Recruiting: 2026 Safety Down To Top Eight, Mathis Setting Up Visits

Recruiting might be in a dead period until Jan. 5 of the new year, but prep players are still looking for their top schools. Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian four-star safety Davon Benjamin (6-0, 170) narrowed his top schools down to eight on Sunday.

His list of eight included Ohio State along with Georgia, Miami, Oregon, Texas, Washington, UCLA and USC. Benjamin is ranked the No. 32 player in the 2026 class, the No. 3 safety and the No. 5 player in the state of California.

Benjamin had a strong junior season at his high school with 45 tackles in 12 games, five tackles for loss, six interceptions, four passes broken up, a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles. He originally got an offer from the Buckeyes when he visited on Nov. 30 for the game against Michigan.

Former Ohio State commit Philadelphia Imhotep Institute four-star defensive end Zahir Mathis (6-6, 225) is also still looking for the right fit in a program after he decommitted from the Buckeyes on Nov. 18. He has reportedly set up a visit with Oregon and is also planning to get to Florida State, Michigan and UCLA at some point, while also having been to Penn State many times during the season.

He is the No. 73 player in the 2025 class, the No. 6 edge rusher and the No. 2 player in the state of Pennsylvania and is one of the top players left in the class who haven’t signed since he opted to give himself until February to make a decision when he didn’t sign during the early signing period at the beginning of December.

He did say that Ohio State is not out of the equation for him when he decommitted, but it would be surprising to see him end up in scarlet and gray since he already decided the take his pledge away. He was committed to the Buckeyes for over 11 months.