5-star DE Harrison will give OSU, PSU, or Michigan a special talent

Harrison has incredible physical talents, even by the usual standards of five-star ends.

Five-star Olentangy Orange (Ohio) defensive end Zach Harrison will announce his college choice between Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan on Wednesday, the first day of the class of 2019’s Early Signing Period. Harrison is the No. 4 player in the country and the No. 3 defensive end, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Harrison’s commitment is expected around 12:30 p.m. ET and probably won’t be on TV:

Ohio State is widely considered the favorite to land him, after Michigan appeared to lead for much of his recruitment.

That expert consensus has shifted in the last week or so.

The prospect of Ohio State losing Harrison at all is scary enough for the Buckeyes. The program has long been pretty much a lock for the best players in Ohio. Entering the class of 2018, the Buckeyes had only missed out on Ohio’s highest-rated player three times since 2004, when recruiting rankings kicked into full gear. But they shockingly lost Ohio’s No. 1 player in 2018, five-star offensive tackle Jackson Carman, who picked Clemson instead.

The prospect of losing him to Michigan or Penn State, where he’d play against the Buckeyes every year? That’s even worse. And so would be kicking off Ryan Day’s tenure as head coach by losing such a special in-state talent, no matter where he goes instead.

It seems like the Buckeyes will avoid that fate, but we’ll see.

Harrison is one of the best defensive end prospects of all time.

The short story on his game: he’s big and fast.

The slightly longer story: he’s a listed 6’5 and around 240 pounds, but he runs like a wide receiver. That’s not an exaggeration at all. At Nike’s Opening skills showcase near Dallas in early July, Harrison qualified over a bunch of receivers and running backs to race in the event’s “fastest man” competition. He nearly won the thing, too:

Harrison’s recorded 40-yard dash time at that event was an outrageous 4.47 seconds.

He could play any number of positions, because he’s such an unusual athlete, but he’s tremendous as an end. I’ve watched Harrison at a handful of recruiting combines over the last few years, and even when he’s off — as the best players sometimes are at these glorified exhibitions — he’s usually schooling offensive linemen rated near the top of the class. Pairing his size with his burst, he looks effortless as he cruises past tackles.

Only 10 weak-side defensive ends in the recruiting rankings era have had higher scores on the Composite. That list includes Jadeveon Clowney, Myles Garrett, and two recruits from this year: new Oregon commit Kayvon Thibodeaux and Georgia commit Nolan Smith. 2019 might be the best defensive-end class in history.

Harrison’s gifts would suit him well in any conference, but he’ll be a great fit going up against some big, athletic tackles in the Big Ten.

There are lots of those in his new conference. It’s been foregone for a while that he’d wind up at one of Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan, where he’s made recent visits. All of those teams have succeeded in recent years with DEs among their small handful of best players. It’s impossible to win the Big Ten without the kind of individual talent at end who can go up against four- and five-star tackles in every big game and win those matchups.

Harrison’s that kind of talent. Few recruits can alter the balance of power in the Big Ten East on their own, because the three programs vying for him get so many good ones. But if anyone’s going to do it over the next few years, Harrison is a pretty solid bet.