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Ohio State Buckeyes could shockingly win another five star recruiting battle after latest official visit with Ryan Day and staff

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Travis May | Last updated Jun 6, 2025 7:45 AM ET

Ohio State is on pace yet again to bring in an elite recruiting class for 2026. Ryan Day and his staff already have 13 top talents committed (as of this writing) and should clean up with even more following a slew of official visits in June.

The Buckeyes have already locked in two consensus five star recruits for their 2026 class, and after this past week's visit it looks like they could shockingly win another battle for a top tier talent despite some recent buzz to the contrary.

Xavier Griffin, Five Star LB Recruit

Xavier Griffin has been an extremely productive linebacker edge defender hybrid player for multiple years now as he's climbed to the top of rankings boards at every major recruiting site. At 6'3", 200+ pounds Griffin project to the be perfect modern hybrid defensive weapon that opposing offenses have to build their entire strategy around each and every week.

Despite some recent reports and suggestion that Griffin may be leaning towards committing to Alabama or other blue bloods following his decommitment from USC, Ohio State reasserted themselves in the battle for his services this past week as the program apparently went all in with a "red carpet" official visit for him.

THE @OhioStateFB program laid out the red carpet for five-star linebacker Xavier Griffin over the weekend.@ryandaytime, @JLaurinaitis55, @MattPatriciaOSU, and others made this an unforgettable trip.

VIP Story: https://t.co/e9zWHdluGr @Bucknuts247 @247Sports / @zay_social pic.twitter.com/DRegVQmRr7
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) June 5, 2025

Ryan Day has done a good job trusting his top recruiters like defensive line coach Larry Johnson and secondary coach Tim Walton with key recruiting battles like this and it looks like it may be paying off yet again.

Based on his comments throughout this spring Griffin clearly respects (former NFL LB, now LB coach) James Laurinaitis and new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as well given their experience in the pros. All those critical relationships could prove crucial in closing the deal here for Griffin down the stretch.

If Ohio State can bring Griffin in, how will his game actually translate within the Ohio State defensive scheme?

Based on his high school usage (breakdown in post below), Griffin could find success playing either off ball linebacker or edge rusher in most defensive systems, but given his build he would almost certainly play off-ball linebacker exclusively for the Buckeyes.

Xavier Griffin is an ELITE athlete https://t.co/KQCayaA6FY pic.twitter.com/0fp4eOqJVk
— Joe DeLeone (@joedeleone) June 5, 2025

Griffin is far too small to play true defensive end for Ohio State, but the Buckeyes do love to bring plenty of pass rush pressure with their off-ball linebackers too. Given Griffin's excellent play strength and pass rush skill set it would be a waste to not have him plug and play getting after the passer some.

Last year alone, Ohio State's two primary off-ball linebackers Cody Simon and Sonny Styles generated around 40 pressures and tallied 14 total sacks. Griffin's got to love that kind of potential production in his future.

Simon is already gone. Sonny Styles will be gone after this coming season too. Ohio State could potentially ask Griffin to start for them in year one depending how the rest of the talent shakes out this upcoming fall at the position. Let's just hope Ryan Day's final push here in June was enough to get the job done.

We'll be back with more Ohio State Buckeyes coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

And if you want to get to know Xavier Griffin's game, our very own A to Z Film Room guys Joe DeLeone and Ryan Roberts broke him down just this week (video below).