It’s All-Star Game Announcement Season and the Buckeyes were a big beneficiary on Sunday afternoon with a commitment from Duncanville (Texas) defensive end Omari Abor. The Top 100 prospect chose the Buckeyes over Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, and many others and made his choice known at the Under Armour All-American Game being played down in Florida.
What Ohio State is getting
Opinions vary about where Abor’s body might take him at the next level. Some believe he’s more of a pure edge rusher, while others have expressed some thoughts that he could eventually be more of a three-technique/interior pass rusher.
For now, I think Abor is more of an edge guy and it will be interesting to see what new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles thinks in terms of playing the standup LEO position or putting a hand in the dirt. I think the LEO spot could be Abor’s first audition in Columbus as he has a lot of experience playing on the edge and just attacking as a speed rusher.
Abor struggled with some injuries early on in his senior year but played really, really well down the stretch for Duncanville. He has a quick first step coming off the ball and is the type of defender that can really chase things down from the back side or get out in space and disrupt the screen game.
Like all young defensive linemen, it will be a matter of how quickly Abor’s body adjusts to the next level. He’ll need to get a little stronger and to this point has shown more as a pure pass rusher than being a disruptor at the point of attack in the run game.
But all of the physical tools are there for Abor to be another in the long line of outstanding defensive ends to come out of Columbus in recent memory. Abor reminds me a little bit of Jalyn Holmes, who came out of Virginia and turned into a very good player at Ohio State before being a mid-round NFL draft pick.
What it means for recruiting
Ohio State is finished recruiting the defensive end position for the 2022 class having now landed three of its top targets in Abor, Caden Curry, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. More importantly, these are three players who should fit well together. Abor and Jackson could likely play either defensive end spot where Curry is more of a strong side end who could also play inside, at least in pass rushing situations.
This is great mix here for the Buckeyes as all three are highly talented players that fit well together and were prioritized early on in the recruiting process. When all of those things mix, you have the potential for a special group.
The Buckeyes will now turn recruiting focus in 2022 to the defensive tackle position where Hero Kanu and Christen Miller are still in play. Kanu is set to announce on January 8th and Christen Miller is set to announce on the February Signing Day. Landing one of those two would make for a monster class, somehow landing both would take this one into the very upper echelon of classes that we’ve seen Larry Johnson put together.
The Buckeyes could also continue to look at the transfer portal, both on the defensive line and at other positions as there are still holes to fill on the roster and still some decisions left to be made regarding the NFL, most notably with third-year defensive end Zach Harrison.
Another underrated thing here is that there has been concern that Ohio State may be losing some footing in the talent rich state of Texas. That doesn’t seem to be the case and the more big-time players like Abor that the Buckeyes are able to land in Texas, the better.
