and Oregon signee Jaylin Davies as kids together, retweeted a comment with hearts that were in LSU colors, and has retweeted a lot of USC content.

Even though he's trying to mix things up, Davis appears to be on his way to signing with the Trojans. Despite a 5-1 season that ended with them losing to the Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship, USC has been recruiting phenomenally recently, and it seems like Davis will be the latest sought-after prospect to join forces with them.

The only thing that can possibly disrupt that from happening is if Davis visits Ohio State, and his family is blown away by the campus and what the school has to offer. If that does not transpire, however, I envision USC landing one of the more coveted unsigned players in the 2021 cycle next month.

Anders: With mere weeks remaining until national signing day for 2021, the deadline for those prospects to commit is fast approaching. Booms still lurk on the horizon for 2022, but I believe any 2021 prospects in the back pocket of the Ohio State coaching staff will pop before the next junior announces.

Primarily five-star defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau.

Do we know that Tuimoloau is a sure thing for the Buckeyes? Not at all. He’s played his recruitment as close to the vest as possible, making little public about his intentions.

But his relationship with the Ohio State staff and with the presence of defensive line coach Larry Johnson, I believe still win out for the Buckeyes in the end.

Tuimoloau would be the final five-star piece to complete one heck of a 2021 recruiting puzzle for Ohio State.

Hastings: I am tempted to go with Tuimoloau here because I know he will be committing in just over two weeks.

I completely agree with everything that Andy had to say about the five-star defensive lineman, and I fully expect Tuimoloau to sign with the Buckeyes.

To take somewhat of a chance here, however, I might actually go with Johnson. He previously told Josh Helmholdt and myself that a decision could arrive after his visit to USC.

Guess where Johnson visited this past weekend?

You guessed it, USC.

So, unless something drastic changes, it is very possible that Johnson could end up committing over the next few weeks. If he does, then I am going to give Ohio State the advantage here, even though I have yet to submit a FutureCast at this time because I'm still waiting to get a definitive timeline on him.

Kyion Grayes could be another name to watch out for, but Johnson is going to be my bold pick for this section.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.