Ohio State’s preseason position battles will officially resume Thursday when the Buckeyes hit the field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for their first practice of training camp.
A majority of Ohio State’s starting jobs already feel settled entering camp. Wide receivers Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss, tight end Max Klare, left tackle Ethan Onianwa, center Carson Hinzman and right tackle/guard Austin Siereveld are all expected to start on offense. Defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr., defensive tackles Kayden McDonald and Eddrick Houston, linebackers Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese, cornerbacks Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews Jr. and safety Caleb Downs all look like safe bets to start on defense.
But there are still several competitions that need to be settled over the next month, including one at the sport’s most important position.
While there will be jockeying for position on the depth chart at every position throughout Ohio State’s 25 preseason practices, the following positions are the ones we’ll be watching most closely in terms of battles for major roles in the season ahead.
Quarterback
We won’t bury the lede here. A starting quarterback competition will almost always be the top storyline entering preseason camp when a team hasn’t named a starter yet, and it certainly will be when Ohio State opens camp later this week.
It’s widely expected that Julian Sayin will be Ohio State’s starting quarterback this season, but Ryan Day says the competition between Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz is neck-and-neck entering camp. Kienholz has made real strides to impress his coaches and teammates this offseason – enough so that he led the quarterback competition at times this spring, according to Day – and his selection on Monday as one of Ohio State’s most recent “Dudes of the Week” suggests he’s continuing to make a case for himself in summer workouts.
Week 5 Dudes of the Week
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) July 28, 2025
@kjacksonjr_
@LincolnKienholz
@Jaylenmcclain08 pic.twitter.com/pvzpS6fDbL
Sayin has been seen as Ohio State’s likely 2025 starter from the moment he transferred to OSU from Alabama last offseason, and the top-ranked quarterback from the 2024 recruiting class could win the job quickly if he builds off his strong spring game showing. But he still has to prove he’s ready to be the starter, and Day says Ohio State will put Sayin and Kienholz “in as many competitive situations as we possibly can” during camp to determine who gives the Buckeyes the best chance to beat Texas in Week 1.
“We've got to be on point Week 1. We can't be messing around,” Day said last week at Big Ten Media Days. “We have to build depth in that room as well. I've got a feeling they'll all play throughout the season, but it will be a fierce competition to see who the starter is.”
Strong Safety
Ohio State’s fiercest position battle for a starting job entering preseason camp may be at safety, where the Buckeyes have two strong candidates to start alongside Caleb Downs in Malik Hartford and Jaylen McClain.
Spring practice ended without a clear frontrunner in that competition as Hartford and McClain each took extensive reps with the first-team defense this spring, when Downs took limited reps due to a minor injury. Hartford’s additional year of experience may give the junior from Southwest Ohio a slight edge over McClain, a sophomore from New Jersey, but McClain flashed whenever he got the chance to play as a freshman and is the more natural strong safety between the two.
There will likely be opportunities for both of them to play this season. New defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is known for mixing up defensive personnel and used three-safety packages frequently as the New England Patriots’ DC.
Considering how often Jordan Hancock lined up at safety last season, especially in the back half of the year, it’s not out of the question that Hartford and McClain could both start if the Buckeyes determine they should each be on the field more than projected starting nickel Lorenzo Styles Jr. That said, they’ll face additional competition for snaps in the secondary from Devin Sanchez and Aaron Scott Jr. as each of them will be looking to force their way into the cornerback rotation.
As such, Downs is expecting a great competition between Hartford and McClain when camp begins this week.
“I feel like they're both stepping into who they want to be on the field and growing into leadership roles on the team, for sure. And I feel like they made a lot of strides in the spring. So I'm excited to see how the first couple days of camp go and then see where we're at after that, but it should be a good event,” Downs said.
Defensive End
Ohio State’s defensive end competition will be more intense in August than it was this spring thanks to the Buckeyes’ post-spring addition of North Carolina transfer DE Beau Atkinson.
Before that, it seemed likely that Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Caden Curry would be Ohio State’s starters with C.J. Hicks and Logan George rotating in as their backups. The addition of Atkinson, however, sets up a real competition for at least one starting defensive end spot with at least five edge defenders pushing for playing time in this year’s rotation.
Given all the praise he received at Big Ten Media Days, Jackson appears well on his way to locking down a starting spot. Atkinson is probably the frontrunner to start opposite Jackson, considering he has the most proven production among Ohio State’s defensive ends at the FBS level (12 tackles for loss with 7.5 sacks for UNC in 2024), but Curry shouldn’t be counted out with his background of quality play when called upon over the last three years.
