Steele Chambers is staying at Ohio State for his fifth-year senior season.
The Ohio State linebacker said Wednesday during interviews at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center that he has already made up his mind that he will stay at Ohio State for the 2023 season rather than entering the 2023 NFL draft.
After moving to linebacker prior to the 2021 season, Chambers said he wants to get another year of playing linebacker at the collegiate level under his belt before he moves on to the next level.
“I feel like I've progressed in just my knowledge of the game, but I think there's just a lot more that I need to learn. I feel like I'm pretty premature as far as like linebacker savviness,” Chambers said.
Chambers said he always thought he would return to Ohio State for another year after talking to his father about it prior to the season.
“I sat and talked to my dad about it like in the preseason. I always thought I was gonna come back for a fifth year, especially after the position change,” Chambers said. “That's always just been my first option, and I think just after this year, that's what I'm going to stick with.”
Ohio State’s other starting linebacker, Tommy Eichenberg, said Wednesday that he has not yet decided whether he will remain with the Buckeyes for his fifth-year senior season, preferring to make that decision after the College Football Playoff.
“I haven’t thought about it yet. Just focusing on these two games that we’ve got coming up,” Eichenberg said.
Other draft-eligible players who met with the media Wednesday that said they have not yet made an NFL decision include junior offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., redshirt sophomore center Luke Wypler and redshirt junior tight end Cade Stover. Senior right tackle Dawand Jones, who was already expected to leave after this season after going through Senior Day festivities, said he had thought the Michigan game would be his last game if Ohio State did not make the College Football Playoff, indicating he is planning to enter the 2023 NFL draft rather than use his extra year of eligibility.
Among non-seniors, the only Buckeyes who have confirmed they will enter the 2023 NFL draft after this season are safety Ronnie Hickman and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (who will not play in the CFP due to a hamstring injury). It has been widely presumed C.J. Stroud will also enter the NFL draft, as he has been projected as an early first-round pick, but the Ohio State quarterback did not confirm that on Wednesday, noting that he still has three years of eligibility remaining.
