3-2-1: Making waves with top prospects

In this recruiting-themed edition of "3-2-1," which is presented by Infinit Nutrition, BuckeyeGrove takes a look at some of the most recent news relating to Ohio State football recruiting.

Down below, we talk about three things we learned recently, a couple of questions that we still have and dish out one bold prediction for the 2021 cycle.

Some of the topics below include a discussion on an upcoming decision for a Rivals100 prospect, the Buckeyes being labeled as a finalist by several priority targets and what recruiting visits may look like later this year.

1. Ohio State's running back commits are not afraid to compete

Two of the top six running backs in the country are members of Ohio State's recruiting class this year: Evan Pryor and TreVeyon Henderson.

Both of them are coveted prospects in the backfield, and each player could have been the clear-cut No. 1 RB for a multitude of programs in the 2021 cycle. Instead, Henderson and Pryor are not backing down from the challenge of competing against one another at the next level.

Last week, a Virginia Tech fan on Twitter told Henderson that he should choose the in-state Hokies because he would be their top guy, whereas the Buckeyes land elite running backs on a yearly basis.

Henderson was upfront when replying in his tweet.

"I can be [an] every down back at The Ohio State University," Henderson responded. "I can win [the] Heisman. I will get enough carries. Landing top running backs every year doesn't faze me. I'm a very big competitor."

This is exactly the type of mentality you want to see in someone who is one of the more highly rated recruits in Ohio State's class.

Pryor also echoed these same sentiments when speaking with BuckeyeGrove during our recent interview. The Rivals100 member is in the mindset that him and Henderson will be a dynamic duo when they team up at the next level.

"When he committed, that didn't faze me at all," Pryor said. "I knew they wanted to take two, but I didn't have an issue with anyone they took. I feel like I'm the best in the country as well. It was really cool... we're going to be great together."

The Buckeyes are a program that continuously brings in top-notch players at every position, which may give recruits a reason to pause. But having commits like Henderson and Pryor speak out vocally about their willingness to compete sets the tone for a class, which could lead to positive results when they arrive on campus next year and for future cycles.

2. Jaylin Davies will announce a commitment without having visited Ohio State

Somewhat surprisingly, Jaylin Davies, the seventh-ranked cornerback on Rivals, announced on Wednesday that he will be committing on June 19.

A trio of Pac-12 schools — Arizona State, Oregon and USC — are in his top group, with Ohio State being the fourth finalist. With this announcement, I'm leaning toward Davies winding up in the Pac-12 in just over a couple of weeks.

Davies has never made the nearly cross-country trek from Santa Ana (Calif.) to Columbus, but that could have been a difference maker. The growing belief was that if the Buckeyes got the Rivals100 rising senior on campus for the first time, a commitment could shortly follow.

Toby Davies, who is Jaylin's uncle, talked about his nephew's interest in Ohio State after they took a virtual tour of the school in late April. All signs were pointing toward the Buckeyes being in a prime position to land the talented defensive back following the dead period.

"They're hoping that we choose them, but we talked about not committing yet since he hasn't visited due to the coronavirus," Toby previously explained. "But the interest in each other is mutual. We speak to the staff a couple of times a week, so they definitely have a great way of communicating with our family during this time. The plan is as soon as they open things back up, for Ohio State to be our first trip."

Now, is it entirely possible that had the dead period not been extended through July 31, Davies would have waited on a decision and committed to tOSU following a trip to the school? Absolutely.

But, the fact of the matter is that a prolonged dead period may have put even more pressure on Davies to choose a program and dedicate all of his focus this fall to his senior season.

Anything can happen in this one, though a Davies-to-Ohio State result is less likely to happen than it was a week ago.

3. Multiple big-time recruits included the Buckeyes as finalists in recent weeks

Ohio State is losing no momentum whatsoever on the recruiting trail.

The program already has the No. 1 class by a wide margin, and is in strong contention for even more highly sought after players.

Throughout the month of May, and even in early June, they saw big name after big name release top schools lists that featured the Buckeyes as a finalist.

Five-star prospect and the top receiver in this cycle, Emeka Egbuka, unveiled his final four schools on May 15. Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Washington were the ones to make the cut for Egbuka.

Clemson certainly poses a threat as they've been a recruiting powerhouse for a while, and Oklahoma's pass-friendly offense is undoubtedly appealing to pass catchers. One cannot also rule out the in-state Washington Huskies as well given their close proximity and familiarity with Egbuka.

As things stand right now, however, it appears as if the Buckeyes will land the No. 11 overall prospect in the country. Over a half-dozen FutureCasts have been put in for Egbuka to wind up in Columbus, and nothing has changed to make me believe that this scenario won't ultimately play out.

In the span of nine days, between May 13 and May 22, Ohio State landed in the top four for Clarkston (Mich.) offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger, and they also made the top five for Rocco Spindler, Dellinger's teammate.

I spoke with Spindler about the likelihood of these two playing college football together a few days ago. Spindler admitted that it's an appealing possibility as they have known each other since they were kids, but them being a package deal is not a guarantee.

It's important to note that these pair of OL's finalists are nearly identical, except for Spindler's inclusion of Notre Dame. If they did decide to commit to the same school, then Michigan would be the likeliest destination, but Ohio State would have a strong case as well as they've been recruiting them for two years, so there's certainly familiarity here.

The Buckeyes do have some ground to make up in their pursuit of the two as Dellinger is seemingly an LSU-lean, and Michigan and Notre Dame are battling hard to reel in Spindler.

Now we arrive at Tony Grimes, the nation's top-ranked cornerback and No. 13 overall prospect in the 2021 class. Grimes released a final four on Sunday that featured Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio State and Texas A&M.

