With the news of Tate Martell’s transfer official, the Buckeyes are now at the NCAA-mandated limit of 85 scholarship players.
There are still about three weeks until the official National Signing Day for the 2019 recruiting class, but with most of their recruits already officially on-board, Ohio State seems to be in good shape.
It’s not totally clear how many more players the Buckeyes are planning to bring in for the 2019 class. Offensive lineman Doug Nester is still verbally committed to OSU, and offensive lineman Dawand Jones is expected to visit this weekend and could commit then.
Four-star OL Enokk Vimahi is scheduled to make an official visit on January 25. He could be another addition along the line in the 2019 class.
Even if the Buckeyes added all three of those linemen and one more player (say… a fourth scholarship quarterback?), they would still be only four spots over.
While it’s not fair to speculate on which players might be candidates to transfer out, it’s normal to have a handful of guys decide to leave after spring ball.
“The Spring Awakening” leads to attrition at virtually every school in the nation, and having four or more guys leave wouldn’t be at all surprising.
The Buckeyes won’t have to get down to the official in-season number of 85 until the opening of fall camp in August.
Players with an asterisk * have already used their redshirt year.
Freshmen with a # next to their name are early enrollees.
| Freshmen | Sophomores | Juniors | Seniors | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Jack Miller C.J. Stroud | Justin Fields | Gunnar Hoak * | 4 | |
| RB | Steele Chambers * Miyan Williams | Marcus Crowley Master Teague * | Demario McCall * Trey Sermon | 6 | |
| WR | Mookie Cooper Julian Fleming Gee Scott Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Kamryn Babb * Garrett Wilson Jameson Williams | Elijah Gardiner * Jaylen Harris * Chris Olave | C.J. Saunders * | 11 |
| TE | Joe Royer Cade Stover * | Jeremy Ruckert | Luke Farrell * Jake Hausmann * | 5 | |
| OL | Josh Fryar Ryan Jacoby * Jakob James Paris Johnson Trey Leroux Grant Toutant Enokk Vimahi * Luke Wypler | Dawand Jones Matthew Jones * Harry Miller Nick Petit-Frere * Max Wray * | Wyatt Davis * Josh Myers * | Gavin Cupp * Thayer Munford | 17 |
| DE | Ty Hamilton Noah Potter * | Zach Harrison J. Jean-Baptiste * | Tyler Friday Tyreke Smith | Jonathon Cooper * | 8 |
| DT | Jacolbe Cowan Cormontae Hamilton * Darrion Henry Jaden McKenzie * | Taron Vincent * | Jerron Cage * Tommy Togiai | Haskell Garrett Antwuan Jackson * | 8 |
| LB | Cody Simon Tommy Eichenberg * Mitchell Melton | Craig Young | Dallas Gant Teradja Mitchell K'Vaughan Pope | Justin Hilliard * Tuf Borland * Baron Browning Pete Werner | 11 |
| CB | Lejond Cavazos Cameron Martinez Ryan Watts | Tyreke Johnson * | Sevyn Banks Cameron Brown Shaun Wade * | Marcus Williamson | 8 |
| SAF | Ronnie Hickman * Lathan Ransom Bryson Shaw * Kourt Williams | Marcus Hooker * | Josh Proctor | 6 | |
| K | Blake Haubeil | 1 | |||
| P | Drue Chrisman | 1 | |||
| Total | 34 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 86 |
A buddy of mine says they are going to take 5 players max on signing day, but, might settle on 4 and enter fall camp 1 under and bank it for the 2020 class. He gave me 3 almost certain transfers, 1 medical, and one who is riding the fence, but, looks to be on his way out. He also said that number might balloon to 7.
Instead of Harris I think it would be Gardiner. Cup would like transfer to Cincy to okay for Fick. I hope Snead stays, but it doesn’t look promising.
1 safety (Wint), 1 wideout (Harris), 1 OL (cupp), 1 rb (snead) most likely will transfer, maybe a corner (Brown). What’s unfair about speculating?