2023 Season Preview: Ohio State’s Roster By the Numbers

Ohio State has 121 players on its active roster, with 85 players on scholarship. That roster is loaded with premier talent, as evidenced by Ohio State having the second-best blue-chip ratio of any team behind only Alabama, with 85% of the scholarship players on their roster that they signed out of high school being four- or five-star recruits.

The Buckeyes augmented that talent this offseason by adding a bevy of coveted players from the transfer portal, giving them a roster that is not only strong based on its recruiting pedigree but also in terms of experience and what players have already shown they are capable of at the collegiate level.

To kick off our annual Season Preview here at Eleven Warriors, we took a closer look at Ohio State’s current roster with a breakdown of how many players the Buckeyes have at each position; all the five-, four- and three-star players on the team; all the players who have joined the team via the transfer portal and where they came from; how many players on the roster come from each high school class; which Buckeyes enter the 2023 season with the most playing experience; which states and international countries are represented on the roster; and which high schools have produced multiple Buckeyes.

All recruiting ratings referenced come from 247Sports’ composite rankings. Career snap counts were compiled through a combination of Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics and our own charting for Ohio State players.

Players by Position

With the Buckeyes' four deep at most positions, Ohio State has been able to have two groups of offensive and defensive players practicing against each other simultaneously for more reps during the early weeks of preseason camp.

For the most part, the Buckeyes’ roster is well-balanced, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Ohio State having more safeties than linebackers or cornerbacks speaks to the “safety-driven” nature of Jim Knowles’ defensive scheme and that Ohio State utilizes three safeties with two linebackers, two cornerbacks, two defensive ends and two defensive tackles in its base defense.

Offensively, the Buckeyes have a surplus of options at wide receiver, tight end and running back to go along with increased depth at quarterback. Ohio State also has the overall numbers it needs along the offensive line with 19 total offensive linemen on the roster, including 16 linemen on scholarship.

10 Five-Stars

Even though the narrative surrounding Ohio State recruiting over the past couple of years has often centered around the notion that the Buckeyes have struggled to land elite defensive talent, four of the six highest-rated recruits on this year’s roster are defensive players, including both of its projected starting defensive ends (JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer) and two highly touted second-year defenders with hopes of breakout seasons (C.J. Hicks and Sonny Styles).

Five of the other six five-stars on this year’s roster are offensive skill-position players, including three wide receivers (Julian Fleming, Emeka Egbuka and Brandon Inniss), which speaks to the elite level Brian Hartline has recruited at. Ohio State could have as many as five five-star starters on the offensive side of the ball, with Kyle McCord competing to start at quarterback, TreVeyon Henderson set to split the workload with underrated three-star recruit Miyan Williams at running back, Egbuka and Fleming returning as starting wide receivers and Jackson returning as the starting left guard.

Ohio State has four fewer five-stars on its 2023 roster than it did in 2022 because Inniss was the only composite five-star prospect in the Buckeyes' 2023 recruiting class. But Ohio State should get no shortage of contributions from the five-stars they do have.

63 Four-Stars

What makes Ohio State’s roster one of the best in the country is its depth of four-star recruits, who make up more than 70 percent of Ohio State’s scholarship players. That includes all but two of Ohio State’s 2023 high school signees – everyone except Inniss and three-star offensive tackle Miles Walker – while six of Ohio State’s offseason transfer additions were also four-star recruits in high school (Tywone Malone, Lorenzo Styles Jr., Davison Igbinosun, Tristan Gebbia, Nigel Glover, Jimmy Simmons).

Cumulatively, 71 of Ohio State’s 85 scholarship players this season (83.5%) were either four- or five-star recruits in high school. And that doesn‘t even include Glover and Styles, who aren’t yet on scholarship with the Buckeyes currently at the 85-man scholarship limit.

