What Tavien St. Clair’s commitment means to Ohio State football: Buckeyes Recruiting

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State’s quest to become known as Quarterback U has taken it all over the country to find talent, but the 2025 recruiting cycle would provide a chance to turn one of its own into a star. The Buckeyes haven’t signed an in-state quarterback since Joe Burrow came as a four-star recruit in the 2015 class. That same season, Cardale Jones led them to a national title as a third-stringer who took over at the end of the season. Now here we are a decade later and the program has again found a potential diamond within its state borders in rising four-star Tavien St. Clair, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Right now St. Clair is the No. 333 player nationally and 25th among quarterbacks, but that could soon be changing as his profile begins to grow nationally. He’s also another mark on the idea that a changing recruiting landscape has forced Ohio State to adapt in a way that it’s more aggressive on in-state players early in the process than in the past. So far that notion has been emphasized at other positions while places like quarterback and wide receiver have still focused on national prospects. St. Clair may be on his way to eventually being considered one of the nation’s top quarterbacks. Being so would allow the Buckeyes to have the best of both worlds at the position in a way it hasn’t happened in over a decade. Jones is well-loved by the fan base for the three-game run he had during the 2015 season. But that was also the highlight of his career as he eventually came back and lost the job to J.T. Barrett after the two spent the first two weeks of the 2015 season alternating as the starters. Burrow is loved too, but everything that’s made him one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now happened once he left the program as he never won the starting job here. That would make Braxton Miller the last true Ohio State QB1 who was from Ohio. St. Clair is on the path to eventually be the next Ohio kid to earn that distinction and now he and five-star safety Jontae Gilbert serve as the faces of the 2025 recruiting class.