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New York Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How many Ohio State transfers will start? Biggest camp storylines? Buckeyes mailbag
Last week's Ohio State mailbag addressed several of your questions about Julian Sayin, the quarterback battle and expectations for the Buckeyes in 2025. In Part II, let's dig into your questions about roster construction and the rapidly approaching start of preseason camp. How many of the incoming transfers do you expect to start? — Randy O Two. Advertisement Max Klare (Purdue) has a chance to be an All-American at tight end and left tackle Ethan Onianwa (Rice) has that spot solidified, in my mind. Klare led the Boilermakers with 51 catches for 685 yards last season, and Onianwa made 34 career starts for the Owls. The only other three I see competing for starting jobs are offensive lineman Phillip Daniels (Minnesota) and defensive ends Beau Atkinson (North Carolina) and Logan George (Idaho State). Daniels could be the starting right tackle, but I'm on the Austin Siereveld bandwagon right now. On the defensive line, I think Caden Curry starts opposite Kenyatta Jackson at end while Atkinson, who didn't get a spring with the Buckeyes, gets adjusted to Ohio State. I'd say Atkinson could be the starter by the Illini game (Oct. 11), but he'd have to put together a stellar preseason camp to start against Texas in Week 1. Though he led North Carolina in sacks last year, he did so in a rotational role with only one start. I've seen reports that OSU is spending upward of $35 million on this year's team. That's a major increase from the $20 million purportedly spent last season. And yet, a few others are still spending more than us. What's the ceiling on what OSU can afford on a roster? Relatedly, we still seem to be missing on a good number of elite national recruits, particularly in the trenches. What can be done to improve our O/D-line recruiting efforts? — Mike G. I don't know for sure what the real number is, but $35 million sounds high to me when thinking about the makeup of this year's roster. Ohio State has a redshirt freshman favored to start at quarterback, a new starting running back and no superstar defensive lineman or cornerback to pay. Ohio State did well in the transfer portal, but it also didn't go on a massive spending spree like Texas Tech or some other programs. Advertisement I think the main thing to take away from that Wall Street Journal story is that Ohio State is built to compete at the top of the numbers when it wants. Ohio State has made it known it isn't going to get into massive bidding wars for high school recruits who haven't proven much yet. That doesn't mean high school recruits aren't getting paid, but money isn't the only thing Ohio State is pitching. If Ohio State finds a player it wants and thinks the money is worth it, it will spend it. Between revenue sharing and the new Buckeye Sports Group, which is built to bring in legal NIL deals to players, there's plenty of money to go around. As for the second part, recruiting is more difficult than it's ever been. Ohio State wasn't going to match some of these other numbers thrown around for defensive and offensive linemen. So when your first, second and third options fall through, you have to try to jump in on a recruit late. Making up ground is hard if you aren't throwing bags of money around. I actually think Tyler Bowen has done a great job in his first year with offensive line recruiting. Offensive tackle Sam Greer continues to rise in the rankings — he's the No. 55 player in the 247Sports Composite, up from No. 200 in February — and he makes for a stellar duo with four-star Maxwell Riley (No. 128). As for the defensive line, the Buckeyes need another edge rusher, but Khary Wilder has been flying up rankings. He was No. 242 in June and is now No. 119. There's a lot of quality in this class, even if I can understand the disappointment of losing some of these recruiting battles. Ex-players like Brian Hartline and James Laurinaitis have done a great job as positional coaches, especially with recruiting. Are there other former players who could be the next hires for the Buckeyes? A D-line coach to help Larry Johnson? — Kevin W. LeCharles Bentley was a name I wondered if Ohio State would bring in for the offensive line opening this year. He does a good job training offensive linemen already and has been around the program a lot, so he's helping already. As for the defensive line, I'm not sure there's a name right away. Whenever Johnson retires, that job is going to be coveted by every coach in the country, so there will be plenty of good options. Advertisement How should we as fans react to concerns about recruiting rankings in the era of the transfer portal? The overall 2026 class is really good, but we've obviously heard of certain position groups missing on targets lately. I don't know if I should be as worried as I would be in previous years. — Kevin D. Ohio State has been vocal about its commitment to recruiting high school students, so that will make recruiting rankings important. When you commit to high school recruiting, you have to bring in a high percentage of blue-chip recruits and sign top-five classes pretty consistently. Ohio State has had a top-five class every year since 2020, so I don't think there's any reason to be worried overall, even if the 2026 class is merely No. 7 in the 247Sports Composite right now. When a program has success like that, the next goal is to fill holes each year through the transfer portal, which is what Ohio State has done. That means that the