COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State football program signed early-enrollee Josh Myers as part of its recruiting class for National Singing Day 2017. Here is an in-depth look at this member of the Buckeyes' recruiting class.
Josh Myers
School: Miamisburg, Ohio
Position: Offensive lineman
Height, weight: 6-foot-6, 306 pounds
247Sports Rating: Myers is rated the No. 3 offensive tackle and the No. 10 overall player in the 2017 recruiting class in the 247Sports composite rankings.
Other schools: Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Penn State, West Virginia and others. Myers committed to Ohio State so early that it stopped his recruitment from going truly national.
What's his deal? Ohio State hadn't even officially signed its 2016 recruiting class when Myers committed to the Buckeyes last January. Given Myers is literally one of the 10 best players in high school football in the country, the strain that took off the coaching staff was crucial in getting the 2017 class started off with a bang.
Myers earned an Alabama offer the summer after his freshman year -- which only happens with truly elite prospects -- and has been nothing short of dominant his entire high school career.
He's everything Ohio State would want in an offensive line prospect.
You've seen the crazy videos of him in the weight room, right?
How he fits into Ohio State's plans: Every year we trick ourselves into thinking a player with high recruiting rankings could actually play as a freshman. And though it happened this past year on the offensive line with Michael Jordan at left guard, it's not supposed to be part of the plan at Ohio State. Something went wrong.
Myers, however, had been hearing from college coaches that he was destined to start as a freshman in college since he was a freshman in high school. He's different. He's a freak. He's not normal.
Projections for 2017: Billy Price is returning to Ohio State for his senior season and he's moving inside to play center the way Pat Elflein did in 2016. Since Price is leaving his spot at right guard and replacing Elflein, there's a chance Myers could start there as a freshman, especially because he's already enrolled and will participate in spring practice. That's what Jordan did.
The conservative guess for Myers, though, is that he'll redshirt.
Player comparison: Some recruiting experts who have paid close attention have said that Myers is the best offensive line prospect they've seen since Orlando Pace or Korey Stringer. If Myers turns out to be either one of those guys, we'll apologize later for not giving him enough credit. For now, how about the latest version of Jack Mewhort? Though Mewhort played tackle and is now in the NFL, he started as a guard at Ohio State. He is big and athletic and changed the game, which is what Ohio State will expect from Myers.
Why he's important to the best class in Ohio State history: He's a top-10 player and top-three offensive lineman from Ohio who committed to the Buckeyes early before enrolling in time for spring. Does anything else really need to be said?
OK -- what about this: To get a prospect like that in the class without really having to recruit him that hard gave Ohio State's coaching staff a lot more time to assemble the 2017 class. Not only is Myers a great player, but he was a stress-free recruitment and an important part of the reason Urban Meyer put this class together.
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What we've written about Myers: