Ohio State Emerges as Threat to Poach Touted Quarterback in Sleeper Move
The Ohio State Buckeyes have targeted several of the top quarterback prospects in the 2026 recruiting class to no avail. The Buckeyes, though, could have a new under-the-radar target. On3’s Alex Gleitman argued Thursday that Ohio State is becoming a dark horse to flip three-star signal-caller Briggs Cherry. “One name that hasn’t been talked about a ton, but probably should have more buzz around it is Briggs Cherry. Cherry is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound signal caller out of The Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the program that current Ohio State tight end Max LeBlanc came from,” wrote Gleitman. “Cherry is currently committed to Louisville, and happily so, but after a recent performance at the Elite 11 in Ohio, where he earned an invite to the national Elite 11 Finals event following an impressive performance in front of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, interest from the Buckeyes is picking up.” It’s far from a guarantee that the Buckeyes will be able to poach Cherry from the Louisville Cardinals. However, the quarterback prospect sounded intrigued by the possibility of an offer from Ohio State. “I feel like that offer would be a boost for everything,” Biggs told On3. “They are the national champions. That’s a boost to my recruitment.”
According to the 247 Sports composite rankings, Cherry is the No. 35 quarterback in the 2026 recruiting class. Cherry is also the No. 17 Tennessee prospect in the class
The Buckeyes have pursued top 10 2026 quarterback prospects Jared Curtis, Dia Bell and Bowe Bentley. But Ohio State has fallen out of the running for all three. The Buckeyes, though, landed five-star quarterbacks Julian Sayin in 2024 and Tavien St. Clair in 2025. Ohio State has also already received a verbal commitment from four-star quarterback Brady Emunds for the 2027 class.