numbers have to be there at each position, not just quality. I think Wilder can come in and make a swift impact in Columbus. Same with true freshman Zion Grady this year. He might not play a lot this season, but he's going to be an impact player in the future. The concern is that there aren't enough edge rushers on the team. Ohio State has grabbed five edge rushers in the past two years and one of the elite ones, Eddrick Houston, moved inside to defensive tackle. So two each year and none of them being truly elite as recruits isn't enough. Still, I'm not on the train of freaking out quite yet. Johnson is still an elite developer of talent, but he's going to have to hit on some recruits in the next calendar year, whether in the portal or out of high school. It'll be a big red flag if by this time next year Ohio State doesn't have evidence of a next generation of pass rushers emerging. How does the Longhorns' defensive line match up against Ohio State's offensive line and an unproven quarterback with a new offensive coordinator? — Will Texas defensive end Colin Simmons could wreck the game if Ohio State doesn't have an adequate way of accounting for him. He's one of the best edge players in the country after putting up 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks as a freshman. Ohio State did a good job of limiting him in the Cotton Bowl last year, but he'll pose a different type of test next month. It's not just a test for Sayin; it'll be on Day, Hartline and Bowen to find a game plan to help Sayin feel comfortable. With that said, I like Ohio State's offensive line despite the turnover up front. To me, it's the best group the Buckeyes have had entering the season since 2022. I think Onianwa is going to have a great year, the interior is strong with Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman and Tegra Tshabola and Austin Siereveld is a good tackle but also a versatile piece. Advertisement I expect Ohio State to try and get the ball out quickly to its perimeter playmakers. The question for me is more so how Sayin will do reading Texas' various zone coverage shells. The Longhorns will try to bracket Jeremiah Smith and make Sayin read the defense to find other receivers. If he can do that and be on time, Ohio State could be in a good position. What are the biggest storylines to watch in camp as we ramp up the next 1 1/2 months to the season? — Quintin M Obviously the quarterback battle is going to make the most headlines as Sayin tries to separate from Lincoln Kienholz, but there will be some other fun position battles to watch too. Will Siereveld continue his stellar offseason and lock down a starting spot at right tackle? Or will one of the younger players push him to the swing role as the sixth offensive lineman? I'm intrigued by Brandon Inniss finally stepping into his role in the slot after waiting his turn for two years. I'm not sure we'll get an answer about this until the season begins, but I'm curious how often Ohio State switches between 11 personnel and 13 personnel at times with how deep the wide receiver and tight end groups are. On defense, what is the end rotation going to look like? After some questions entering the offseason, the grouping of Jackson, Curry, Atkinson, George and C.J. Hicks sounds good on paper, but who will step up when called upon? What happens at defensive tackle, too, with Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams gone? And which corner is going to separate himself from the pack? Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews Jr. will be the two starters against Texas, but after that, will Ohio State play a safety at nickel or will one of Aaron Scott, Lorenzo Styles and Devin Sanchez step up and take the third corner spot? There's a lot of talent on the roster, but with 14 draft picks gone to the NFL, there's also a lot of intrigue to watch through August. (Top photo of Max Klare: Kyle Robertson / Columbus Dispatch / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Black Stripe Alert! Transfer portal addition sheds black stripe
One of the biggest off-season acquisitions from the transfer portal has lost his black stripe. In building a new offensive line, Ohio State looked to the portal for linemen who could dominate in the trenches right away and the Buckeyes believe they got one in Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa. A three-star prospect coming out of high school in Katy, Texas, Onianwa quickly became a dominant force for the Owls. Entering the portal after four years at Rice, he was rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 13 ranked tackle, but most think he ranked higher. ESPN's Tom Luginbil said of Onianwa "He's the best offensive lineman in the portal and it's not even close." The mountain of a man could have entered the NFL draft but decided he wanted to get a bit more development and possibly increase his draft status, similar to Josh Simmons who transferred in from San Diego State and is expected to be a first-round pick. The offensive tackle has just one year of eligibility remaining. Onianwa is already seeing the benefits of coming to Columbus. Since arriving on campus he's cut 30 pounds from his playing weight at Rice. After just a few months with the Ohio State strength and conditioning coaches, he looks lighter on his feet while still maintaining his size and strength advantage. Advertisement Onianwa becomes the second transfer to shed his black stripe this spring joining Purdue transfer Max Klare. This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Black Stripe Alert! Ohio State offensive tackle sheds black stripe
