Cleveland, OH
Four-star Ohio 2025 Running Back Bo Jackson Commits to Ohio State
Bo knows.
Its Official 1000% Commited #TheeOhioStateFootball #Blessed@ryandaytime @Locklyn33 @OhioStateFB @TonyJCoach #Ohio25 @EliLee12 @TJSaint_1 @big_carter72 #WhoGotNext pic.twitter.com/Zj4LKdoI8a
— Bo Jackson (@BoJackson2025) June 4, 2024
Regardless of whether you go by Jackson’s legal first name, Lamar, or his nickname, Bo, the newest member of the Buckeyes’ 2025 cycle shares a name with a former Heisman Trophy winner. Sounds like a great omen for a successful collegiate career.
That said, after a lengthy recruitment that involved holding off Georgia and Alabama in the end, Ohio State accomplished a major goal by successfully keeping four-star 2025 running back Bo Jackson in-state on Tuesday with the Cleveland product’s commitment to the Buckeyes.
| Pos | Name | Rating | Rank | Size | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | DEVIN SANCHEZ | ★★★★★ | #5 NATL | #1 CB | 6-2 | 170 | North Shore (Houston, Texas) |
| CB | NA’EEM OFFORD | ★★★★★ | #6 NATL | #2 CB | 6-1 | 185 | Parker (Birmingham, Alabama) |
| QB | TAVIEN ST. CLAIR | ★★★★★ | #14 NATL | #3 QB | 6-4 | 210 | Bellefontaine (Bellefontaine, Ohio) |
| OT | CARTER LOWE | ★★★★ | #54 NATL | #7 OT | 6-5 | 290 | Whitmer (Toledo, Ohio) |
| DE | ZAHIR MATHIS | ★★★★ | #60 NATL | #5 Edge | 6-6 | 225 | Imhotep Institute (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) |
| LB | TARVOS ALFORD | ★★★★ | #47 NATL | #5 LB | 6-2 | 210 | Vero Beach (Vero Beach, Florida) |
| RB | BO JACKSON | ★★★★ | #81 NATL | #5 RB | 6-0 | 205 | Villa Angela-St. Joseph (Cleveland, OH) |
| DE | LONDON MERRITT | ★★★★ | #116 NATL | #13 DL | 6-2 | 250 | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) |
| TE | NATE ROBERTS | ★★★★ | #132 NATL | #6 TE | 6-4 | 235 | Washington (Washington, Oklahoma) |
| S | DESHAWN STEWART | ★★★★ | #295 NATL | #26 S | 6-2 | 185 | DePaul Catholic (Wayne, New Jersey) |
| WR | DE’ZIE JONES | ★★★★ | #313 NATL | #42 WR | 6-0 | 180 | DePaul Catholic (Wayne, New Jersey) |
| S | CODY HADDAD | ★★★★ | #376 NATL | #18 ATH | 6-1 | 175 | St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio) |
| LB | ELI LEE | ★★★★ | #380 NATL | #41 LB | 6-3 | 230 | Archbishop Hoban (Akron, Ohio) |
| Prospect Rating Data: 247Sports Composite | |||||
Jackson’s official visit over the weekend sealed the 6-foot, 205-pound running back’s recruitment, as the talented tailback got a feel for what life could be like for him with the Buckeyes. He attended a gathering thrown by JT Tuimoloau and bonded with his player host, Sam Williams-Dixon on his visit. He also spent extensive time with Carlos Locklyn, who showed him how he’d develop in Chip Kelly’s offense. While Jackson still had an Alabama official visit scheduled, he felt comfortable ending his recruitment early and pledging to his home state team.
“Overall, it was a great weekend for me and my family,” Jackson told Eleven Warriors of his visit. “Spending time with coach Ryan Day, Chip Kelly and Carlos Locklyn were great, but the real highlight with both trips so far was hanging with current players around campus.”
