Over the course of the Rivals.com-era (2002-current) the Ohio State Buckeyes have been a force on the recruiting scene, even if it feels like recruiting success has been only a recent phenomenon.

Approaches have changed from the days of Jim Tressel to Urban Meyer to Ryan Day but landing top players is nothing new.

Between the classes of 2002 through 2021 (the most recent signed class) the Buckeyes have landed 122 members of the Rivals100, meaning that a little bit more than 6-percent of all Rivals100 players have signed with Ohio State out of high school.

While that may sound like a small number off the top of things, remember that Division I-FBS has always had between 115-130 schools, all vying for those top recruits, and while most of these players will gravitate towards a smaller group of 20-25 schools on the regular, Ohio State is landing more than its fair share of these top players through the years.

The Buckeyes are well on their way with the 21st class of the Rivals.com era, the class of 2022, with six commits already in the fold and the opportunity to add several more come December and February signing days.

As we were pouring through the classes and the numbers, it got us to thinking about who the top-rated player in each class was. Now, this does not mean the player that went on to have the most collegiate or professional success. Rather just the player who ranked the highest in each Rivals100 class for the Buckeyes.

As we reach the middle of the week, we have done our looks at both 2002-2005 as well as 2006-2009 and now turn our attention to the last of the Tressel classes and the first of the Meyer classes as we get into the 2010s. We see Ohio State expand its national recruiting reach and the numbers of players in the Rivals100 moves significantly up.

The Buckeyes picked up the commitment of Andrew Norwell very early in the process, essentially a full-year prior to the 2009 Signing Period. Norwell wanted to be done with his process and picked Ohio State over several other Midwestern offers.

During his career at Ohio State, Norwell played 50 games and started 39 of them. The big tackle would also be named All-Big Ten during his final two seasons with Ohio State and would graduate with a degree in Communications.

Despite going undrafted, Norwell would catch on with the Carolina Panthers and would play very well before moving on to the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he would sign a five-year, 66.5-million dollar deal.

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2010: Roderick Smith (65)

Curtis Grant was the No. 2 player in the class of 2011, only behind Jadeveon Clowney. Grant held more than 20 offers and Ohio State would have to wait it out until the final week of recruiting before finally picking up the pledge, leading Ohio State to the top class in the Big Ten for the cycle.

Despite the ranking, Grant did not immediately find his way to the field, recording a combined 10 tackles over his first two seasons. Grant would start to see more time during his final two seasons and did see a number of snaps during Ohio State's 2014 championship season, but it just never was exactly the plan that everyone had seen with Ohio State landing a No. 2 ranked player in the nation.

Grant would leave Ohio State after the 2014 season after exhausting his eligibility and it would take until 2017 before he would get a chance in the NFL. He would sign a deal with the NY Giants and be placed on the practice squad, but that would lead to 10 games played with 18 tackles and a fumble recovery. It would be Grant's only season in the league.

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2011: Braxton Miller (34), Michael Bennett (41) Kenny Hayes (68)

Urban Meyer would really put his seal on this class as he took over the team after the 2011 season and this class would see 10 of 25 players commit from November 2011 through signing day, Spence being one of them. Spence was the No. 9 player in the cycle.

Ohio State's two five-stars from the class would both commit late in the cycle as excitement over Meyer taking over the team would open a lot of doors for the Buckeyes.

Spence would play two seasons with the Buckeyes, having a big 2013 campaign with 51 tackles and eight sacks. Spence would fail a pair of drug tests issued by the Big Ten conference and would be ruled permanently ineligible by the league, forcing a transfer to Eastern Kentucky.

Despite the step-down to FCS football, the NFL knew where to look and Spence did slide into the 2nd round, No. 39 overall, a slide but still good enough for a solid pay day.

Spence has played in 41 games for a pair of teams with Tampa Bay and Washington but now finds himself with New Orleans.

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2012: Adolphus Washington (25), Tommy Schutt (65), Se'von Pittman (95)

The Buckeyes appeared to have recorded a coup with landing both Mike Mitchell in football and Mickey Mitchell in basketball with the potential of a Mitchell pipeline to Columbus. Sadly, neither player ended up working out with Ohio State.

Mitchell picked the Buckeyes over 20-some other offers, helping push the Buckeyes to the No. 2 class in the nation.

One year with the Buckeyes led to a transfer, a stop at Texas Tech didn't work out either and eventually on to the NAIA ranks.

Injuries did not help Mitchell's cause along the way as his career was essentially over before it began.

Other members of the Rivals100 in 2013: Vonn Bell (32), Jalin Marshall (35), Cameron Burrows (39), Joey Bosa (47), Ezekiel Elliott (84), Eli Apple (89), Evan Lisle (90), Dontre Wilson (100)