Ohio State trending for 4-star Ohio OT
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The Ohio State football team is just weeks away from the start of the college football regular season. The Buckeyes will open the season against Ball State on Sept. 5 and it certainly feels like football is in the Columbus air.
Understandably so, much of the focus is surrounding this year’s Buckeyes as they prepare for the 2026-27 regular season. Ohio State also announced its captains for the year this past weekend and announced wide receiver Brandon Innis will don the Block O jersey this year.
With the start of the season so close, it is easy to think recruiting would be moved to the back-burner but Ryan Day and the Ohio State coaching staff always find time to recruit. This constant effort has led to Ohio State putting together another top-ranked recruiting class for the 2027 cycle and the Buckeyes are also off to a hot start in the 2028 cycle.
Ohio State already has verbal commitments from wide receiver Jett Harrison, quarterback Christopher Vargas, four-star running back Elijah Newman-Hall and edge Jameer Whyce. All of them are viewed as one of the top prospects at their position and there is a good chance all could end up being five-stars at the end of the cycle.
The Buckeyes are looking to add to this early haul and seem to now be leaders for one of the top prospects from the state of Ohio. Four-star offensive-tackle Kavon Blackmon (Springfield, OH / Springfield) received an official scholarship offer from the Buckeyes in June and since the offer, Ohio State has been making him feel like a priority in the cycle.
Ohio State brought in an impressive haul along the offensive line in the 2027 cycle, in large part to commitments from in-state prospects. Offensive line coach Tyler Bowen would love to get the offensive line haul started in similar fashion this year with a commitment from Blackmon.
It seems the increased attention is paying dividends for the Buckeyes as Ohio State was named by Steve Wiltfong of On3.com as the favorites in his recruitment and was confident enough to place a prediction for it as well. He joined Allen Trieu in this prediction as Trieu predicted the Buckeyes in Blackmon’s recruitment in late July.
While Ohio State certainly has to love where it sits in his recruitment, they are not the lone suitors either. Blackmon holds at least two dozen offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida State, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue, Tennessee, UCLA and others.
Blackmon has not said whether he plans to commit soon or if he wants his recruitment to play out. He will likely visit with some of his top schools this fall for game days and those visits will provide a good insight into how he is feeling. That being said, Ohio State has increased its importance of keeping the best prospects from Ohio in-state, and it looks to be paying off for the team early.
Blackmon is the No. 15 OT in the 247Sports Composite and he is the No. 130 national recruit. He is also the No. 5 recruit out of Ohio.
Quick Hits
With Ohio State’s 2028 recruiting class already off to a hot start, the Buckeyes are taking advantage of this by getting an early start in the 2029 class as well.
Ohio State offered 2029 linebacker Jayvion Maldon (Leesburg, VA / Loudon Sports Academy) on Monday. It is certainly early in his recruitment, but Maldon already holds sscholarship offers from the likes of Virginia Tech, Maryland, Michigan, NC State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pitt and more.
There are also no rankings for the 2029 class yet for 247Sports or On3 but expect Maldon to be one of the top linebacker prospects when they released their rankings.
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