For the second straight day, the Ohio State football program has lost out on a top defensive end recruit. After the Buckeyes lost out on a recruit to Michigan, they were hoping for better results on Monday afternoon. Instead, it was more of the same.
Landon Barnes chose Ole Miss over the Ohio State Buckeyes, giving Larry Johnson another loss on the recruiting trail. After landing a couple of defensive tackles in a row, he has been striking out with defensive ends. Quite frankly, the defensive end position is in a bad spot right now.
They do not have any sort of depth from past recruiting classes, so they are not only behind in that regard, but they don't have anyone in place for the 2026 class. All they have are some edge players, who are clearly better suited as linebackers who can stand up and rush the passer.
The Ohio State football team loses out on another defensive end prospect
Now, the Buckeyes are in a really bad spot. After striking out with both Barnes and Carter Meadows, they don't have many options moving forward. Their best bet might be to try to flip some recruits down the stretch, but that might be tough to do with how poor their NIL is right now.
Johnson has not been doing good things so far this year. He won two national championships, and it would have been nice if he had ridden off into the sunset after last season. Instead, he continues to pile up the recruiting losses at a very key spot on the depth chart.
Ohio State fans are starting to become very frustrated with Johnson and his lack of recruiting ability at his age. Matt Patricia has heavily assisted with any of the recruits he has been able to land up to this point. It's pretty clear that Johnson is over the hill at this point in his coaching career.