At almost every position on the field, Ohio State has been able to recruit five-star recruits. The one exception to that in the last few years has been the offensive line. It has been a while since they have been able to bring in a blue-chip recruit up front, even since adding Tyler Bowen to the coaching staff.
Bowen has a plethora of offensive linemen coming in the 2027 recruiting class. Right now, the Buckeyes have six offensive linemen in the class. That accounts for almost one-third of the entire recruiting class right now. Bowen looks poised to land his first blue-chip recruit in next year's class, though.
Tyler Bowen gets early crystal ball prediction for two offensive line recruits in 2028
While the Buckeyes are still trying to round out the 2027 recruiting class, they already have their eyes on some prospects from the 2028 class. Bowen has a crystal ball prediction from Allen Trieu of 247Sports to land two different offensive line prospects. One of them is Kavon Blackman.
Blackman is ranked in the top 25 nationally by Rivals and would be the first blue-chip recruit that the Ohio State Buckeyes have landed on the offensive line since Paris Johnson Jr. Right now, he is listed as a four-star recruit from Springfield, so he's an in-state guy.
The other recruit Trieu has a prediction for is John Paul Carrico. He is a four-star recruit from Kentucky. Of course, it is very early in the class to think that these recruits are sewn up in any way for the Buckeyes. There is too much time between now and when those recruits would sign to think that.
If Bowen were able to land both recruits, it would be a heck of a start to the 2028 recruiting class. Next year's class likely won't see Ohio State add as many offensive linemen as it does in this class, though. That could allow Bowen to focus more on the top recruits.
Tyler Bowen needs to prove he can develop on Ohio State's offensive line
Bowen's MO when he was hired was that he was a good recruiter. However, there are questions about whether or not he can actually develop some talent up front. He hasn't been able to get the top-rated recruits in the country, so he needs to show that he can develop some lesser-rated recruits.
Those questions will start to be answered this season. Bowen needs to get his unit to play much better at the end of the year than it did last season. The failure up front in the last two games was a big reason why they lost the Big Ten Championship and the Cotton Bowl.
In those final two games, the Buckeyes allowed 10 sacks. That simply is not going to get it done when playing the best competition at the end of the year. Bowen has to show that he can get his guys to protect Julian Sayin as he tries to lead the team to a national championship.
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