A-Deck: What will David Sanders do?

Welcome to “A-Deck” at Lettermen Row, where I’ll bring you inside scoop, what I’m hearing, tidbits, thoughts, and more on Ohio State recruiting and team coverage every week.

Last week’s A-Deck provided a list of sleeper prospects that could end up signing with Ohio State as part of the recruiting class of 2025.

In this week’s edition, I share thoughts on the upcoming decision of top offensive tackle David Sanders , as well as what it means for Ohio State if he does or doesn’t pick the Buckeyes on Saturday.

The latest on David Sanders

After a pursuit that has lasted about two years, Ohio State will finally learn their fate in regard to the nation’s top offensive tackle, David Sanders Jr., on Saturday at 12:30 PM EST.

Sanders is set to make his college decision between the Buckeyes, Tennessee, Nebraska, and Georgia, but is most likely going to pick one of the first three aforementioned programs .

Up until a few weeks ago, the Scarlet and Gray were looking in strong position to land a pledge from the five-star-plus prospect. It has been thought that Ohio State and the Volunteers have been the two teams jockeying for position at the top since the spring, and with the Bucks getting the last official visit in late June, the feeling was that OSU solidified themselves as the very likely destination.

But with the last weekend in July open, Sanders chose to make visits to both Lincoln and Knoxville, and not to Columbus , giving Nebraska hope, leaving Tennessee feeling good, and Ohio State clinging on to some cautious optimism . The feeling coming out of those late-July visits now is that the Vols really upped their pitch to the Sanders camp and the consensus feeling amongst insiders, including Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) picks from On3’s Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons (and others) , is that Rocky Top is the favorite to land the blue-chipper, who is arguably the top prospect overall in the country.

In speaking with sources familiar with the staff at Tennessee, confidence remains very high going into Saturday’s decision that the Vols will be the pick.

Nebraska isn’t confident, but it seems there is “a glimmer of hope” that Sanders could surprise people and call Lincoln home.

In talking with folks inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, I can tell you that they have not been told “no” by the Sanders camp yet, and there is still some cautious optimism left that all of the feelings and reasons that had them as the perceived favorite in late June to mid-July are still existing, potentially making all of the UT-buzz a smokescreen. I can also tell you, though, there doesn’t seem to be as much confidence around Sanders coming to Columbus as there once was, even as recently as a month ago.

I’m going to bow out of making a formal RPM pick on this one, but gun to my head, I’d have to go with the Vols, just given all of the momentum it seems they have coming from that last visit. The NIL opportunity is there, the proximity to home is there, the relationships are there, and the opportunity to get on the field early is there. It’s almost hard at this point to see Sanders picking somewhere else.

Where Ohio State goes if he picks elsewhere

Ohio State currently has two commits in their class, with in-state prospects Carter Lowe and Jake Cook on board. They wanted four in this class, so missing on Sanders would not be ideal, given they’ve somewhat put all of their eggs in his basket.

The only realistic known target that is still out there and high on the board is interior line prospect Javyon McFadden , and with the Maryland-native it seems like Ohio State may have to battle some big time NIL offers (see: Colorado) down the stretch if they want to reel him in.

Outside of that, there is not any uncommitted prospects that have been offered that you can objectively say the Buckeyes have a shot with. The more likely scenario for high school prospects is that Ohio State works to flip players committed elsewhere and/or they look to re-evaluate some prospects they passed on offering the first time around.

In the former category, continuing to chase guys they had strong relationships with, such as Josh Petty (Georgia Tech), Jackson Lloyd (Alabama), Douglas Utu (Tennessee), Micah DeBose (Alabama), Henry Fenuku (Missouri), Avery Gach (Michigan) and Andrew Stargel (UCF), among a few others, will be in the cards, but likely won’t lead to much. Maybe taking another look at some guys who had non-committable offers like Rowan Byrne (Clemson), Joshua Blackston (Rutgers), and more like that could be a possibility if they have strong senior film.

But the more likely scenario to me is looking in state and offering guys they passed on the first go-around. Names like Wisconsin pledge Nolan Davenport and Kentucky commit Jermiel Atkins come to mind. There will be others in-state that have strong senior years as well to earn at least a look.

There could be some other angles that Ohio State takes (like new names on the board), but the bottom line is that things are not looking great at the current moment should Sanders do the expected and commit to Tennessee. That’s something that Mark Pantoni, Ryan Day, and Justin Frye need to solve for quickly.

What it means for Ohio State if the Buckeyes win out

If Sanders pulls a surprise on Saturday and does indeed pick the Buckeyes, it completely changes the trajectory of this offensive line class, the future of the position room, and how Ohio State fans view current OL coach Justin Frye .

Sanders would team up with Lowe to give this class a strong group of bookends. Cook would be an interior lineman likely slotted for center. That would allow the Buckeyes to have a lot less pressure on them in pursuing a fourth lineman. They still would want to bring in a guard, but also go big game hunting in trying to flip other prospects, or be more willing to take a high upside guy with Sanders already in the fold and the scholarship limit likely increasing.

Getting Sanders’ pledge would be a huge win for the program. He is the five-star tackle that has completely evaded them the last handful of cycles, and could slide right into the left tackle position once Josh Simmons decides to leave Columbus. At this time it’s unclear who Simmons’ successor could be, when it comes to personnel on the current roster. Should he decide to go pro after the 2024 season, the Buckeyes think Sanders is that good that he could compete for the job as a true freshman.

Right now it’s not looking super likely that Sanders ends up at Ohio State, but if he does choose to wear Scarlet and Gray, it would be a massive win on all counts for the program.

The post A-Deck: What will David Sanders do? appeared first on On3 .