If Ohio State’s going to contend for a national championship again in 2021, it’s going to need some new stars to emerge.
The Buckeyes already have a handful of established stars on offense in wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, tight end Jeremy Ruckert and offensive tackles Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere. Defensively, they return an All-American defensive tackle in Haskell Garrett but don’t have anyone else who can be considered a star at this point.
New stars could emerge from a variety of areas on the roster. There are plenty of talented young Buckeyes in their first or second year who will be looking to prove this spring that they can make an impact this season. There’s also veterans who haven’t yet played a lot in their Ohio State careers who will be looking to make a move up the depth chart this spring, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a star came out of nowhere for the Buckeyes.
The players who Ohio State should be able to count on most, though, are its returning starters and others who have already been regular contributors for the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes have plenty of those on both sides of the ball, but many of them haven't quite become the players they have the potential to be yet.
Each of the following Buckeyes have seen regular playing time since at least last season, but they haven’t yet become consistently great performers. All of them could play major roles for the Buckeyes once again this fall, but they also all have something to prove this spring, and what strides they can make this offseason could determine whether they’re players Ohio State can rely on come September or if they get pushed for their starting jobs.
RB Master Teague
Teague started Ohio State’s first six games at running back last season and has been one of the Buckeyes’ top two rushers for the past two years, so he should enter spring at the top of Ohio State’s running back depth chart. Whether he should actually stay there, though, is a fair question.
With 514 yards and eight touchdowns on 104 carries last season, Teague was solid but not great in 2020. Though he has hit the occasional home run play and usually gains positive yardage on his carries, he hasn’t yet shown he can take over a game like Trey Sermon did late last season or J.K. Dobbins before him.
Although Teague has an elite combination of size and speed along with power and physicality, his vision as a runner has left something to be desired while he hasn’t made many defenders miss. That said, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Teague tore his Achilles during Ohio State’s first practice of last spring; a full, healthy offseason this year could enable him to become a more complete running back.
If that doesn’t happen, the door could open for one of Ohio State’s other running backs like TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams and Marcus Crowley to seize the starting job away. But it will be Teague’s job to lose initially, and the Buckeyes would certainly love to be able to lean on their most experienced running back – who has been a reliable ballcarrier with only one career fumble – if he can make the jump to be a true feature back.
Master Teague has been a steady contributor in Ohio State's running back rotation for the past two years, but can he become a star?
WR Jameson Williams
OK, the Buckeyes don’t really need Williams to become a star given that they have Olave and Wilson and a smorgasbord of talented young receivers pushing for playing time behind him. But it certainly would be a nice bonus.
There were plenty of people hyping Williams as a potential breakout star going into last season (guilty as charged), but that didn’t quite materialize as hoped. In Ohio State’s eight games, Williams caught just nine passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
Williams is one of the fastest players – quite possibly the fastest – on Ohio State’s roster, and he has flashed the ability to turn that speed into big plays. Most notably, Williams had a 45-yard deep-ball touchdown catch in Ohio State’s College Football Playoff semifinal win over Clemson. But that was one of only two plays Williams made last season that went for more than 20 yards.
If Williams can start making big plays on a more regular basis, he could add another dimension to Ohio State’s offense. He’s going to need a strong spring and summer, though, just to prove he should stay in the starting lineup ahead of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming, who should get a chance to compete for that spot.
C/G Harry Miller
Expectations were high for Miller, a five-star recruit who drew immediate praise for his performance in practice as a true freshman, going into his first season as a starter on Ohio State’s offensive line last year. There ended up being more growing pains than expected.
Miller’s inexperience showed as Ohio State’s starting left guard as he had his share of holding penalties and missed assignments throughout the season. He ended up being benched in favor of Matthew Jones for the national championship game – though he later entered the game at right guard after Wyatt Davis went down with an injury – after missing the Sugar Bowl due to COVID-19.
Despite last year’s struggles, Miller is the presumptive frontrunner to start at center this year following the departure of Josh Myers. He started at center against Michigan State last year when Myers was unavailable, though he had his ups and downs in that game too, particularly with snapping the ball.
Last year was a tough year to be a first-year offensive lineman, given that the Buckeyes had a limited offseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so there’s still reason to believe Miller – whether at center or guard – can make major strides and become the dominant player he’s supposed to be in 2021. Given that he’s now the most experienced interior offensive lineman on the roster, they’ll be counting on him to do so.
DE Zach Harrison
Like Miller, Harrison was a five-star recruit in the class of 2019 who’s been expected to be a future star since the day he stepped foot on Ohio State’s campus. Also like Miller, he’s still chasing those expectations even though he saw regular playing time as a sophomore in 2020.
Harrison hasn’t been bad in his first two seasons as a Buckeye, and there have been glimpses of his physical gifts that made him the No. 12 overall prospect in his class. He had 14 total tackles in seven games last season with 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and two pass breakups, highlighted by his simultaneous tackle of Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford and running back Devyn Ford in Happy Valley.
Zach Harrison got to the RB before the handoff did!
