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Vo. 1, No. 42
Hello and welcome to another edition of Cus Words Sports!
This week in Ohio State football1, we’re looking at how the most recent change to NCAA eligibility rules could impact roster management for the Buckeyes, how many teams are on the upswing in the Big Ten and more.
This edition is a bit abbreviated because, hey, it’s vacation season! But I wanted to get something out nonetheless for new subscribers and the regulars.
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Could Ohio State maintain a farm team on its own roster?
I put forth this idea on The Bill and Doug Show in an episode that dropped Monday.
Make sure you check out the whole episode, but it goes a little something like this: I think if you’re Ryan Day and Mark Pantoni, you currently want to look at your roster in two segments.
One would be the players who are going to play this year. That would be like the top 45 guys — at least a pair at every position with some spares, too.
You are going to build that primarily with guys you have recruited and then supplement as necessary with the transfer portal.
Whether you need more talent, more experience or both at a certain position, this is how you identify when to fill it with a veteran vs. rely on a young, unproven player too much.
The goal is to have a two-deep that is as talented as Day’s teams are used to being without compromising much on experience, a challenge at Ohio State for a long time now.
What about the 60 percent of the roster?
That would basically be guys in development. Those could be freshmen four- and five-star recruits but also players who come in with less pedigree who you think have the potential to develop into something down the road.
The first group of course you always want to have, but nowadays you really can’t afford to break the bank for too many elite prospects only to have them sit the bench for a year or two then leave for more playing time or because lots of other programs are willing to pay a premium for guys Ohio State thinks can play at this level.
The latter, less-heralded group not only should produce its share of starters and even NFL-quality players but will cost less to acquire and keep on the roster than stocking up on as many top 100 prospects as possible every year.
That is one of the positives of the transfer portal making player movement easier. Recruiting misses aren’t forever, which can be unpleasant but also work out better for both sides if things just don’t work out.
Urban Meyer used to lament not being able to find room for developmental type guys like Alter High School graduate Chris Borland (of course he could always just take whoever he wanted, but that’s another story…), but now with various changes in roster rules there is more flexibility.
What do you think?
Who else is there to worry about in the Big Ten?
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, I have added another role to my freelance roster.
In addition to writing for Press Pros Magazine, the Associated Press, Men’s Journal and Buckeye Sports Bulletin, I’m part of a new site called BuckeyeInsiders.com.
That launched Monday with a new premium message board and lots of team and recruiting content ready to go.
Among the latter was Buckeye Insiders recruiting analyst Juck Miletti’s look at how many Big Ten teams are really trying to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
He concluded it is 15 with the exceptions being Rutgers, Maryland and Purdue, but perhaps more interesting is some of the teams that he notes are on the come-up from a recruiting standpoint this cycle.
Luke Fickell’s Wisconsin Badgers have seven four-star prospects, which is equal with Penn State and one behind USC (the Trojans also have a five-star), while UCLA has 12 four-stars under new head coach Bob Chesney, who just arrived from James Madison (where he had replaced Curt Cignetti).
Nebraska is also off to a strong start for the class of 2027 with nine four-stars and one five-star prospect. The Cornhuskers are 14th in the nation in 247Sports Composite rankings, but that is just good for fourth in the Big Ten.
Meanwhile, Michigan is 11th nationally (14 four-stars so far), Ohio State is ninth (three five-stars, 13 four-stars) and Oregon is third behind Notre Dame and Texas A&M with two five-stars and 16 four-stars.
With 18 members, Ohio State’s class has room to grow, and Michigan (20) would seem likely to add a few more, too.
Juck also identified the player he sees as the most interesting developmental prospect in Ohio State’s 2027 class right now and took a closer look at the current group of offensive and defensive linemen committed to the Buckeyes.
We have already discussed the O-line group is in line to be the best Ohio State has signed in the recruiting stars era, and the defensive group isn’t far behind.
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1 For you new subscribers, this would normally be in your inbox on Friday or Saturday (always Friday during the season).