The Ohio State football program has been trying to flip some recruits as the season has gone along. With just a few weeks left until Signing Day for the 2026 recruiting class, Ohio State is hoping to improve its recruiting ranking. They still sit just ninth in the country.
Adding some players from schools that have fired their coaches would certainly help with that, but the Buckeyes are also still looking at recruits from other schools that have their coaches intact. One recruit they are looking heavily into is Emanuel Ruffin.
Ruffin is a four-star recruit who committed to Colorado in September. Unfortunately for the Buffaloes, their season has fallen apart. Now, Ruffin has decided to de-commit from the program, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are hot on his tail, trying to get him to sign with them.
The Ohio State football team is projected to land four-star recruit Emanuel Ruffin
According to Steve Wiltfong of Rivals, the Buckeyes are projected to land Ruffin's services. He is choosing heavily between Ohio State and LSU at the moment, but the Buckeyes seem to have the upper hand when it comes to his recruitment.
Ruffin stands at 6'4 and 290 pounds, and he's someone who can really help the interior of the defensive line. Adding him would give Larry Johnson another solid defensive lineman and would help with the light numbers that the Buckeyes have had in the last couple of classes.
Ohio State feels that it should be able to bring in Ruffin with a strong push in the next month or so. Ruffin has decided to develop more of a relationship with Johnson, which gives them an edge over other programs for landing his services.
There are some other recruits the Buckeyes are looking to bring in. While they did just have an offensive lineman de-commit, that might actually be a sign of something greater for the program. It wouldn't be shocking to see Ruffin make a decision as soon as this weekend.