This Week in Ohio State Football: Transfer portal chaos!

Vo. 1, No. 19

I like to have this version of the newsletter sent early Friday morning or at least by lunch time (let me know if you have a preference), but I kept waiting for news to stop coming out over the last 24 hours or so before sitting down to really dig in.

I guess that is not going to happen, so let’s just have at it…

Here is the long and the short of it if you have a life and have not been following closely for the last week as the college football offseason has descended into chaos:

I tend to think the Buckeyes will be OK in the long run, but it’s too early to say for sure.

What all this means for the future is also very much uncertain…

I support players being able to profit from their name, image and likeness, and the portal itself is a good thing compared to how things were before it was created. (The real problems were created by every other rule stripped to allow annual free agency.)

That said, this has been a good week to wonder how college sports possibly survive into another generation of fandom.

Roster instability has been terrible for college basketball for the last 20 years or so, and now it seems like the same phenomenon is hitting college football at a much larger scale.

I’m not saying fans are going to quit the sport overnight, but I do think it gives a lot of long-time fans reason to lose interest without presenting a reason for new fans to join the party.

At Ohio State, the impact is somewhat unique because Ryan Day’s roster has lots of talented players lots of other schools want who are blocked from playing time by other good players.

There’s also the fact that with more than 100 schools out there willing to pay to improve their roster, the market is just huge and can offer something to players of all types.

Losing highly rated recruits who proved not to be able to play is one thing — there are positives to both sides when a relationship is easy to sever like that — but when guys who still could have a bright future move on just to see if the grass is greener elsewhere or just in case they won’t be a starter this fall, that is an issue.

Ohio State’s philosophy has been to continue building through recruiting mostly while targeting needs (or elite players like Caleb Downs and Julian Sayin) for portal additions.

I think that’s the right way to go about it, but this year is providing a test in more ways than one.

It only works if you are able to get the guys you target, but there is also something to be said about losing more than you retain as far as youngsters like CB Aaron Scott Jr. and WR Quincy Porter before they blossom. Five-star prospects cost a lot to get out of high school, something to retain and then they can just be gone with no return on investment. (And there is no guarantee they end up in a better spot for themselves when the music stops, either.)

The cost of maintaining the roster isn’t just paying juniors to put off the draft or even making sure starting sophomores and freshmen don’t have too much of a wandering eye.

At least with those guys you can probably come up with some kind of value to assign, but  how do you figure out the value of highly recruited underclassmen who are still completely unproven?

That seems to be the biggest issue right now since few rosters have as many desirable prospects who haven’t played yet as Ohio State, a number probably driven up a little by the way the last two years played out. A few first-year starters on the 2025 team normally would have been playing earlier if not for how many players stayed for the title run in 2024, so some of these youngsters transferring out have been waiting longer than usual, too.

Maybe this didn’t catch Day completely off guard.

He’s talked about signing different types of prospects now, something they didn’t used to do.

Instead of trying to max out every slot in a recruiting class with high-ceiling potential stars, they are looking at bringing in some guys who equate to third, fourth or maybe even seventh-round draft picks in NFL Draft parlance.

This lowers the absolute athletic potential of the roster, but of course potential isn’t worth much if it isn’t realized or leaves before seeing the field.

Stacking talent at every position group is no longer going to be possible for Ohio State or anyone else, something thought to be impacting the decline of the top teams in the SEC since the inception of name, image and likeness payments.

You can’t pay everyone, so who do you pay? How many do you pay? How many can you afford?

Those are questions Ohio State will have to answer.

On the bright side, some of those “late-round picks” are going to over perform and become good players — perhaps even ACTUAL first round draft picks — but they are more likely to need time.

As far as editions so far, I am a fan of Christian Alliegro, the linebacker they are bringing in from Wisconsin, and UT-San Antonio receiver Devin McCune is a productive guy who could replace Carnell Tate.

So far no surprises. Tate, Caleb Downs, Arvell Reese and Kayden McDonald are going pro early.

Brandon Inniss is not.

No announcements yet from Jermaine Mathews Jr., Kenyatta Jackson, Max Klare or some offensive linemen who definitely should return but technically could go pro.

The exit of Scott and fellow CB Bryce West might indicate Mathews returns for his senior season, which could afford him a chance to play his way into a first-round draft pick.

Jackson seems like more of a wild card because he raised his floor as a DE prospect this season, but is there more he can show as a play-maker?

Ohio State reportedly has been active in hosting potential DL transfers, but they have also lost a bunch of younger guys to the portal from that room.

Check back Monday, I guess….

We have been having a debate on the BuckeyeSports.com message board about whether or not Miami played above its head to beat Ohio State.

I tend to think they played about average while the Buckeyes did not, but last night reminded me they played nearly mistake-free in the Cotton Bowl after being their own worst enemy at times in the regular season.

Carson Beck, the quarterback who transferred from Georgia for his last season, threw crippling interceptions in both Miami losses but has protected the ball well in the playoffs.

He kept multiple drives alive with his feet before scoring the game-winning touchdown on a scramble in the final minute, so you have to tip your cap to him.

It allowed the Hurricanes to overcome committing a bunch of penalties and dropping multiple interceptions to beat Mississippi 31-27.

I have started to look at this Miami team as 2024 Ohio State Lite. They lost a couple of games they probably shouldn’t have — both were decided pretty much by Beck interceptions — but seem to have found themselves later in the season.

And that includes remembering they have a bunch of future NFL players who can do big things between the lines, not to mention a veteran transfer quarterback and talented freshman receiver (Malaki Toney).

(The Hurricanes also seem to have established the type of ball-control offense this Ohio State team spent the season trying to be, but Miami actually has the offensive line and running backs to pull it off.)

Where do you stand? Let me know in the comments, or send me an email!

I’d also love your feedback about the transfer portal, and questions are always welcome!

Thanks, as always, for reading!

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