After adding to their recruiting class by getting a commitment from 4-star linebacker Cincere Johnson, Ohio State is now trying to add another 4-star commit to the class in Kevin Ford, an edge defender from Duncanville, Texas. Ford's recruitment has been interesting as he was recently going to visit USC this weekend, but after edge defender Luke Wafle committed to USC, Ford has since cancelled his visit there. Ford has since turned his attention to the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he will visit this weekend.
NEWS: Four-Star EDGE Kevin âKJâ Ford will now take an Official Visit to Ohio State this weekend, he tells me for @on3recruits
â Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 19, 2025
The 6â4 245 EDGE from Duncanville, TX was originally scheduled to take an OV to USC starting tomorrowhttps://t.co/pVnVtS1fim pic.twitter.com/ytpWHUoM5r
Ohio State's 2026 recruiting class, according to 24/7 Sports, is 2nd in the country behind USC. They currently have 16 commits, 14 of the 16 commits are 4-stars or 5-stars, which is an impressive number. The one area the class is lacking is the defensive line. They only have 1 prospect committed, who is a defensive lineman. Compare that to the offensive line, and they have 3 offensive line prospects committed. This has continued a recent trend under defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who has struggled to land top defensive line prospects in the recent classes.
Kevin Ford is one of those fast, athletic edge defenders that everyone in college football loves to have. His ability to fire off the ball and attack offensive linemen is impressive. Then he has an array of skills to rush the passer. Adding Ford with the recent commitment of Khary Wilder would help the Buckeyes land two book-end edge rushers in the same class. It would be a good opportunity to solidify a position of need for the Buckeyes.
The two other interesting points about this recruitment are that it would greatly help take pressure off Larry Johnson about his recruiting abilities. Plus, it would be a prospect from Texas, which is an area that the Buckeyes have recruited well, but you always want to continue to land premium players from states like Texas. He would be the 2nd prospect from Texas to commit to the Buckeyes in this class.