2027 linebacker schedules Ohio State visit

SB Nation

Ohio State is now 7-0 following another dominant victory Saturday against Wisconsin.

The Buckeyes traveled to Wisconsin, who is helmed by former Ohio State player and coach Luke Fickell, and walked away

with an impressive 34-0 win. The shutout win was another impressive showing for the Buckeyes, who look to be head and shoulders above the rest of the college football field, at least at this point of the year.

Ohio State is now entering their second bye week of the year, and will have two weeks to prepare for the Penn State game, which at one point looked to be one of the Buckeyes’ most challenging games of the year. While there has certainly been turmoil in Happy Valley and Penn State is not the team that most thought it would be at the start of the season, Ohio State cannot and will not take the game lightly.

Ryan Day and the entirety of his coaching staff will not only be busy preparing for the upcoming home game with Penn State with their extra time, as they will also be heavily focusing on recruiting as well.

The off week means Ohio State will not be able to host recruits this week for an in-game experience, so instead the team will try and work to acquire wins with those recruits that have already visited this season. Additionally, the staff will likely look to identify more targets to bring to campus later this season.

This mindset held true Monday, as the Buckeyes learned they will soon be playing host to 2027 linebacker Blake Betton (Shakopee, MN / Shakopee) who has scheduled a visit with Ohio State for No. 15 when the Buckeyes play host to UCLA.

Betton is a three-star linebacker in the junior class, but don’t let the lower ranking fool you. Betton has impressed on the field this year, and that has led to an uptick in his recruitment.

In the last few months, Betton has received scholarship offers from the likes of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Northwestern, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Kansas State. Additionally, he already held offers from schools like Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Iowa State and others.

He does not yet hold a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes, but if the upcoming visit goes well, he could easily leave Columbus with one.

The Minnesota native has already completed multiple visits with his home-state school Minnesota, and the Golden Gophers are reasonably the early favorites in his recruitment due to their longstanding relationship. However, with him scheduling visits with Ohio State, Michigan and Missouri, he is not yet ready to commit to staying at home, and will do his due diligence to find the school that is best for him, even if it is not in his home state.

Betton is the No. 33 LB in the 247Sports Composite and is the No. 426 national recruit. He is also the No. 3 prospect out of Minnesota.

Ohio State makes the cut for four-star ATH

Ohio State’s 2026 recruiting class is nearly wrapped up. There are still a couple spots the Buckeyes are trying to fill, and they have a select group of recruits they are looking at to fill those spots.

Because of this, a lot of focus is being shifted to next years class. Ohio State already holds three verbal commitments in next year’s class in four-star WR Jamier Brown, four-star QB Brady Edmunds and three-star safety Angelo Smith.

The Buckeyes will certainly be adding to this haul and moved one step closer in doing so this past weekend when four-star athlete Myson Johnson-Cook (East St. Louis, IL / East St. Louis whittled down his list of more than 40 schools to just 12. Included in his new list of top schools was Ohio State.

Ohio State is not alone in its pursuit of Johnson-Cook and it will have some stiff competition moving forward as he also included Oregon, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Alabama, Michigan, Miami, Texas, Missouri, Texas A&M and Illinois in his top schools.

Johnson-Cook is one of the top-rated recruits in the 2027 class and this shows with the pedigree of schools listed in his list. Ohio State offered Johnson-Cook back in February and he visited the Buckeyes for their first game of the year against Texas.

Johnson-Cook is the No. 2 ATH in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and the No. 35 national recruit. He is also the No. 1 recruit out of Illinois. Expect Ohio State to try and get him back on campus for another in-game visit in the back-half of the schedule. The Buckeyes will likely need to do so to remain a contender in his recruitment.

Buckeyes dish out offers

Ohio State is also dishing out offers for both this and next year’s class as well as the classes beyond. Below are just some of the recruits to recently receive the highly-coveted Ohio State scholarship offer: