Ohio State hasn’t added any new transfers since the end of spring practice, but it’s already accomplished its most important goal for the final transfer window of the offseason.
The transfer portal closed for the final time before the 2024 season when midnight struck Wednesday, and the 15-day post-spring window to enter the portal came and went with Ohio State losing only six backups: Running back Dallan Hayden, wide receiver Kyion Grayes, guard Enokk Vimahi, linebacker Nigel Glover and safeties Ja’Had Carter and Cedrick Hawkins.
None of their departures were shocking or devastating. Ohio State would have liked to keep Hayden to be its third-string running back this season and a potential starter in 2025, but the Buckeyes still have a loaded running back depth chart led by two of the nation’s best ballcarriers in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Losing two safeties leaves the Buckeyes a bit thin with only six scholarship players at the position, but neither Carter nor Hawkins was expected to see substantial playing time this year with Carter entering his final season of collegiate eligibility.
Vimahi started the Cotton Bowl at right guard, but his poor performance against Missouri made it clear he wouldn’t be a viable starting option for the Buckeyes this year. Glover and Grayes didn’t play any snaps in 2023 and remained low on the depth chart at their respective positions.
Every player who was expected to play a significant role for the Buckeyes this season coming out of spring practices is still on the roster with the transfer portal now closed for the year, and that’s a huge win for Ohio State.
Few would have predicted that outcome going into the post-spring transfer window. Amid rumblings that this year’s spring transfer window would be more chaotic than past years, the expectation was that the Buckeyes would lose at least a couple of players of note. It was seen as a foregone conclusion, even among sources close to the program, that Ohio State would lose at least one of its five scholarship quarterbacks.
Instead, Ohio State kept nearly its entire roster intact – a credit to Ohio State’s efforts to build a culture that players want to remain a part of.
“I feel like we have a team that has come together for a common purpose,” Ryan Day said during the final week of spring practice before the portal reopened. “We talk about why do you play so hard here at Ohio State, it's because of the brotherhood, the love of your teammates. I think we have a good group that way. I think guys want to be here, they want to be at Ohio State, they understand what it means to be a Buckeye, they see the opportunity this season. So I don't see a bunch of guys that are just looking to run out the door.”
Aside from the first transfer window of this offseason, in which the Buckeyes had 19 scholarship players go portaling, Ohio State’s roster retention rates have compared favorably to other marquee programs in the transfer portal era. The December mass exodus was largely necessary, as Ohio State would have been well above the 85-man scholarship limit otherwise; even in that cycle, most of the departures were players who hadn’t played much for the Buckeyes and weren’t expected to play much more in 2024, with a few notable exceptions like Kyle McCord, Julian Fleming and Jesse Mirco.
Thanks to the impressive post-spring retention, Ohio State will have one of the deepest rosters in college football in 2024. The Buckeyes’ quarterback depth will be the envy of the sport, and they’re loaded with high-level talent at most other positions, too, especially along the defensive line and at cornerback. That depth will be more important than ever as Ohio State faces the prospect of playing 16 or 17 games if it can make a run to the national championship game, which was part of Day’s pitch to his players who might have been considering transfers at the end of spring.
“We know we're gonna have to play with a lot of depth next year,” Day said. “So you might be you might be a two right now or you might be a three, but you could be in the College Football Playoffs fighting for a championship and be the guy that we're counting on. So I just think this is a different and unique time that we're stepping into. So when guys are looking at the depth chart, I don't think it's as important as it always has been in the past. There's gonna be a lot of football played next year, and we're gonna roll guys and play depth, especially in the first half of the season, because we're going to need them in the second half of the season.”
“I think guys want to be here, they want to be at Ohio State, they understand what it means to be a Buckeye, they see the opportunity this season.”– Ryan Day on players staying at Ohio State
Ohio State’s work in the transfer portal isn’t done, as players who have already entered the portal can still transfer to new schools even though the portal is now closed. Ideally, the Buckeyes would add another starting-caliber offensive lineman, as right guard remains a major question mark coming out of spring. Adding another safety for depth purposes would be beneficial, as could adding a veteran running back to replace Hayden.
The Buckeyes have five scholarships available to pursue any players they believe can make their roster better. But thanks to the roster retention over the past couple of weeks, Ohio State doesn’t necessarily need to add any more transfers to have a championship-caliber roster this year, which means the Buckeyes have already accomplished their most important post-spring objective from a roster management standpoint.
The lack of post-spring transfer portal activity hasn’t been exclusive to Ohio State. Despite hype that preceded the portal’s reopening, the secondary transfer cycle has been almost entirely devoid of moves involving big-name players. While the winter transfer window is likely to remain de facto free agency for the foreseeable future, fears of another wave of major roster shakeups for the sport’s top teams proved to be unfounded for at least this year.
Because most of college football’s top talent chose to stay put during the April transfer window, Ohio State isn’t likely to make any additions that will be nearly as splashy as the additions of Caleb Downs, Quinshon Judkins, Will Howard and Julian Sayin in January. Some additional talent could trickle into the transfer portal over the next few days, as graduate transfers have until the end of the day Wednesday to enter and schools have 48 hours to process portal entries, but no clear targets have emerged for the Buckeyes yet.
A lack of overall transfer activity, though, is a net positive for the Buckeyes coming out of spring. Ohio State might have the best roster in college football this season, but it had to survive the final transfer window before we could say that for sure.