While some may have viewed the Buckeyes as having an outside shot in this one, his father, Deon Glover, was adamant that this is not the case. Glover says his son is very much interested in Ohio State, with defensive coordinator/secondary coach Kerry Coombs continuing to wow him during their conversations.

There was admittedly somewhat of a drop in communication between Grimes and the program with Jeff Hafley's departure to Boston College, but Coombs has picked things back up. Glover also noted that his virtual visit to Ohio State last month elevated Grimes' interest in the Buckeyes.

The Bulldogs and Tar Heels appear to be ahead here, though Glover maintained that all four finalists are on an equal playing field.

Although this wasn't an official top schools list released on Twitter, I wanted to mention that BuckeyeGrove's Dave Lackford spoke with priority tight end target Hudson Wolfe, who says he has a top five of Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

You can read Lackford's full story on Wolfe HERE.

1. How realistic is it for Ohio State to land Tyreak Sapp?

As someone who has covered Florida Gators commit Tyreak Sapp for well over year, I've been able to speak with him multiple times about his recruiting process and where things stand with UF.

Sapp committed to Dan Mullen's program in December of his sophomore year, and has stayed solid with that pledge ever since then. Sapp, who is close to being labeled as a five-star, has made it clear, however, that he's not going to shut down his recruitment.

The product out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) is currently speaking with four schools the most besides the Gators: Alabama, Georgia Tech, Ohio State and Miami.

For some quick background on each of these teams, the Crimson Tide has been the constant program we've heard pop up frequently for Sapp. UM is also an intriguing one to watch out for given their close proximity to Sapp.

With Georgia Tech, this was a new one that Sapp mentioned to me recently as I had not heard they were contenders for him prior to last week. A virtual visit with the Yellow Jackets occurred earlier in the spring, which made a great impression on him.

Ohio State is somewhat new as well as they dished out an offer to him in late January, but is doing a solid job thus far of staying in touch with Sapp. Larry Johnson's communication with him is going well, and the d-line coach's history of developing players, such as Chase Young, Joey Bosa and Nick Bosa, has caught Sapp's attention. Both Bosa brothers went to STA, which Sapp noted in our conversation.

The level of competition present in Columbus is also something that is piquing Sapp's interest. He's looking for a place that will have players to push him in practices and where he isn't necessarily the unquestionable top guy, and the combination of future Buckeyes Jack Sawyer and Tunmise Adeleye is something Sapp is paying attention to.

I still believe Florida ultimately keeps Sapp and signs him, but a trip to Ohio State's campus could change things up. Sapp intended to visit the school this spring, though the coronavirus pandemic shut down those plans.

To answer the question directly, I'd say Ohio State is probably third on Sapp's list, with Alabama being second, so the likelihood of landing him isn't very high at this juncture.

2. What will visits look like once the dead period is lifted?

I just mentioned the COVID-19 outbreak, so I figured I would pose this question and explore the potential answer a little bit.

Recruiting visits have been not allowed for nearly three months, with the current dead period set to last through the end of July. But, without a vaccination for the novel coronavirus, can we expect to go back to normal when it comes to college trips later this year?

In my opinion, I believe these visits could look drastically different.

Before the trips even begin, there is a possibility that prospects will have their temperatures taken immediately upon arrival at a school's campus. I don't think a test would be administered for every recruit, but you have to wonder if it will be a requirement for official visitors.

Another thing is that it would be hard to envision packed stadiums in the fall that we are normally accustomed to seeing. If we do have any fans this season, then they will most likely be spaced out with strict guidelines to follow social distancing and that wearing a mask may be required.

As a result, recruits will not be able to experience the true atmosphere of game days during their official and unofficial visits. They may also be asked to follow these guidelines themselves and not sit close together while watching the games.

Also, will there be a max number of prospects that are allowed to visit at one time? One would have to imagine that the NCAA could explore this option to prevent a laundry list of visitors being present on a college campus on a single day as they could potentially expose themselves and others to the virus.

I am in no way shape or form a doctor, so I don't have an exact answer for the question above. What I do know, however, is that believing recruiting visits will look the same as usual over the next few months, and possibly the next year, is probably not a realistic expectation.

Ohio State will end up with a top-three recruiting class ever

The greatest class ever, in the Rivals.com-era, is the 2017 Alabama Crimson Tide class that had an outstanding total of 3,477 points.

This was an incredible feat, with Alabama reeling in seven five-star prospects, an additional six members of the Rivals100 and 23 overall Rivals250 recruits.

The others in the top three are Georgia in 2018 (3,461 points) and Alabama in 2014 (3,263 points).

I'm here to say that Ohio State will be in this group following the 2021 cycle.

BuckeyeGrove's Kevin Noon recently put out a scenario that would get tOSU to 3,526 points. This scenario involves them landing J.C. Latham, Emeka Egbuka, J.T. Tuimoloau, Hudson Wolfe, Derrick Davis and Tywone Malone. This didn't even factor in the possibility of four-star targets Jager Burton or Jaylin Davies joining the program.

There are eight FutureCast predictions in their favor for Egbuka and Latham, a dozen in their favor for Tuimoloau and four for Wolfe. Malone also appears to be leaning to the Buckeyes, while it will certainly be a back-and-forth battle with Penn State to land Davis.

A name like Sapp could be an interesting one to keep an eye out for down the line as well.

I won't predict that Ohio State lands every single prospect listed in this section, but this class has the feel of one that will be vying for the best ever to the very end. It would take a dream scenario for them to eclipse Alabama's class in 2017, but I'll say that they wind up in the top three in the history of our rankings when it's all said and done.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.