Signed: Mitchell Melton

The Buckeyes were able to be selective at linebacker in the 2020 recruiting class and zeroed in pretty early on Maryland star Mitchell Melton. Melton's Ohio ties (some of his family still lives in the Buckeye State) gave the Buckeyes a foot in the door early and even through coaching changes, Ohio State was able to keep his attention.

Ultimately first-year linebackers coach Al Washington was able to forge a strong relationship with Melton and the East Coast standout gave the Buckeyes the nod in a Midwest-centric recruiting battle.

Ohio State landed Melton's pledge in the midst of a storm of summer commitments, with the three-star prospect choosing the Buckeyes over Michigan, Notre Dame, and others on July 3rd.

Melton is one of the more physically imposing guys in this class for Ohio State, standing at 6-foot-4 and about 225-pounds. He is able to run well at that size and showed well for himself this summer at the Rivals Camp Series stop in Washington, DC.

There are going to be questions about his frame and whether or not that will ultimately lead him to putting a hand in the ground once he grows into that frame at Ohio State. But in the meantime, he has the look of a classic SAM linebacker who can hold up in the run game because of his great size and strength but can also use those tools to cover tight ends in the passing game.

Melton could be one of the top sleepers in the class with his untapped potential.