Surprising Lack of Buckeyes on All-Time Recruits List From The Athletic

The Ohio State Buckeyes have easily been one of college football’s best teams in the past 25 years. If any program embodies the old college cliche of having the best “Jimmy’s and Joe’s”, it’s Ohio State.

Somehow, though, the Buckeyes weren’t heavily featured on The Athletic’s top 25 recruits of the past 25 years list. Only Jeremiah Smith, a 2024 recruit, and Quinn Ewers, a 2021 recruit who spent just one season in Columbus, were mentioned for the program.

There’s not much to unpack with Ewers, who checked in at No. 9 on the list. He was the top QB recruit for the first class of college players that would be able to capitalize on NIL opportunities. Ohio provided opportunities Texas didn’t, so he came to Ohio State before circling back to the Longhorns and putting together a respectable career.

Smith’s inclusion was mightily impressive, though. Nearly every player on the list has completed their collegiate career, while Smith has played just one season. Still, he landed one spot above Ewers at No. 8. His 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns made for an absurd true freshman statline and only breeds heightened expectations over the next two seasons.

Smith is the only active college player on the list other than Arch Manning, who ranked No. 23. He was also the highest-ranked receiver other than Travis Hunter. Both of those players carry asterisks, regardless of how anyone feels about them, that don’t apply to Smith.

Still, it’s a bit surprising that more Buckeyes weren’t mentioned, considering the extensive list of 5-stars who have come through the program. Of course, it’s a competitive list to join. Each player included had sky-high expectations coming into college, and most left having far exceeded them. In truth, few Buckeye recruits would have even been eligible for the list anyway.

Ewers is the only 1.0000 5-star Ohio State has ever signed. Smith was a 0.9997, a common rating for the top player of a class, and the next highest-rated recruit. Terrelle Pryor was the only other Buckeye to match that score, and while he had an exciting career, it’s easy to see why he wouldn’t be included on the list.

The next highest-rated recruit would be Ted Ginn Jr., who had a rating of 0.9992, which was just far too low to stack up with the rest of the contenders.

While few teams had even just one player make the list, it’s a bit of an eyebrow-raiser that there weren’t more Buckeyes here while programs like Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson each had multiple entries.