Ohio State LB commit Riley Pettijohn now a 5-star recruit in updated On3 Industry Ranking

Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class is the best in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings.

And it got a little extra bump on Tuesday as Buckeyes linebacker commit Riley Pettijohn earned a five-star ranking following the latest recruiting updates from other services.

The McKinney (Texas) star, who committed to OSU in July, is now the No. 32 overall prospect in the 2025 class and the nation’s No. 2 linebacker recruit. He becomes the fourth five-star commitment for Ryan Day and Co. this cycle, joining quarterback Tavien St. Clair and cornerbacks Na’eem Offord and Devin Sanchez.

St. Clair himself also saw a big jump, moving from the country’s No. 8 prospect up to No. 2, only behind LSU quarterback pledge Bryce Underwood.

Pettijohn has a very productive junior season on the field for McKinney, tallying 125 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 interception and 5 pass breakups. He’s also a standout on the track running a sub-10.8 100-meter dash this spring.

He chose the Buckeyes over Texas, USC and Texas A&M on July 6, giving Day and linebackers coach James Laurintis a huge out-of-state recruiting victory.

More on Buckeyes’ vaunted recruiting class

Of OSU’s 24 commitments in the 2025 class, 14 are on the defensive side of the ball and five are in the secondary.

In addition to Pettijohn, Sanchez and Offord, their haul also includes top-50 safety Faheem Delane, top-75 EDGE Zahir Mathis, four-star EDGE London Merritt, four-star linebacker Tarvos Alford, four-star cornerback DeShawn Stewart, in-state standout linebacker Eli Lee and fast-rising Cleveland-area safety Cody Haddad.

On the offensive side, OSU has already locked up its quarterback in the class with St. Clair. He’s joined by the likes of Toledo (Ohio) Whitmer four-star offensive tackle Carter Lowe, four-star tight end Nate Roberts, four-star wide receiver Quincy Porter and four-star WR De’zie Jones.

Early in June, the Buckeyes struck again offensive side of the ball with four-star athlete Bo Jackson, who expected to play running back at the next level, and elite wide receiver Quincy Porter who ranks as the nation’s No. 31 overall prospect and No. 5 wide receiver in the On300.

Some of the latest additions — all of which have come in the latter half of June and beginning of July — include three-stars Jarquez Carter, Bodpegn Miller, Jake Cook, Isaiah West, Brody Lennon and four-stars Zion Grady, Trajen Odom and Maxwell Roy.