Calling college football recruits who enroll in January “early” enrollees is becoming more and more of a misnomer each year.
At Ohio State, enrolling in January has become the norm for incoming freshmen, as 21 members of Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class were on campus for spring practice. Add in the six transfers who joined the Buckeyes in January, and Ohio State had 27 midyear enrollees (midyear in an academic year sense).
That said, Ohio State still has a class of summer enrollees who are joining the team this week to fill out the Buckeyes’ 2025 roster. This year’s crop of summer enrollees includes the other five members of Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class – plus at least one freshman walk-on – and five more transfer additions.
| Pos | Name | Status |
|---|---|---|
| DE | Beau Atkinson | Transfer (North Carolina) |
| QB | Eli Brickhandler | Transfer (Houston Christian) |
| K | Jackson Courville | Transfer (Ball State) |
| OL | Justin Terry | Transfer (West Virginia) |
| LS | Grant Mills | Walk-on Transfer (North Carolina) |
| RB | Anthony “Turbo” Rogers | Freshman (★★★★) |
| DE | Epi Sitanilei | Freshman (★★★★) |
| TE | Brody Lennon | Freshman (★★★★) |
| DT | Maxwell Roy | Freshman (★★★★) |
| CB | Jordyn Woods | Freshman (★★★) |
| QB | Jaystin Gwinn | Walk-on Freshman (★★★) |
As the newest Buckeyes make their way to Columbus to join the team for summer workouts and begin their Ohio State careers, we take a look at what Ohio State’s 2025 summer enrollees could bring to the Buckeyes this season and beyond.
On the way... @OhioStateFB #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/8NXNTaQcGD
— Epi K. Sitanilei (@KSitanilei) May 31, 2025
Atkinson, Roy and Sitanilei bolster defensive line
The most notable of Ohio State’s summer additions in terms of his projected impact this season is easily Beau Atkinson. The North Carolina transfer defensive end is a likely starter who will at worst be a regular in the Buckeyes’ edge rotation. After recording 12 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks for UNC last year, Atkinson is the most proven defensive lineman on the roster and a well-rounded DE who’s capable of being a difference-maker on any down.
There’s far less expectation that freshman defensive linemen Maxwell Roy or Epi Sitanilei will make an immediate impact in 2025, though Roy – a state champion wrestler who likely projects to play nose tackle for the Buckeyes – is a player to watch due to the Buckeyes’ lack of depth at defensive tackle. It remains unclear who will back up Kayden McDonald at nose tackle this season, so Roy – a four-star recruit from St. Joseph’s Prep of Marvin Harrison Jr. fame – could climb the depth chart quickly if he performs well in preseason camp.
Sitanilei, a late-rising recruit who Ohio State flipped from UCLA on signing day, will likely need a year to bulk up and develop his skill set before he’ll be ready to contend for playing time. That said, he’s an intriguing prospect for a defense that’s expected to mix fronts more under new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, as Sitanilei projects as best suited to play as an edge-rushing outside linebacker.
A Turbo boost at running back
One running back from Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class has already turned heads as Bo Jackson made a push for immediate playing time with his performance this spring. But Jackson isn’t even the highest-ranked running back in the Buckeyes’ 2025 class.
That distinction belongs to Anthony “Turbo” Rogers, who was ranked as the No. 5 running back and No. 97 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite. The highest-rated recruit among Ohio State’s summer enrollees, Rogers became a Buckeye after a strong effort by OSU running backs coach Carlos Locklyn to flip Rogers away from Alabama, his home-state school.
An explosive athlete who’s been timed at 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash, Rogers is a small but shifty slasher who’s also an excellent receiver out of the backfield, opening up the possibility that he could be a Curtis Samuel-esque weapon who also plays some slot receiver. Prospects with that kind of hybrid skill set haven’t always panned out at Ohio State in recent years – Evan Pryor, Kaleb Brown, Mookie Cooper, Jaelen Gill and Demario McCall are all examples of players who offered similar attributes that never played big roles for the Buckeyes – but there are many ways in which Brian Hartline and Locklyn could use Rogers if they get creative.