Ohio State’s four-star contingent is headlined by Marvin Harrison Jr., who would undoubtedly be a five-star if recruits in his class were re-rated today. Other four-stars who have established themselves as key players for the Buckeyes include defensive tackles Mike Hall and Tyleik Williams, guard Matt Jones, tight end Cade Stover (who was recruited as a linebacker), safety Lathan Ransom, cornerback Denzel Burke and linebackers Steele Chambers (recruited as a running back) and Tommy Eichenberg.

Jordan Hancock is in line to start at cornerback, while Igbinosun and Malone are expected to immediately impact defense. Brown, the highest-rated four-star recruit on the roster, remains in competition with McCord for the starting quarterback job; Simmons, Luke Montgomery and Tegra Tshabola are all in competition for starting offensive tackle jobs, while Carson Hinzman still appears to be the frontrunner to start at center.

13 Three-Stars

Although Ohio State has only a dozen three-star players on scholarship, that group includes plenty of players expected to play significant roles for the Buckeyes this season.

Miyan Williams has already proven to be more than a three-star talent at running back, while Ty Hamilton has established himself as a quality starter at defensive tackle. Ja’Had Carter, who was rated as a four-star transfer prospect by 247Sports but was a three-star recruit when he signed with Syracuse, appears likely to be the Buckeyes’ starting free safety.

Xavier Johnson, who originally walked on with the Buckeyes but was placed on scholarship in 2021, has developed into a big-play threat whether he’s lined up at wide receiver, running back or kickoff returner. Jesse Mirco is entering his third year as Ohio State’s punter, while Parker Lewis is competing with Jayden Fielding to be the Buckeyes’ starting kicker.

In addition to the 12 three-star recruits who are on scholarship, freshman running back Will Hartson – who walked on with the Buckeyes despite having 12 scholarship offers – was also rated as a three-star prospect.

Ohio State’s only two scholarship players who didn’t receive at least three stars as high school recruits are both players who joined the Buckeyes as transfers this offseason. Victor Cutler Jr., who is competing with Hinzman for Ohio State’s starting center job, was a two-star recruit when he signed with Louisiana-Monroe out of high school. John Ferlmann, who will be Ohio State’s long snapper this year, did not have a composite recruiting rating when he signed with Arizona State out of high school.

16 Transfers

Ohio State‘s 120-man roster includes nine transfers on scholarship and 16 total players who started their careers at other schools, easily the most the Buckeyes have ever had. That speaks both to how much more prevalent transferring has become in college football and Ohio State’s increased willingness to pursue transfers this offseason after initially taking a cautious approach to the portal.

Fourteen transfers joined the roster this offseason, with Chip Trayanum and Parker Lewis being the only returning transfers from last year. That said, most players who transferred to Ohio State this offseason will likely be with the team for multiple years, as Tristan Gebbia is the only one in his final year of collegiate eligibility.

Twelve of the 16 transfers on Ohio State’s 2023 came to the Buckeyes from other FBS schools, with nine players coming from other Power 5 schools. Ole Miss (Davison Igbinosun and Tywone Malone) and Arizona State (Chip Trayanum and John Ferlmann) each have two former players now on scholarship with the Buckeyes.

Players by High School Class

Thanks to the addition of Gebbia, who received a rare seventh year of collegiate eligibility from the NCAA, Ohio State has players from seven different high school classes on its roster for the second year in a row (Bradley Robinson was a seventh-year senior last season).

Because of the extra year of eligibility all college football players received in 2020, the only four Buckeyes who will exhaust their collegiate eligibility this year are Gebbia and sixth-year seniors Matt Jones, Josh Proctor and Xavier Johnson.

Ohio State’s 2023 roster includes 31 players who are in at least their fourth year of college football. More than half of the Buckeyes’ roster is made up of players who are in at least their third year of college football, with a loaded 2021 class – featuring many of the team’s biggest stars, including Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, JT Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, Mike Hall, TreVeyon Henderson, Donovan Jackson and Jack Sawyer, among others – making up the largest contingent of any high school class on the team.

