A majority of Ohio State’s starters this year will be first-year starters. Who do you expect to have the best season among them?

We already know that Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs are two of the best players in college football. Sonny Styles, Carnell Tate, Davison Igbinosun and Tegra Tshabola all return as full-season starters from last year’s national championship team, Carson Hinzman has one-and-a-half seasons of starting experience, and Max Klare, CJ Donaldson, Ethan Onianwa, Beau Atkinson and Logan George were all starters at their previous schools.

Excluding those players, who are you the biggest things from in 2025?

For the purposes of this question, we’ll say that any player who hasn’t started more than half of the games in a season at Ohio State or elsewhere qualifies as a first-year starter, leaving the following projected starters as candidates:
QB Julian Sayin
RB James Peoples
WR Brandon Inniss
LT Austin Siereveld
LG Luke Montgomery
RT Phillip Daniels
DE Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Caden Curry
DT Eddrick Houston and Kayden McDonald
LB Arvell Reese
CB Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Lorenzo Styles Jr.
S Jaylen McClain or Malik Hartford

My vote goes to Mathews, who I expect to build off his impressive play as Ohio State’s top backup cornerback last season and establish himself as a star in the Buckeyes’ secondary. While he came in 12th in our preseason Buckeye 20, I personally had him sixth on my ballot behind Smith, Downs, Styles, Tate and Klare, as I believe he can be a dominant cover corner on the outside of the Ohio State defense.