The push to land the best commitments from the 2027 college football recruiting cycle has ramped up in the opening month of the 2026 offseason.
Most of the better prospects in the 2027 class will not announce their college commitments until the summer. However, several coveted prospects decided to make their pledges earlier in the cycle.
One of the earlier marquee commitments came from five-star defensive end DJ Jacobs, who announced his commitment to Ohio State on Dec. 29, 2025. Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN 300 all rank Jacobs as the No. 1 defensive end in the 2027 class, and 247Sports ranks him as the No. 1 overall player in the class.
247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins referred to Jacobs as a “cast-iron edge defender with the size, speed and strength to wreak havoc on Saturdays then Sundays” in a December scouting report.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pounder from just north of Atlanta is one of nine players who have already committed to Ohio State in the 2027 cycle. So far, Jacobs is the only defensive line commit in the cycle for the Buckeyes.
Even though Jacobs already committed to the Buckeyes, other programs still have plenty of time to lure him out of the commitment. Eli Lederman of ESPN reported that three different Power Four programs are working to bring Jacobs into their 2027 classes.
Georgia
The connections between Jacobs and Georgia run deep. For one, Roswell and Athens are roughly an hour and a half apart by car. Additionally, Jacobs’ father, David Jacobs, played defensive line for the Bulldogs from 1999 to 2002.
While it is not a connection, Ivins compared Jacobs to Travon Walker in the scouting report, the former Georgia defensive end who later became the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick in 2022. Four-star cornerback Donte Wright is the only defensive commitment for Georgia in its 2027 class.
Texas
The last program Jacobs visited before committing to Ohio State was Texas. The Longhorns made a change on their defensive coaching staff in the 2026 offseason when they parted ways with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski to bring in Will Muschamp.
Texas already has a commitment from three-star defensive end Cameron Hall in its 2027 class. Jacobs would be the highest-rated defensive end the Longhorns have signed since Alfred Collins in 2020 if he were to commit to Texas.
Miami
The 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship runners-up are the third program jockeying for position to flip Jacobs away from Ohio State. The Hurricanes boasted a pair of probable first-round NFL draft selections in Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor in 2025.
Four-star Demarcus Deroche is the only defensive end among Miami’s four commitments in its 2027 class. The last five-star defensive end to sign with Miami was Hayden Lowe, a member of the Hurricanes’ 2025 signing class.
