The Buckeyes have earned just one commitment in the 2026 class to this point, from CJ Sanna, but that’s not to say there is not a good amount of progress being made at the position.
On Wednesday, four-star in-state linebacker Cincere Johnson narrowed his scholarship list down to a top three that includes Ohio State alongside Alabama and Penn State. The Cleveland Glenville product has official visits set up with all three of those schools and will likely wait until after to make his final decision.
It’s no secret that the Glenville to Ohio State pipeline has paid dividends for the Buckeyes over the years, and Johnson could be the next player on that list. He is the No. 101 prospect in the country, the No. 6 linebacker and the No. 3 player in the state of Ohio according to 247Sports composite rankings.
The Buckeyes are also leading with Tyler Atkinson, the No. 1 linebacker in the country and the No. 8 player in the class. In an interview with Marc Givler of Buckeye Huddle on Tuesday, Atkinson said that Ohio State is at the top of his list at this point because of the relationships he has built with the school.
Atkinson is from Georgia, so it could be tough to pull the five-star out of the state away from the Bulldogs, but OSU is in as good of a spot as it can be at this point for the extremely talented backer.
Linebackers coach James Laurinaitis had a great first year as linebackers coach when it came to recruiting the 2025 class, signing Riley Pettijohn, Tarvos Alford and Eli Lee, who all enrolled early with the Buckeyes and had good spring camps.
Now Laurinaitis looks to repeat that a year later, and it seems to be trending in the right direction for the second-year coach.
