Julian Sayin is being handed the keys to a Ferrari and is asked kindly not to race it off a cliff.
Not that Sayin can’t emerge as one of the nation’s best drivers, but the talent stockpiled by Ohio State at wide receiver and tight end, combined with the experience of its offensive line, gives him the weapons needed to storm any Bastille. The running back position isn’t likely to be as loaded as TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins made it in 2024, but it could still be plenty fearsome.
A few questions remain, particularly with first-time play-caller Brian Hartline and a right tackle competition that dragged late into preseason camp. But there’s explosive potential with this year’s offense.
The Stars
Jeremiah Smith
Can you imagine being widely regarded as the best player in college football entering your sophomore season? That’s where Smith finds himself heading into 2025.
The most hyped receiver prospect in recent recruiting memory lived up to every bit of his billing as the No. 1 player regardless of position in the class of 2024, collecting 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. Smith posted back-to-back 100-yard receiving performances to open his first College Football Playoff, then amassed 88 yards with a touchdown in the national championship game, including the now-famed “3rd-and-Jeremiah” play that iced Ohio State’s title win.
JEREMIAH SMITH DOWN THERE SOMEWHERE
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 21, 2025
pic.twitter.com/GVtQqoDKdz
One of three players to be named an Iron Buckeye twice this offseason, as difficult as it is to believe, Smith is set to take another step in 2025. As such, he’s a Heisman Trophy frontrunner. A player the entire offense can be built on. Ryan Day thinks he could be a No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL tomorrow.
“Yeah,” Day said when asked that exact question at Big Ten Media Days. “But I think the rule is in place for a reason. He's 19 years old and so there's still a lot of growing that needs to happen and maturity that has to happen, but yeah, his talent, it's pretty remarkable. (...) I think at his age, he's further along than anybody I've ever been around.”
Carnell Tate
Outside Smith, the most established Ohio State star is his running mate, the Buckeyes’ No. 2 wide receiver, Tate. Perhaps the best No. 3 wide receiver in college football as a sophomore last year, he racked up 52 receptions for 733 yards and four touchdowns despite sharing targets with Smith and 2025 first-round NFL draft pick Emeka Egbuka. He’s embraced a vocal leadership role this offseason, and it won’t be a shock if he gives Ohio State a second 1,000-yard receiver for the second year in a row.
“He made huge strides,” Hartline said of Tate’s leadership. “I love him for it, he's the right kind of guy for it, he's the right kind of role. Really no-BS kind of guy, a lot of guys have a lot of respect for him … I'm glad those conversations I had were received, and I'm glad to see he's really taking the reins of it and ran with it.”
Carson Hinzman
It was hard to pick just one star from Ohio State’s quartet of returning offensive linemen with CFP starts under their belt, but Hinzman is a quiet candidate to bring home the Buckeyes' fourth Rimington Trophy in the last decade. After some tribulations in his first year as a starter at center in 2023, Hinzman proved invaluable to the Scarlet and Gray’s national championship. First, he filled in fantastically at left guard following a season-ending injury to Josh Simmons, allowing Donovan Jackson to slide out to left tackle, then took over at center for Rimington Trophy winner Seth McLaughlin and did a phenomenal job in the CFP.
With another offseason dedicated to the center position, Hinzman’s experience is an invaluable asset to new quarterback Julian Sayin. Left guard Luke Montgomery and right guard Tegra Tshabola join him to create what could be one of the best interior OL trios in the nation.
The X-Factors
Max Klare
There’s no doubting Klare as one of the best receiving tight ends in college football. Racking up 51 receptions for 685 yards and four touchdowns in a defunct Purdue offense proved as much. But when surrounded by the best receiver room in the country, it’s a question of how many targets Klare will get. By the same token, however, less attention will be on him than when he was in West Lafayette, where he was the leading receiver in all three categories.
Julian Sayin
Ohio State has the best targets for a quarterback to throw to in the country between Smith, Tate, slot receiver Brandon Inniss and Klare. That will only amplify how great this year’s offense can be with a fantastic season from Sayin at QB. He’s got the tools, a lightning-quick release, excellent accuracy, but is he ready to make the right decisions with the football against elite college defenses? Day is keeping things simple for the signal-caller in Week 1: Whatever it takes to score at least one more point than No. 1 Texas. And to play with confidence.
“Just win, baby,” Day said. “That's it, man. Just win. Find a way to win. One more point. If it’s 14-13 or 65-64, we’ve gotta find a way to win. That’s it. That’s all that matters. We're not going to worry about the what-ifs and all that other stuff, we're going to let it fly. I said that to him today.”
