Ohio State Football Recruiting: Top Targets, Positional Needs and Predictions

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Ohio State's recruiting class for 2012 has been two different stories: the players brought in before Urban Meyer and the players Meyer brought in after being hired.

Meyer already has 23 commits for the 2012 season in spite of NCAA sanctions, Ohio State's worst season since the 19th century and the improvement of rival Michigan.

While Meyer has done an outstanding job, there is still some work to do with this cycle.

Several early transfers and early enrollees mean that Ohio State can still add up to eight players in this recruiting class, according to Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch.

Here is a look at some important notes going into the home stretch of the recruiting season.

Still Looking for a Gamebreaker

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While Ohio State has brought in studs on the defensive line including Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington, there still is not that explosive gamebreaker on offense.

In other words, Meyer still has yet to find his Percy Harvin in this class.

The Buckeyes are very high on Chaparral (Ariz.) WR Davonte Neal, a former Ohio native, who might only leave Arizona for Ohio State based on this tweet.

 

A source close to Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral's Davonte Neal told me he feels Neal won't leave the state of Arizona for anyone but OSU.

— Ari Wasserman (@AriWassermanBSB) January 20, 2012

But even more surprising is the curious case of Stefon Diggs (Olney, Md.), who will decide on Feb. 10 and the Buckeyes have suddenly re-entered the picture as a destination for an official visit (link requires ESPN insider).

Regardless of who OSU finishes the recruiting season with, they really need a big-time playmaker on offense like Diggs or Neal.

Offensive Line Still Needs Work

Meyer landed a good pair of offensive linemen in the past week by flipping OT Taylor Decker from Notre Dame and getting a commit from OG Joey O'Connor.

Those two, combined with Jacoby Boren and Pat Elflein, makes four linemen that Ohio State has committed for 2012.

But there is so much attrition at the position with three senior starters graduating that more need to be found, especially at the tackle position.

Ohio State is still waiting on Cleveland Heights product Kyle Dodson to decide whether he will stay at Wisconsin or go somewhere else, possibly OSU.

Talented OT Jordan Diamond, pictured above, has already visited Ohio State and doesn't intend to tip his hand on his decision until roughly National Signing Day.

The First Hoke-Meyer Battle Is Underway

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The first of many recruiting battles between Michigan's Brady Hoke and Ohio State's Urban Meyer is already underway with Mass. DB Armani Reeves the prize.

The high school teammate of recent OSU commit Camren Williams, Reeves is a Penn State commit and is torn between Michigan and the Buckeyes for his services.

The Wolverines have already hosted with Reeves earlier in the month, and Reeves came with Williams just this past week.

Williams might be pushing his high school teammate hard to come to Columbus along with LB commit David Perkins, who has been very vocal of his Ohio State support on Twitter.

Me an the bro @CamrenWilliams5 had a lil talk on the phone! #Buckeyes we got some Dawgs out here same goal #NationalChamps

— David Perkins (@StudntOfDaGame) January 20, 2012

Buckeyes Surge Up the Rankings

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It's amazing the difference that just two months makes.

In the middle of November, the Buckeye recruiting class was barely in the top-20 in several recruiting services including Scout.com and Rivals.com

As of January 22, the Buckeyes are ranked No. 3 on both Rivals and Scout, and No. 8 on ESPN.com.

There is still some room left in this class for a couple of more players, which means those rankings can still go higher.

Who Will Ohio State Finish With?

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 Meyer, Luke Fickell and Ohio State have just a few slots left to fill in this recruiting cycle, and must be careful to stay around the 82 scholarship limit imposed by the NCAA for the next three seasons.

They are still in for several quality prospects, but its likely they will only grab three or four more players when all is said and done.

This is a guess of who the Buckeyes could be able to finish the recruiting season off with:

—OT Jordan Diamond

—WR Davonte Neal

—DB Armani Reeves

 

Follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim for the latest college football news and updates.