Ohio State’s offensive and defensive depth charts for the 2019 College Football Playoff semifinal game against Clemson featured 11 former three-star recruits – including starters Chris Olave, Branden Bowen, Jonah Jackson, DaVon Hamilton, Malik Harrison and Damon Arnette – and the 2014 national championship squad was littered with three-stars as well.
Stars matter. They do. But that didn’t take away from the fact that perhaps the two best teams of the decade had players ranked in the lower tiers who laid waste to those ratings to become notable contributors for the Buckeyes.
There are a litany of former three-star recruits who have had successful careers in the scarlet and gray.