Re-ranking Ohio State's 2022 recruiting class, four years later

The Buckeyes had a few hits and a startling number of misses among the 21 players signed in 2022.

Caden Curry, one of the few hits from Ohio State’s 2022 recruiting class, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. (Courtesy of OSU football)

COLUMBUS — Ohio State signed 21 players out of high school in the 2022 recruiting class, a group that ranked No. 4 nationally at the time. It was Ryan Day’s third full recruiting class, signed on the heels of a 2021 class that laid the foundation for a national title winner four years later.

The 2021 class was a smash.

The 2022 class was a dud.

I started this exercise at The Athletic a few years ago, where I would take inventory of Ohio State’s recruiting classes once those players were four years into their careers and the NFL Draft had concluded. We’re here now with OSU’s 2022 recruiting class. We don’t have the complete picture. Sixteen of the 21 players are still in college, including three at Ohio State. But Ohio State never signs a recruiting class hoping that more than three-quarters of those players are still playing five years later. The fact that so many are still in college, in Columbus or elsewhere, is a sign of a class that didn’t work out.

There were a few hits, sure, but not nearly enough to justify the class as a whole as a success. Only five of the 21 players ended up starting for Ohio State. Fifteen of the 21 players ended up transferring. That group has bounced around a bit and has yet to yield a full-time starter elsewhere. All told, 23 different college programs have rostered at least one member of Ohio State’s 2022 recruiting class, including those who are still playing this year.

To recap the class, we’ll re-rank the players against their initial 247Sports composite rating within the class, based on what they’ve done over the last four years, primarily for Ohio State and then elsewhere. One note: I’m only ranking 20 of the 21 players. Offensive linemen Avery Henry, unfortunately, never played and had to medically retire following a bone cancer diagnosis. He’s remained around the OSU program, but we’re not going to include him in this exercise.

Let’s get to re-ranking.

1. Sonny Styles, LB

Original rank in the class: No. 2

Fitting that the biggest hit from a miss of a class was a player who wasn’t supposed to be in the class in the first place. Styles reclassified and left high school early to be a member of the 2022 recruiting class. A first-team All-American in 2025 who started 41 games over four years at safety and linebacker, Styles was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The former captain and Block O jersey recipient, a program legacy from the Columbus suburbs, was Buckeye through and through. Style finished his career with 244 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, and nine sacks.