Here are 5 things we learned about Ohio State football from opening of transfer portal
Here are five things we learned about Ohio State as the NCAA transfer portal opened Monday.
Movement was inevitable
There was an exodus among the Buckeyes.
Ten players put their names in the portal by the end of the first day of its opening, and cornerback Jyaire Brown followed Tuesday after previously announcing his intentions. Defensive end Omari Abor remains expected to do so as well.
That’s twice as much attrition as Ohio State faced during this winter window last year when only five scholarship players put their names in the online database.
The increase is partly a product of roster glut.
Only four players are exhausting their eligibility this year — quarterback Tristan Gebbia, wide receiver Xavier Johnson, right guard Matt Jones and safety Josh Proctor.
While not all seniors will use their COVID-19 bonus year in order to return and a handful of underclassmen will leave for the NFL, it won’t be enough departures to compensate for incoming players and keep the Buckeyes at the threshold of 85 scholarships for next season.
Ohio State has 23 high school players committed as part of its recruiting class for 2024 and figures to target transfers in the portal as well.
That makes the churn inevitable if you do the math.
Kyle McCord’s transfer is unprecedented for the Buckeyes
The majority of transfers from Ohio State in the portal era have been backups in search of more playing time.
Only a handful of starters have ever gone in the portal. The most prominent was perhaps wide receiver Jameson Williams, who left for Alabama in 2021 as Jaxon Smith-Njigba was ascending the depth chart.
That makes the entry by McCord new territory, adding to the Monday bombshell.
Here was the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback who went 11-1 in his first season behind center, throwing for 3,170 yards with 24 touchdowns, six interceptions and 161.6 pass efficiency rating that ranked 14th in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Buckeyes might upgrade at the position in the offseason. While McCord had some high moments, he was not a quarterback the caliber of predecessor, C.J. Stroud, or Justin Fields and Dwayne Haskins Jr., who were also finalists for the Heisman Trophy.
But the circumstances are still unparalleled for someone with McCord’s track record to move on from Ohio State.
More: Oller: In the end, Day signing quarterback Kyle McCord was a swing and a miss
Evan Pryor could be a big loss
The Buckeyes’ running back room was deep this fall.
But a lot of turnover might follow.
As Pryor put his name in the portal on Monday, Miyan Williams declared for the NFL draft, and TreVeyon Henderson could follow as he projects to be among the top prospects at the position.
That would leave Dallan Hayden and Chip Trayanum as the only returning scholarship backs.
A knee injury kept Pryor from seizing a larger role with the Buckeyes. He tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in preseason camp in 2022, requiring surgery and an extensive rehab process that sidelined him for the year. He was down on the depth chart as he returned this fall.
Had Pryor remained, though, it’s worth wondering if he might have carved out more snaps, especially when factoring his pass-catching ability out of the backfield.
More: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
Center depth is thin
Both of the backup centers are gone.
Vic Cutler, who transferred from Louisiana Monroe in January, reentered the portal last week as a graduate transfer.
He was followed by Jakob James, a redshirt junior from Cincinnati.
That leaves only two scholarship centers on the roster between Carson Hinzman, who anchored the offensive line this fall as a redshirt freshman, and Joshua Padilla, a true freshman from Huber Heights.
Padilla was the right tackle at Wayne High School before he moved to center after he enrolled earlier this year.
Others might need to follow a similar path toward the interior of the line if the Buckeyes do not offset the departures.
Positions of need are defensive end, safety
Neither Omari Abor nor Kye Stokes was in line to start next season.
If the Buckeyes lose starting defensive ends Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau to the NFL, the most likely candidates to replace them would be Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson who were ahead of Abor in the rotation this season.
Malik Hartford was also in front of Stokes on the depth chart at free safety and is the frontrunner to replace Proctor next year. He twice started in his place this year.
But Abor and Stokes could have seen larger roles and provided depth.
If both Sawyer and Tuimoloau leave, the Buckeyes will have only two ends with triple-digit snaps in their careers between Curry and Jackson.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He can also be contacted at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Transfer portal opens: 5 things we learned about Ohio State football
