So. The transfer portal has officially been open for a few days now. Ohio State’s transfer portal haul has gotten off to a slow start. Considering the Buckeyes tend to try to land few-but-impactful transfers, it makes sense. Most of the top-end transfers are still feeling out the process. In some cases, they’re kickstarting full-on bidding wars. There are obvious areas that need a little help via the transfer portal, lest the Buckeyes feel their depth is ready to step up.<\/p>\n
Most of the Buckeyes’ top targets are still on the market, so this week could be a better stretch for Ryan Day’s efforts. Of course, fans are getting antsy considering CFP semifinalist Indiana has already bagged a handful of transfers, including a quarterback and wide receiver toward the top of the rankings.<\/p>\n
Despite the quiet start, perhaps patience is best.<\/p>\n
As of this article, 17 Buckeyes have hit the transfer portal. Some transfers were expected, like backup quarterback Lincoln Kienholz<\/a> and running back James Peoples<\/a>. Kienholz was always buried on the depth chart. His only significant bit of experience was when he was thrown to the wolves in that disastrous Cotton Bowl against Missouri. Meanwhile, Peoples entered the year as one of the favorites to be RB1 for the Buckeyes. After a few uninspiring performances, he was passed up by not just one freshman, but two. When he was the fourth back to enter the game, it was obvious he was going to take off.<\/p>\n Perhaps most disappointingly,\u00a0Mylan Graham<\/a>\u00a0is hitting the road. He was an overshadowed piece of the 2024 class, thanks to\u00a0Jeremiah Smith<\/a>\u00a0and the fact that he didn’t enroll early. He was expected to earn some rotational snaps in 2025, but when walk-on receiver David Adolph was playing significant snaps with the top two receivers out, it was obvious Graham was going to leave.<\/p>\n Kienholz is the only offensive transfer to commit to a new team. He will be quarterbacking the Louisville Cardinals in 2026.<\/p>\n Other players to leave: Guard Tegra Tshabola (29-game starter), WR\u00a0Bryson Rodgers<\/a>, TE\u00a0Jelani Thurman<\/a>, RB Sam Williams-Dixon, WR Damarion Witten, K\u00a0Jackson Courville<\/a>, P Nick McLarty, OL Devontae Armstrong, OL Isaiah Kema.<\/p>\n Others were a bit more of a surprise. The Buckeyes have lost a good chunk of depth from players who were expected to be in the mix for 2026. In the secondary, two corners with high expectations have left in Bryce West<\/a> and Aaron Scott Jr.<\/a> The recruitment of both Ohio-born playmakers was exciting, but with Devin Sanchez<\/a> being the first off the bench, West and Scott will test the market.<\/p>\n The defensive end room is now a concern, as well. Logan George (2025 transfer from Idaho State), C.J. Hicks<\/a>, and Dominic Kirks have hopped into the portal. George battled injuries and struggled to get on the field, while Hicks just never lived up to expectations. It’s not entirely his fault, of course. Hicks started as a linebacker and lost the job to Sonny Styles<\/a> before last year. The coaches moved him to EDGE, but he never broke through. The former five-star recruit will have one last chance to make an impact.<\/p>\n Hicks is following Brian Hartline to USF.<\/p>\n There are a few players still in the portal worth a look for the Buckeyes. We took a look at a few last week,<\/a> and none have signed anywhere just yet.<\/p>\n Chaz Coleman<\/a>, once he hit the portal, was immediately linked to the Buckeyes due to the fact that he is from Ohio. He hasn’t signed anywhere, but he is evidently taking a visit to Columbus on Tuesday (January 6). Ohio State is “willing to do what it takes” to get him. One of the more intriguing prospects has been former Pitt linebacker Rasheem Biles<\/a>. He was reported to be taking a visit on Monday, but it was reportedly canceled. Who knows at this point?