Hicks is the biggest wild card in the group after moving from linebacker to defensive end this offseason, but the five-star recruit could still earn a big role in Ohio State’s defense this season – likely as a hybrid edge rusher – if he has a strong camp. George was highly productive at Idaho State, recording 19.5 tackles for loss last season, and showed the pass-rushing chops this spring to give Larry Johnson reason to make room for him in the rotation, too.
While Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau played most of the snaps with the game on the line as Ohio State’s starting defensive ends for the past two years, the Buckeyes’ depth at the position this season could lead to more frequent rotation this year. But preseason camp will go a long way toward determining who the two starters are and who else sees the most playing time in the rotation behind them.
Backup Defensive Tackle
As mentioned in the introduction, Eddrick Houston and Kayden McDonald are the clear frontrunners to replace Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton as Ohio State’s starting defensive tackles. Like at defensive end, though, Ohio State will want to rotate on the interior defensive line to keep its starters fresh.
While the starting tandem at DT is mostly set, the depth chart behind them remains far more fluid. Day has made it clear throughout the offseason that the Buckeyes are looking for more out of their depth at their position, making this arguably the most important position battle outside of quarterback this preseason.
Based on what Day and Sonny Styles said at Big Ten Media Days, Will Smith Jr. seems like the leading candidate to be Ohio State’s top backup defensive tackle. He’s the most natural fit among Ohio State’s veteran DTs to back up McDonald at nose guard, and Day said Smith has “stepped up in a big way” this offseason.
The Buckeyes need more than just Smith to fortify their defensive tackle depth, though. Fifth-year senior Tywone Malone and redshirt sophomore Jason Moore are two other DTs that Ohio State is counting on to step up, and the door remains wide open for either of them to earn the backup 3-technique job. Freshman defensive tackle Jarquez Carter is also a player to watch in that competition as he’s generated some buzz in his first offseason in Columbus.
Right Tackle/Guard
With Day’s post-spring declaration that Austin Siereveld will be a starter this season, Ohio State’s starting offensive line seems like it can be penciled in. Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa is expected to start at left tackle, while left guard Luke Montgomery, center Carson Hinzman and right guard Tegra Tshabola are all back as the starters from the end of last season. That leaves the right tackle spot for Siereveld, where he spent most of his time this spring.
But the right tackle competition isn’t necessarily over yet. Ohio State brought in Minnesota transfer offensive tackle Phillip Daniels to compete for that spot, and he’ll continue to get the chance to do so in preseason camp along with redshirt freshman Ian Moore.
If Daniels or Moore surges in camp, the possibility remains on the table that Ohio State could move Siereveld back inside to guard, potentially creating a three-way competition between Siereveld, Montgomery and Tshabola for two starting spots. Despite starting all 16 games at RG for Ohio State last season, Tshabola could be at risk of losing his starting job if that happens, as Montgomery seems fairly entrenched as OSU’s starting LG after earning that job away from Siereveld during last year’s playoff run.
That would be a good problem for Ohio State to have if it happens, as last year’s injuries to Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin proved just how important offensive line depth is. But the competition in the trenches over the next month will nevertheless be intense as the likes of Daniels, Moore and interior lineman Joshua Padilla look to force their way into the starting five.
Kicker/Punter
Even though Jayden Fielding and Joe McGuire return as Ohio State’s starting kicker and punter from last season, both of them will face competition in preseason camp.
Ohio State added competition for Fielding this offseason by bringing in Ball State transfer Jackson Courville, who made 26 of 34 field goals in two seasons for the Cardinals. While Fielding remains Ohio State’s expected starting kicker after his strong finish to last season, which included four combined field goals in OSU’s playoff wins over Oregon and Notre Dame, Courville has the leg to challenge for the job as he made two 50-plus-yard field goals last season while Fielding’s career-long remains just 47 yards.
At punter, meanwhile, Ohio State is likely to give Nick McLarty another shot to push for the starting job in camp. The Buckeyes gave the 6-foot-7, 255-pound Australian every opportunity to win the job last year, even naming him the starter initially before making a late pivot to McGuire, and his massive leg gives him the potential to be an upgrade if he can be more consistent. Mishits continued to be an issue for McLarty this spring, though, so he’ll need to eliminate those mistakes in camp to beat out McGuire, who averaged a steady 42.1 yards per punt in his first season as Ohio State’s starting punter last year.
