Recruiting Outlook: Day Ready To Make “A Hard Push” Before Signing Period, Ohio State Offers 2027 Safety And OT

Ohio State is ranked ninth as a team in 247Sports rankings of the 2026 recruiting class. If the Buckeyes finish there, it would be the first time since 2019 that head coach Ryan Day brought in a class that wasn’t in the top five.

Despite the slow month in recruiting, and missing on multiple top prospects in the month of August, Day is still confident in the plan OSU has for the class, hinting they could be aggressive at trying to flip some players.

“Once you get to December, that’s what is going to matter,” Day said at his Tuesday press conference. “Now more than ever, you see guys commit someplace, go somewhere else and things change.”

But even though the class might currently be ranked lower than what the last six have been at for Ohio State, Day still likes who the Buckeyes already have committed.

“We feel like we have some really good guys committed right now,” Day said. “We’re going to make a hard push here over the next couple of months to finish out the class and figure out what’s right in the transfer portal for us.

“But we feel like it’s really important to make sure we have the right guys, and the right fit. Our coahces are working hard toward that and I have all the confidence in the world we’re going to sign a great class.”

Buckeyes Make Scholarship Offers

With the last couple of weeks of nonconference football here, and Ohio State’s off week coming up, the Buckeyes have made multiple scholarship offers.

Four-star safety Marquis Bryant of Rolesville, N.C. is one of the prospects who got one. He was offered by safeties coach Matt Guerrieri on Sept. 8.

Bryant is the No. 165 prospect in the country, the No. 15 safety and the No. 8 player in the state of North Carolina according to 247Sports composite rankings. He has 30 Division I offers, including from Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, South Carolina and Wisconsin, among others.

In 14 games as a sophomore, Bryant had 58 tackles (one for loss), one interception and 10 passes defended, according to MaxPreps. He also forced two fumbles.

The Buckeyes also offered unranked 2027 offensive tackle Antonio Keefer of Memphis (Tenn.) Southwind. Keefer was offered by Ohio State running backs coach Carlos Locklyn on Sept. 9, the 16th he has received from a Division I team. He also holds offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, UNLV, Virginia Tech and West Virginia, among others.