3 Biggest Recruiting Busts in Recent Ohio State Football History

Ohio State consistently brings in some of the top high school talent in the country. After all, Buckeye stars Chase Young and Jeff Okudah were all-world recruits and among the highest-rated players ever to play in Columbus, and are now positioned to be among the earliest picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. But while has certainly produced some of the NFL's top stars over the years, they're not immune to bringing in blue chip studs that just don't live up to the hype -- including this unfortunate trio.

1. LB Mike Mitchell

Buckeye fans were pumped when Mike Mitchell committed to Ohio State as part of the class of 2013. A top-five outside linebacker nationally, Mitchell redshirted his first year in Columbus and then transferred to Texas Tech. All the hype surrounding him amounted to exactly zero snaps played in a Buckeye uniform. This big recruiting win for Urban Meyer turned out to be a big-time bust.

2. OLB Dorian Bell

This 5-star recruit was the second-best outside linebacker and 20th-best recruit overall coming out of high school in 2009, but Dorian Bell was suspended several times and was also involved in the tattoo scandal that sent head coach Jim Tressel packing. All told, Bell redshirted his first season and logged just eight tackles in his second. After two meaningless seasons in Columbus, Bell transferred to Duquesne. Oh, what could have been with this guy.

3. DE Noah Spence

2012 5-star defensive end Noah Spence, the No. 5-rated overall recruit in the country, could have been one of the greats. However, he recorded an impressive eight sacks as an OSU sophomore only to see his career as a Buckeye come to an abrupt end -- Spence failed multiple drug tests and was subsequently banned form playing in the Big Ten. He ended up being a second-round draft pick after transferring to Eastern Kentucky but one can only imagine the type of numbers he would have put up in his remaining years as a Buckeye if he had stayed clean.