Talent Tracker: Ohio State’s WR dilemma amid strong recruiting push, SEC QB shuffle and Rutgers’ torrid pace

Your weekly portion of college football insights on roster acquisition – recruiting, transfer portal, you name it – from 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins.

Ohio State might have a problem at… wide receiver?

Ohio State has never signed the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, but as we cross the middle of June, the Buckeyes are one of the few programs that has a legitimate path to a No. 1 finish. In fact, that’s where your Class of 2025 commitment ends heading into Father’s Day weekend.

What is a little ironic, however, is that if Ryan Day and his team want to make history, they need to close out strong with some wide receivers. Easy, right? Not so fast my friend. While few have recruited for — and developed — the wide receiver position like all-star assistant Brian Hartline has in recent years, it’s still unclear which wide receivers the Buckeyes will actually land, other than De’Zie Joneswhich is on the lower end of four-star status, with a rating of 90.

In recent weeks, Ohio State has received five stars Dakorien Moore and Jamie French, which rank numbers 1 and 4 in their position respectively. The Buckeyes also entertained Top247 pass catchers like Vernell Brown III, Quincy Porter, Philip BellIt is Daylan McCutcheon. All six are potential game-changers at the next level (especially with Hartline fine-tuning his craft), but the latest information suggests there’s still work to be done with each, and that’s what makes Ohio State’s pursuit of different wide receivers a little catchy. .

For most of the last decade, the Buckeyes had their pick of the litter when it came to the wide receiver position (Emeka Egbuka, Garrett Wilson, Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith), but this cycle, Hartline might not end up with their top guy or guys, and that seems to have put a few different wide receivers in a holding pattern. Some are doing well, waiting to see if they will have a chance to call Columbus home in the coming years. Others may want to secure a spot elsewhere.

But even if Ohio State can’t seal the deal with Moore or Ffrench, this appears to be a historic achievement for the Buckeyes.

Last weekend, five-star cornerback Devin Sanchez put on a show in the Overtime OT7 finals, throwing a trio of acrobatic interceptions and leading our OT7 Dream Team. The fact that Ohio State is pairing Sanchez, who looked like a young Sauce Gardner in coverage, with fellow five-star Na’eem Offord is a little unfair to everyone else in the new-look Big Ten. Throw five-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair into the mix along with an emerging offensive tackle in Carter Lower and this group has no shortage of high-quality talent.

SEC teams still looking for QBs

Elite 11 FinalsThe week-long festivities begin June 18 in Los Angeles. While 14 of the 16 Elite 11 participants that are in the Top247 are committed, the three-day quarterback showcase could shed some light on potential turnarounds, as three notable SEC programs do not currently have a commitment from a 2025 quarterback: Ole Miss, Auburn and Florida.

Lane Kiffin and Rebels appear to be keeping tabs on Notre Dame commit Duke Knight. The Magnolia State product is a dynamic athlete with a 40-inch vertical leap to his name. He’s still progressing as a passer, but the lefty has had his moments this offseason and appears to be turning the corner. The last lefty Kiffin worked with? That would be Tua Tagovailoa.

Hugh Freeze and the Tigers have flirted with several different signal-callers in recent months and appear to have gained more traction with the USC commitment Julian Lewis, who will be in The Plains for an official visit this weekend. Lewis may have reclassified and moved up a year, but he is one of the best pure distributors in football in recent cycles and has lit up the scoreboards while facing stiff competition in one of the Peach State’s highest classifications.

Billy Napier and the Gators continue to evaluate their options. Florida brought in former Colorado commitment Mount Antwann took an official visit a few weeks ago and sources say they recently brought in an in-state quarterback to pitch to camp, a development the Gators did a good job of keeping under wraps. Napier’s job security probably isn’t helping the Gators in their quarterback search, but all the fuss around former five-star DJ Lagway It can be more of an obstacle than one might initially think.

What’s going on at Rutgers?

With official visit season in full swing and commitment volume increasing, the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings can be a little misleading this time of year as some schools are still establishing the structure for their classes. Still, we need to give Greg Schiano a tip. Going into the weekend, Rutgers Recruiting Class of 2025occupies 9th position overall It is #3 in the Big Ten.

Yes, this ranking is heavily fueled by 23 nationally leading commitments for the Scarlet Knights, but a deep dive into the class suggests it’s not a lot of smoke and mirrors. The 247Sports scouting department loves the defensive lineman Chase Linton, which recently gained the fourth star in the ranking. He’s raw but blessed with oversized assets and is the type of body that schools have been paying top dollar for in the transfer portal lately.

Other favorites on Rutgers’ commit list include linebackers Isaiah Deloatch and Talibi Kaba, offensive tackle Joshua Blackstone and wide receiver Michael Thomas, as all four have a lot of traits. What also stands out about the Scarlet Knights’ result is the fact that four of the commits have speed scores above 93 in our NextGen database.

Final result? Rutgers may not have staying power in the top 10, but Schiano and her team are finding prospects with developmental upside. If they can keep them now and in the years to come (remember, defending your roster is a top priority in this new era), then it could lead to a new rise in Piscataway.

Sneaky-Good Commitment: IOL Demetri Manning to Oregon

If anyone needs more proof that Dan Lanning is building an SEC-like program in the West, look no further than Manning’s commitment. Kirby Smart did his best to pile on the dough at Georgia, and his protégé Lanning is starting to do the same at Oregon. three-star striker Demetri Manning, who picked the Ducks over Washington and Miami on June 11, is one of the biggest prospects we’ve found in the 2025 cycle, as he tips the scales at just over 6-foot-4 and 345 pounds. He’ll need to melt down and get his body right once he gets to campus, but Oregon could potentially pair him with another human monster in Class of 2024 signee JacQawn McRoy (6-foot-6, 365 pounds) somewhere down the line.

Freak of the Week: LB Mason Posa (Wisconsin commit)

During the three years, 247Sports highlighted the ‘weirdest’ recruits in every class. It’s a play on Bruce Feldman’s annual must-read list of college football’s best athletes, and we plan to use this space to highlight even more crazies. To type Mason Posa. He is one of New Mexico’s most sought-after football players and also one of the best prep wrestlers in the country, having posted a 91-3 record on the mat while winning a trio of state titles.

Posa committed to Wisconsin on Thursday in a live broadcast with 247Sports. The connection to know? Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell was a three-time state champion wrestler in high school and appears attracted to recruits with that kind of experience, as he signed two other decorated wrestlers last cycle, defensive lineman Dillan Johnson and running back Dilin Jones ( If nothing else, today you learned that there are several ways to write Dillon, Dylan, Dillan or Dilin).