As they continue to put together their 2020 recruiting class, the Cincinnati Bearcats have already done a pretty solid job of adding future contributors on the offensive line. It is certainly a necessary task for the Bearcats, who are already replacing plenty of talent on the line entering the 2019 season. Morgan James and Chris Ferguson both return as full-time starters, while junior Zach Bycznski and sophomores Jakari Robinson and Vincent McConnell all played a fair amount last fall and will presumably be asked to produce even more in the upcoming season. After that, there are very few players who have more than a few appearances, let alone starts up front.
That is going to change this season, of course. Although they have the makings of a solid starting five in terms of experience, the Bearcats had to say goodbye to Dino Boyd, Kyle Trout and Garrett Campbell, who had 33 starts combined last season, with Boyd (first-team) and Campbell (second-team) also earning all-conference honors. With those three gone, the Bearcats will have to reconfigure their rotation on the line. They’ll have to continue doing so after next season as well and that’s where the 2020 class comes into play. With three-star prospects John Williams, Kobe McAllister and Gavin Gerhardt already on board, the ranks were already going to get a talent boost in 2020 and now that offensive line class has gotten even deeper with the commitment of Jake Renfro.
COMMITTED ⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/nVQoaq9sfW
— Jake Renfro 7️⃣1️⃣ (@JakeRenfro_) June 19, 2019
A three-star prospect according to Rivals, the Illinois-native can play center, which is a position that Campbell and Robinson shared most of the starting responsibilities for last year. Renfro will now join a class that is already ranked No. 1 in the American Athletic Conference by 247 Sports and among the top 50 nationally by Rivals. It is a class that features plenty of reinforcements for the secondary, the Bearcats’ next quarterback of the future and now, with Renfro committed, even more depth on the offensive line.