<\/p>\n Ohio State is also pursuing offensive skill guys to try to add to an offense that was 99% potential and 1% actual execution this year. At receiver, DeAndre Moore<\/a> (Texas) and Tre Brown<\/a> (Old Dominion) are evidently heading to Columbus for visits. Moore was a solid receiver for the Longhorns over the last two seasons, posting 988 yards and 11 touchdowns on 77 receptions. Brown, meanwhile, is taking the long route to Power 4 football. He began his season at Hutchinson Community College, amassing 500 yards and nine touchdowns on 27 catches. Last year, at Old Dominion, he led the way with 762 yards and four touchdowns on 38 catches. The Buckeyes are looking at adding a slot receiver who can get extra yards after the catch with these two targets.<\/p>\n Adding running back depth will be important, as well. The Buckeyes are hosting Florida back Jakobi Jackson<\/a> this week. With the Gators, Jackson ran for just 98 yards last year. However, he was third in line as a true freshman with 95 rushes for 509 yards and seven touchdowns.<\/p>\n There are a few prime Lunatic Fringe narratives surrounding what’s going on. First, let’s just blame Ross Bjork and the Buckeyes’ antiquated NIL approach. The Fringe loves to hate on Bjork because he’s the Athletic Director. At the same time, Day hasn’t officially won over 100% of the fanbase because, according to many Ohio State fans, every season is title or bust. People were calling for Urban Meyer’s job (before the Zach Smith debacle), there will be people calling for Day with every misstep in Ohio State’s transfer portal haul.<\/p>\n Bjork is not without blame if this year’s transfer class underwhelms. Of course, the Buckeyes are still recruiting at an elite level despite not getting into bidding wars over unproven high school talent.<\/p>\n Finally, and this is the most “cope,” as the kids say, could top-end talents be returning to Columbus? With just nine days until the deadline for players with eligibility remaining to declare, not one Buckeye has said one way or another what they’ll do. At this point in the process, Arvell Reese<\/a>, Carnell Tate<\/a>, and Caleb Downs<\/a> are top-15 talents, while Styles and Kayden McDonald<\/a> could earn first-round grades. Four of the five have eligibility remaining. Could any spurn the NFL and return?<\/p>\n Hopefully, yes. Realistically, no. It would be awesome for Downs, McDonald, Reese, and Tate to return. That is just a tad too unrealistic.<\/p>\n Of course, Ohio State’s 2024 title run was thanks in large part to retaining Jack Sawyer, Jaylahn Tuimoloau, TreVeyon Henderson, and a few others. Honestly, there’s a lot of time between now and the deadline. If the Buckeyes choose to prioritize NIL spending on retention, would the Fringe complain then?<\/p>\n Day and his staff are still working. It’s time to exercise patience. Yes, Indiana is nailing the portal as it did the last two years. However, Ohio State has one thing Indiana doesn’t at this point: strong recruiting classes and home-grown talent. Indiana will catch up in time, but the Buckeyes do still have studs and potential playmakers on the roster. Just be patient.<\/p>\n Main Image: Adam Cairns\/Columbus Dispatch \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ohio State’s transfer portal haul is off to a slow start. While it’s getting folks antsy, none of the Buckeyes’ targets have signed anywhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":84850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35609,2],"tags":[4787,33217,35784,33214,33236,35895,7240,34789,4600,35885,3348,33212,8479,7257,231],"class_list":["post-84810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ohio-state-buckeyes","category-featured","tag-brian-hartline","tag-damarion-witten","tag-david-adolph","tag-devontae-armstrong","tag-dominic-kirks","tag-isaiah-kema","tag-jack-sawyer","tag-jaylahn-tuimoloau","tag-ncaa-transfer-portal","tag-nick-mclarty","tag-ryan-day","tag-sam-williams-dixon","tag-tegra-tshabola","tag-treveyon-henderson","tag-urban-meyer"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84810"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84851,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84810\/revisions\/84851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Defensive Depth Thinning<\/h3>\n
Finding New Talent<\/h3>\n
What’s The Hold Up?<\/h3>\n
Potential Retention?<\/h3>\n