The Ohio State football program seems to be having a tough time closing out its 2026 recruiting class. After starting the cycle with a lot of momentum, including having the second-best ranking in the country, they have slid down to sixth in the country.
Recruiting on the defensive line has been a huge struggle. Larry Johnson's continued issues are frustrating fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Defensive ends have been a hard commodity to come by for them. KJ Ford has been someone they have been hoping to add to their class for a while.
Ford has the Buckeyes as one of his final schools, but it didn't seem like they were going to land him a few days ago when he logged a crystal ball prediction to head to Florida. The prediction has now changed, but it's still not in favor of Ohio State.
KJ Ford has new prediction to head to Oklahoma instead of the Ohio State football team
Ford not coming to Columbus would mark yet another loss for Johnson on the recruiting trail. Matt Patricia has tried the best he can to help Johnson land these defensive linemen, but it hasn't been working. Losing Ford would mark another strikeout at the defensive end spot.
At this point, the Buckeyes are almost running out of prospects in the 2026 class to recruit at that spot. They clearly haven't been very successful at flipping prospects, although they were able to flip Jamir Perez from Florida. Perez would have picked Ohio State the first time had they recruited him harder at the beginning, though.
Ohio State is almost at the point that they will have to chalk up this class as a loss up front and roll over the losses to the 2027 class. Next year, they very well might have a new defensive line coach. It's clear that Johnson is having trouble adapting to the modern recruiting rules.
Ford is announcing his commitment on Friday, so we'll soon find out if the Buckeyes have truly lost out on him. Maybe they can make a miracle last-second push for him.