PFB+: One Week to Signing Day, a Look at Targets and Predictions

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Feels wild, but the first day of the first signing period of the 2021 recruiting cycle begins exactly a week from today and runs Dec. 16-18. Ahead of the deadline, I wanted to reset the recruiting board and give some thoughts and #takes on who is out there, who OSU might get, who OSU might miss on and more.

One thing I noticed doing this exercise is that I highly doubt OSU takes a full 25-man class this cycle. OSU has 18 commitments right now and there’s only a few players out there that OSU is still actively chasing, though that could always change pending transfers, graduations, NFL opt-outs, etc.

I’m an open book so if you have thoughts or comments punch the reply in the comments. Could be an interesting finish to this cycle, so let’s dive in.

Deshun Murrell | Running Back | 5-11, 185

Prediction: Penn State

The former UCLA commit backed away from the Bruins last month, going Ronald Jones style in a surprising decision just less than a month away from signing day. Not sure UCLA can recover. Penn State, OSU and UCLA are his three finalists, but right now I’d give the slight edge to Penn State based off what I’ve read. The Nittany Lions have a top-20 recruiting class and a need at running back, as they’ve yet to land a commitment at the position this cycle. That’s a pretty enticing pitch. Murell is committing on Dec. 18.

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CJ Baskerville | Safety | 6-2, 180

Prediction: San Diego State

OSU was at one point looking like a favorite to land Baskerville, but it appears the staff has cooled on him, and at this point it looks like a two-man race between San Diego State and Oregon State. (He’s committing today.) I think I lean SDSU here just reading the social media tea leaves. Fortunately OSU has a stacked class of safeties led by four-star in-state standout Ty Williams.

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Alton McCaskill | Running Back | 6-1, 200

Prediction: USC

This one’s been a particularly challenging one to peg. McCaskill was an early OSU target last year (OSU was first to offer him a scholarship), but he’s since garnered offers from the likes of USC, Alabama, UCLA, Ole Miss and others. I think at this point OSU is likely a longshot here, and it feels like OSU knows that, too. We’ll see though. If USC lands another RB target higher on its board perhaps McCaskill opts to stay close. I’d be surprised if that Alabama offer from June is still committable, so it’s entirely possible he winds up falling into the Pokes’ lap in the final hour. I’m just not betting on it.

Keon Coleman | Wide receiver | 6-4, 200

Prediction: Texas

Right now his 247Sports crystal ball reads 96% Kansas, but do we really think a top-400 talent from Louisiana with a 6-foot-4 frame and NFL aspirations is going to Kansas right now? Methinks not. OSU jumped in the mix earlier this spring for Coleman but things never really materialized, so he’s a bit of an unknown. Wouldn’t shock me at all if he waited and signed in February.

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What positions are most needed to fill in this class?

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Honestly they should’ve addressed QB but did not.

They still need another RB.

And they’ve already pretty adequately addressed the defensive side of the ball, particularly at DT/DE/OLB/S. Those are all positives.

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Gunnar is all they need.

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Are there any transfer QBs that you’re aware of OSU reaching out to or targeting?

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Nope, and best I can tell, I don’t think OSU is in the market. Eligibility wise, that would make sense – Spencer has a few more years left, King Trill just a frosh, and Ethan Bullock is just a redshirt junior. But obviously talent wise, there’s at least some cause for concern at the position.

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Not great!

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Really need another RB. I think Nixon may end up in the slot. Not a lot of options left. May have to try and grab a transfer off the scrap heap.

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Give me as much OL talent as we can fit into the class. As this season has shown us, it doesn’t really matter how much talent we have at the skill positions if we can’t solidify our OL. Aside from the Tech game, our offense has been looking more like KU than vintage OSU.

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Yeah, it’s tough. Nixon is a fine talent but I see him as more of an LD Brown scatback type than a true workhorse. They need a bigger back to complement him in this class, be it a juco transfer or four-year player with a bigger frame.

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Thanks for the updates. So you wrote above the higher recruits OSU is likely NOT to get in this piece. Are their other “quality” offers that have not been written about on PFB (or at least have not been updated in awhile) that you see as OSU-leaning?

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I know we all kind of sarcastically bring up Gunnar joining the team as QB. But his high school tape looked decent. Is Gunnar really any worse than Ethan or even Spencer at this point? Shane clearly has the better pro-style build and arm if we go back to a high-flying offense with a good OL. But I’m sincerely interested in non-biased #takes on Gunnar as to his real potential. Any takers? (Please keep Mike Gundy sarcasm aside…)

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I think Gunnar will be a completely viable back up. I don’t think he’s bad at all. I’m probably higher on Gunnar than a ton of people.

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I honestly don’t see any right now. That’s not to say this class is finalized, but it might be one of those classes where Gundy and Co. scoop up some unheard of kids from Texas in the final hour. Or maybe they fish the transfer market later. Or perhaps they take it down to the February signing period. For now, all signs point to it being a quiet early signing period next week, with the big hope being that Murrell picks the Pokes.

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Thanks for the update @kyleboone. Do you think they will slow play these last few spots to see what happens in the transfer market snd to see which seniors might use their extra year of eligibility?

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Keep in mind that this years transfer market is likely to be the best ever. You have everyone getting an extra year but a whole new crop of freshman coming in. Thus you have way to many players for the same number of spots on the field and betting a lot of guys will be ready to bail and start again. On top of that you have all of the seniors getting an extra year but a lot of schools that likely won’t have the money to cover those extra scholarships. I fully expect us to hold quite a few spots in our 25 player allotment for this opportunity since we have proven to be a great landing spot for transfers.

Also on the QB stuff don’t forget that we actually got an extra QB last year that we were thinking would not end up here in McLean. Most expected him to not be on campus due to his MLB prospects but covid helped us keep him. So as far as bodies in the QB room we should be good (unless transfers).

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That’s what I think they’ll do, yeah. They definitely need a running back, but needs outside that have mostly been filled, so waiting out the transfer market makes a ton of sense.

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I did indeed forget about Nolan McLean, though I doubt he pans out on the football side. I think most people expect his future is in baseball. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if he splits his efforts up more evenly next year. Don’t think that was totally possible this year for obvious reasons.

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To summarize: 'cruitin isn’t the priority and at this point they’re too afraid to address it.

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This is probably the best class we have had in a long time. Gundy has never signed a 4 star DT, got one of those in this class to go along with as many as 5 other 4 stars depending on which service you go by. Plus three more guys that are right on the edge of 4 star. The overall class rank is just being dragged down by one diamond in the rough player. To say recruiting is not a priority is to ignore all that has been done in the last year since we got a bigger recruiting budget that Gundy wanted.

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