The Buckeye 20: Julian Sayin Joins Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs, Carnell Tate and Arvell Reese in Ohio State’s Top Five Players Entering November

Ohio State has had plenty of stars on both sides of the ball in its first two months of the regular season.

As the Buckeyes come off their second and final bye week of the regular season and prepare to enter their final month of the regular season, we’ve updated our Buckeye 20 rankings for the second time this year, breaking down the 20 best players on Ohio State’s roster.

As has been the case all year, Ohio State superstars Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs hold the top two spots in the rankings. Carnell Tate holds the No. 3 spot, just as he did last month, while Arvell Reese climbs to No. 4 and Julian Sayin joins the top five amid their breakout seasons.

Other Buckeyes on the rise in our end-of-October rankings include left guard Luke Montgomery, center Carson Hinzman and running back Bo Jackson, who each move up at least four spots after establishing themselves as stars on the Buckeyes’ offense.

The full rankings for this month’s edition of the Buckeye 20, Eleven Warriors’ year-round ranking of Ohio State’s top 20 players, can be found below. Each player received 20 points for a first-place vote, 19 points for a second-place vote, 18 points for a third-place vote and so on down to one point for a 20th-place vote, with 140 points being the maximum total any player could receive from our seven-person voting panel.

Buckeye 20 Rankings Entering November
Rank	Pos	Player	Pts (1st)	Change	Prev. Rank
1	WR	JEREMIAH SMITH	139 (6)	–	1
2	S	CALEB DOWNS	134 (1)	–	2
3	WR	CARNELL TATE	121	–	3
4	LB	ARVELL REESE	120	▲1	5
5	QB	JULIAN SAYIN	114	▲2	7
6	DT	KAYDEN MCDONALD	103	–	6
7	DE	CADEN CURRY	97	▲1	8
8	LB	SONNY STYLES	94	▼4	4
9	CB	JERMAINE MATHEWS JR.	80	▲1	10
10	CB	DAVISON IGBINOSUN	75	▼1	9
11	LT	AUSTIN SIEREVELD	71	–	11
12	LG	LUKE MONTGOMERY	48	▲5	17
13	C	CARSON HINZMAN	47	▲6	19
14	RB	BO JACKSON	46	▲4	18
15	TE	MAX KLARE	44	▲1	5
16	S	JAYLEN MCCLAIN	37	▼4	12
17	TE	WILL KACMAREK	29	▼4	13
18	DE	KENYATTA JACKSON JR.	22	▼4	14
19	RT	PHILLIP DANIELS	12	▼4	15
20	DB	LORENZO STYLES JR.	12	▲2	NR
Also receiving votes: DT Tywone Malone Jr. (10), LB Payton Pierce (8), DT Eddrick Houston (4), CB Devin Sanchez (2), RB CJ Donaldson (1)

(Note: The tie between Daniels and Styles for the 19th spot was broken by Daniels being selected on more total ballots than Styles.)

While offensive players take three of the top five spots in the current ranking of Ohio State’s 20 best players, the rest of the top 10 is filled out by standouts from the Buckeyes’ top-ranked defense. Each of the next five players on the list are from the offensive side, while the final five spots in the pre-November Buckeye 20 feature a mix of role players from both sides of the ball. Altogether, the current Buckeye 20 features 10 players on offense and 10 players on defense.

The top 19 players in the Buckeye 20 to end October are the same 19 Buckeyes, in a different order, that led the rankings after non-conference play. The only newcomer to the rankings this month is nickelback Lorenzo Styles Jr., who edged out defensive tackle Tywone Malone Jr. and linebacker Payton Pierce for the final spot in the top 20.

Defensive end Beau Atkinson, who was ranked 20th after non-conference play, did not make the top 20 this time around. While Atkinson has continued to see regular playing time as Ohio State’s No. 3 defensive end, he’s settled in as a role player behind the starting defensive end tandem of Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson Jr., and has not recorded any sacks in Big Ten play.

For more analysis on each of Ohio State’s top 20 players through the first two months of the season, visit our Buckeye 20 player rankings page, which has been updated with fresh analysis on all 20 players.

Stay tuned with Eleven Warriors for Buckeye 20 updates throughout the season. Our next player rankings update will come in December, following the Big Ten Championship Game and before the start of the College Football Playoff.