Even though Ohio State lost 14 players to the transfer portal and hasn’t yet added one, Ryan Day says all but one or two of the Buckeyes’ 85 allotted scholarships for the 2024 season would be accounted for based on who they expect to have on next year’s roster right now.
That, along with multiple other comments Day made during Wednesday’s National Signing Day press conference, suggests Ohio State is confident it will get many of its top draft-eligible players back for another season.
“I'm optimistic because I think a lot of these guys feel like there's some unfinished business here, and there's a great opportunity to come back and have a great team on all three phases and both sides of the ball,” Day said.
One week out from the Cotton Bowl, the only Ohio State player with remaining eligibility who has formally declared for the 2024 NFL draft is running back Miyan Williams, who was already out for the season due to a knee injury. It’s anticipated that fifth-year seniors Cade Stover, Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers and projected top-three overall draft pick Marvin Harrison Jr. will each forgo their final season of eligibility, though none of them have made an official announcement yet.
Their departures, along with the players who have entered the transfer portal and the Buckeyes who will be out of eligibility after the Cotton Bowl, would unofficially leave Ohio State at 86 scholarship players for the 2024 season including the 20 recruits who signed with the Buckeyes on Wednesday.
If there are in fact only two or three more departures to come beyond that, Ohio State would retain the majority of its junior class, a group that includes many of the team’s biggest stars such as running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, cornerbacks Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock, defensive ends JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, defensive tackles Mike Hall and Tyleik Williams and left guard Donovan Jackson.
None of those players have yet made a public announcement on what they will do next year, though all of them except Henderson, Tuimoloau and Hall have confirmed that they will play in the Cotton Bowl before deciding on their futures. Day declined to identify any potential Cotton Bowl opt-outs on Wednesday, saying he wanted to allow those players to announce their own decisions, but said everyone had been at practice and indicated that he expected the Buckeyes to have most of their top players available.
“We’ve got a good group playing in the game,” Day said. “I think there's a lot of guys that have that feeling like they don't want to leave without winning that game. That's for sure. I mean, that's been a huge part of the conversations.”
While the deadline for players to declare for the 2024 NFL draft is not until Jan. 15, Ohio State needs to have an idea of what each of its potential draft entrants will do so it can determine where it needs to add replacements via the transfer portal. But the fact that Ohio State hasn’t yet added any transfers is an indicator in itself that Ohio State expects a good amount of its draft-eligible stars back.
Asked Wednesday if he thought Ohio State was behind since it has not yet added any transfers this December – it’s one of only two teams, along with Clemson, inside the top 25 of 247Sports’ overall team recruiting rankings that has not yet added a transfer – Day said no and pointed specifically to the Buckeyes’ potential to return many of their veterans as a reason why they haven’t yet added a transfer.
That’s not to say the Buckeyes aren’t pursuing transfers. Ohio State hosted three transfers for official visits earlier this month, though two of them have now committed to other schools as former Cal linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr is transferring to TCU while former UCLA safety Kamari Ramsey is transferring to USC. Former Michigan State defensive tackle Derrick Harmon remains uncommitted nearly two weeks after making his official visit to OSU.
Day said “it's definitely a possibility” that Ohio State will add transfers by January and that the Buckeyes are actively recruiting players in the portal. But he expressed that the team’s returning talent allows Ohio State to be selective about which transfers it pursues.
“We have a handful of guys that have to make some decisions here. And that plays into all this,” Day said. “Now if there's somebody there that we think fits right now, we'll jump on it. We've had some guys that have already visited. But we have to make sure that not only can they help on the field, but also they're the right fit for a lot of different reasons.
“We have an opportunity to have a really good group come back next year. And so that all plays into this. But we're all over it (recruiting the transfer portal). We have had some guys visit. And we're gonna keep pushing towards it.”
The projected scholarship count shouldn’t necessarily limit how many players Ohio State adds from the portal, as it’s likely the Buckeyes will have more outgoing transfers of their own in the post-spring transfer window. But since there will ultimately be a finite number of roster spots available, Ohio State still must factor in what it expects its potential draft entrants to do as it evaluates whether or not it makes sense to add transfers at their respective positions.
“I'm optimistic because I think a lot of these guys feel like there's some unfinished business here, and there's a great opportunity to come back and have a great team on all three phases and both sides of the ball.”– Ryan Day on NFL draft prospects returning for another year
That’s also true for the players who would consider transferring to Ohio State at those positions, as the draft decisions of returning starters could directly impact what kind of role would be available to them. For example, at running back, Ohio State could become a very appealing transfer destination if Henderson enters the NFL draft, as the Buckeyes would have a clear need with only one returning scholarship RB in Dallan Hayden. If Henderson stays, that need would become less pressing while any incoming running back would have to accept being a backup in 2024.
“It could be, based on how things shake out here,” Day said when asked if Ohio State would add a transfer running back. “Trey, he’s got a decision to make for sure, but we'll go from there and kind of see how that goes. And that'll obviously have an effect on how that room looks next year.”
Just because the Buckeyes haven’t added any transfers yet doesn’t mean they couldn’t still add a significant number of transfers over the duration of the offseason. After all, Ohio State had added only one scholarship transfer at this time last year (long snapper John Ferlmann) and ended up adding nine by the start of the 2023 season.
The final number of transfers Ohio State ultimately adds will directly correlate with how many Buckeyes enter the NFL draft and whether they have more outgoing transfers than they’ve already had. But regardless of how many players go pro, Day’s goal will remain the same: To do what needs to be done over the next eight months to assemble the best possible roster for the 2024 season.
“We're just gonna keep taking it one week at a time and ultimately, we want to have the best roster in the country in August,” Day said.
