Ohio State football missing out on this 5-star to USC made worse with viral clip

When it comes to landing 5-star recruits, we can never expect Ryan Day and Ohio State to reel in 100 percent of their targets. It's hard to complain about misses because of all the great talent the Buckeyes have landed, but losing out on EDGE Luke Wafle for the 2026 class surely hurt.

During the fall, rumors started flying that the door may have been opened for Wafle to back off his USC pledge and flip to the Buckeyes - he had Ohio State high on his list before committing to the Trojans.

That didn't happen, though, and Wafle is already turning heads in Los Angeles. Need proof of that? The clip below is making the rounds on social media and it's easy to see why. Goodness, Wafle already looks like he's going to be a SERIOUS problem for tackles next season:

USC EDGE Luke Wafle is quickly the talk of social media at spring ball

Wait, so you're telling us that this kid graduated high school early? Look at the size of him. It's difficult to comprehend that he should still be in high school, getting ready for his Senior Prom. Instead, Wafle made the move to USC early and he's hoping for immediate playing time.

The 6-6, 265-pounder from New Jersey ended up being ranked five stars and the No. 1 EDGE in the country for the 2027 class per the 247Sports Composite. He had 30 offers to his name, but in the end he was down to USC, Ohio State, Florida and Penn State.

Last May, Day was able to get Wafle on campus for an official visit, with his short stay in Columbus being eye-opening. After that OV, the hope was that Day and his staff were going to be able to beat out the other finalists for Wafle's pledge.

That didn't end up happening, with USC and Lincoln Riley getting the job done. It's a recruiting loss that's still tough to swallow and there's no question seeing Wafle already look like he's going to be a beast in the trenches makes things worse. We're left thinking what could have been for him had he signed with Ohio State instead.