Ohio State football: Cincinnati tight end commits to Buckeyes

Royer was second in the GCL South in receiving yards last season and finished his junior campaign with 32 catches for 617 yards and five touchdowns.

Adding Royer moved Ohio State’s class to No. 4 in the nation. It was already No. 1 in the Big Ten after a late-June surge of commitments.

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He’s the seventh player from Ohio to commit to Ohio State for 2020 and the fifth from Cincinnati.

The other Queen City reps in first-year head coach Ryan Day’s class are Jakob James, a three-star offensive lineman and teammate of Royer’s at Elder, Princeton teammates Paris Johnson Jr. and Darrion Henry and La Salle kicker Jake Seibert.

Johnson is a five-star offensive tackle and the No. 1-rated player in Ohio while Henry is a four-star defensive tackle and ranked No. 2 in the state.

The last player from Elder to sign with Ohio State is Jason Ott, a linebacker who was the No. 1-rated player in the state in 1997.

He started for one season before injuries ended his career.

The only other Panther Ohio State has signed in the past three decades is Matt Bonhaus, Ohio’s top prep defensive lineman in 1989.

He was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes and a co-captain on the 1995 squad.

Bonhaus’ class (1990) was also the last at Ohio State to include as many as four players from the Cincinnati metro area.