Comings and goings; transfer portal active for football Buckeyes.

April 24, 2022by John Porentas

Two recent changes in the college football landscape are altering the game in profound ways. NIL is making a huge impact as is the loosened restrictions on player transfers.

NIL is a whole complex discussion, one that we may tackle at a later date. For now, we’d like to take a look at how the transfer portal is working for the OSU football program. To do so, we’re going to take a look at the players have left OSU via the portal since the last season began. Then we’ll look at the players who have come to OSU via the portal since the last season ended. First, the players that have left:

Date declared for portal	Player	Position	Star value *	Transfer Destination
9/21/21	Ryan Jacoby	OT	3	Pitt
9/22/21	Dallas Gant	LB	3	?
9/27/21	K'Vaughn Pope	LB	3	?
11/28/21	Amir Riep	S	4 *	?
11/28/21	Jack Miller	QB	3	Florida
12/3/21	Quinn Ewers	QB	5 *	Texas
12/4/21	Craig Young	S	3	Kansas
J12/5/21	Jagger Laroe	QB		?
12/10/21	Ryan Watts	CB	3	Texas
12/20/21	Darrion Henry-Young	DL	3	Kentucky
1/03/22	J.P. Andrade	QB	3	?
2/03/22	Sevyn Banks	CB	3	LSU
2/21/22	Coromontae Hamilton	DL	3	#Memphis
2/24/22	Jashon Wint	S	3	?
4/04/22	Lejond Cavazos	CB	3	#North Carolina
4/04/22	Bryson Shaw	S	3	USC
4/18/22	Jacolbe Cowan	DL	4 *	?
4/23/22	Noah Potter	DL	3	?
#4/25/22	Andre Turratine	CB	4*	?

* Star Value is the rating of the player as a transfer, not a high school recruit. Exceptions are signified with an *.

A look at this list results in some interesting observations.

Of the 18 players who have elected to transfer out of OSU 12 played on the defensive side of the ball.

On offense, four of the six players who transferred were quarterbacks. The other two were offensive linemen.

Of the 12 defensive players to transfer six were defensive backs, four defensive linemen and two linebackers

Of all the players who whose star value was listed as a transfer (not a high school player), only one was rated above three star, quarterback Quinn Ewers, who was rated a five-star.

Of the 18 players entering the portal to transfer nine have found a new school to attend, the other nine are still looking for a new home.

What the numbers say is that there are a lot more people on the defensive side of the ball who saw the writing on the wall with respect to their career prospects at OSU and have opted to move on. Some of that may certainly be attributed to a new coaching staff and change of overall defensive philosophy. Some may be indicative of whiffs in evaluation on the defensive side of the ball. Also possible is that OSU has recruited well on the defensive side of the ball in the last two seasons and therefore there is a lot of rising talent competing for spots in the lineup and prompting older players on the roster to move on. The why of it is guesswork, but there is no denying that there has been a lot of portal turnover on the defensive side of the ball for whatever reason. On offense, most of the attrition is at one position, quarterback, as OSU and for that matter most college teams struggle to maintain depth at a position that has seen the most amount of transfer activity not just at OSU, but throughout college football.

Next lets look at the players that have come to OSU via the portal during the same time period.

Date committed to OSU	Player	Position	Star Value	Previous School
12/21/21	Tanner McCallister	S	4	Oklahoma State
11/28/21	DeaMonte Trayanum	LB	3	Arizona

Quite a difference.

At OSU the portal is a way out much more than it is a way in. That can be attributed to OSU’s high level of recruiting of high school players. For the most part, the Buckeyes just don’t need to supplement the roster with the portal. Instead, it is more a mechanism to distill the talent. Interestingly, the only transfers in right now are on the defensive side of the ball, a fact that coincides with the high percentage of transfers out on that side of the ball. The two facts together point to a need for an upgrade in talent on that side of the ball.

There is also the need to meet scholarship limitation numbers. The departure of Noah Potter this week brings OSU’s scholarship total to 86, one over the NCAA limit.

# Editor’s Note: cornerback Andre Turratine entered the portal the day after this article was written. He has been added to the table of portal players leaving OSU, but he was not accounted for in the text describing portal statistics.

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