Jackson’s earlier enrollment gave him a leg up over Rogers to be Ohio State’s No. 3 running back this season behind James Peoples and CJ Donaldson, but Rogers shouldn’t be counted out as a player who could also push for a role in this year’s offense, especially given his big-play ability in a running back unit that doesn’t have a proven home-run hitter like it did with TreVeyon Henderson a year ago.
Ohio State 4-star signee Anthony Turbo Rogers breaks free for an 80-yard run to set Team Icon up in the red zone
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) January 2, 2025
Live Updates: https://t.co/plQ29G1FBk pic.twitter.com/yB3Tc9jyWl
Lennon, Woods are developmental prospects to watch
Joining Roy, Rogers and Sitanilei as June arrivals in Ohio State’s freshman class are four-star in-state tight end Brody Lennon and three-star Georgia cornerback Jordyn Woods. Neither of them is likely to play significant snaps this year, but both of them are intriguing prospects to watch for the future.
Lennon is a well-rounded tight end who shined as both a blocker and receiver while also playing on defense and running the ball out of the backfield at times. He has no likely path to playing time as a freshman with Max Klare, Will Kacmarek, Jelani Thurman and Bennett Christian leading the depth chart, but he could be a versatile asset for the Buckeyes in the future with his ability to play both tight end and H-back.
Woods stands out on size alone as he has rare height for a cornerback at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds. The lowest-rated prospect in Ohio State’s 2025 class as the 1,145th-ranked recruit in the 247Sports composite, Woods is a project who will need time to develop before making a serious push for playing time in Ohio State’s loaded cornerback room. But his physical traits give him upside as a player who could help the Buckeyes replace their current 6-foot-2 starting cornerback, Davison Igbinosun, after this year.
Depth additions at quarterback, specialist and offensive line
While the defensive line was the only position where Ohio State sought to add an immediate starter during the spring transfer window, the Buckeyes came out of spring also seeking more depth on the offensive line, a fourth scholarship quarterback, a backup kicker and a backup long snapper, and they addressed each of those needs with players who will also be starting their Ohio State careers this month.
The one summer-enrollee transfer other than Atkinson who could push for a starting job this preseason is Jackson Courville, who proved himself to be a high-level kicker by making 26 of 34 field goals in two years at Ball State. But he’d have to seize the job away from Jayden Fielding, who’s still viewed as the Buckeyes’ likely starter after he finished last season strong despite battling through a hip injury.
Ohio State actually wanted to add two offensive linemen during the spring transfer window, but had to settle for just one – West Virginia transfer Justin Terry – after missing out on transfer offensive tackle targets Jaden Ball (who transferred from Purdue to Minnesota) and Orion Irving (Sam Houston State to Vanderbilt). Terry, who didn’t play in his lone season as a Mountaineer, isn’t likely to see much playing time in his first year as a Buckeye, but the 6-foot-6, 330-pound Pickerington native can play both tackle and guard and gives Ohio State 15 scholarship offensive linemen, leaving it just one short of its target number of 16 scholarship players on the OL.
It initially appeared as though Ohio State might not be able to find a fourth scholarship quarterback, but made a late addition on May 20 with the commitment of former Houston Christian quarterback Eli Brickhandler. There’s no expectation that Brickhandler will be anything more than Ohio State’s fourth quarterback, considering he completed just 49.4% of his passes last season at the FCS level, but he adds emergency depth behind Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair the same way Tristan Gebbia did as Ohio State’s fourth quarterback two years ago.
Fellow summer enrollee Jaystin Gwinn, the son of former Ohio State safety Anthony Gwinn, also adds depth to the Buckeyes’ quarterback room as a walk-on, though it’s uncertain whether Gwinn will remain at QB long-term as Ohio State has told him he could also play wide receiver or defensive back.
Ohio State also needed a second long snapper following the departure of Morrow Evans (who transferred to UCLA) and found one by bringing in North Carolina transfer Grant Mills. John Ferlmann remains in line to be Ohio State’s starting long snapper for a third year, but Mills will be the next man up behind this year with a chance to potentially replace Ferlmann as the starter next year.
