\n Welcome to the Skull Session. <\/p>\n
\n\tJames Laurinaitis will ring the Victory Bell <\/a>before Ohio State faces Illinois on Sept. 26.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tOhio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis will ring the Victory Bell before the Buckeyes\u2019 Sept. 26 home game against Illinois.https:\/\/t.co\/BsUWgKWsEg<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/jdDmgaicP9<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tI look forward to the College Football Hall of Famer\u00a0sprinting down the tunnel and to Ohio State’s sideline after ringing the bell to coach the Buckeyes’ linebackers.\n<\/p>\n \n\tHuss, huss, huss.\n<\/p>\n \n\tHave a good Tuesday.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0BOOOOOOM! Chat, is Ohio State basketball back?\n<\/p>\n \n\tOn Monday, five-star guard LJ Smith announced he has reclassified to the 2026 class and will join the Buckeyes this season<\/a>. As a result, Ohio State will have two five-star recruits \u2014 Smith and Anthony Thompson \u2014 in the same class for the first time since 2008, when in-state prospects B.J. Mullens and William Buford signed with Thad Matta\u2019s program.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tOhio State will now have two five-star freshmen on its 2026-27 roster in Anthony Thompson and LJ Smith.https:\/\/t.co\/825kxvVwnq<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/F6ICmX1GRp<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tThompson is Ohio State\u2019s fourth-highest-rated prospect in the modern recruiting era behind Greg Oden, Mullens and Jared Sullinger. Smith is the eighth-highest behind those Buckeyes plus Buford, Daequan Cook and D\u2019Angelo Russell.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn other words, these dudes can ball.\n<\/p>\n \n\tLook out for the Basketbucks!\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0DECISIONS, DECISIONS. ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller and Jordan Reid<\/a> ranked the top five prospects at each position in the 2027 NFL Draft class, and three Buckeyes made the cut across their combined lists.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIt starts, of course, with Jeremiah Smith, whom both evaluators project as the No. 1 wide receiver in the class. On the offensive line, Austin Siereveld appeared as Miller\u2019s No. 5 offensive tackle and Reid\u2019s No. 3 offensive guard, while Luke Montgomery landed at No. 3 among guards in Miller\u2019s rankings.\n<\/p>\n \n\tNeither Miller nor Reid ranked Julian Sayin as a top-five quarterback in the draft class. Miller has Texas\u2019 Arch Manning, Oregon\u2019s Dante Moore, Oklahoma State\u2019s Drew Mestemaker, Notre Dame\u2019s CJ Carr and Miami\u2019s Darian Mensah, while Reid has Manning, Moore, Mensah, Carr and Mestemaker. Reid also added that South Carolina\u2019s LaNorris Sellers is a name outside the top five to keep an eye on.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s time for another offseason question \u2014 the kind of hypothetical that tends to take on a life of its own while we wait for college football to return.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s still an entire season ahead of Sayin. He could become a Heisman finalist for a second straight year, lead Ohio State Buckeyes to a second national championship in three seasons and firmly establish himself as a top quarterback in the 2027 NFL draft class. But what if his draft stock next spring looks a lot like it does today?\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn that scenario, returning for another year of college football becomes a legitimate option. The bigger question is where that would happen. Five-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair has patiently waited his turn to become QB1 in Columbus. If Sayin came back for a fourth season, would St. Clair be willing to wait yet another year? More importantly, would Ohio State ask him to?\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhat say you: if Sayin\u2019s draft stock is in question after 2026, would you want him back in the scarlet and gray, or would you turn the keys over to St. Clair?\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0BRIAN HARTLINE\u2019S TOP FIVE. Last week, Brian Hartline appeared on Steve Smith\u2019s 89 podcast, where he joined Smith and James Palmer to discuss his journey to becoming USF\u2019s head coach, wide receiver non-negotiables, transparency in the NIL era, and his evaluation of Jaxon Smith-Njigba.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tPerhaps most interesting for Eleven Warriors readers was Smith\u2019s list of the top 10 wide receivers Hartline coached at Ohio State, which we\u2019ll examine below (Smith only ranked former Buckeyes, so Jeremiah Smith is not included):\n<\/p>\n \t\tMarvin Harrison Jr.<\/p>\n \t\tGarrett Wilson<\/p>\n \t\tChris Olave<\/p>\n \t\tJaxon Smith-Njigba<\/p>\n \t\tEmeka Egbuka<\/p>\n \t\tDevin Smith<\/p>\n \t\tMichael Thomas<\/p>\n \t\tParris Campbell<\/p>\n \t\tK.J. Hill<\/p>\n \t\tTerry McLaurin<\/p>\n \n\tHartline told Steve Smith he didn\u2019t coach Devin Smith or Michael Thomas, so Smith allowed him to swap those Buckeyes out of his list. Hartline then added Austin Mack and Jameson Williams instead, without revealing where they should land in Smith\u2019s revised top 10.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAfter some discussion of the Ohio State records set by Smith\u2019s top five \u2014 Emeka Egbuka\u2019s career receptions mark, Jaxon Smith-Njigba\u2019s single-season receiving yards record, and Chris Olave\u2019s career touchdowns record \u2014 Hartline eventually ranked his top five at the position.\n<\/p>\n \n\tHartline hesitated a few times while working through the list, at one point prompting Smith to hilariously tell him to \u201crip the Band-Aid off.\u201d Hartline ultimately settled on the following order:\n<\/p>\n \t\tMarvin Harrison Jr.<\/p>\n \t\tGarrett Wilson<\/p>\n \t\tEmeka Egbuka<\/p>\n \t\tChris Olave<\/p>\n \t\tJaxon Smith-Njigba<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s pretty darn good. I can\u2019t wait to redo the whole thing,\u201d Hartline said. \u201cAgain, what\u2019s my criteria? It\u2019s based on production at Ohio State.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s hard to argue with any list that features those receivers in the top five. That will likely remain true \u2014 at least until January, when Jeremiah Smith declares for the NFL draft. At that point, any all-time Ohio State wide receiver ranking should start with him at No. 1, leaving the rest of the top 10 to the eye of the beholder.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0RUN IT UP, HERMAN! Here\u2019s another list: the top 10 teams in average per game point differential over the past five seasons, with Ohio State at No. 1.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tLargest average per game point differential over the last 5 seasons pic.twitter.com\/tlUtoDPv3B<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) June 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tThis honestly surprised me a bit, given Ryan Day\u2019s reputation for rarely running up the score \u2014 especially in recent seasons. Maybe that 56-7 win over Michigan State in 2021 is doing some heavy lifting in the Buckeyes\u2019 ranking here.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThat performance is an all-timer in my book.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0SONG OF THE DAY.\u00a0“Blitzkrieg Bop” – Ramones.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0CUT TO THE CHASE.\u00a0Brendan Sorsby declares for the NFL supplemental draft amid legal battles over eligibility<\/a>…\u00a0Shane Beamer says Sam Dixon dismissed from South Carolina football after arrest<\/a>…\u00a0Meet Merlin the duck, a Mexico City streetside regular turned World Cup mascot<\/a>…\u00a0Michigan State Athletics, MSUFCU announce jersey patch sponsorship<\/a>…\u00a0See how World Cup countries, winners, prize money changed through the years<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n