Ryan Day and Ohio State are in a bit of a situation right now. After recruiting hard for the last 9 months or so, some of the top targets from the class of 2027 have decided to commit elsewhere rather than to Columbus. In a surprisingly short weekend window, they lost four solid targets:

Wonderful “Champ” Monds IV (QB)

The highly touted four-star quarterback officially committed to Notre Dame yesterday, May 1. Even though Ohio State was high on his list for a long time, he announced his big move to South Bend live. Monds hopped onto the Pat McAfee Show and chose the Fighting Irish over his other finalists, the Buckeyes and Florida State.

What makes this sting a bit more is that Monds was going to get tagged as a five-star, apparently. The 6-foot-2, over-220-pound QB was originally the top-ranked quarterback for the class of 2028 before he decided to jump ahead to the 2027 class.

He even has friends on the Ohio State roster (Tarvos Alford) and had visited Columbus multiple times. The Fighting Irish coaching staff, led by Marcus Freeman and QB coach Gino Guidugli, really won him over during his last visit in mid-April.

This means they have to change their game plan. They already have a great commit in Brady Edmunds, but they were really hoping to “double dip” and land two elite quarterbacks in the same year.

Now that Monds is off the board, the scouts over at 247Sports say the Buckeyes will see if they still want a second passer in this class.

Judah Lancaster (TE)

Judah Lancaster is another one that got away. The three-star tight end chose to join Shane Beamer at South Carolina.

The Buckeyes were pushing hard for more than a year to get him into their 2027 class. Keenan Bailey extended an offer to him in April of 2025 during his campus visit to Columbus for a tour.

But in the end, the 6’4″ standout from Tennessee decided to head to the SEC instead after his last visit to Columbia with his family.

The main reason he picked South Carolina over schools like Ohio State was the relationship he built with the coaches, especially the tight end coach. Shawn Elliott has been behind him since the beginning of his junior season.

Jackson Roper (OL)

The four-star, No. 1 player from the state of Colorado officially committed to UCLA this past Friday. It’s a bit of a surprise because Ohio State seemed to be in a really good spot just a few weeks ago. Roper had actually visited Columbus unofficially in April and walked away raving about the coaching staff and the program’s history of sending players to the NFL.

He even had an official visit scheduled sometime in June. It was Ohio State’s recruit to lose until Bob Chesney of UCLA came around and snatched him away right after his visit to Ohio State.

Luke Injaychock (OL)

The loss of Luke Injaychock to Missouri was a bit of a surprise. The offensive lineman from Nazareth Academy officially committed to Missouri on the same day as the other two.

It sounds like he really bought into the “vision” coach Eli Drinkwitz has going on down in Columbia. He’s now their ninth commit for Mizzou’s 2027 class.

Before this, it looked like he was going to go to Columbus. The 6’6 lineman had an official visit lined up for Columbus next month, June (5-7 or 6-8). But now that he’s committed to Missouri, those travel plans are probably getting scrapped already.

Even though it’s a bummer to miss out on a talented lineman of such caliber, the Buckeyes still have plenty of time to pull some strings here and there. The Buckeyes might already have around four or five linemen. The Buckeyes already got around four or five linemen in their 2027 class, so no need to panic for now.

Despite all this, these are regular Ls that come normally in the offseason. The Buckeyes are still second in the Big Ten and fourth or fifth in the country. Recruiting is a long game, and the Buckeyes still have a shot at the number one overall recruiting class.