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Five most underrated recruits in Ohio State Football history

By Ryan Stano

Sep 20, 2008; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker James Laurinaitis (33) raises his arms to get the crowd into the game against the Troy Trojans at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 20, 2008; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker James Laurinaitis (33) raises his arms to get the crowd into the game against the Troy Trojans at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /
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Everyone knows how well the Ohio State football team recruits. They currently have the second-best recruiting class in the country. They get a lot of four and five-star recruits every single cycle. That doesn’t mean they don’t get some diamonds in the rough too.

Ohio State has had some three-star recruits pop and become some of the best players in Ohio State football history. We don’t have reliable recruiting data for the 20th century, so a lot of the players on this list will come from the year 2002 on. All recruiting data is provided by 247Sports and Rivals.

That doesn’t mean that these players aren’t still really good. They beat the odds. Whatever recruiters were seeing wasn’t correct because every single player on this list exceeded their star rating and then some. You have to give credit to the coaches for getting the most out of them.

The first player on our list is actually on the current roster and has already outperformed his recruiting ranking.

5. Marvin Harrison Jr.

Even though he was a four-star recruit, Marvin Harrison Jr. has shown he should have been the best overall recruit in his class. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Scheller-The Columbus DispatchFootball Ceb Osufb Spring Game Ohio State At Ohio State
Even though he was a four-star recruit, Marvin Harrison Jr. has shown he should have been the best overall recruit in his class. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Scheller-The Columbus DispatchFootball Ceb Osufb Spring Game Ohio State At Ohio State /

Simply put, Marvin Harrison Jr. is the best receiver in college football. There’s an argument to be made that he is the best player period in college football. I’ve heard scouts say that there’s a chance he could be the number-one overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft over Caleb Williams.

Harrison Jr. was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. He was listed as the 21st-best receiver in the country. He wasn’t even rated as the best two receivers in Ohio State’s class. Harrison Jr. was rated behind both Emeka Egbuka and Jayden Ballard.

What Harrison Jr. has been able to do has been amazing. He had 77 catches for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first year as a starter last season. He should put up even bigger numbers next year now that he knows what it’s like to be in Ryan Day’s offense as a starter.

I think he might be one of the top-three receivers in Ohio State history already. That’s how talented of a player he is. The next player on this list is someone more people definitely need to think about as being a great Buckeye.

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