Ohio State offers Alabama safety, adds more visitors

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Another busy week for Ohio State’s coaching staff, the Buckeyes have been recruiting nonstop. New names to the guest list and more visit plans made, Ohio State continues making top schools lists and sending new offers out.

All part of the job the past few days, Thursday saw another new offer go out in the 2028 cycle. Making their way into SEC country once again, Ohio State is the latest program to offer Alabama native CJ Craig-James (Birmingham, Alabama/Parker).

A 6-foot-3, 185 pound athlete, Craig-James does not yet have a ranking via his 247Sports profile, but nearly 20 offers to his name early on, CJ is sure to be among the better safeties in the country for his class. Programs such as Colorado, Florida, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M, and others are already on his list, but now the Buckeyes joining the fold should further increase the attention towards his recruitment.

One of the longer frames for a safety, recruiting the position couldn’t be better for the Buckeyes coming off the Caleb Downs era. The Jim Thorpe award winner, Matt Guerrieri has the back end of the secondary in a great spot and top players are taking notice.

After a great haul in the 2026 class, 2027 should be no different, and the goals will remain the same in 2028.

Most of the attention going to uncommitted players when official visits are made, it’s important to remember the committed players when it comes to these large recruiting opportunities.

Playing a major role in the overall atmosphere, Ohio State’s committed players are not only asked to be peer recruiters, but also ambassadors for the program. The 2027 commits set to do the same this coming visit season, Ohio State’s staff will lean on their class leaders to continue building one of the top national classes.

Multiple commits setting their official visits now, the Buckeyes will have safety commit Eli Johnson on campus for June 5-7. The No. 146 player nationally and the 12th best safety per the 247Sports Composite, Johnson has been committed to Ohio State since November and is a key piece to their defensive haul.

A Texas product with plenty of recruiting chops of his own, the Buckeyes love what they have in Johnson on and off the field, and will tap into his social abilities as well as show him why he’s made the right call in picking Ohio State.

The 2027 quarterback commit also with his official visit to Ohio State set, Brady Edmunds will be on campus just a couple weeks later from June 19-21.

The clear vocal leader of this class for sometime now, Edmunds has never been shy about recruiting for the Buckeyes and his social media confirms that notion. Offensive or defensive players and regardless of class, Ohio State has a very enthusiastic signal caller working on their behalf and certainly he’ll be doing more of the same in late June.

A weekend that is set to bring in several top targets for Ohio State’s staff, it makes sense to have their committed quarterback on site and as additional names continue to be added to the guest list, this three-day period could be one of the prized weekends of the summer.

The No. 193 player nationally and 18th best quarterback in the 2027 class per the 247Sports Composite, Brady has been committed to Ohio State for well over a year and it shows.

Quick Hits

Two safeties committed for the Buckeyes in the 2027 class, Ohio State will shift majority of their defensive secondary focus to the cornerback position. They’ll certainly be keeping tabs on in-state native Deontay Malone (Massillon, Ohio/Washington), who will visit the Buckeyes as soon as next week.

A 5-foot-11, 175 pound athlete, Malone is the No. 381 player nationally and 23rd best athlete per the 247Sports Composite. Visits to Pitt, Michigan, and Michigan State also on his schedule, the Buckeyes will have to fight off other suitors, but that tends to bode well in their favor when it comes to Ohio based prospects.

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