Another defensive line recruit has decided against committing to the Ohio State football program. Earnest Rankins, a four-star defensive line recruit from DeKalb, Georgia, had the Buckeyes in his final list of schools. He also had Florida State and Auburn as his other finalists.
Rankins decided to commit to Florida State instead of picking the Buckeyes. He becomes yet another prominent defensive lineman to not pick the Ohio State Buckeyes in the last four days or so. Larry Johnson continues to struggle to get recruits to end up in Columbus.
One of the biggest issues for Ohio State heading into the next couple of years is the lack of depth that they have on the defensive line. Specifically, their depth at defensive end is a real issue. Adding Rankins would have really helped that depth, especially in the 2026 recruiting class.
The Ohio State football team will hope to replace Rankins on Friday
Ohio State hasn't been pursuing Rankins for a little while, so this is a recruiting battle that they expected to lose. Still, it hurts to get some confirmation on that front. They are in trouble unless they are able to grab at least two or three more defensive linemen in this class.
The Buckeyes are hoping to get some good news on Friday. There is a very good possibility that Ohio State flips Jamir Perez from Florida, but he is just a three-star recruit. He is a Cleveland native, so it would be nice to keep him in Columbus. That would help ease the sting of losing out on Rankins a bit.
Ohio State has to figure out a way to make Johnson a better recruiter. Either way, this year has to be the last year that he is on staff. He seems to have lost his recruiting chops, even if he still can develop first-round picks.