Skull Session: Ohio State and Earl Little Jr. Are (Almost) a Perfect Match, Buckeyes Will Kacmarek and Davison Igbinosun Are Among 130+ Players Participating in the Senior Bowl

By Chase Brown on January 15, 2026 at 5:00 am
Earl Little Jr.
Melina Myers-Imagn Images
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Connor Hawkins is about to turn Columbus upside down...

Get it?

Hawkins?

Upside down?

Eh?

Have a good Thursday.

 FIT CHECK. Ohio State and Earl Little Jr. are a perfect match.

Well, almost.

This week, ESPN’s Tom Luginbill ranked “the best fits in the college football transfer portal.” The list had former USF quarterback Byrum Brown and Auburn at No. 1, former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby and Texas Tech at No. 2, and, down at No. 8, Little and the Buckeyes.

Caleb Downs thrived in Matt Patricia's defensive scheme and now ranks as one of the top overall 2026 NFL draft prospects. Little, who played a similar rover role at Florida State, arrives with a lot of the same physical attributes. He's a versatile, physical safety who thrives as an enforcer in the box and led Florida State with 76 tackles. He also has enough range and coverage skills to make plays on the ball, picking off a team-high four passes this season. Patricia's disruptive and complex scheme can be demanding, but Little's experience and skill set will help fill the void of Downs' departure.

I’ve seen some people call Little a Caleb Downs replacement. 

To me, he’s a replacement for Caleb Downs. 

There’s a difference! 

(I think.)

There’s really no replacing what Downs accomplished for Ohio State’s defense, both with his football IQ and his physical traits. Still, Little is a very good player who will make a lot of plays for the Buckeyes. It’s good to see that the national narrative is that he’s a good fit. That’s a great place to be on Day 1!

 ON HIS OWN TERMS. LeCharles Bentley once reached a point where he couldn’t even stand to watch football.

In a deeply personal piece for cleveland.com, Stefan Krajisnik details how the former Ohio State All-American center described the abrupt end of his career as a “bad breakup” with the sport that had defined his life. After a torn patellar tendon, a staph infection contracted during rehab and a near-death experience that included thoughts of leg amputation, Bentley walked away from football entirely.

“There was a point where I couldn’t even watch football,” Bentley told Krajisnik. “I didn’t want to watch it. I didn’t want to be around the game.”

But as Bentley put it, “when you have a bad breakup, you have to get back on your horse.”

That return didn’t come through coaching — something Bentley intentionally avoided — but through reinvention. Krajisnik reports that Bentley leaned into training the next generation of offensive linemen, as well as entrepreneurship. He’s founded multiple companies, invented lineman-specific training equipment and earned as many as five patents along the way.

“When you’re really going through a process of mastering a trade or a craft, you get to a point where you start looking around for different answers,” Bentley said. “Either you can find those answers or you start to create them yourself.”

That path has led Bentley back to impacting Ohio State football in the modern era, including helping Mentor offensive tackle Landry Brede, a 2026 Buckeye signee, become the first high school offensive lineman in Ohio to sign an NIL deal, partnering with Bentley’s LB Design. As Bentley explained to Krajisnik, the deal was about more than money — it was about brand alignment and maturity in a rapidly changing landscape.

“I don’t want to see, for an offensive lineman, Bob’s Burger Shack deals,” Bentley said. “You come in and you’re 30 pounds overweight, there’s a problem there … That’s not going to help us win football games. That’s not the representation of, ultimately, what your goals should be if you’re playing at this level of football.”

The relationship with Brede represents a full-circle moment for Bentley, who connected with the young lineman through bonds formed during the lowest point of his life. As Krajisnik writes, Bentley sees his work now as the second chapter of his story — one that allows him to serve the sport, and Ohio State, on his own terms.

“The person I was then and to where I’m at right now,” Bentley said, “to see it come full circle and now be able to serve back into someone like Landry, yeah, this has been the story of the second chapter so far of my life.”

 REESE’S… I MEAN PANINI SENIOR BOWL. Will Kacmarek and Davison Igbinosun are among the 130+ players who accepted invitations to participate in the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl. The Ohio State tight end and cornerback will travel to Mobile, Alabama, at the end of the month for practices (Jan. 27-29) and the Senior Bowl Game on Jan. 31.

Kacmarek, whom Keenan Bailey once called “the best blocking tight end in the country,” proved to be an underrated addition to the Buckeyes’ 2024 transfer class, which also featured Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, Seth McLaughlin, Caleb Downs and Julian Sayin. The former Ohio Bobcat caught 23 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns during his Ohio State career while earning PFF run-blocking grades of 71.6 in 2024 and 73.6 in 2025.

Igbinosun arrived in Columbus from Ole Miss in 2023 and immediately changed the tone of Ohio State’s cornerback room, bringing a competitiveness and edge that helped reestablish the Buckeyes’ BIA identity. Over three seasons at Ohio State, Igbinosun totaled 157 tackles, four tackles for loss, 22 pass breakups, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries.

Kacmarek and Igbinosun are tremendous players and people. I hope NFL teams take notice of that in Alabama and throughout the draft process. I look forward to seeing where both of them land in April.

 IT’S IN THE GAME. Jeremiah Smith is no longer the highest-rated player in EA Sports College Football 26. He now shares that honor with Miami defensive end Rueben Bain Jr.

In the game’s latest update, Bain joined Smith atop the ratings after receiving boosts to his acceleration, agility, injury, stamina, change of direction, tackle, finesse moves, pursuit and play recognition. Several of Bain’s Miami teammates also saw their overall ratings climb, including offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa (95 OVR, +1) and quarterback Carson Beck (92 OVR, +1).

I’d venture to guess most Skull Session readers don’t play — or care about — College Football 26, but the changes are still interesting. Clearly, Electronic Arts respects the video-game-like run the Hurricanes are on in the College Football Playoff, and the developers view players like Bain, Mauigoa and Beck as the engines driving it.

Those three were certainly at their best in the Cotton Bowl: Bain recorded 1.5 tackles for loss, Mauigoa allowed just one pressure on 33 pass-blocking snaps and Beck accounted for 161 total yards and a touchdown.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Upside Down" - Diana Ross.

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