In a recent development, Blairstown, New Jersey defensive end Jayson Oweh announced on Twitter that he will be moving back his college decision to be announced at the Under Armour All American game this January. This comes after having initially decided to move up his timeline to the end of summer in order to get his decision out of the way before football season.
Oweh is a 4-star defensive end and the 247Sports Composite currently has him ranked as the number six player at his position and 177 player overall. At this point in his recruitment, it has looked as though it had become a three team race for his signature. His recruitment has boiled down to Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Penn State, and at one point he openly said that it was in that order. With the constant back and forth, this looked like a very tight race heading into his commitment. Now with the postponement of his decision, we can only read into what this means this means for the schools involved.
First, we could read into what this means for Ohio State. As the clear leaders for Oweh throughout the summer, prior to his visits, this is not a good sign for landing Oweh. If Ohio State were still the leaders for Oweh, with all of the success that the program has had under Urban Meyer since he arrived in 2012, Oweh would’ve pulled the trigger and committed to the program in order to reserve his spot in the class. Being that he didn’t make that decision, it would stand to reason that Oweh has cooled off from OSU, as OSU may have cooled off on Oweh.
Ohio State already has two defensive ends committed to their class with 5-star (#19 overall) Brenton Cox as well as 4-star (#299 overall) Andrew Chatfield. Ohio State may be taking Oweh’s recruitment slowly as their main target and focus at the moment is 5-star (#5 overall) weakside end Micah Parson, with whom they are in another head-to-head battle with Penn State. 247Sports’ Crystal Ball gives them a 68% lead for Parson (with 19 predictions in), which means that if they do end up landing Parsons, then Oweh would be surplus to their needs and a scholarship which could be used at another position. Oweh may very well be aware of this which would have likely influenced his decision to move things back.
With the developments of Ohio State’s recruiting, the recruitment of Oweh could boil down to a dogfight between Penn State and Notre Dame. Oweh is the son of two Harvard graduates, and for this reason he has made academics a priority in his recruitment. If it weren’t for the vastly divergent seasons that Penn State and Notre Dame had last year, his recruitment may already be over with Oweh committing to ND. But following Penn State’s ultimate recruiting weekend called the Lasch Bash on July 15 and 16, Oweh named Penn State as his slight leader coming out of the weekend.
His Penn State lean would be short lived as he visited Notre Dame that following Thursday with his mother (her first time on campus) and Ohio State on Friday. Oweh’s trip to ND was shortened to a few hours due to flight delays, but in the time managed to get plenty of time with recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach Mike Elston and head coach Brian Kelly. There is no doubt that the staff made Oweh feel like a priority the way that the other teams couldn’t, as well as emphasize the education, network, and tradition of Notre Dame graduates.
At this point, it is without a doubt that Oweh’s recruitment is tight and it will be like splitting hairs. The good thing for Notre Dame is that they will now be able to take that battle throughout the fall which will only play to their advantage. For one, it will potentially allow Ohio State to fill out their board and let the dominos fall. If OSU lands Parsons which they are favored to do at the moment, then Oweh may very well be a head-to-head with Penn State. It will also give Notre Dame a chance to host Oweh for a full official visit on campus for a game, which will give Oweh and his family to evaluate Notre Dame at a slower pace, also playing in ND’s favor.
Last, there should also be a revision to the mean with the fortunes of the two programs. With Penn State being in the tough East division, and their schedule featuring Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, an improved Michigan State, Maryland, Northwestern, and Pitt, it would stand to reason that they will likely come down from the Big Ten championship season while Notre Dame will undoubtedly bounce back from their abysmal 4-8 season. With the potential of fortunes changing in 2017 and showing that their respective 2016 seasons were mere aberrations, it would swing the momentum back into Notre Dame’s favor which could lead them to getting their targeted pass rusher on signing day come February. While, pushing back his decision date hasn’t made Notre Dame the favorite, Oweh has definitely given Notre Dame the opportunity to spring ahead in his recruitment with time.
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