Column: It’s time for Ohio State to admit its mistakes in the transfer portal

Ohio State’s 2024 transfer portal class was as good as it could possibly get.

The Buckeyes brought in eight total guys, and five of them — Caleb Downs, Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, Will Kacmarek and Seth McLaughlin — were high-impact players on a National Championship roster. A sixth was Julian Sayin, who is now in his second year as Ohio State’s starting quarterback.

Howard was the perfect QB to lead that Chip Kelly offense through a gauntlet in the College Football Playoff, completing 75% of his passes in the postseason with nearly 1,800 total yards and 18 TDs. Judkins was an early second round pick in 2025, and scored three touchdowns in the national title game against Notre Dame. Downs was the best safety in the country and became the No. 11 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

It is unfair to expect another crop like the Buckeyes brought in prior to that 2024 season. You are not going to find six starters of that quality and future NFL players in the transfer portal every single year.

That being said, Ohio State has done far worse than just fail to replicate the success they had two years ago. The program has done an actively bad job of allocating resources and both identifying and bringing in talent in the two years that have followed.

That is now hurting them on the field.

The 2025 transfer portal class was a bad one. The Buckeyes added 11 players to the roster coming off a national title, and of that group only Max Klare (and maybe CJ Donaldson) could be described as positive additions.

Even the best two guys from that class were not utilized properly.

Klare’s numbers dipped from 685 yards on 51 catches with four touchdowns at Purdue in 2024 to 43/448/2 at Ohio State in 2025, not at all aided by a poor tight ends coach in Keenan Bailey. The Buckeyes also had Donaldson add a ton of weight in the offseason and tried to force him into a power back role he was seemingly not well suited for, averaging a career-worst 3.8 yards per carry in his one season in Columbus.

The rest of that 2025 portal class was nothing but whiffs.

Ethan Onianwa was supposed to be a huge addition and earn a starting tackle job right away. Instead, he struggled and was moved to guard, where he was so bad that he wound up playing only 96 total snaps at Ohio State.

Phillip Daniels was expected to be a depth piece along the offensive line, but was instead forced into a starting role at tackle. While somewhat serviceable, Daniels was the second-worst graded starting lineman at Ohio State in 2025, allowing a team-high 16 QB hurries. He has since regressed in 2026 to the point of potentially losing his job.

The list goes on and on. Logan George was brought in from the FCS ranks to help bolster the defensive line room, but wound up playing 19 total snaps across three games and registering one total tackle. Beau Atkinson was supposed to be another big addition at edge rusher coming in from UNC, but looked completely overmatched and ineffective in 2025 and has not gotten any better despite an increased snap count in 2026.

Ryan Day and his staff added 11 players to the defending national champs’ roster, and only about 1.5 of them made anything resembling a positive impact.

The jury is still out on this 2026 transfer portal group, but the early returns have not inspired confidence either.

This year saw the Buckeyes with their biggest transfer class yet, adding 17 guys to a roster that lost a ton of talent to the NFL Draft and graduation following a disappointing end to the 2025 campaign. Of those 17, only about four have looked ready to go from the jump.

Earl Little Jr., Devin McCuin and Ja’Kobi Jackson have all looked like players who can help Ohio State this season.

Little leads the Buckeyes with 23 tackles thus far to go along with two pass breakups, while Jackson, for better or for worse, is challenging Bo Jackson for the lead role at running back, averaging a team-high 6.6 yards per carry and five touchdowns. McCuin has cooled off a bit after a fast start, but is still second on Ohio State in receiving with 165 yards on 13 catches with one touchdown.

The other guy who makes the cut is Christian Alliegro, although his status is maybe a bit less solid than those other three. Alliegro began the season as one of the Buckeyes’ two starting linebackers, but has lost ground to Riley Pettijohn at the position, and looks more well-suited to be a more stand-up edge rusher rather than a true linebacker.

Outside of those four, there are four more guys in this group who the jury is still out on.

Connor Hawkins seems to have a better leg than Jayden Fielding, but missed his only high pressure kick so far in the loss to Texas that would have iced the game. John Walker has been good at defensive tackle, although largely non-impactful to this point. Mason Williams has played the second-most snaps at tight end behind Nate Roberts and been fine. Kyle Parker, meanwhile, has yet to play as a result of a preseason injury.

Not really a ton to write home about among those eight guys. The four ‘hits’ have been just above replacement level, and the four ‘still not sure’ guys have been mostly inoffensive to the eyes. Besides them, though, this class has been a complete disaster.

The Alabama transfers, especially, have been particularly concerning, as none of the three guys they added from a post-Saban Crimson Tide roster look to be at the level necessary to play at a place like Ohio State.

Qua Russaw has been by far the biggest offender. Despite playing the second-most snaps (106) of any edge rusher behind only Kenyatta Jackson Jr. (188), all while not even playing in the season opener against Ball State, Russaw has managed one QB hit — the same amount as Jamir Perez, who has played 21 total snaps across two games.

Russaw played 47 snaps against Illinois, and virtually none of them were good. He was extremely noticeable on the field as the Illini were ripping off big gains in the air against zero pass rush and big gains on the ground against a defensive line that looked overmatched despite having a significant talent advantage.

Fellow Tuscaloosa transfers James Smith and Cam Calhoun have not faired much better. Smith has managed three total tackles from his defensive tackle spot despite playing close to 100 snaps on the season, and Calhoun, who is only here as a depth corner anyway, has not looked particularly good in limited reps.

A few other guys the Buckeyes brought in this past offseason who were supposed to have semi-significant roles have barely played. Moore was originally expected to start at one of the safety spots, but has played only 33 snaps. Dom Kelly had some hype in the preseason, but has played only 38 snaps at corner. Hunter Welcing was supposed to factor in to the tight end rotation; he’s played 23 snaps.

Through four games, it’s hard to look at this portal class as anything other than a letdown. The Ohio State staff has not exactly bolstered the roster to the best of its ability over these last two offseason, and we are now feeling the effects.

The Buckeyes have added 28 guys through the portal during that stretch. Only six of them have been replacement-level players or better, at least to this point. The tough part now becomes how long do you wait to cut your losses?

These additions did not come to Columbus for free. Whether they panned out or not, you allocated NIL resources to the players you added via the transfer portal. The Ohio State staff has to be willing to put that aside in order to field the best possible team.

Beau Atkinson, Qua Russaw and James Smith are not the answer along the defensive line. Guys like Khary Wilder, Epi Sitanilei, and Jamir Perez should be given more opportunities over that trio, regardless of what you paid for the transfers or the ‘experience’ they have.

Christian Alliegro is not a true stand up linebacker. Riley Pettijohn and TJ Alford should continue to see more and more playing time in that spot instead (and over Payton Pierce as well, but that’s a separate issue), with Alliegro given more opportunities to rush the passer.

The Ohio State defense, specifically, has not been good enough, and the underperformance of the transfer portal players has been a big reason why.

Ryan Day and his staff have to be willing to prioritize talent over cost. If your young players are better than your veterans, they simply have to play. The Buckeyes should be putting their best 11 guys out there every time they take the field, not just the ones they spent the most money on.