Where Ohio State can turn after missing out on five-star tackle David Sanders Jr.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ohio State’s 2025 offensive line class won’t include David Sanders Jr., which means the Buckeyes will have to pivot.

The five-star tackle, rated No. 2 overall in the 247Sports composite rankings, chose Tennessee on Saturday, as Ohio State was left as one of three runners-up along with Nebraska and Georgia.

With Ohio State having just two offensive linemen pledged in the 2025 class (four-star tackle Carter Lowe and three-star interior lineman Jake Cook), the Buckeyes and offensive line coach Justin Frye don’t only need good players in the class.

They need to make sure the 2025 class doesn’t sit at two when signing day hits in December.

The likeliest option for the Buckeyes is to push harder for one or more of the few remaining uncommitted players that have offers from Ohio State. Of the 29 offers sent out on the offensive line in the 2025 cycle, just four-star Malachi Goodman, three-star Jayvon McFadden and unranked Atamai Matau remain uncommitted.

Presuming Ohio State doesn’t land all of those targets, it will have to circle back on some options that are currently committed to other schools.

Four-star linemen Micah DeBose (Alabama) and Avery Gach (Michigan) were two linemen that had Ohio State in their final few, as were three-stars Kaden Strayhorn (Michigan) and Andrew Stargel (UCF). Those could be a few options for the Buckeyes to make another run at.

Then there’s the unknown.

Ohio State will, in all likelihood, have to circle back on prospects that don’t currently have reported Ohio State offers. Three-star Jayden Clark, from Northmont High School in Clayton, is the highest-rated offensive lineman left uncommitted in the state of Ohio. There will likely be other names that pop up, like Gabe VanSickle did a year ago, as the Buckeyes and Frye look to fill out the class.

The transfer portal remains an ever-present option for Ohio State, and for other programs in the sport, but it’s usually remarkably difficult to find capable, readymade offensive linemen in the transfer portal.

Josh Simmons, who transferred to Ohio State from San Diego State for the 2023 season, is a wonderful development story for the Buckeyes and for Frye. That’s something that will undoubtedly be used as a big-time recruiting tool for high schoolers and for portal options moving forward.

But routinely banking on Mountain West Conference offensive linemen to come in and immediately start — and play well — at Ohio State is, put conservatively, risky.

In short, there are a few options for Ohio State now that Sanders has opted to commit elsewhere. But Sanders was clearly Plan A, and now the challenge is figuring out what the next step is.