The 2025 season provided us with some expected outcomes for Ohio State, but it also brought many surprises.
With the 2026 NFL draft officially putting a ribbon on the 2025 college football season, we’re rewinding and taking a look back at the most improbable things that happened a season ago for Ohio State as new stars emerged for the Buckeyes following their 2024 national championship run.
The Buckeyes Finishing the Regular Season Undefeated
After losing 14 players to the 2025 NFL draft, a school record and one short of the record set by Georgia in 2022, including a draft-high four first-round picks, Ohio State not only reloaded in 2025 but also finished the regular season undefeated.
Despite two disappointing losses in the postseason following that perfect regular season, the fact that OSU went 12-0 after having to replace so much talent is still quite a feat. While the schedule was much easier than many projected it to be before the season, beginning the year by taking care of business against Texas and ending the regular season by beating Michigan for the first time in four tries was a great start to the season and a perfect close to the regular season.
Julian Sayin's Record-Breaking Season
Two starts into his Ohio State career, Sayin completed his first 16 passes against Grambling State, a school record. Granted, it was an FCS opponent, but that should have given Buckeye fans a glimpse into what was to come in Sayin's first season leading OSU's offense.
Even after only completing a season-worst 62.9% of his passes in the final game of the season against Miami (Florida), the sophomore still completed 77% of his passes on the season, the best mark in school history by a wide margin, surpassing Will Howard’s 73% completion rate in 2024.
Julian Sayin has special accuracy pic.twitter.com/lCONDMUtHL
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) April 28, 2026
Sayin's passing efficiency in 2025 was not only the best in Buckeye history, but the third-best in college football dating back to 1956, only lower than Oregon's Bo Nix (77.4% in 2023) and Alabama's Mac Jones (77.4% in 2020).
His first year as a starter concluded by being one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy, as Sayin finished fourth in voting.
Bo Jackson's Breakout Season
Going into the 2025 season, James Peoples and C.J. Donaldson were expected to lead Ohio State's backfield. After not playing a single snap in the season opener against Texas, Jackson made quite a name for himself thereafter. The freshman had back-to-back 100-yard performances (nine carries, 108 yards and a touchdown vs. Grambling and nine carries, 109 yards vs. Ohio).
At that point, it was clear that Jackson not only needed more snaps, but more carries. From there forward, he had double-digit carries in every game, including four 100-yard games in Ohio State's final seven games of the season. Jackson finished the season with 179 carries for 1,090 yards – the fifth-most ever for an Ohio State freshman – and six touchdowns to go along with 19 catches for 200 yards and a score.
On the very next play, Bo Jackson ran for 36 yards a run that included an impressive stutter step and was tackled by Jyaire Hill.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) November 30, 2025
Jackson made sure to remind the Michigan cornerback who the better player is (and was). pic.twitter.com/qk8HXOombV
Isaiah West Becoming RB2
Speaking of OSU's revamped backfield as the season went on, West – a fellow freshman –also earned a bigger role than expected in year one.
Like Jackson, West didn't get any playing time against the Longhorns, but then racked up eight carries for 42 yards and a touchdown against Grambling. While the freshman only notched 12 carries for 49 yards and a score in OSU's first six games, he finished the season by totaling 47 carries for 261 yards and a touchdown in Ohio State's final seven games.
While he finished with only 59 carries, 310 yards (fourth-most on the team) and two touchdowns for the season, it was clear that West slowly became RB2 for the Buckeyes, a role he’s expected to reprise in 2026.
Carnell Tate Becoming the No. 4 Pick in the Draft
Tate was never WR1 at Ohio State, but was WR1 in the NFL draft. Not only that, but he was selected with the fourth overall pick, a feat that ties him with Marvin Harrison Jr. for the highest draft selection ever for an Ohio State wide receiver.
Tate finished the 2025 season with 51 catches for 875 yards and nine touchdowns before becoming the sixth Ohio State wideout to be selected in the first round over the last five years, including at least one OSU wide receiver picked in the first round in each of the last five drafts.
Austin Siereveld Emerging at Left Tackle
In 2024, Siereveld was a rotational guard for the Buckeyes. With the addition of Philip Daniels and Ethan Onianwa through the portal, Siereveld was originally expected to be the Buckeyes’ starting right guard last season.
