Re-ranking Ohio State football's 2019 recruiting class

Ryan Day’s first recruiting class came together in a span of two weeks.

He was named Urban Meyer’s successor as the coach at Ohio State in late 2018, an announcement preceding the start of the early signing period by 15 days.

The Buckeyes would go on to sign 17 high school recruits as part of the 2019 class over the winter, forming a group to help them reach the College Football Playoff three times in four seasons.

Which signees turned out to be the most productive for Ohio State? While five remain on the roster as fifth-year seniors for the coming season, four left for the NFL, two took medical retirements and six transferred to other schools. Here’s a look back on the class, re-ranking the players by their level of impact.

Related article: Who are the best recruiting commits at each position in Ohio State football history?

1. Garrett Wilson

247Sports composite ranking: 20 natl. (No. 2 in OSU's class)

From making acrobatic catches along the sideline to maneuvering out of the slot, Wilson did it all as a star receiver for the Buckeyes, living up to his five-star rating. In his final season in 2021 before declaring for the draft, he was named an All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, one of the five major teams recognized by the NCAA. Over three seasons, he caught 143 passes and 2,213 yards and 23 touchdowns. His career receptions rank 8th on the school’s all-time list.

2. Dawand Jones

247Sports composite ranking: 1,127 natl. (No. 17 in class)

Jones was a big underdog success story after being an overlooked prospect for most of his time at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis and prioritizing his basketball ambitions as a teenager. Despite being the Buckeyes’ lowest-ranked signee, he developed into a starting right tackle for two seasons as he protected star quarterback C.J. Stroud. CBSSports.com named Jones to its All-American team last fall.

3. Tommy Eichenberg

247Sports composite ranking: 318 natl. (No. 10 in class)

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Eichenberg enters his fifth season at Ohio State as a candidate for the Butkus Award as the top linebacker in the nation. That’s a result of a breakout season in 2022 that saw him chase down ball carries throughout the Big Ten. The 120 tackles he totaled were the most by a Buckeyes linebacker since Joshua Perry's 124 in 2014.

4. Zach Harrison

247Sports composite ranking: 12 natl. (No. 1 in class)

Expectations for Harrison were sky high. The Olentangy Orange graduate was one of the highest-ranked prospects in the nation and seen as the next in a line of dominant Ohio State pass rushers after Joey and Nick Bosa and Chase Young. His production, though, never quite matched theirs. Joey Bosa had 26 career sacks, Nick Bosa had 17.5 and Young had 30.5, each over three seasons. In four seasons, Harrison finished with 11 sacks in four seasons. Still, it was a high bar and Harrison found other ways to be disruptive in the backfield by hurrying quarterbacks and batting balls.

5. Cade Stover

247Sports composite ranking: 114 natl. (No. 5 in class)

Stover spent several seasons moving between the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, starting out at defensive end, switching to linebacker and then moving to tight end. He found success on offense last season, catching 36 passes for 406 yards and five touchdowns, the most by an Ohio State tight end since Rickey Dudley’s 37 receptions in 1995, and expects to further settle in at the position this fall.

6. Steele Chambers

247Sports composite ranking: 236 natl. (No. 8 in class)

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A position change also defined Chambers’ early years with the Buckeyes. After being buried on the depth chart at running back, he switched to linebacker in 2021, then took a big leap last fall following the arrival of Jim Knowles as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Chambers' 77 tackles were the second-most behind Eichenberg.

More: Inside Steele Chambers' position switch that bolstered Ohio State football's defense

7. Ronnie Hickman

247Sports composite ranking: 115 natl. (No. 6 in class)

Hickman became a two-year starter at multiple positions in the back end of the defense, first in a hybrid linebacker-safety role and later as the free safety. When he was the “bullet” in 2021, he led the Buckeyes with 98 tackles.

8. Jameson Williams

247Sports composite ranking: 82 natl. (No. 4 in class)

Williams started at receiver for the Buckeyes in 2020, catching nine passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the pandemic-shortened season, including a 45-yard grab for a score in a playoff semifinal win over Clemson, before transferring to Alabama the following year and breaking out with the Crimson Tide.

9. Harry Miller

247Sports composite ranking: 30 natl. (No. 3 in class)

Before medically retiring for mental health reasons last year, Miller spent a season starting on the Buckeyes’ offensive line when he was at left guard as a sophomore. He appeared in two games in 2021.

10. Bryson Shaw

247Sports composite ranking: 571 natl. (No. 13 in class)

Shaw was the backup free safety who became the starter in 2021 when Josh Proctor was sidelined by a season-ending leg fracture and had 59 tackles, the third-most on the team. He then transferred to Southern California and reuniting with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, who had helped recruit him to Ohio State in 2018.

11. Enokk Vimahi

247Sports composite ranking: 124 natl. (No. 7 in class)

Vimahi has been a dependable backup and made his first career start in place of an injured Matt Jones against Michigan last season, but it remains to be seen if he’ll become a full-time starter this fall with Jones returning, as well as Donovan Jackson at left guard.

12. Craig Young

247Sports composite ranking: 605 natl. (No. 15 in class)

Splitting time between linebacker and safety, Young never took off in either spot despite promising length and size and transferred to Kansas after three seasons. He backed up Hickman as the “bullet” in 2021 and finished with 15 tackles.

13. Marcus Crowley

247Sports composite ranking: 362 natl. (No. 12 in class)

Multiple knee injuries led Crowley to medically retire before last season. He saw his largest role late in 2020 as injuries piled up elsewhere in the backfield, seeing six carries against Alabama in the playoff final.

14. Jaden McKenzie

247Sports composite ranking: 761 natl. (No. 16 in class)

McKenzie has been buried down in the defensive line rotation. He’s appeared in only 11 games over four seasons, logging 121 career snaps, according to tallying by Pro Football Focus. But with two seasons of eligibility remaining, time remains for him to seize a more prominent role and make a bigger impact.

15. Cormontae Hamilton

247Sports composite ranking: 585 natl. (No. 14 in class)

Starting out as a tight end, Hamilton moved over to the defensive line after one season. He had six tackles and two sacks over 2020 and 2021 before transferring to Memphis, his hometown school.

16. Noah Potter

247Sports composite ranking: 322 natl. (No. 11 in class)

Injuries kept Potter from being a significant contributor over three seasons with the Buckeyes, a handful of setbacks that included emergency eye surgery in 2021 to repair a torn retina. He made two tackles in 2020. He transferred to Cincinnati last year and has since moved on to North Carolina State.

17. Ryan Jacoby

247Sports composite ranking: 297 natl. (No. 9 in class)

He never appeared in a game in two seasons with the Buckeyes before putting his name in the portal a week into preseason camp in 2021 and transferring to Pittsburgh.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football's 2019 recruiting class re-ranked four years later