The Ohio State football program has been lacking in landing defensive line recruits in the 2026 cycle. Larry Johnson finally got over that hump by landing Kahry Wilder, but there remained no defensive tackles in the cycle. That changed when Damari Simeon committed to the Buckeyes on Friday evening.
Simeon becomes the first defensive tackle that the Ohio State Buckeyes have landed in the 2026 recruiting class. He is a four-star recruit from Richland, New Jersey. He becomes the 18th member of the recruiting class and gives the Buckeyes a recruit at a much-needed position.
Simeon had a lot of top schools on his list. He was choosing between Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, and Penn State. The Buckeyes were able to win out against the other Big Ten schools and the top program in the SEC at the moment, which is a massive recruiting win.
Four-star defensive tackle picks the Ohio State football program
The Buckeyes get a 6'3 and 275-pound tackle in Simeon. He is someone who has a lot of power in his moves, which is something Ohio State needs up the middle. They have to be able to stop the run up the middle, and the best way to do that is to have stout defensive tackles.
Ohio State has started to get on a bit of a recruiting roll here late in the month of June. They were hoping to get another commitment today, but Jerquaden Guilford pushed his recruitment date back. Still, the Buckeyes need a defensive tackle more than they need another receiver.
Johnson doesn't get full credit for this recruitment win. Matt Patricia has been working hard to get on the road in order to secure some defensive commitments. He has been much more committed to recruiting than Jim Knowles was when he was the defensive coordinator.
The Buckeyes are expecting to get some more recruits at the beginning of next month, so things are just heating up for them on the recruiting trail. Ryan Day has to be happy with the progress that he is seeing with the 2026 recruiting class, but there's still a lot of work to do.