How the 2026 recruiting class stacks up historically, nationally: Ohio State roster building

Crunching the numbers to put the Buckeyes' 2026 class in context

This is part of a series we’re running this week on the current state of roster building in college football and how Ohio State is navigating it. Today, we’re examining the Buckeyes’ 2026 high school recruiting class and how it stacks up against past OSU classes.

Ryan Day vowed last week that the work isn’t done yet.

“It really comes down to, once you get to December, that’s what’s gonna matter,” Day said when asked about the current state of his 2026 recruiting class. “Now, more than ever, you see guys commit somewhere and then decide to go somewhere else. Things change.”

The shifting grounds can, of course, apply to the 21 players currently in the Buckeyes’ 2026 class. Need to keep that group intact and fend off any potential poachers. But Day delivered the message more in a way that suggested his staff wasn’t nearly done adding players to the fold.

We’ll see how that shakes out. What we have now is a snapshot in time. One that, depending on your social media browsing habits, you may notice has some Ohio State fans feeling uneasy about how things are coming together.