Had everything gone according to plan for four-star outside linebacker Javontae Jean-Baptiste of Oradell (New Jersey) Bergen Catholic, he would have been committed long before Urban Meyer and Greg Schiano took the podium for their National Signing Day press conferences at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this morning. Weather happens.

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Because of a snow day at his high school, Jean-Baptiste saw his signing day ceremony canceled, thus pushing his decision to around noon. Meyer and Schiano already let the cat out of the bag.

After Ohio State got a commitment from and signed five-star offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere earlier in the morning, Meyer said the Buckeyes signed 26 players in their 2018 class. The problem was Petit-Frere only made it 25, so everyone connected the dots and assumed Jean-Baptiste, who had yet to announce, was the other name. Then when Schiano came into the media room, he opened his press conference by officially announcing Jean-Baptiste, who had yet to publicly announce.

Now everyone knows.

The only other prospect it could have been was four-star offensive tackle Rasheed Walker, but he has signed with Penn State. Now Ohio State’s recruiting class is complete with 26 signees. A few thoughts about what Jean-Baptiste’s commitment means:

• Ohio State addressed its biggest need earlier Wednesday morning when it added Petit-Frere, but this was a major luxury pickup. Though Jean-Baptiste is listed as an outside linebacker on his recruiting profile, he was recruited as a defensive end. That means Ohio State, which entered 2018 with no defensive ends signed and only three returning from last year’s roster, has added three between the early signing period on Dec. 20 and now. Jean-Baptiste joins four-stars Tyreke Smith and Tyler Friday — another New Jersey prospect — in the 2018 recruiting class.

• When you look at Ohio State’s overall haul with defensive linemen in the 2018 class, it’s pretty ridiculous. It’s reminiscent of what Meyer did last year with defensive backs in terms of depth at a single position in a single class. Between the three defensive tackles in Taron Vincent — the No. 1 defensive tackle in the country — Tommy Togiai and junior college transfer Antwuan Jackson and the three defensive ends the Buckeyes landed, the future on the defensive line seems very bright, to say the least.

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• Last year’s defensive line was one of the best in Ohio State history, and though some think this year can be just as good, I just don’t see it. I don’t think it’s possible to replace production from Tyquan Lewis, Jalyn Holmes and Sam Hubbard in one season, regardless of how good Nick Bosa is with his extra reps. Great defensive lines are about depth, and Ohio State laid the foundation Wednesday to have a defensive line as good as last year’s again in the near future.

• Meyer spoke about how Ohio State got to a point in this year’s class where they could take “the best available player,” and though Jean-Baptiste seemingly fills a need at defensive end, I think the Buckeyes took him because they viewed him as the best player left on their board. The need at defensive end was already satisfied by Smith and Friday.

• The addition of Jean-Baptiste allows for some creativity with next year’s defensive line. I thought it was very possible Dre’Mont Jones could move from tackle to end next year, but now it seems as if the Buckeyes have enough bodies to continue the rotation that Larry Johnson loves. Jones will stay on the field in Ohio State’s “Rushmen” package this year, which puts four defensive ends on the field on third down.

• Now that the dust has settled, Ohio State will finish this year’s recruiting cycle with the No. 2 overall class in the country behind Georgia, which picked up five-star cornerback Tyson Campbell and flipped outside linebacker Otis Reese from Michigan. Though Ohio State’s class is No. 2, it still had a higher average player rating in the 247Sports composite team rankings than Georgia by a slim margin, 94.29 to 94.23.

• Though it may be a tough pill to swallow that Meyer fell short again in the race for the recruiting crown, Ohio State and Georgia had the No. 2 and No. 3 highest individual player ratings for an entire class, respectfully, in the history of modern-day recruiting, trailing the mark the Buckeyes put up in 2017 (94.59). Georgia has bragging rights this year after signing seven five-star prospects, but according to 247Sports, Ohio State’s class is slightly deeper from top-to-bottom than the Bulldogs’ class.

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• Don’t ask me why Ohio State wasn’t No. 1 then. The Buckeyes weren’t No. 1 last year, either, despite having a better average player rating than Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s seven-year streak of winning the recruiting crown was broken by Georgia.

– Reported from Columbus 

Top photo credit: Javontae Jean-Baptiste (247Sports)