Ohio State cements NFL Draft legacy, offers two new tight end prospects

Ohio State cements NFL Draft legacy, offers two new tight end prospects

Once again last night in the first round of the NFL Draft, Ohio State added to its legacy as one of the premier programs at producing top tier talent. Seeing Marvin Harrison Jr. go No. 4 overall as Ohio State’s highest drafted receiver ever, the Buckeyes are thrilled for his future, but also excited their track record of success continues on.

Ohio State now has the most receivers of any school taken in the first round all-time with 12. A streak that has seen Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and now Harrison Jr. in just the last couple of years, Brian Hartline’s development was already at the top of the list in terms of his position group, and this is just another example of why.

The chances of this success extending to next year in 2025 seems pretty likely, considering the Buckeyes still have Emeka Egbuka ready to carve his name into the history books as well. With Hartline landing guys like Jeremiah Smith as well, who looks poised to start as a true freshman, there’s really not an end in sight.

Yes, this is for the receiver position specifically, but Ohio State continues to see their name called. Regardless of position, the Buckeyes are using this as fuel to pitch their top recruiting targets — and it’s working.

Buckeyes offer 2027 Mater Dei athlete

With most of the attention focused on the start of the NFL Draft, Ohio State and its coaching staff still took time to stay hot on the recruiting trail, and did so by offering multiple players. The Buckeyes are looking to keep the momentum going, and that is exactly what you’d expect from the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class.

Making yet another ploy into California prep power Mater Dei, the Buckeyes dished out their latest offer in the 2027 class to Mark Bowman. A 6-foot-5, 215 pound athlete, Bowman is only a high school freshman currently, but possesses some incredible traits, such as his size, which are leading him to a big time recruitment. Projected as a tight end at the next level, Bowman is already seeing the schools rush to offer him, and it’s a rather impressive list of programs at this stage in the game.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A& and plenty of others are already in the fold, but now Ohio State joins the mix with Keenan Bailey, who can recruit with the best of them at his position. Showing his ability in the current 2025 cycle with Nate Roberts, Bailey would love nothing more than to continue showing his worth in the future cycles. With Bowman’s profile, he’s right atop of the best players at his spot.

As it stands right now, it looks like both Georgia and Oregon are ahead of the pack, but there’s still three full seasons for him still to play in high school, so it’s still a wide open recruitment because of how young he is. Even if the Buckeyes weren’t the first to offer, they’re in early enough and will do what it takes to build a lasting relationship with Bowman as they try and continue to build ties with Mater Dei’s program that consistently produces some of the best talent in the country.

2026 athlete gets the nod from Ohio State

The second player to see an Ohio State offer on Thursday, the Buckeyes were also active in the 2026 class when they sent out the good news to Illinois native, Mack Sutter. The No. 99 player nationally and eighth best athlete in the class per the 247Sports Composite, Sutter is also the top player in Illinois for the 2026 cycle and holds several offers from many of the nation’s best schools.

Another 6-foot-5, 215 pound athlete, Sutter too projects as a tight end at the next level, and is now hearing from Bailey and the Buckeyes. Programs such as Alabama, Florida, Miami, Michigan, Virginia Tech, and others have offered, but Ohio State once again enters this recruitment without needing much introduction. The Buckeyes being relatively close in proximity to Sutter should result in less hurdles to jump when getting him to campus.

Taking a trip last weekend to Michigan’s spring game, Sutter is a player that is drawing the national attention, but is a candidate that fits the bill as a typical Midwest recruitment battle. Ohio State has done very well in Illinois over the years, and with Bailey as one of the top young relationship builders in the game, you can bet that the Buckeyes won’t go down without a fight.