With Ohio State bringing in more transfers to add more upperclassmen to its roster this year, the Buckeyes’ freshman and sophomore classes – with 28 players each, including walk-ons – are both slightly smaller than they were a year ago.

28 Players with 300+ Snaps Played

Ryan Day said Friday that he believes this year’s Ohio State football team is the most mature team he’s had since 2019, and a lot of that has to do with how much playing experience this year’s roster already has. Twenty-eight players on the roster have already played 300 collegiate snaps entering this season – not including special teams snaps – including 22 players who have played at least 500 snaps, five more than the Buckeyes had entering last season.

Nine Ohio State players have already played over 1,000 snaps at the collegiate level, compared to just two entering last season. Ja’Had Carter (a three-year starter at Syracuse) and Victor Cutler Jr. (a two-year starter at Louisiana-Monroe) have not yet actually played any snaps for the Buckeyes, but Matt Jones, Denzel Burke, Tommy Eichenberg, Steele Chambers, Lathan Ransom, Cade Stover and Marvin Harrison Jr. all return with quadruple-digit snaps of experience playing on offense or defense for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State’s returning experience is well-spread throughout the roster. One quarterback, three running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end and five offensive linemen have each already played at least 300 offensive snaps at the Division I level, while two defensive ends, three defensive tackles, three linebackers, two cornerbacks and four safeties have done so on the defensive side of the ball. Lorenzo Styles Jr. played all 657 of his snaps over two years at Notre Dame on offense as a wide receiver.

25 States, Two Australians and One German

Exactly half of the 50 United States are represented on Ohio State’s 2023 roster, with a little under half of the overall roster hailing from the Buckeye State. Twenty-four of the 53 Ohioans on the roster are currently on scholarship, with most of the team’s walk-ons behind in-state natives.

Interestingly, none of the next five most-represented states on Ohio State‘s roster are in the Midwest. Arizona, Florida and Georgia are tied for the second-most Buckeyes with six players each, while New Jersey is next with five and Texas follows with four. Indiana and Michigan are tied for the most Buckeyes from states contiguous to Ohio with three apiece.

Connecticut gains representation on Ohio State’s roster this year as Miles Walker becomes the first Buckeye from the Constitution State since Scott Leach (1982-86), while Lincoln Kienholz is just the second Buckeye ever from South Dakota, joining Grant Schmidt (2015). Kentucky and Nevada are the only states represented on Ohio State’s 2022 roster that do not have any players on the team this year.

Ohio State’s 2023 roster also includes two players from Australia – both punters – as walk-on Joe McGuire joined fellow ProKick Australia product Jesse Mirco on the Buckeyes’ roster this summer. Hero Kanu, a native of Germany, gives three different continents representation on the Buckeyes.

16 High Schools with Multiple Buckeyes

With Lorenzo Styles Jr. joining his younger brother Sonny in Columbus, Pickerington Central is now the most-represented high school on the Buckeyes’ roster. Dublin Coffman and Lakota West are now the second-most-represented high schools on the Buckeyes with former Rocks Casey Magyar and Will Smith Jr. joining Ohio State this offseason while Malik Hartford is the third Firebird to sign with the Buckeyes in the last two years.

Only half of the high schools with multiple players on this year’s roster are in Ohio. Notable high school pairings on this year’s roster include the quarterback-wide receiver tandem of Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr., the Washington-based duo of JT Tuimoloau and Gee Scott Jr. and the combination of Miyan Williams and Jermaine Mathews Jr. from Winton Woods, a Cincinnati high school that Ohio State is continuing to recruit heavily in future classes. Cayden and Kai Saunders, both walk-ons, join Lorenzo and Sonny Styles as the two pairs of brothers on Ohio State’s 2023 roster.

Chaminade-Madonna’s representation is set to increase to three players next year with Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Ryan Turner entering their second year at Ohio State five-star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith committed to the Buckeyes’ class of 2024.