COLUMBUS — It was beginning to look like Ohio State may never land an offensive line prospect like Caden Moss again. OK, that’s dramatic. But his profile, a top-100 prospect in the offensive trenches from outside of Ohio/the Buckeyes’ Midwest footprint, had been frustratingly elusive going on six recruiting cycles.
No more.
Moss, the No. 43 overall player in the 2027 recruiting class and the No. 1 player in Mississippi, committed to Ohio State on Friday night. He chose the Buckeyes over the home-state school, Ole Miss, as well as Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee, and LSU. He’s the sixth player in a massive offensive line haul this cycle for position coach Tyler Bowen. It was a quality class before Moss’ commitment, but this one signals something different.
Ohio State has not signed a top-100 offensive lineman from outside of Ohio since landing Donovan Jackson in 2021. It’s taken big swings on top-flight prospects from far-flung places since then, and missed every time. That was the biggest red flag on the resume of the previous offensive line coach, Justin Frye, and Bowen was hired to change that. In his second year recruiting for OSU, Bowen got the job done.