Hitting The Road: Houston Griffith

Houston Griffith has become a highly-coveted prospect nationwide. He has seen Notre Dame multiple times, but he has two other schools on his mind this week. Griffith will be on campus today at Ohio State and will travel to see Penn State on Friday.

Griffith is not new to either campus, as he has taken unofficial visits to both schools in the past. Both visits will consist of getting a better feel for his relationship with the coaches, the players, and the academic advantages each school presents. 

Ohio State finished last recruiting cycle with a monstrous defensive back class. With Shaun Wade, Jeffrey Okudah, Isaiah Pryor, Marcus Williamson, Amir Riep and junior college transfer Kendall Sheffield, the Ohio State staff completely reloaded their roster with this more than impressive haul of talent. It will be interesting to see how much the competitive depth chart factors into Griffith’s impression of the Buckeyes. After transferring from Mount Carmel to play at IMG Academy, it is hard to imagine competition playing too much of a factor.

Ohio State will definitely be selling their success rate of putting defensive backs in the NFL which will help if Griffith does, in fact, have any concerns about competition. Recent Ohio State draftees include Bradley Roby, Doran Grant, Eli Apple, and Vonn Bell. In this year’s draft, they look to add Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore to that list. It is obvious that Griffith will be given a chance to join that impressive list of talent if he ends up at Ohio State.

Penn State, on the other hand, may not have had quite the pull in the 2017 class, but it wasn’t too shabby as they brought in Lamont Wade, Jonathan Sutherland, Tariq Castro-Fields, Donovan Johnson and D.J. Brown. With the talent Griffith possesses it wouldn’t be surprising for him push for playing time early in his career. The Nittany Lions do possess talent, but Griffith will definitely have a chance, with his ability, to play early and often.

Penn State may not have had the same recent success in putting defensive backs into the NFL as Ohio State. However, they do have a solid football history and tradition which, coupled with their recent success on the field makes the Nittany Lions a contender in this recruitment. 

With the visits to both of these schools, it is clear Griffith is doing his due diligence in the recruiting process. He has taken multiple visits to both of these schools and is doing his homework when it comes down to where he will spend the next three to four years of his life. With previous visits to Notre Dame, Florida State and Illinois (where his father played) it seems that Griffith is going to thoroughly evaluate all of his options before a decision is made.

Notre Dame will be in this recruitment till the very end and Griffith will definitely be one of the top prospects on Notre Dame’s short list for the rest of the 2018 cycle. After Griffith’s unofficial visits this week, it may be a little more transparent with where he is trending. We will just have to wait and see.