Revisiting Ohio State July offensive recruiting goals, priorities

Ohio State recruiting is a year-round venture, and Lettermen Row is trying to keep everyone up to speed on just how the Buckeyes’ efforts are going. At the beginning of each month, our staff will make a to-do list for Ryan Day and his staff on the recruiting trail while reviewing the prior month’s list. A look at how July went for Ohio State.

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has entered one of the more pivotal months of the recruiting calendar.

July is mostly a dead period, which means no visits are happening. Coaches aren’t on the road to see prospects. But July is well-regarded as the major commitment month for prospects all across the country.

The Buckeyes entered July with the top-ranked recruiting class in the On3 Team Industry Rankings, but the race has tightened at the top.

Ohio State holds 10 pledges from offensive prospects and is still waiting to hear decisions from a few key targets. Lettermen Row revisits the few offensive goals and priorities for the Buckeyes to tackle in July.

READ: Establishing Ohio State July offensive recruiting goals, priorities

Sanders Update

There are only so many more words we can write about five-star Plus+ Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. before he announces his commitment. Sanders, the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 2 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Rankings, will announce his commitment on Aug. 17.

Ohio State, Tennessee, Nebraska and Georgia are the four finalists for Sanders.

Even though there was a quiet period in July when prospects could visit campus, Sanders and his family did not visit Ohio State. They instead went to Nebraska and Tennessee. Lettermen Row wrote pretty extensively about that on Monday, which you can read here.

The latest update two days later is that the Sanders family is now in decision mode. It’s going to be hard-pressed to find out information regarding his decision. All four of the programs feel like they have done everything they need to do and can do to land Sanders.

We still hear it’s Ohio State and Tennessee up at the top.

Closing Out

Thirty days ago, this middle section was about closing out on other top 2025 prospects.

Those two mentioned were four-star Washington D.C. Riverdale Baptist IOL Jayvon McFadden and four-star Mission Viejo (Calif) wide receiver Phillip Bell. Neither were leaning toward a July decision as we reported at the beginning of the month.

The communication between Ohio State and those two prospects remains strong as both offensive line coach Justin Frye and wide receiver coach Brian Hartline look to add more commits to their hauls. Both prospects made official visits to Ohio State this summer and it wouldn’t be shocking to see at least McFadden on campus this fall for a game — committed or not.

Wait and See

The recruiting cycles are ever so slowly starting to shift from 2025 to 2026. Summer is a great time for the up-and-coming recruiting cycle to take center stage.

Lettermen Row wrote about how early prioritization of top offensive line targets would be a good thing for the Buckeyes to do. We mentioned names like Max Riley, Sam Greer, Will Conroy, Micah Smith and Da’Ron Parks.

Four of the five are in great standing with the Buckeyes. The only one who isn’t is Conroy. The three-star Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius IOL cut a top five that left Ohio State and Oregon, another presumed favorite, off the list.

As for the other four, all of them have been on campus within the last six months and will be back this fall for a game at some point.

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