Nation's Top Offensive Tackle Chooses Tennessee Over Ohio State

Five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. announced his commitment on Saturday afternoon. The nation's No. 1 offensive tackle picked the Tennessee Volunteers over the Ohio State Buckeyes and two other schools.

Dec 29, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; The helmet of Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Devin Brown (33) sits on the sideline prior to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against the Missouri Tigers at AT&T Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The commitment of No. 1 offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. has been a long awaited and heavily-anticipated decision. The five-star recruit in the 2025 class announced his decision on Saturday afternoon.

Sanders will be joining the Tennessee Volunteers following his senior season of high school football. He picked the Volunteers over the Ohio State Buckeyes, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Georgia Bulldogs.

BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ OT David Sanders Jr. has Committed to Tennessee, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’6 290 OT from Charlotte, NC chose the Vols over Ohio State, Nebraska, & Georgia

Ranked as the No. 1 OT in the ‘25 Class 🍊https://t.co/YaztIGz5OL pic.twitter.com/wVsfeSsL6M

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) August 17, 2024

Prior to the decision and official announcement, Sanders had been predicted to choose Tennessee. Anna Adams had given her Crystal Ball prediction on 247 Sports back on August 10th.

Sanders now becomes the first five-star prospect to commit to Tennessee in the 2025 recruiting class. Prior to his announcement, head coach Josh Heupel's program had 21 commits and was ranked as the No. 8 overall class on 247 Sports. On3 ranked their class at No. 9 nationally.

After a strong push by the Buckeyes, yet ultimately falling short, Ohio State needs to regroup and figure out how to address the offensive line.

In the 2025 class, the team does hold commitments from four-star tackle Carter Lowe from Toledo and three-star interior offensive lineman Jake Cook from Westerville. Two players does not feel like enough for a squad about to lose numerous players to the draft and graduation.

How will Ryan Day, Justin Frye and the rest of the coaching staff attack the next steps in securing more offensive line help?

Perhaps they could try to get a player or two to flip in this cycle. The biggest thing may actually be aggressively attacking the transfer portal when that opens up following this season.