Chris Olave is going to have a new look for the 2020 Ohio State football season.
The junior wide receiver announced on Twitter that he would be sporting a new jersey number this fall.
Olave wore No. 17 as a sophomore, but will be switching to No. 2 for his third year as a Buckeye.
That number was worn by JK Dobbins on offense last fall, and was available after the running back declared for the NFL Draft.
It was Olave’s jersey number in high school, but was already taken when he arrived in Columbus.
He waited his turn, and now will get to wear it again.
Wearing #2 next year ??♂️
— Chris Olave (@chrisolave_) February 18, 2020
Olave’s announcement is just the first of what is expected to be a number of new… well… numbers on the team this year.
Single-digit jerseys are generally considered desirable by players, and often reserved for upperclassmen or other players who have earned them. For example, Jeff Okudah started his career in No. 29 before switching to No. 1.
Many of those are now available again, after players like Okudah, Dobbins, Chase Young, Damon Arnette, Chris Chugunov, Jordan Fuller, and Binjimen Victor exhausted their eligibility or left for the NFL.
Linebacker Teradja Mitchell, who wore No. 7 last year also announced that he would have a new digit or two this year.
RIP to the 7 era ??? … switched it up on em !
— Teradja Mitchell (@teradja_) February 18, 2020
3 da hard way ‼️
— Teradja Mitchell (@teradja_) February 18, 2020
The change opens up one of the more logical jersey number pairings imaginable. CB Sevyn Banks has been badly miscast in a No. 12 jersey for the last two seasons. A long-overdue switch to 7 is finally be in the works.
I’m #7 YALL READY ??
— Sev? (@SevynBanks) February 18, 2020
Additional changes will undoubtedly leak out before the start of spring practice in a couple weeks.
Right now, here’s a list of the single-digit jerseys, along with the Buckeyes who are listed on the 2020 roster as wearing them.
Olave and Mitchell’s numbers have already been switched to reflect their announcements.
1: Justin Fields (offense)
2: Chris Olave (offense)
3: Teradja Mitchell (defense)
4: none
5: Garrett Wilson (offense), Baron Browning (defense)
6: Jameson Williams (offense), Taron Vincent (defense)
7: Kamryn Babb (offense), Sevyn Banks (defense)
8: Xavier Johnson (offense), Javontae Jean-Baptiste (defense)
9: none
There are knowledgeable Buckeye fans that realize we are in a slow time for substantial, captivating active player and coach news. No team gets a 5* commitment, or has their backup QB enter the portal, or hires a Kerry Coombs, or looses a coordinator every day. During slow times, good journalists factually report the news at hand. Knowledgeable fans know and accept this. It’s too bad Drama Queen or King “fans” find fault with and get sarcastic with journalists when they don’t satisfy his or her drama fix. Keep up the good work Tom and Tony! Go Bucks!
What a waste of reading space; let’s get back to Buckeyes who are actually on the team.
“Longtime Fan” : I suggest you get a subscription to the National Enquirer. Seriously, Exactly why do we need a forum on these two kids?
It’s not a dodge. We’re just not going to be sitting in the courtroom covering the trial. That’s not what we do. There are other outlets that do. I’m sure the local TV stations will have a reporter there, but it will be a news reporter, not their sports guy.
You still haven’t said what about the case you’d like us to be writing about. There is literally *NOTHING* going on with the case right now. We wrote about it multiple times when it was news. There is nothing to write about it right now.
We turned comments off on those articles because comment sections on that type of article generally turn into cesspools of stupidity that we were not interesting in having to constantly monitor. We also offer forums for discussion of any current OSU-related news you’d like to bring to the table.
What are the facets? They were charged with rape and kidnapping. They are innocent until proven guilty. They are no longer part of the team. Pretty cut and dried to me. Do you want us to write that sexual assault is bad? I would hope that’s not necessary. Do you want us to write that the players are innocent until proven guilty? Do you really need a Civics refresher? Should we write how the alleged actions of two people reflect on Ohio State? Or can we agree — as you said, we are big boys and girls — and realize that the alleged actions of two people only really speak to those two people?
Longtime Fan, just out of curiosity, what team are you a longtime fan of? Yes, these two player have been charged with serious allegations but as Tom mentioned, there is no more official information forthcoming until the trial. I personally find it a relief that in this matter the media has reported the known facts to date — as is the normal situation for other universities — and not elevated the incident into an OSU media circus, as was done in the past. As a rule, OSU looks for and recruits good kids. One or two may occasionally slip through the cracks, like happens everywhere, but they shouldn’t become sports headlines. Go Bucks!
We covered the story about Riep/Wint when it happened. We covered the story when they were kicked off the team a day later. What, exactly would you like us to continue reporting about it? I just did a Google News search. Outside of aggregators recapping earlier coverage, no one has written anything new about that story in 5 days because there’s nothing new to report.
Are you looking for gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial? For one thing, that’s not what we do. Also, the trial hasn’t happened yet.
Are you looking for some navel-gazing thinkpiece about what the case means within the broader society?
Yes, it was a big story. But from the perspective of Ohio State athletics, it is basically no longer a story in the same way that a former assistant coach getting thrown in jail, whatever Art Schlichter is up to these days, and any similar news isn’t a story from the OSU perspective any longer.