Ohio State gets recruiting win over their biggest rival Michigan that will leave Wolverines feeling unwell

Something about Ohio State and recruiting football players from St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania just goes hand in hand.

On Monday, defensive tackle Maxwell Roy announced that he would be committing to the Buckeyes. For the Buckeyes, this is more than just another commitment. Ohio State and Michigan were both after Roy heavily and the Wolverines were even seen as the favorite up until recently.

Larry Johnson is having a big showing in this recruiting class and Roy is another win that he can add to his resume. Roy had visited Ohio State back on June 14 but was on Michigan’s campus for his official there the very next weekend. To be able to win this commitment over the Wolverines having that late visit makes it even more impressive. Lately, Johnson has been busy with four-star pass rusher Zion Grady and four-star defensive tackle Trajen Odom both committing in the month of June. Defensive lineman London Merritt and Zahir Mathis had already been committed.

Roy gives the Buckeyes a 6-foot-3 and 270-pound defensive tackle who is the No. 229 player in the country, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings. Roy is the teammate of running back commit Isaiah West and is a pretty good high school wrestler. The Buckeyes’ newest commitment competes in track and field as well.

Johnson gets a big get in Roy since he was the top target at the position for Michigan. The Buckeyes are still after a few interior players like Auburn commit Malik Autry and 2026 five-star Jahkeem Stewart, who very well could be reclassifying to the class of 2025. If he does reclassify, he would be a no doubt take for the Buckeyes, no matter what their class was looking like.

Ohio State now has 22 players committed to this point in the class of 2022 with plenty of work to do still. When it is all said and done, the Buckeyes will be around 30 commitments.

Ohio State’s 2025 verbal commits

• QB Tavien St. Clair
• CB Devin Sanchez
• CB Na’eem Offord
• OT Carter Lowe
• LB Tarvos Alford
• RB Bo Jackson
• DE Zahir Mathis
• DL London Merritt
• TE Nate Roberts
• WR De’Zie Jones
• S DeShawn Stewart
• LB Eli Lee
• S Cody Haddad
• S Faheem Delane
• WR Quincy Porter
• RB Isaiah West
• WR Bodpegn Miller
• OL Jake Cook
• TE Brody Lennon
• DL Trajen Odom

Related: Ohio State is in a great spot to add another major recruiting piece just before the holiday