Colin GayColumbus Dispatch
Even while 2025 Toledo four-star offensive tackle and Ohio State commit Carter Lowe attended OSU’s recruiting camp in June, David Sanders Jr. remained at the front of his mind.
“He’s a great guy,” Lowe said of Sanders. “I think he would be a very, very good fit for Ohio State.”
That’s the thing about Sanders. He would be “a very, very good fit” anywhere.
The 6-foot-6, 290-pound five-star tackle out of Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the second-ranked prospect in the 2025 class.
David Sanders commits to Tennessee: 2025 5-star OL David Sanders Jr. commits to Tennessee over Ohio State. What we know:
Yes, Ohio State has five-star commitments from Devin Sanchez, Na’eem Offord and Tavien St. Clair in the 2025 class. But Sanders was the commitment the Buckeyes needed to land, one that could officially bring Ohio State to the level needed to cement a No. 1-ranked recruiting class.
Instead, despite multiple spring visits and an official visit to Ohio State, Sanders committed to Tennessee, the school he had reportedly visited more times in the past year than any other, and had secured his final official visit.
With Sanders off the board, Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye remains in the same place as when he arrived. He still does not have a five-star commitment for a position that has not landed one on the offensive line since Donovan Jackson in 2021.
For a program that is flooded with five-star players up and down the roster, the Ohio State offensive line remains a position without credibility, and Sanders became another example of a position losing out on top talent time and time again.
Where does Ohio State stand in offensive line recruiting?
Sanders would have been a different level of offensive lineman for Ohio State.
According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, Sanders is the highest-rated offensive line prospect since five-star Greg Little in 2016. He had a better ranking than each of Ohio State’s past three five-star linemen: Jackson, Paris Johnson Jr. and Nicholas Petit-Frere.
Sanders would have been the sixth-best recruit in Ohio State history behind 2021 quarterback Quinn Ewers, 2024 wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, 2008 quarterback Terrelle Pryor, 2026 wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. and 2004 cornerback Ted Ginn Jr.
For a player such as Henry, the recruiting pitch is simple. He sees it in the success stories of players such as Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“If you’re a receiver, this is where you want to be,” Henry said. “This is the standard here, being at Ohio State.”
That standard had not been the same for the offensive line.
In the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes, the first two complete classes under Frye after his hire from UCLA in January 2022, Ohio State landed one top-100 offensive lineman in Luke Montgomery, the No. 1 offensive lineman in Ohio in 2023. And Montgomery proved to be an outlier, with the average Ohio State offensive line commit being ranked as the No. 330 player in the country.
In 2023, none of the four five-star offensive linemen Ohio State offered traveled to Columbus for an official visit or considered the Buckeyes as a recruiting finalist. In 2024, Ohio State was a finalist for both five-star tackle Brandon Baker and five-star tackle Jordan Seaton. Baker committed to Texas and Seaton committed to Colorado.
Frye and the Buckeyes struck out again on five-star offensive linemen in 2025. Sanders, who had an official visit at Ohio State June 21-23, committed to Tennessee, while Josh Petty, the other five-star tackle to have an Ohio State official visit, committed to Georgia Tech.
In June, Ohio State hosted 10 offensive linemen for official visits. Seven committed elsewhere and two committed to Ohio State: Lowe, the highest-ranked commitment in Frye’s tenure, and three-star center Jake Cook. Three-star guard Jayvon McFadden has not announced his commitment.
In the Frye era, Ohio State has hosted 17 out-of-state offensive linemen for official visits. Three - Connecticut three-star tackle Miles Walker, Indiana four-star guard Ian Moore, and Michigan four-star guard Gabe VanSickle - ended up committing to Ohio State.
'We just want the best player to play for the best team'
Unlike wide receiver or cornerback, Ohio State’s recruiting pitch for offensive line does not seem to have a similar gravitas.
Johnson was the third Ohio State offensive linemen selected in the first round of the NFL draft since 2010.
It’s an offensive line that allowed 1.77 sacks per game in 2023, the most for the program since 2020. It’s an offensive line that led an offense that averaged 4.19 yards per rush, the fourth time in the past 15 seasons Ohio State has averaged less than 5 yards per carry.
When it comes to Sanders’ recruitment, Providence Day School coach Chad Grier said Ohio State’s recruiting approach was more all-encompassing than only offensive line development while he said Sanders "surely knows the pedigree of the guys that have come out of there."
“Ohio State’s pitch, to me, has been more just the school, the culture of the program, the staff, all the right things,” Grier said in May. “As far as I’m concerned, I think that all speaks for itself.”
Cook, who shared an official visit with Sanders in June, said he pitched Sanders on everything from Ohio State’s culture, coaches and the program’s history of success, to the Michigan rivalry.
St. Clair, Ohio State’s five-star quarterback who has taken charge as the Buckeyes’ lead recruiter in the 2025 class, said he took more of a relational approach with Sanders, calling it “really, really, really special.”
When St. Clair pitched Ohio State to Sanders, it was not about offensive line development or a path to the NFL. It was about being surrounded with the best and playing with the best.
“Really, it’s the best team in the country at Ohio State,” St. Clair said in June. “We just want the best players to play for the best team, and I think he’s the best player in the country.”
What's next for Ohio State offensive line recruiting?
With Sanders committed to Tennessee, Ohio State’s offensive tackle recruiting board has to be restructured.
Since 2020, Ohio State has averaged four offensive linemen per recruiting class. And current options are slim at tackle to pair with Lowe. Of the current tackles offered, one has not made a collegiate decision − Texas five-star Michael Fasusi, who has finalists of Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida and Oregon.
Ohio State last landed only one offensive tackle recruit in 2023 with Walker. Montgomery was viewed as a swing tackle-guard in the 2023 class.
McFadden, a Maryland three star, remains an option for the Buckeyes on the interior. He also took an official visit to Maryland.
In 2026, Ohio State seems to be off to a similarly slow start.
Per 247Sports, Ohio State has offered 15 offensive linemen in the 2026 class. Avon Lake four-star tackle Maxwell Riley has Ohio State in his top-seven, while Akron four-star tackle Sam Greer seems to be a major target for the Buckeyes as well.
But Ohio State could also already be out on an in-state offensive lineman. Cleveland four-star guard Will Conroy kept the Buckeyes out of his top-five of Oklahoma, Michigan, Miami, Arizona State and Florida. Conroy reported an Ohio State offer in January.