James Peoples
Peoples will work in tandem with West Virginia transfer CJ Donaldson, but he’s got a superstar ceiling that can crank Ohio State’s running game up another level, one that more closely resembles last year’s ground game with Henderson and Judkins. Peoples’ sharp cuts, burst through the line of scrimmage and the constant churn of his legs to finish runs make him a prime breakout candidate.
“He has a build like J.K. Dobbins, and I kind of see similarities in their game as well,” Henderson said of Peoples at the NFL Scouting Combine. “J.K. Dobbins, he was a great running back; I feel like he's not talked about a lot, but his career here, you watch his highlights, is great. I remember before I committed (to Ohio State), I remember watching J.K. Dobbins highlights, like every one of his years here, like four or five times. And so, man, he was such a great back, and I feel like when I see J.K. Dobbins, when I see James Peoples, I see similarities to both of their games. I feel like they play the same.”
The Questions
How does Brian Hartline look in his first season calling plays?
Whatever Hartline has set out to do in his coaching career, he’s been elite at it. But being the best wide receivers coach and recruiter in the country doesn’t automatically make one a great play-caller. Learning from some of the greatest offensive minds in the game – Day and last year’s offensive coordinator Chip Kelly – does help, however, as does eight years of familiarity with Day’s scheme.
“I think everything I do and operate is in resemblance of (Day),” Hartline said on Monday. “I think that I really appreciate the way he goes about the way he works, the way he is delivering, the way he communicates. Offensive mind, I mean, I don't know if anybody can catch up to him. He's one heck of an offensive mind, so I'm just trying to absorb as much as possible all the time. Ultimately, I don't choose if I'm ‘ready’ or not, just the guy I look up to does, and that's where I go with it. So, for me, I don't want to let him down, I don't want the team down, so, we're wearing our tails off, go in really well prepared.”
What’s the situation at right tackle?
Austin Siereveld, after just moving from guard to tackle this offseason, is taking on the all-important left tackle position for Ohio State. Is it out of strength or necessity? It feels like the former after he was named a captain and an Iron Buckeye twice over this offseason. Perhaps no player on the roster has seen their stock rise more. But when Ethan Onianwa was brought in from Rice specifically to play LT and is now no longer favored to start at all, it raises questions about the tackle opposite Siereveld, alongside whether he’ll be the stalwart the Buckeyes see him as in his first season at the position.
The reason Onianwa is no longer projected to start is due to the momentum surrounding Phillip Daniels, the redshirt sophomore Minnesota transfer, at right tackle. Daniels had just four starts of experience with the Gophers, with a concerning 58 pass-blocking grade per Pro Football Focus. He gave up nine total pressures with one sack in 158 pass-blocking snaps. Ohio State development is different and year two to year three usually brings massive gains for an offensive lineman, given the developmental nature of the position, but RT is one of the few question marks on an otherwise loaded Buckeye attack.
How many weapons can be involved?
Look, not all questions have to be concerns. If this is considered a problem, forget first-world, it’s a zero-world problem. Zero other teams in college football have this many receivers and tight ends they feel can perform at an elite level.
Mylan Graham looks like a star in the making despite being Ohio State’s fourth wide receiver, flexing his blazing speed and gains as a route runner in the spring. Redshirt sophomore Bryson Rodgers and freshman Quincy Porter also have legitimate cases for playing time out wide. Will Kacmarek has been called the best blocking tight end in the country by tight ends coach Keenan Bailey, then Bennett Christian and Jelani Thurman are both worthy of serious playing time, too, in what might be the deepest tight end room in the nation.
An embarrassment of riches, as the saying goes, at those two positions.
Freshman to Watch
Bo Jackson
Peoples and Donaldson might lead the backfield, but Day said on Monday that there are three running backs Ohio State feels are ready to contribute right now. It doesn’t take much inference to conclude that the third RB is Jackson. His burst is just different. He caught more eyeballs than any other youngster in spring practice and was the fifth member of his freshman class to shed his black stripe. It’s not out of the question that he sees meaningful carries in 2025.
Overall Outlook
With more firepower than a .50-cal machine gun, talent in the running back room and four established starters on the offensive line, Ohio State will have one of the best offenses in the country if Sayin lives up to his five-star billing and Daniels is up to the task. If all else fails: F it, Jeremiah down there somewhere.