But after Onianwa struggled in preseason camp, Siereveld took over as the Buckeyes’ starting left tackle and locked down that role throughout the entire season, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. Meanwhile, Daniels started at right tackle while Onianwa played only 96 total snaps throughout the season before becoming a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
Arvell Reese's Emergence
A backup in his first two seasons as a Buckeye, Reese emerged as a consensus All-American in 2025, pairing with Sonny Styles to form one of the best one-two punches at linebacker in Ohio State history.
Arvell Reese 2025 season
— Mr. Ohio (@MrOH1O) April 21, 2026
69 tackles
10 TFLs
6.5 sacks
Big Ten Linebacker of the Year
Consensus All-American pic.twitter.com/iHxeYmO0Zb
The 6-foot-4, 241-pounder had 69 tackles (10 for loss), 6.5 sacks and two pass breakups as a junior. With that, Reese and Styles became the first pair of linebacker teammates from the same school to be selected in the top 10 of the same draft, as Reese was selected No. 5 overall and Styles was the No. 7 pick.
Kayden McDonald's Emergence
After Tyleik Williams was selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, one of the biggest questions for Ohio State's defense heading into the 2025 season was at defensive tackle. Not only the depth at the position, but who would take over as the Buckeyes’ new starters.
Kayden McDonald answered those questions (and then some) in his third and final season in Columbus. After recording only 19 tackles (1.5 for loss) as a backup defensive tackle in 2024, the defensive tackle was a menace in the middle of OSU's defensive line, notching 65 tackles (9.0 for loss) and three sacks in 2025. After just one season as a starter, McDonald became a second-round pick in the recent NFL draft.
Kayden McDonald is a truly dominant run defender pic.twitter.com/SXv5eggZHD
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) April 17, 2026
Caden Curry Leading the Team in Sacks/TFL
Who would replace J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer at defensive end? That was one of the biggest questions, along with defensive tackle, for the Ohio State defense heading into 2025. While Kenyatta Jackson Jr. was one obvious answer, transfer Beau Atkinson was expected to be the other.
That said, Caden Curry took the job starting job early and never looked back, with five sacks in OSU's first four games and seven through the Buckeyes' first seven games. In all, Curry had 66 tackles (16.5 for loss) and 11 sacks last season before becoming a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
TKL: 11
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) September 29, 2025
SK: 3
TFL: 5
Still can't get over @OhioStateFB DE Caden Curry's electric Week 5 performance pic.twitter.com/zyswGxRUSJ
Ohio State's Defense Among the Best in the Country
Needing to replace eight NFL draft picks on defense is never easy, but Matt Patricia certainly made it look like it was in his first season at Ohio State. After the Buckeyes had the best defense in college football in 2024, allowing only 12.9 points per game, OSU somehow improved on that side of the ball in 2025.
This past season, Ohio State allowed just 9.3 points per game, one of the best Buckeye defenses ever and one of the best in the sport all-time. With that success, Ohio State became the first school in the common draft era to have three defensive players selected in the first 11 picks of a single NFL draft.
Max Klare and Will Kacmarek Among the First 87 Picks in the 2026 NFL Draft
Klare and Kacmarek, like many others, certainly took advantage of Ohio State's "NFL Factory"-style approach after transferring in from other programs.
While their respective numbers didn't blow anyone away during their time in Columbus, they are the first pair of tight ends from Ohio State to be selected in the same draft. Ohio State was the first school to have two tight ends selected in the same NFL draft since Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant were both first-round picks in 2019, as Klare was a second-round pick and Kacmarek was selected in the third round. In total, they were the fifth and eighth tight ends off the board.
Ohio State with a draft-high 11 2026 NFL Draft Picks
Reload – not rebuild. Again.
Ohio State not only led the way with the most draft picks in back-to-back years, but with those 25 picks across two years, the Buckeyes tied an NFL record (Georgia, 2022-23).
The Buckeyes followed up on having 14 selections in the 2025 NFL draft by having 11 this time around. Ryan Day and his staff proved, yet again, that they are great at both developing and evaluating talent.
