A-Deck: Five key storylines to watch during third Ohio State official visit weekend

Welcome to “A-Deck” at Lettermen Row, where I’ll bring you inside scoop, what I’m hearing, tidbits, thoughts, and more on Ohio State recruiting and team coverage every week.

Last week’s A-Deck provided five storylines to watch as Ohio State held its second official visit weekend of the summer.

In this week’s edition, I look to the third official visit weekend of the summer to look at the five most intriguing storylines for the next group of top targets set to come to Columbus.

Five Key Storylines To Watch On The Second Official Visit Weekend

Ohio State hosted 10 prospects on official visits last weekend, and by all accounts it was a smashing success for the Buckeyes in pursuit of the nation’s top 2025 recruiting class.

This week, the OSU staff hosts another 10 players on official visits, inclusive of 2 commits in OL Carter Lowe and DL London Merritt, and 8 uncommitted prospects in RB Isaiah West, WR Phillip Bell, OL Micah DeBose, OL Josh Petty, DL Mariyon Dye, DL Maxwell Roy, LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, and S Messiah Delhomme.

While all 10 recruits will be worth paying attention to, in today’s A-Deck we share five key storylines to watch for the upcoming official visit weekend (in no specific order).

Possible “boom” coming?

Philadelphia (PA) St. Joe’s Prep running back Isaiah West was committed to Kentucky, but backed off that pledge after taking an unofficial visit to Ohio State this spring.

Ever since then, the thought has been that as long as the Buckeyes continue to give him the green light, that West likely would join the top-ranked class in America following his official visit to campus.

Said official visit is this weekend, and if all goes according to plan, I do think that Carlos Locklyn will land his second commitment of the cycle, adding West to Bo Jackson, who is already in the fold. When that announcement would happen, I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a relatively quick turn.

I normally would wait until after the visit to put a RPM pick in, to be sure things go the way I anticipate them to, but I’m in a good mood right now and wanted to give Buckeye Nation something to be optimistic about heading into the weekend.

If and when West does join the class, it’s going to be really interesting to see how that impacts fellow running back target Jordon Davison. Ohio State has been the favorite to land Davison for a few months, but things have been trending a bit down there and already having two backs in the class could possibly be something else that shifts odds to Oregon a bit here.

Will the Bell ring for the Buckeyes?

Figuring out the 2025 wide receiver class has certainly been an interesting task. While there is full confidence the class will be a good one, it’s been hard to figure out which two or three players will join De’zie Jones in Brian Hartline‘s position room.

Mission Viejo (CA) star wideout Phillip Bell has been to Ohio State on his own dime a number of times and returns for his official visit this weekend. With Jones in and OSU feeling good about Quincy Porter and Vernell Brown III right now, it seems like it could be Bell or Daylan McCutcheon for a final receiver spot in the class, as things currently stand. Dakorien Moore, Winston Watkins (official June 21-23) and Jaime Ffrench obviously need to be accounted for as well.

The Buckeyes are in a battle for Bell with USC, Washington, Penn State, and Tennessee for Bell, with the hometown Trojans viewed as the biggest threat for the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder. Bell will be visiting the local powerhouse program last, so making an impact this weekend, and having it last, will be key if OSU wants him in this class.

I am very curious to see how this visit plays out, and how it impacts the dominos on the wide receiver board for Hartline in 2025.

Can Ohio State surprise with the star linemen?

Just getting official visits from star offensive linemen Josh Petty and Micah DeBose feels like a “win” for Ohio State, but can the Buckeyes pull an upset and actually land either road-grader from the South?

My initial reaction to that question is “no”, but I am going to be following as to where things stand with each prospect coming out of their upcoming official visits.

Petty made a one-day visit to Ohio State in May, which ultimately led to the Buckeyes receiving one of the Roswell (GA) Fellowship Christina School star’s official visits. Clearly OSU made a good first impression, but can they make an outstanding second impression to possibly topple Florida State and Tennessee?

DeBose is originally from Cleveland, which is a nice little advantage for Ohio State in this one, but ever since the Mobile (AL) Vigor product decommitted from Georgia back in December, it seems like this one is destined to go elsewhere. Elsewhere right now seems to be LSU, but the Ohio State staff is obviously going to try and convince him otherwise. Will it work?

Can Ohio State become leaders in the clubhouse for Dye?

Ever since being offered earlier this year, there has been a feeling that Ohio State is the leader for Elkhart (IN) Central defensive line prospect Mariyon Dye.

Lately, though, there have been some other schools mentioned, and Tennessee, specifically, is one that has gotten a lot of buzz around the 6-foot-5, 268-pounder who is ranked 40th nationally and 5th at his position by On3.

Dye has already taken official visits to Purdue and Michigan this month. He arrives in Columbus this weekend and then heads to Florida State for a mid-week trip before going to Knoxville for his final June official visit. Georgia does not currently have an official visit scheduled, and there’s some thought that the Bulldogs may not have space for Dye, but they have certainly been a program firmly in the running for a while here as well.

My take right now is that this is an Ohio State vs. Tennessee battle. NIL absolutely is a factor here, and that will have to be considered the rest of the way. At the moment, I feel like the Buckeyes have the edge, and have an opportunity to tighten their grip on this one over the weekend. I do think the NIL situation will be a big topic of conversation, but Dye feeling at home and seeing how he fits in with the current and future players will also be important as he works towards a decision.

Can Delhomme send shockwaves to the safety board?

A prospect that Ohio State has liked for some time, but hasn’t gotten as much mention as others is Messiah Delhomme of Newport News (VA) Warwick.

I have always felt that if OSU pushed for the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder that they could definitely land him, but with Cody Haddad, DeShawn Stewart, and Faheem Delane in, I wasn’t sure how hard the Bucks would push for Delhomme, especially with Trey McNutt still out there.

Right now, McNutt very well could go to another program, so Ohio State could be in a position where they have to make a decision on pushing for Delhomme or not. Take him and try to figure it out later if McNutt joins the class? Don’t take him and be frustrated later on if McNutt goes elsewhere? It’s a tough position to be in, but there’s a good chance we get answers on where this one is going after the official visit.

If Ohio State chooses the first path, and Delhomme commits to the Scarlet and Gray sometime this summer, it would definitely shake up the class and safety board a bit. Delhomme is ranked as a 4-star, the No. 186 overall player, and No. 7 athlete in the country by the On3 Industry Rankings. Virginia, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Alabama, and Maryland are the other programs in the mix right now.

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