Ohio State Football Recruiting 2022: Top Remaining Recruits, Class Predictions

This is a critical offseason for the Ohio State football program.

After all, the Buckeyes are coming off their first failure to reach the College Football Playoff during head coach Ryan Day's tenure. It is a testament to the strength of the program that an 11-2 campaign that included a Rose Bowl victory is seen as a failure, but that is the reality in Columbus, Ohio.

Especially if that 11-2 campaign included a loss to the hated Michigan Wolverines for the first time in a decade.

Day wasted no time responding by making drastic changes to the defensive staff, bringing in former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and adding secondary/cornerbacks coach Tim Walton and safeties coach Perry Eliano. In fact, highly regarded defensive line coach Larry Johnson was the only full-time defensive coach from last season he retained for the 2022 staff.

Ohio State also hired offensive line coach Justin Frye from UCLA to replace the departed Greg Studrawa.

"It weighed heavily on me," Day told reporters when discussing the staff overhaul. "I felt like a fresh start was the right thing to do."

The next thing to do is to put the finishing touches on an impressive 2022 recruiting class during Wednesday's National Signing Day. Thanks to the early recruiting window, there is little drama remaining since much of the Buckeyes' class is already set.

Still, there are a few more question marks for a class that entered the day ranked No. 4 in the country, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

One name Ohio State fans shouldn't have to worry about is offensive lineman Carson Hinzman even though he announced he will not be signing his letter of intent until Wednesday afternoon.

Bill Landis of The Athletic suggested there won't be any last-minute "tomfoolery" for the verbal pledge.

Hinzman is a 4-star prospect, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and the Buckeyes impressively won the recruiting battle against the home-state Wisconsin Badgers that are known for their ability to develop offensive linemen.

Wednesday won't bring all good news for the Scarlet and Gray, though.

Defensive lineman Christen Miller announced he will also be making his decision on National Signing Day when he chooses between Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Miami and Florida A&M.

The 4-star prospect and 14th-best defensive lineman in his class, per 247Sports' composite rankings, would be quite the addition for the Buckeyes, but the Georgia product is being recruited hard by the in-state Bulldogs, which have 100 percent of the predictions on 247Sports' Crystal Ball.

Johnson may be one of the best defensive line coaches in college football history, but he will not be able to beat out the national champions for Miller.

That makes landing defensive lineman Omari Abor all the more important. While he is a verbal commit, there are other programs that could look to make a late pitch.

"When he committed, the plan was for Abor to still take visits elsewhere," Landis wrote. "That doesn't appear to have happened, but there's also been nothing at all coming out of Abor's camp since he issued his commitment. That silence could be a good thing for OSU, but there are still some programs—Miami and Texas to be specific—that might try to flip Abor at the last minute."

That could leave some Buckeyes fans nervous, but 100 percent of 247Sports' Crystal Ball predictions for the 4-star prospect still have him headed to the Big Ten powerhouse.

Final Predictions: Hinzman and Abor end up at Ohio State, but Miller joins Georgia.