Ohio State Football: Buckeyes land a top Ohio safety recruit

The Ohio State football team is continuing to recruit at a furious pace. We told you that they hosted a bunch of five-star recruits this past weekend. Now, they land one of the top in-state prospects for the class of 2023 at a position of need.

Malik Hartford, a four-star safety from West Chester, is the fourth-best safety in the state of Ohio for the 2023 class. He chose Ohio State over TTUN, Kentucky, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Michigan State, and Cincinnati. The Buckeyes ended up prevailing out of all of them.

Based on the tape that I’ve seen of him so far, Hartford could be a really good player. He has good range to cover most of the field and is a good tackler. Those are the two things that jump out to me that Ohio State needs, especially with their issues tackling a year ago.

Hartford is now the 6th member of the 2023 recruiting class for Ohio State. He is also the third recruit from the state of Ohio to commit to the Buckeyes in that class. Ryan Day said he wanted to build a fence around the state, and that’s what he’s done so far in his tenure.

Hartford gives the Buckeyes more depth at safety, which is something they won’t have a lot of after this season. It’s always good to have depth in the secondary, especially at a position that is so important in Jim Knowles’ new defensive system. He’s a good player for this system.

The Ohio State football team will have more prospects committing to them as the months go on. They have a lot of really good prospects who are considering coming to Columbus. Hartford is just one that’s from the great state of Ohio.