What Urban Meyer and his staff have done with the Buckeyes on the field has been spectacular including of course winning a national championship! The results on the recruiting front have been the same, and Meyer and company are headed for a spectacular 2017 recruiting class. It is a class that is currently ranked No. 1 in the country in the 247Sports recruiting rankings.

It will be harder than normal for this class to finish with the No.1 class in the country because the Buckeyes won’t have the space to sign the maximum 25 prospects. But while there won’t be maximum quantity, all signs point to absolutely tremendous quality entering the program.

At this point Meyer has 14 commitments from the class of 2017. When all is said and done I expect the class to number at least 18 and probably more like 20, and it is hardly going out on a limb to say this class will be tremendous.

But who fills those remaining spots – that is the big and very tough question to answer.

So even though there is still a long way to go until National Signing Day – over a half year - and since I have been asked to take a swing at this, it is a good time to go with my “class of 2017 prediction update.”

As mentioned, Meyer currently has 14 commitments for a recruiting class that will likely number close to 20 on National Signing Day.

Back in what now seems like another life, the days of the 900 number, one of my most popular updates was what I called my ‘prediction update.’ Once every couple of months or so starting in the fall and going trough National Signing Day, I would predict what the Buckeyes’ recruiting class for that year would look like come February.

I now bring my ‘prediction update’ to the internet and Bucknuts.com for Ohio State’s 2017 recruiting efforts. Today I go out on the ledge and make my predictions for the Buckeyes’ 2017 class.

Martell is one of the Buckeyes' 14 current commitments.

Predicting what a 17 or 18 year old high school senior is going to do is certainly no easy task, especially when so many of the prospects Meyer has a shot at are among the country’s elite prospects.

But it is time to go for it, so let’s get started.

The Buckeyes have a commitment from two quarterbacks for their 2017 class, Tate Martell and Danny Clark. There certainly won’t be any additions at quarterback and while some have speculated that Clark might go elsewhere, I am going with both Martell and Clark in the class.

The Buckeyes also have a commitment from one running back, J.J Dobbins. But there is no doubt the staff is looking to add another one and that one is Cam Akers. This is a tough call at this point, but I am going with Akers picking the Buckeyes.

We now move to wide receiver/slot. The Buckeyes don’t have any commitments here, but the talent they could land is staggering. Trevon Grimes, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tyjon Lindsey and Jaylen Harris are the main names right now. In the end I am going with the Aquinas connection and Grimes as a Buckeye, and Lindsey to Ohio State as well.

After landing two great 2016 tight ends in Jake Hausmann and Luke Farrell, the goal for 2017 was to add one more great one to the program. But I don’t see that happening and I look for the staff to pass on tight ends and look to land a great one or two for their 2018 class.

The Buckeyes signed five 2014 offensive linemen, five in 2015, and five in 2016. They have a spectacular trio committed for 2017 starting with the country’s No. 1 offensive tackle Josh Myers and moving to the No. 1 guard in Wyatt Davis. They also have a commitment from Jake Moretti who really impressed me when I saw him in-person at Ohio State’s camp the summer of 2015. The other elite offensive lineman to keep in mind is Trey Smith who over the weekend named Ohio State among his Top 6. But in the end I am going with Myers, Davis and Moretti as the three offensive linemen in the class.

The Buckeyes signed two 5-star defensive ends in their 2016 class in Nick Bosa and Jonathon Cooper. They are looking to land one elite defensive end for their 2017 class and their target is 5-star Chase Young. There are others they are in contact with including Hunter Echols, but I like the chances they get Young and then they call it a day at defensive end so to speak.

As far as tackle goes, the Buckeyes have the best one in Ohio in Jerron Cage. They also have an elite out-of-state defensive tackle commitment in Haskell Garrett. The other two big names that are still associated with Ohio State are Jay Tufele and Marvin Wilson. Wilson isn’t going to be a Buckeye, but right now I am going with Tufele saying he is headed to Ohio State.

After landing linebackers Keandre Jones and Tuf Borland for 2016, I look for likely three more to enter via 2017. The hard hitting Antjuan Simmons has committed to Ohio State and I think athlete Brendon White will end up as a linebacker for the Buckeyes. That leaves Baron Browning, Dylan Moses and Anthony Hines as three remaining top possibilities. I don’t see Moses leaving the South. Hines is very hard to predict right now. Browning is too. Going into The Opening I gave the Buckeyes a slight nod on landing Browning. But after being told a couple things after The Opening I am giving UCLA the advantage over Ohio State as the winner for Browning with Texas and Alabama next.

Jeffrey Okudah would be a huge addition to the Buckeyes' class.

Moving to the secondary, the Buckeyes already have commitments from three great prospects in Isaiah Pryor, Shaun Wade and Marcus Williamson. And the list of remaining possibilities is impressive. It includes Amir Riep, Jeffrey Okudah, Darnay Holmes, Jamyest Williams and Lamont Wade. I think it is going to be hard to hold on to Shaun Wade, but definitely not impossible. But for now I am going with him flipping, but the Buckeyes adding Okudah and Riep to end with a spectacular group of four defensive backs.

And finally, there will be one specialist in the class, Buckeye commitment Blake Haubeil who is the country’s No. 1 kicker.

So there you have it, the Ohio State 2017 recruiting class of 20 commitments. I am not sure right now how they are going to get to 20 open spots to fit all of these guys in, but I’m still going with 20 for now. Haubeil won’t go on scholarship until January of 2018 so that helps. Take it to the bank? Not quite. Will there be changes next time I do this – probably. But for now I will go with these 20. And if you are counting – and you probably are – seven of the 20 are 5-star prospects and if Shaun Wade were to stay it would be eight. And Martell misses being a 5-star by one spot as the Top 32 prospects in the 247Sports Composite are 5-stars and he is currently ranked at No. 33.

QB: Tate Martell

QB: Danny Clark

RB: Cam Akers

RB: J.K. Dobbins

WR: Trevon Grimes

WR: Tyjon Lindsey

OL: Josh Myers

OL: Wyatt Davis

OL: Jake Moretti

DE: Chase Young

DT: Haskell Garrett

DT: Jerron Cage

DT: Jay Tufele

LB: Antjuan Simmons

LB: Brendon White

DB: Isaiah Pryor

DB: Marcus Williamson

DB: Amir Riep

DB: Jeffrey Okudah

K: Blake Haubeil