Outlining the 2015 Wideout Possibilities

The Buckeyes are yet to land a Wide Receiver in this 2015 class. Even though local Canton McKinley Eric Glover-Williams who is committed to the Buckeyes could play the position if need be, most expect the 4-star to instead play on the defensive side of the ball at Cornerback when he arrives to Columbus next fall. Even though the Buckeyes have yet to secure a commitment from a Wide Receiver in this year’s class that is not something to be worried about. The Buckeyes are in on a hand full of targets which include the likes of 5-star Christian Kirk, 4-star Van Jefferson, 4-star Devante Peete, and 3-star Lawrence Cager.

Christian Kirk is the biggest fish out in the market and Urban Meyer and his staff is going full out to try and land his services. Kirk is a 5-10 Receiver from Scottsdale, AZ and has offers from just about every college football team out there. He recently trimmed his list to a final six which included the Buckeyes along with Texas A&M, USC, UCLA, Arizona State, and Auburn. Kirk has been to Ohio State on two occasions with the most recent being on June 21^st with his high school coach. Relationships seem to be the most important factor in Kirk’s recruitment and he has great one’s with Freshman Quarterback Kyle Allen and 2015 Quarterback commit, Kyler Murray from Texas A&M. This is one of the top reasons that A&M is perceived as the front runner to land Kirk in the 2015 cycle as they sit at 74% in the crystal ball. The Buckeyes only have 3-Star Quarterback Joe Burrow (who is greatly underrated IMO) in the fold and it is seemed as a weakness in the Kirk sweepstakes. A commitment from Quarterback/Athlete Torrance Gibson on October 20^th could help vault Ohio State to the top of Kirk’s recruitment. Two things that Ohio State has going for them is Kirk’s relationship with both Urban Meyer and some of the players already at Ohio State. Kirk is good friends with fellow Wide Receiver Johnnie Dixon who is a true freshman this year and Kirk has compared his recruitment to Johnnie’s. If Ohio State could add the final piece of a top named Quarterback (ie. Torrance Gibson), then Ohio State could land the talented prospect. A team that a lot of people don’t talk about in Kirk’s recruitment and could be a dark horse is USC. The Trojans are of course closer to Arizona then the previous mentioned Buckeyes and Aggies, making it easier for Kirk’s family to attend more games. This is one reason that may help USC’s chances. Another thing that helps USC’s chances is Kirk’s relationship with Quarterback commits Ricky Town and Sam Darnold. Town is one of the top pro-style Quarterbacks in the nation and at one point was committed to Alabama before flipping to USC. Kirk’s recruitment has been and will continue to be a fun one to watch, but hopefully in the end Ohio State is where he chooses to spend his next three to four years.

Van Jefferson’s recruitment has been very intriguing as well. Jefferson is 6-3 Wideout from Brentwood, TN. At one point it seemed as though Jefferson was a lock to choose the Buckeyes and then all of a sudden Jefferson decided to slow his recruitment back down and take more visits. Word is that Jefferson’s parents advised their son to look at all options to make sure the Buckeyes were the right choice. Since then Jefferson took visits to Georgia and Tennessee and both programs vaulted back into Jefferson’s leaders providing Ohio State some stiff competition for the touted player. After those visits, many experts believed that Jefferson was going to choose local Tennessee and changed their crystal ball to show accordingly (currently 50% Tennessee). However, Jefferson decided to make a return trip to Ohio State on July 16^th and has since had his recruitment go silent. It seems that Ohio State is back in the thick of things, but no one really knows where Jefferson will land or even when. It will be interesting to see if it will be the hometown Vols, our Buckeyes or the dark horse Bulldogs in the end. You’ll want to keep an eye on this one.

Devante Peete has said he is very interested in the Buckeyes as he hails from pipeline high school St. Thomas Aquinas. Peete stands at 6-6 and currently has his crystal ball split 50-50 between the Buckeyes and Hurricanes. Peete has flirted with the idea of being a Buckeye often, but he is yet to even visit campus. Peete has been scheduled to visit on numerous occasions including recently on ‘Friday Night Lights’, but every time has had a reason on why he couldn’t make the trip. This recruitment is a pretty easy one to read in if Peete makes the visit to Ohio State, then Ohio State becomes the overall favorite in Peete’s recruitment, but if Peete doesn’t make the trip, then he won’t be a Buckeye and will most likely land at local Miami with his teammates Jordan Scarlett and fellow Wide Receiver Sam Bruce.

Lawrence Cager is the Wide Receiver that most experts and fans are most confident will end up in the Scarlet and Grey. Cager is a 6-5 Wideout from Towson, MD and recently earned an offer from the Buckeyes after camping at ‘Friday Night Lights’. Cager seemed to love his visit to campus as he got to bond more with Quarterback Torrance Gibson, who he originally met at The Opening. Cager has since narrowed his choices down to a final 7 in Alabama, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Rutgers, Tennessee, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. He recently told me that he planned to make an official visit to Columbus for the Virginia Tech game on September 6^th. There is no doubt that the offer from Ohio State was a game changer to him as it was the one he coveted the most growing up a Buckeye fan.  It won’t be surprising one bit to see Lawrence Cager to be one of the names rolled out as an Ohio State signee come National Signing Day 2015. The visit on September 6^th should seal the deal.

So as you can see, Buckeye fans don’t get worked up about not having a Wide Receiver in the 2015 class just yet because Urban Meyer is on some great prospects who he has a very good chance of landing. It will just take a little bit of time to see which one’s of Kirk, Jefferson, Peete, and Cager decide to join the family at Ohio State and ultimately don the Scarlet and Grey in 2015.