Even when Carter Lowe, the 2025 four-star offensive tackle from Toledo and Ohio State freshman, attended OSU’s recruiting camp in June, David Sanders Jr. was still on his mind.
“He’s a great guy,” Lowe said of Sanders. “I think he would fit in very, very well at Ohio State.”
That’s what’s special about Sanders. He would “fit in very, very well” anywhere.
The 6-foot-6, 295-pound five-star tackle from Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the second-best young player in the 2025 class.
Yes, Ohio State has five-star commitments in Devin Sanchez, Na’eem Offord and Tavien St. Clair for the 2025 class. But Sanders was the commitment the Buckeyes needed, one that could officially get Ohio State to the level needed to establish a No. 1 recruiting class.
Instead, despite several visits in the spring and an official visit to Ohio State University, Sanders chose Tennessee, the university he reportedly visited more often than any other last year, thus securing his final official visit.
With Sanders no longer available, Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye remains in the same spot he was when he arrived, still without a five-star commitment at a position that hasn’t landed a five-star player on the offensive line since Donovan Jackson in 2021.
For a program loaded with five-star players across the roster, Ohio State’s offensive line remains a position without credibility, and Sanders is another example of a position that consistently loses top talent.
How does Ohio State fare in recruiting offensive line players?
Sanders would have been an offensive lineman on a whole different level for Ohio State.
According to 247Sports’ overall rankings, Sanders is the highest-rated offensive player since five-star Greg Little in 2016. He ranked higher than each of Ohio State’s three previous five-star linemen: Jackson, Paris Johnson Jr. and Nicholas Petit-Frere.
Sanders would have been the sixth-best recruit in Ohio State history, behind quarterback Quinn Ewers (2021), wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (2024), quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2008), wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. (2026) and cornerback Ted Ginn Jr. (2004).
For a player like Henry, recruiting is easy. He sees it in the success stories of players like Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“If you’re a receiver, this is the place for you,” Henry said. “That’s the standard here at Ohio State.”
This standard did not apply to the offensive line.
In the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes, the first two full classes under Frye after being hired from UCLA in January 2022, Ohio State was able to sign a top-100 offensive lineman in Luke Montgomery, the No. 1 offensive lineman in Ohio in 2023. And Montgomery proved to be an outlier, as Ohio State’s average offensive lineman is ranked 330th in the national player rankings.
In 2023, none of the four five-star offensive linemen Ohio State offered traveled to Columbus for an official visit or considered the Buckeyes as recruiting finalists. In 2024, Ohio State was a finalist for both five-star tackle Brandon Baker and five-star tackle Jordan Seaton. Baker committed to Texas and Seaton committed to Colorado.
Frye and the Buckeyes again did not have a 5-star offensive lineman in 2025. Sanders, who took an official visit to Ohio State from June 21-23, chose Tennessee, while Josh Petty, the other 5-star tackle who took an official visit to Ohio State, committed to Georgia Tech.
In June, Ohio State hosted 10 offensive linemen for official visits. Seven committed elsewhere and two chose Ohio State: Lowe, the highest-ranked recruit of Frye’s tenure, and three-star center Jake Cook. Three-star guard Jayvon McFadden has not yet announced his commitment.
During the Frye era, Ohio State has hosted 17 out-of-state offensive linemen on official visits, with three of them — three-star tackle Miles Walker of Connecticut, four-star guard Ian Moore of Indiana and four-star guard Gabe VanSickle of Michigan — ultimately choosing Ohio State.
“We just want the best player to play for the best team”
Unlike wide receivers or cornerbacks, Ohio State does not seem to take the same seriousness when recruiting players for the offensive line.
Johnson was Ohio State’s third offensive lineman selected in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2010.
It’s an offensive line that allowed 1.77 sacks per game in 2023, the most for the program since 2020. It’s an offensive line that led an offense that averaged 4.19 yards per carry, the fourth time in the last 15 seasons that Ohio State averaged less than 5 yards per carry.
As for recruiting Sanders, Providence Day School coach Chad Grier said Ohio State’s recruiting approach is more comprehensive than just developing the offensive line, while saying Sanders “certainly knows the lineage of the guys that have come from there.”
“For me, Ohio State was more than just the school, the culture of the program, the staff, all the right things,” Grier said in May. “As far as I’m concerned, I think that all speaks for itself.”
Cook, who took an official visit with Sanders in June, said he informed Sanders about everything from Ohio State University’s culture, its coaches and the program’s history of success to the rivalry with Michigan.
St. Clair, the five-star quarterback from Ohio State who has taken the reins as the Buckeyes’ top recruiter for the class of 2025, said he took a more relational approach in dealing with Sanders, calling him “really, really, really special.”
When St. Clair offered Sanders the offer from Ohio State, he wasn’t looking to develop an offensive line or get into the NFL. He was looking to be surrounded by the best and play with the best.
“Ohio State is truly the best team in the country,” St. Clair said in June. “We just want the best players playing for the best team, and I think he’s the best player in the country.”
What’s next for Ohio State’s offensive line recruiting?
With Sanders choosing Tennessee, Ohio State’s offensive tackle recruiting department will need to be restructured.
Since 2020, Ohio State has averaged four offensive linemen per recruiting class. And the current options for tackles to pair with Lowe are slim. Of the tackles currently on offer, one has not yet committed to a college team — five-star Texas prospect Michael Fasusi, who has finalists from Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Florida and Oregon.
Ohio State was recently able to sign only one offensive tackle recruit, Walker, in 2023. Montgomery was considered a swing tackle guard in the 2023 class.
McFadden, a three-star player from Maryland, remains an option for the Buckeyes on the interior line. He also took an official visit to Maryland.
In 2026, Ohio State appears to be off to a similarly slow start.
According to 247Sports, Ohio State has offered 15 offensive linemen for the 2026 class. Four-star tackle Maxwell Riley of Avon Lake has Ohio State in his top seven, while four-star tackle Sam Greer of Akron also appears to be a key target for the Buckeyes.
But Ohio State may already be without an offensive lineman. Cleveland four-star guard Will Conroy kept the Buckeyes from getting inside his top five of Oklahoma, Michigan, Miami, Arizona State and Florida. Conroy reported an offer from Ohio State in January.