The Jackson File
- Class: 2025
- Size: 6-0/205
- Pos: RB
- School: Villa Angela-St.Joseph (Cleveland, Ohio)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★
- Composite Rank: #81 (#5 RB)
In a weird way, Tony Alford’s departure to Michigan in the spring may have actually helped the Buckeyes land Jackson, considering Alford’s replacement was Locklyn, the former Oregon running backs coach. Jackson had established a strong rapport with Locklyn from his time with the Ducks and it was a seamless transition recruiting him in his new role at Ohio State. Since Locklyn arrived on campus, he and Jackson spoke nearly every other day until his commitment.
Jackson is the 13th OSU commitment in 2025 and the first running back, though he likely won’t be the last. Ohio State continues to be in strong pursuit of four-star California prospect Jordon Davison and also has a vested interest in former Kentucky commit Isaiah West. Another potential fit could be Alabama commit Anthony Rogers, who just took an unofficial visit to Ohio State last week and may take an official visit this fall.
Jackson brings powerful running style to Columbus, could get early playing time
Per 247Sports’ composite rankings, Jackson is considered the No. 81 prospect nationally and the No. 5 running back in the 2025 class. It’s hard not to dream on how Jackson could be utilized in Ohio State’s offense immediately upon his arrival on campus, considering the carries that will likely be available assuming TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins are NFL-bound following the 2024 season.
“They say with a new offensive coordinator they’re going to get the ball to the running back a lot in the backfield,” Jackson said in May. “Throwing the ball, running the ball, everything. My parents and I had a good talk with Chip Kelly (on my spring visit to OSU). The way he’s got everything set up in the offense, it feels like it’s going to open up everything with everything spaced out.”
Jackson is both a powerful runner and a talented pass catcher and will bring a mean streak to an Ohio State rushing attack that may only get better using Kelly’s offensive schemes. He’s talented enough that he could vie for early playing time in 2025, though players like James Peoples and Williams-Dixon will be one year ahead of him.
“I love how they use their backs,” Jackson said last year regarding what he felt was the most appealing thing about playing for Ohio State.
Jackson has elite acceleration and can run between the tackles or in an outside zone. Arm tackles aren’t going to get the job done against Jackson, who scored nearly 30 touchdowns and ran for 1,700 yards in his junior season.
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland man dies after fatal shooting at gas station
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A man was killed Friday after being shot at a gas station on the city’s East side.
Cleveland police said they responded to the Sunoco in the 3300 block of E. 93rd St. around 8:30 p.m.
According to police, officers were in the area when they heard gunshots.
When officers arrived at the gas station, they found the victim with gunshot wounds.
Officers immediately began to provide first aid until EMS arrived and transported him to University Hospitals.
Carl Formby, 49, died from his injuries at the hospital.
Officers said they found two firearms and several casings at the scene.
The Cleveland Police Homicide Unit is investigating the incident.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Browns News and Rumors June 22, 2026: Not Just Org Chart Noise
CLEVELAND, Ohio (TheOBR.com) Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
There are mornings when I sit down at this keyboard, look at the Browns quarterback discourse, and wonder whether I should have gone into a more stable line of work. Such as selling timeshares from inside an office that has been lit on fire. Because here we are in late June, with no pads, no preseason games, no live pass rush, and apparently everyone from television personalities to team-adjacent announcers to webdorks like me has solved the Browns quarterback battle. That’s 90% of the news items out there this morning.
But I don’t care, and look on that endless speculative churning as simply being noise at this point.
One story that matters this morning is Andrew Healy leaving Cleveland for Minnesota, which I wrote about several days ago. He’s joining the Vikings as an assistant general manager.
Let Barry know what you think of the Daily Bloviation! CLICK HERE!
If your first reaction was, “Okay, front-office guy changes jobs, wake me when someone throws a slant,” I get it. Executives mostly become famous when something goes wrong, which is a cruel system, but, hey, I didn’t design the planet. I just live here.
But Healy’s departure is a real loss. Alec Lewis’ Athletic reporting had two quotes that should get your attention. Browns offensive analyst Dom Borsani called Healy “a little bit like a unicorn,” because he combined research background and technical aptitude with a traditional scouting lens and an understanding of coaching schemes. Former Browns senior software developer Zach Zelinsky, now with the Arizona Diamondbacks, called him “probably the smartest guy I’ve worked with in sports.”
