Ohio State’s roster for the 2024 season is loaded with talent.
The Buckeyes have a multitude of players on both sides of the ball who have the potential to be among the best players in the Big Ten and throughout college football this season. That gave us plenty of tough choices in ranking Ohio State’s 20 best players entering Tuesday’s start of spring practices for the first Buckeye 20 of 2024.
Denzel Burke, who finished the 2023 season ranked second in the Buckeye 20 behind only Marvin Harrison Jr.. moves up to the top spot in our inaugural rankings of 2024 as Ohio State’s top returning player. TreVeyon Henderson, who was ranked third in our final rankings of 2023, starts 2024 in the No. 2 spot as Ohio State’s top offensive player.
| Rank | Pos | Player | Final 2023 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CB | DENZEL BURKE | 2 |
| 2 | RB | TREVEYON HENDERSON | 3 |
| 3 | S | CALEB DOWNS | NR |
| 4 | DE | JACK SAWYER | 5 |
| 5 | WR | EMEKA EGBUKA | 6 |
| 6 | DT | TYLEIK WILLIAMS | 4 |
| 7 | DE | JT TUIMOLOAU | 7 |
| 8 | RB | QUINSHON JUDKINS | NR |
| 9 | CB | JORDAN HANCOCK | 11 |
| 10 | CB | DAVISON IGBINOSUN | 12 |
| 11 | S | LATHAN RANSOM | 15 |
| 12 | QB | WILL HOWARD | NR |
| 13 | LB | CODY SIMON | 14 |
| 14 | S | SONNY STYLES | 16 |
| 15 | LG | DONOVAN JACKSON | 20 |
| 16 | WR | CARNELL TATE | NR |
| 17 | DT | TY HAMILTON | 17 |
| 18 | WR | JEREMIAH SMITH | NR |
| 19 | C | SETH MCLAUGHLIN | NR |
| 20 | CB | JERMAINE MATHEWS JR. | NR |
Alabama transfer safety Caleb Downs makes his Buckeye 20 debut as Ohio State’s No. 3 player after earning national freshman of the year honors in his lone season with the Crimson Tide. He’s one of four January transfer additions to make the pre-spring Buckeye 20 along with former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins (8th), former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard (12th) and former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin (19th), all of whom are projected starters on offense.
Ohio State sophomores Carnell Tate and Jermaine Mathews Jr. make their Buckeye 20 debuts as the 16th and 20th players in the rankings after their impressive freshman campaigns. Although he hasn’t even gone through his first practice as a Buckeye yet, freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is already in the Buckeye 20 at No. 18, a reflection of the immediate impact he’s expected to make as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class.
The first Buckeye 20 of the year, which was selected by a panel of nine Eleven Warriors writers, includes 12 defensive players compared to eight offensive players. Defensive players fill five of the top seven spots, eight of the top 11 and 10 of the top 14, a reflection of how stacked Ohio State’s defense is as it returns most of its top players from a unit that ranked in the top three nationally in both points and yards allowed in 2023.
Visit our Buckeye 20 page to check out the full rankings with analysis on every player who made the countdown to start the year, and bookmark that page to keep up with the rankings all year long. Our next rankings update will take place in mid-May following the conclusion of spring practices and the closure of the post-spring transfer window.
