Signed: Baron Browning

It has not been uncommon for the Buckeyes to go out and land the nation's top linebacker and they did it once again with Baron Browning. The 5-star linebacker is already on campus as one of Ohio State's nine early enrollees and he joins the likes of players like Raekwon McMillan and Curtis Grant as top nationally ranked linebackers to join the Buckeyes.

The Kennedale (Texas) product was a one-time commit to the Baylor Bears but backed off of that pledge and opened his recruitment up nationally. Many considered the Buckeyes to be a bit of a longshot to land the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder but give credit to the Ohio State coaching staff, spearheaded by former Ohio State linebackers coach Luke Fickell, the Buckeyes did not give up and it paid off.

It has been a special year in the state of Texas for the Buckeyes with Browning, Jeffrey Okudah and J.K. Dobbins all leaving the Lone Star State to head to Columbus (Ohio). The Buckeyes had to hold off a major push by Alabama in the fall but were able to hold off the Crimson Tide and a who's who list of programs that wanted to land the nation's No. 9 player according to Rivals.com.

"Coach (Urban) Meyer came in to do my home visit and just the whole time we just talked about Real Life Wednesdays and the life after football aspect, we did not even talk about football, getting jobs and those opportunities that he created for the players," Browning said in a video produced by the Ohio State football program after he enrolled early for the start of the January semester in Columbus.

Browning is a bit of a rare athlete with the combination of his size and ability to run. Many people see him having the prototypical size of a middle linebacker but it would almost seem like a waste of his abilities to not put him in an outside linebacker position to allow him to make plays with his talents.

"Browning has MIKE linebacker size at 6-foot-3, 230-pounds and he runs like a free safety," BuckeyeGrove.com recruiting analyst Marc Givler said of Browning. "In fact, up until recently, he WAS a free safety. Browning is a rare linebacker prospect in terms of his ability to cover and play in space."

"One thing that separates me is for how big that I am, I am able to run sideline-to-sideline," Browning added when asked to describe himself as a player.

The future is bright at Ohio State at the linebacker position. Players like Browning, Keandre Jones, Tuf Borland, Peter Werner and Malik Harrison will all be either in their first or second year with the Buckeyes in 2017 and everyone is eager to have their number called.

"We have got a tradition here, it is next man up," Browning said. "When one guy leaves the next man is up. It is just a cycle."

There is no shortage of star power in this class, Browning is just one of three five-stars to enroll early for the Buckeyes and is one of six in the class at this point (all eyes are on Marvin Wilson, a fellow Texan, who has the Buckeyes on his short list of schools for a NSD announcement). Even if the Buckeyes come up short in landing Wilson, this class could go down in history as Ohio State's most prolific from a recruiting rankings standpoint.

Only time will tell if they will be able to deliver on the field. Under Meyer, the bar has been set very high for the Buckeyes. Browning and his new teammates seem more than eager to take on that challenge and carve their own niche in this Ohio State football program.