The transfer portal is revolutionizing college football and roster building across the board. For some programs, like Colorado, it’s primarily how they choose to field a team. For others, like some Group of 5 programs, they have to deal with larger schools poaching their home-grown talent. No program is immune to outbound transfers. With the free year of eligibility handed out by the NCAA for the 2020 COVID pandemic, rosters have been pushed to the limit. The transfer portal has been at the center of what some purists believe to be the downfall of the game. However, it’s more likely that the activity will decrease and plateau off once all of those 2020 eligibility users are out of the system.
Over the last few years, Ohio State has had more talent leave than they’ve welcomed in. Considering the fact that the program recruits at a top-five level at worst, it’s hard to keep every star happy. In 2022, they lost 19 and got back four. Last year, those numbers were even at nine out and nine in. This year, 25 players have elected to hit the portal while only six are currently headed to campus. Remarkably, despite the deep and competitive quarterback room this Spring, Ohio State did not lose a single one.
Kyle McCord is the lone quarterback who left, which is old news at this point.
Ohio State Keeps All Five Spring Quarterbacks Out of the Transfer Portal
There’s a cliché in football that if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Essentially, if the team is focused on keeping more than one quarterback happy with reps, they are hindering their ability to develop a true starter. Ohio State saw this in 2015. By all intents and purposes, that Ohio State team should have repeated as College Football Playoff National Champions. Its biggest issue was Urban Meyer not making an actual decision between J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones.
For 2024, Ryan Day likely won’t use two quarterbacks during the season as Meyer did. He will, however, have five quarterbacks vying for the starting gig when there’s only one football.
Day Will Keep it Close to the Vest
If there is one certainty regarding this year’s quarterback battle, it’s that Day will not officially announce a starter until the week of the Akron game. It won’t matter if one separates himself in Fall camp, Day likes to keep the opposition at bay, even if it’s Akron.
Nothing has changed since the Spring Game aside from the fact that the room is still full. Will Howard is still the favorite with Devin Brown right behind him. Julian Sayin will continue to be the wild card in the race despite a slightly disappointing showing in the Spring Game. There was a feeling that Lincoln Kienholz would transfer out and fans went so far as to spread unfounded rumors on social media. With all of the smoke that Iowa was tampering with Kienholz, he put out his own succinct statement on April 10th: “Go Bucks“. Plus, don’t count out Air Noland. To this point, it feels like he’s being pushed aside with all of the attention at the top.
The battle between the quintet of signal-callers will rage on until the last second. Each quarterback has shown coaches that they have what it takes. Considering the level of play the Buckeyes had to deal with last year, the team is looking for who can lead the program to its first title in a decade.
Not All Transfers Are Created Equal
From the outside, seeing 25 players transferring out makes it look like the program is failing. Surely the only explanation for over two dozen defectors is that players are beginning to turn on Day and the coaching staff, right? In this case, not quite.
Scholarship limits still constrain rosters in college football. In addition to the 23 true freshmen coming in, the Buckeyes are bringing in six transfers. In total, according to the team’s roster, there are 33 seniors and six graduates.
The transfer portal is the reason for a number of uncomfortable conversations. There have been a lot of conversations in Columbus that likely have the gist of “you’re better off elsewhere because we don’t have the room here.” It’s an unfortunate part of the equation. While nothing has come out about Day and his approach, there is a feeling that he’s not quite as flippant and dismissive as other coaches when it comes to shedding depth.
The biggest reason for the look of a mass exodus is the fact that, conservatively, 12 NFL-bound players elected to return. In the cases of the top-end defensive talents such as Jaylahn Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, and Jack Sawyer, coaches and recruits alike expected those roster spots to be freed after three seasons.
Ohio State’s roster is going to be veteran-laden in 2024 and will have a legitimate shot at breaking the single-draft record of 15 picks. However, that just means that players who expected to compete for a shot in 2024 have had to look to the portal.
In Order to Make an Omlette, You Gotta Break Some Eggs
The Buckeyes are all in for 2024. When all of the NFL-bound players decided to return, they all felt like they could be part of something great. “Unfinished business” is often used for things like these. In the case of these players, it’s about as true as it gets.
Ohio State hasn’t won the Big 10 since 2020. They haven’t beaten Michigan since 2019 for one reason or another. The best thing Day has accomplished since the pandemic is almost beating Georgia. With all of this talent returning, there can be no excuses.
Transfers are just part of the game now. Ideally, coaches and players keep an open line of communication so that when a player elects to leave, it’s not a surprise. There’s no getting around the fact that coaches form a relationship with their players and seeing them leave is not ideal. However, in order for the Buckeyes to compete in 2024, they had to have two dozen players leave.