That’s not normal praise. That’s not “great teammate, first guy in, last guy out” boilerplate. This is people inside the machine saying the Browns just lost one of the people who helped connect the spreadsheet world to the football world. And that matters because the modern NFL is not analytics versus scouting anymore — or at least it shouldn’t be. The good organizations are the ones where the numbers people understand what the scouts are seeing, the scouts trust that the numbers can challenge their assumptions, and the coaches don’t throw the laptop into Lake Erie.
Healy’s Sloan Sports Analytics bio says that, for the last five years, he “led the integration of data and advanced insights into all parts of football operations.” It also says he started with the Browns in 2016 as Senior Player Personnel Strategist, helping to develop methods for valuing players, making game decisions, and evaluating draft assets. Before that, he created projection systems for Football Outsiders, and before that, he was an economics professor with a Ph.D. from MIT. So, yes, he is smarter than your humble webdork. This is not a high bar, but still.
So, naturally, I was worried about this and did what I always do when I’m looking for common-sense answers: I talked to Lane. He let me know what he “was told all the systems have been in place, with others handling the process. It doesn’t feel like they are overly concerned with his departure. As they have told me previously, you never like to lose assets, but you plan accordingly.”
The Browns still have Andrew Berry. They still have people in the research department. This is not a one-man shop collapsing because the smartest guy took his stapler to Minneapolis. But when you lose Paul DePodesta to the Rockies and Healy to the Vikings in the same general era, you lose institutional memory, decision-making frameworks, and the people who knew why certain models were built the way they were. Don’t expect the loss of the two to indicate much about how the Browns use analytics – it hasn’t fallen out of favor or suddenly joined Maurice Carthon’s playbook in the annals of football history.
This is the type of stuff fans don’t see until two years later, when the draft board feels different, the fourth-down decisions get twitchy, or the team suddenly stops finding value in places it used to find value. Maybe Berry replaces that brainpower cleanly. Maybe the remaining group steps forward. Maybe the Browns are fine. But losing a “unicorn” from a front office is like losing a left guard: nobody talks about it until the pressure starts coming up the middle.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
Newswire Bloviation Archive
OBR GOODIES
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- Cleveland Browns News and Rumors June 21, 2026: Fighting for Football Lives
- Rookie Year Expectations For The Cleveland Browns 2026 Draft Picks – Day Two
FROM THE FORUMS
INSIDER DISCUSSION (VIP)
- Cleveland Browns News and Rumors June 21, 2026: Fighting for Football Lives
THE WATERCOOLER
THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond…
Space.com reports that scientists are drawing up a research blueprint to examine whether warming Mars is actually feasible — not because anyone should be selling lakefront property in Olympus Mons by Thursday, but because the work could help humanity understand what sustainable habitats beyond Earth would require. University of Chicago geophysical scientist Edwin Kite told Space.com, “We do not yet know enough to create a biosphere from scratch,” which is both humbling and oddly comforting. We can’t even get everyone to agree on the Browns quarterback depth chart, but sure, let’s keep the option open for Mars.
WRAPPING UP
When not trying to identify the precise moment quarterback analysis becomes interpretive dance, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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Copyright 2026 WOIO via TheOBR.com. All rights reserved.
Cleveland, OH
3 dead in Lakewood double murder-suicide
Three people are dead after a double murder-suicide in Lakewood.
Police said a man called his ex-wife early Sunday morning, saying he shot two people at a home on Chesterland Avenue.
According to investigators, the man threatened to shoot himself.
When officers arrived at the scene, they saw a man in a truck speeding away.
Police chased the truck until it stopped on Warren Road.
The 45-year-old man exited the vehicle with a gun to his head and shot himself moments later, police said.
Police found 35-year-old Richard Eastin and 33-year-old Amanda Wakut dead inside the kitchen of the home on Chesterland Avenue.
The investigation is ongoing.
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