Ohio State favored to beat out Michigan for three-star wide receiver

Michigan and Ohio State football are currently in a recruiting battle for three-star wide receiver Jerquaden Guilford. Guilford is set to announce his commitment this Friday with six schools in the running to land him, including Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.  

The Buckeyes are frontrunners to land Guilford, according to On3’s Steve Wiltfong. Wiltfong says that Ohio State is “going to be hard to beat” in the battle for Guilford. Guilford recently attended Ohio State’s recruitment camp.

As a 2026 prospect, Guilford is the 68th-ranked wide receiver in the country and the top-ranked player in the state of Indiana. 

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound wide receiver will be entering his senior year at Northrop High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

While he’s only a three-star prospect, if the Buckeyes land him, they have a reputation for developing wide receivers. 

247Sports projects that Guilford will commit to Penn State on Friday, but his recent praise about Ohio State seems to indicate that he is heading to Columbus.

The Buckeyes are looking to improve their wide receiver group after having one of the best corps in all of college football last season with Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, and Carnell Tate. 

Smith and Tate will be returning for the defending national champions this season, and the Buckeyes are hopeful that Guilford is on the team by the time 2026 rolls around.