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Ohio State football’s remaining 2022 priority recruiting targets and where things stand

phil harrison
·6 min read

We are less than a week away from the start of the early signing period, and there are still some Ohio State targets out there that we’re all waiting on decisions from. We didn’t really know what to expect when this new early signing period went into effect a few years ago, but what it has turned into is most all commitments deciding to sign their national letters of intent in December rather than waiting for the traditional National Signing Day in February.

We expect the same this year, and to be frank, despite another top-five class right now based on almost all of the major recruiting services, Ohio State is a little behind where it normally is as far as a number of verbal commitments at this point in time.

That means it should be a little more eventful signing period than what we’ve seen in years past, and we’re here to bring it all to you — as always. We’ll have our recruiting tracker as those official commitments start rolling on Wednesday.

But before that, we thought we’d bring you up to speed on where things are with the remaining Ohio State targets that are out there and where things seem to stand (as hard as that is to figure out).

Let’s get into it.

Enai White, Edge Rusher

Recruiting Profile

Height | 6-foot, 5-inches
Weight | 230-pounds
Hometown/School | Philadelphia, PA/Imhotep Institute
247Sports Composite Rankings | No. 3 EDGE rusher, No. 37 overall

Where things stand

Enai White has Ohio State high on the list, but most believe he’s headed to Texas A&M. In fact, all six Crystal Ball predictions on 247Sports have the dynamic edge rusher headed to College Station. It would be a huge, huge surprise if he signed with OSU.

Omari Abor, Edge Rusher

Recruiting Profile

Height | 6-foot, 4-inches
Weight | 240-pounds
Hometown/School | Duncanville, TX/Duncanville
247Sports Composite Rankings | No. 4 EDGE rusher, No. 38 overall

Where things stand

This one is interesting. There appears to be interest from Obar, but Ohio State is not necessarily in dire need of another edge rusher with young guys like J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer ready to take the baton and run with it. This one may come down to where things stand with other recruits and where Obar is come time to sign on the dotted line. Right now, the majority of the Crystal Balls have Obar signing with the Buckeyes, but we have a little more doubt with this one. Oklahoma seems to be also high on the list.

Earnest Greene, Interior Offensive Line

Recruiting Profile

Height | 6-foot, 4-inches
Weight | 240-pounds
Hometown/School | Bellflower, CA/St. John Bosco
247Sports Composite Rankings | No. 4 EDGE rusher, No. 38 overall

Where things stand

Greene has Ohio State in his top four, and there’s no doubt the Buckeyes could use an influx of talent for the interior offensive line, but things seem to be slipping away in favor of Georgia or Alabama on this one. Ryan Day recently made an in-home visit to try and make a late push, but it would be surprising to see Greene choose Columbus over the two SEC teams.

Zion Branch, Safety

Recruiting Profile

Height | 6-foot, 2-inches
Weight | 195-pounds
Hometown/School | Las Vegas, NV/Bishop Gorman
247Sports Composite Rankings | No. 4 EDGE rusher, No. 38 overall

Where things stand

I think Ohio State had a really good chance of landing Branch if not for the hiring of Lincoln Riley at USC. Riley has forged a really good relationship with the talented safety and OSU had made inroads while things were up in the air out in SoCal. Now that there’s a path forward, look for Branch to sign with USC. It would be a shocker if that wasn’t the case now.

Caden Curry, Defensive Line

Recruiting Profile

Height | 6-foot, 3-inches
Weight | 250-pounds
Hometown/School | Greenwood, IN/Center Grove
247Sports Composite Rankings | No. 14 DL, No. 88 overall

Where things stand

Curry is set to make his college decision at 4:30 pm EST on Tuesday, one day before the early signing period. The chances look good for Curry to become a Buckeye, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now the 247Sports Crystal Balls all have him signing with Ohio State.

Hero Kanu, Defensive Line

Recruiting Profile

Height | 6-foot, 5-inches
Weight | 293-pounds
Hometown/School | Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Santa Margarita Catholic
247Sports Composite Rankings | No. 18 DL, No. 105 overall

Where things stand

We’ll have to wait on this one because Kanu is set to announce his college decision at the All-American Bowl in February. However, Ohio State is deep in the mix with nearly all of the 247Sports Crystal Balls flipping his way as of late. He’s a Southern California kid so USC is probably in the mix as well since Oklahoma was also high on Kanu’s list before Lincoln Riley took the job at USC. There’s a chance for a flip here, but Kanu’s most likely landing spot is indeed Ohio State at this point.

Carson Hinzman, Interior Offensive Line

Recruiting Profile

Height | 6-foot, 4-inches
Weight | 280-pounds
Hometown/School | Hammond, WI/Saint Croix Central
247Sports Composite Rankings | No. 6 IOL, No. 134 overall

Where things stand

As the tweet leading this off says, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Hinzman’s home state Wisconsin used to be the three teams vying for his services. It’s now down to the Buckeyes and Badgers, and there seems to be some real intrigue in which way he’ll go. In the end, it would be a big upset for Hinzman to not feel the pull of Wisconsin and what they’ve meant for the offensive line position the last couple of decades. There’s still a chance, and the OSU coaches are working it hard, but we’d be surprised if it’s not Wisconsin when it’s all said and done.

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