In the wide world of college football recruiting, there is nothing that can be considered certain until the first week of February: National Signing Day. Most recruits verbally "commit" to their schools before that time -- some even enroll early in January -- and simply sign on the dotted line when prompted to do so. But until that Letter of Intent is signed, nothing is binding. Recruits are free to "decommit" and open their options, or they can simply choose not to choose a school until National Signing Day.
So, with that out of the way, it is nearly September. Recruiting classes for the 2017 season are already starting to take shape even though signing day is still six months away. And if you don't follow recruiting or college football as closely as I do (seriously, it's okay if you don't because I'm only slightly insane), then you likely haven't seen just how ridiculously good Ohio State's 2017 class is already.
Alabama is the model for college football. Hate them as much as you want, and many people do indeed hate them, but they've won five of the last eight national titles, and Nick Saban and the Tide are showing no signs of slowing down. Their on-field success stems not only from great coaching but also from the recruiting trail, where the Tide have had the consensus No. 1 class for the last six years in a row. As of right now, Ohio State is in prime position to end that streak this year, as well as possibly have the greatest recruiting class of all-time (based on 247's recruiting rankings).
Currently, the Buckeyes have six 5-star recruits "committed" to them to go along with ten 4-stars and two 3-stars (Danny Clark, a QB, and Blake Haubeil, the best kicker in the country). Every single player the Buckeyes have committed is in the top-five at his position, and if they're not, they're still in the top 20. And unlike in years past when Ohio State usually only recruited the state of Ohio, Urban Meyer has reached to every corner of the country, securing commitments from Florida, Texas, Colorado, California, Michigan, New York, and many others.
Nick, why does this even matter? Why is this relevant?
Recruiting is the life-blood of every single program in the country. The majority of the Buckeyes that just got drafted to the NFL are from Meyer's 2013 class, stacked with now household names like Ezekiel Elliot, Joey Bosa, Vonn Bell, Darron Lee, and Eli Apple. Players that could be as good as them, or even better, are currently on this team or will be coming to Ohio State in the future because of players like that.
Consider this: most recruiting classes consist of approximately 25-30 recruits. Scholarship numbers are tight for next year (the scholarship limit is 85 if you didn't know) with only six players on the roster currently being seniors and half the roster being made up of players with freshman eligibility. Ohio State's 2017 class currently sits at 18 commits, and with the caliber of players making up the class currently, according to 247 it would be the best class in 2016 if that were the case. That's how good this class is, and it has the potential to get better.
The Buckeyes maybe have room to take three or four more players. The players they want are well known to insane fans like me, and if they get them (three 5-star players and one 4-star), they will finish with the greatest class ever recorded.
Urban Meyer has put the college football world on notice: the Buckeyes are here for the long haul, and it's going to take a monumental effort to derail the freight train that is currently barreling through everything in its path.
