It is just over one week until the late signing period for college football begins on Feb. 3.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day signed 21 players for his 2021 class in the early signing period in mid-December. That class remains ranked ranked second in the 247Sports Composite class rankings.
Obviously, the Buckeyes are tracking a number of key 2021 prospects as the late signing day approaches. That group includes Washington DE J.T. Tuimoloau (ranked third nationally) and California LB Raesjon Davis (ranked 45th).
Speaking at his first off-season media briefing last Friday, Day said there is not that much space left for new 2021 signees.
“We really don’t have much,” Day said. “We’re pretty full right now. We have a pretty healthy roster. That can always change. We might have one spot available. Other than that, we’re pretty full.
“We’ll keep evaluating and keep looking at it. We are continually recruiting some guys here toward the next signing day. We would probably have a spot for one guy.”
(Below, we have an analysis of what is believed to be Ohio State’s current scholarship status for the 2021 class.)
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began in mid-March, the NCAA has not allowed prospects to make official visits to college campuses. Athletics staff members have not been permitted to make in-home visits, view prospects in live games or host prospects for unofficial visits on campuses, either.
Day said he was not aware of any change to those NCAA restrictions coming any time soon.
“I have not heard any updates about guys being able to visit on-campus as of right now,” the coach said. “I guess we are closing on a year since we had recruits on campus, which is amazing.”
Ohio State Scholarships: The Unofficial Count
Because the NCAA ruled the 2020 season was a “free year” of eligibility, it can be a bit messy in projecting the actual years of eligibility for Ohio State’s returning players in 2021.
It is unclear if OSU will keep each player on the same year they were listed as in 2020 or advance each player one year with the idea they each can choose to remain one extra season once their four-year period is complete.
In terms of trying to decipher how many scholarships are available, we have advanced most of these players one year. So the juniors in 2020 are listed here as seniors in 2021 – even though they could all choose to come back in 2022 and theoretically not “count” toward the 85-scholarship limit.
Likewise, it looks like Ohio State will have four fifth-year seniors coming back in 2021 who would be “exempt” for counting against the scholarship total. These players are DT Haskell Garrett, DT Antwuan Jackson, CB Marcus Williamson and OT Thayer Munford.
Remember, OSU lost five underclassmen early to the NFL. That group includes QB Justin Fields, OL Josh Myers, OL Wyatt Davis, DT Tommy Togiai and CB Shaun Wade.
By our unofficial count, Ohio State has 83 “counters” on the scholarship total projected for 2021 as of today. That group includes 12 seniors, 16 juniors, 34 sophomores and 21 incoming freshmen. Here is a player-by-player breakdown by class (and, again, this is “unofficial” as we await how Ohio State will list and account for the class designations for each player):
* Seniors (12) – WR Ellijah Gardiner, WR Chris Olave, TE Jeremy Ruckert, DT Jerron Cage, DE Tyreke Smith, DE Tyler Friday, LB Teradja Mitchell, LB Dallas Gant, LB K’Vaughan Pope, CB Sevyn Banks, CB Cameron Brown, DB Josh Proctor.
* Juniors (16) – RB Master Teague, RB Marcus Crowley, WR Kamryn Babb, WR Jameson Williams, WR Garrett Wilson, OL Matthew Jones, OL Max Wray, OL Nicholas Petit-Frere, OL Harry Miller, OL Dawand Jones, DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste, DT Taron Vincent, DE Zach Harrison, LB Craig Young, CB Tyreke Johnson, DB Marcus Hooker.
* Sophomores (34; mixing redshirt freshmen and 2020 signees) – QB Jack Miller, QB C.J. Stroud, RB Steele Chambers, RB Miyan Williams, WR Gee Scott, WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba, WR Julian Fleming, TE Cade Stover, TE Joe Royer, OL Ryan Jacoby, OL Enokk Vimahi, OL Paris Johnson, OL Luke Wypler, OL Josh Fryar, OL Jakob James, OL Trey Leroux, OL Grant Toutant, DT Jaden McKenzie, DE Noah Potter, DE Cormontae Hamilton, DT Ty Hamilton, DE Darrion Henry-Young, DE Jacolbe Cowan, LB Tommy Eichenberg, LB Cody Simon, LB Mitchell Melton, CB Ryan Watts, CB Lejond Cavazos, DB Ronnie Hickman, DB Bryson Shaw, DB Lathan Ransom, LB Cameron Martinez, LB Kourt Williams, K Jake Seibert.
* Freshmen (21) – QB Kyle McCord, RB Evan Pryor, RB TreVeyon Henderson, WR Jayden Ballard, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., WR Emeka Egbuka, TE Sam Hart, OL Ben Christman, OL Donovan Jackson, OL Zen Michalski, DE Jack Sawyer, DT Mike Hall, DT Tyleik Williams, LB Reid Carrico, CB Jordan Hancock, CB Jakailan Johnson, CB Denzel Burke, DB Jaylen Johnson, DB Andre Turrentine, DB Jantzen Dunn, P Jesse Mirco.
* Summing Up – With 83 scholarship players set for 2021, it appears Ohio State has two more spots available for 2021 signees.
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