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 1, 2020
So the @OhioStateFB DE tackled the QB too: pic.twitter.com/VdchYo7Ocp
When you’re a five-star defensive end playing for Larry Johnson, however, the expectation is to become a consistently disruptive and dominant player like Chase Young and Joey and Nick Bosa. And that hasn’t happened yet for Harrison.
Now that he’s entering his third season at Ohio State, this will be the year that he’ll really be expected to raise his game to that level. And it would certainly be a huge boost if he did for the Buckeyes, whose pass-rush lacked star power last season.
DE Tyreke Smith
Truly, there could be four defensive ends on this list – the Buckeyes will be looking for more out of Tyler Friday and Javontae Jean-Baptiste this year, too – but along with Harrison, the other defensive end who Ohio State fans have been waiting to see become a game-changer is Smith.
A near-five-star recruit who is now entering his fourth year with the Buckeyes, Smith was a starter for most of last season yet recorded just eight total tackles and one sack. Stats don’t tell the whole story for defensive linemen, and it’s true that Smith brought a good amount of pressure while also setting a solid edge against the run, but he still hasn’t made many game-changing plays through three years at Ohio State.
That’s what needs to change in 2021 if Smith is going to live up to his potential to be a future early-round NFL draft pick and if Ohio State’s pass-rush is going to re-emerge as an elite unit this year.
As aforementioned, the expectations are high when you’re a highly touted defensive end recruit at Ohio State, and Smith has the tools to be a star player. But the Buckeyes are still waiting for his abilities to translate to consistent production.
CB Sevyn Banks
The rest of this article will be all about the secondary, where Ohio State will need everyone on the field to play better than last year after allowing 304 passing yards per game in 2020. And Banks is right at the top of the list of defensive backs the Buckeyes need to become stars in 2021.
Banks had some good moments in his first year as a starter last season – most notably, a fumble return touchdown in the season opener against Nebraska and a game-sealing interception against Clemson – but like the rest of the secondary, he was inconsistent, also giving up his share of big plays in coverage.
The Buckeyes need him to become a more consistent shutdown cornerback this year, as he’s now in line to be their No. 1 cornerback following Shaun Wade’s departure to the NFL. Behind him, Ohio State doesn’t have much experience at outside cornerback – Cameron Brown, the second-most-experienced player at the position, is working his way back from a torn Achilles – so it has to be able to rely on Banks to lock down one side of the field.
If Banks can put it all together, he has the talent to be Kerry Coombs’ next early-round pick at cornerback, but he still has to make big strides to reach that potential.
Ohio State will be counting on Sevyn Banks to raise his game this season as the Buckeyes’ No. 1 cornerback.
CB/S Marcus Williamson
While Williamson’s decision to use his extra year of eligibility gives Ohio State’s secondary a nice boost of experience – he’s the only fifth-year defensive back on the roster – the Buckeyes need more from him in 2021 if he's going to be a true asset.
Playing the slot cornerback that Wade had previously played for most of last season, Williamson wasn’t great in coverage. He moved to safety in the College Football Playoff, where the Buckeyes switched to a two-deep base defense, and looked steadier there, but it’s unclear how exactly Ohio State will align the back end of its defense in 2021.
Williamson will likely enter the spring as an incumbent starter at either slot cornerback or safety, but he’ll need to perform well to hold onto his starting job. Second-year defensive back Lathan Ransom showed promise as a slot cornerback down the stretch of last season and can also play safety, while third-year defensive back Ronnie Hickman is another potential breakout player to watch.
Nonetheless, Williamson is a player Ohio State will be counting on to provide veteran leadership in the secondary, and the ideal scenario for both him and the Buckeyes would be for him to follow the likes of Damon Arnette, Terry McLaurin and DaVon Hamilton before him by emerging as a surprise star in his fifth-year senior season.
S Josh Proctor
From making athletic plays on the ball to delivering big hits, Proctor has made plenty of appearances on the highlight reel in recent years, but he still hasn’t quite made the leap to stardom he’s long been expected to make.
Like the other defensive backs, inconsistency has been a problem for Proctor. He has the playmaking range you want in a deep safety, where he took over for Marcus Hooker midway through last season, but he hasn’t yet become the “eraser” the Buckeyes can count on to consistently eliminate big plays. Too often, he's found himself out of position or missed tackles in space.
Additionally, while Proctor has shown the ability to get his hands on passes, he’s had more dropped interceptions than actual interceptions in his Ohio State career. If he’s going to make a Malik Hooker-esque rise and become a star on the back end of the Buckeyes’ defense, he has to execute when big-play opportunities come his way.
Going into this spring, it’s uncertain whether Proctor will continue to man the deep safety spot, if the Buckeyes will move to more two-deep looks or if Proctor could move to playing more snaps in the box or at slot cornerback, which he did more in the first half of the 2020 season. Either way, he stands right alongside Banks as one of the two likeliest stars in Ohio State’s 2021 secondary, and whether he can become that could go a long way toward determining how the Buckeyes’ defense performs this fall.
