It's been nearly four months since the beginning of a prolonged dead period that was recently extended through Aug. 31.

There have been a lot of consequences in the recruiting world due to the unprecedented times we are living in, yet there is one potential positive outcome that could be taken away from this situation.

That positive outcome is the implementation of virtual visits, which has paved the way for prospects, who live far away from the schools they are considering, to simulate a recruiting trip. Ohio State is one of the programs that has taken advantage of the use of technology to give targets on their radar a different type of tour of the campus.

Zion Branch is among the group of recruits to have conducted a virtual visit with the Buckeyes in the spring, and was amazed by the effort put into it by the coaching staff.

"The first time we had a Zoom meeting, it really just clicked for me because we had a virtual visit," Branch told BuckeyeGrove. "It was great for me because we got to talk to the name, image and likeness people. We got to talk with the academic side of things. It was like the whole staff of people that they brought out. Not many programs do that.