Ohio State doesn’t need many of its freshmen to play big roles in 2024. But there’s still plenty of Buckeye newcomers who are worth watching this summer.
The Buckeyes are loaded with veterans entering the 2024 season, leaving few openings for freshmen to play right away. Jeremiah Smith, the top prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, will get his say in the wide receiver rotation due to the sheer magnitude of his talent and his polish coming out of the South Florida Express wide receiver factory. He enrolled early and made his mark this spring, as did a handful of other freshmen like five-star defensive end Eddrick Houston and four-star running back James Peoples.
As with each recruiting cycle, though, there’s a collection of recruits who weren’t on campus for spring practices. While 16 freshmen enrolled early in January, seven members of Ohio State’s 2024 recruiting class moved in on Sunday to begin their Buckeye careers as summer enrollees: Wide receiver Mylan Graham, tight ends Max LeBlanc and Damarion Witten, offensive lineman Gabe VanSickle, defensive end Dominic Kirks, safety Leroy Roker and punter Nick McLarty.
As they officially begin their Ohio State careers, we take a look at which players among that group could be worth monitoring as candidates for playing time early in their careers, even if none of them project to play major roles outside of special teams in 2024.
WR Mylan Graham
Graham becomes the fifth composite five-star in Ohio State’s freshman class with his arrival on campus, joining Smith, Houston, cornerback Aaron Scott Jr. and freshman quarterback Julian Sayin, who transferred to Ohio State after initially signing with Alabama.
Outside of Smith, Graham is perhaps the most likely among them to carve out a role as a freshman, though it likely isn’t going to be offense yet.
Graham possesses elite speed and acceleration with game-breaking open-field ability, which could earn him a shot to return kicks and/or punts for Ohio State in 2024. More likely the former, as OSU typically opts to lean on a more proven receiver to field punts.
As a junior at New Haven High School, Graham racked up 1,149 receiving yards in just 48 receptions, a gaudy average of 23.9 yards per reception thanks to his ability to run after the catch. He followed that up with 39 receptions for 566 yards in just seven games as a senior.
Ohio State’s wide receiver room remains among the most stacked in college football, and Graham will have to compete with second-years Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss alongside Smith for playing time early in his career. He’s got the versatility to play both outside and in the slot, though, which should give him a path to factor in at receiver as soon as his second year if he develops as expected.
TE Damarion Witten
It’s not often you see tight end prospects whose high school offenses ran them out of the backfield from time to time, but the fact that Cleveland Glenville did as much with Witten on occasion this past season is a testament to what makes him an exciting prospect.
Witten’s athletic profile is intriguing. He’s got the length required for the tight end position at 6-4, but his speed and agility could present serious matchup problems for linebackers as a pure receiving threat.
“You watch him on the basketball court and he’s gonna have to grow into playing tight end if that’s where he ends up getting down in there,” Ryan Day said on National Signing Day. “You can do multiple things with Damarion and he could be a matchup issue. But his length and his size and his ability to play the ball is tremendous. So again, Ted (Ginn Sr.) did a great job identifying him early on, we jumped on him early on, and you can see his ceiling is extremely high.”
Where Witten will need to develop is in the blocking side of the game, and he’ll need to bulk up to do so as he was just 215 pounds when he signed with the Buckeyes. He wasn’t as heralded of a recruit as Ohio State’s other tight end signee from the class of 2024, Max LeBlanc, as Witten was ranked just 464th in the 247Sports composite, but with a few years of seasoning, he’s got more upside than that ranking would indicate.
There's also a non-zero chance Witten could be a wide receiver in the long haul, it fact it's where he appears slated to start his Buckeye career.
So Athletic he's starting in the WR room this year https://t.co/wZUxFsOKnE
— Dale Davison-Witten (@CockyCleveland) April 2, 2024
While Gee Scott Jr., Jelani Thurman, Will Kacmarek and company handle the reps atop Ohio State’s tight end depth chart this season, it will be interesting to see what tools and what weight Witten can add behind the scenes.
DE Dominic Kirks
Modern-day recruiting cycles almost seem to end after December’s Early Signing Period. There was certainly plenty of drama surrounding Ohio State this past Dec. 20, mostly involving Houston and Smith.
One of the drawbacks of such phenomena is that commitments beyond that point can get overshadowed, and it feels as though that’s happened with Kirks. He’s not arriving in Columbus with the five-star pedigree of Houston, but he provided necessary depth for a defensive line class that ultimately featured just three signees for the Buckeyes.
A four-star recruit ranked No. 163 in the country and 24th among defensive linemen, Kirks’ basketball background gives him a headstart in the agility and footwork it takes to provide pressure off the edge. He piled up 11.5 sacks in just seven games as a senior last year.
What’s more is that Kirks is an Ohio native and lifelong Buckeye fan, always helpful when talking about culture and leadership down the road. Like many of his freshman teammates, he’ll be biding his time while developing his game this season.
“I think when Dom came down, you quickly saw that this is what he wanted,” Day said. “He wanted to be a Buckeye. He’s from the state of Ohio. He understands the rivalry. There’s a lot that was positive there. He knows he’s going to have to work and compete. So, excited to see how things go with him.”
TE Max LeBlanc
LeBlanc enters as the more refined of Ohio State’s two tight end prospects, reflected by his ranking as the nation’s No. 14 composite tight end and No. 258 prospect overall.
Like Witten, however, the receiving portion is the more advanced side of his game. He often played out of the slot for Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, catching 49 passes for 884 yards and 10 touchdowns in his final prep campaign.
Future battles between LeBlanc and Witten for playing time will be telling, as Scott will vacate the top of the depth chart after 2024.
“His family is from Canada in Montreal, he came down from Canada and had to make the transition to a school where he was on his own,” Day said. “Really did a great job when he was there. And his film is tremendous. We think he brings a lot of versatility to the team.”
P Nick McLarty
Not to short-change offensive lineman Gabe VanSickle or safety Leroy Roker, both of whom will try to hit the ground running after a summer move-in, but outside Smith, McLarty could be the freshman who makes the biggest impact in year one for the Buckeyes.
The 6-foot-7, 255-pound monster has been brought in from Australia for the express purpose of competing to be the Buckeyes’ starting punter in 2024. He’ll battle Buffalo transfer Anthony Venneri and fellow Aussie Joe McGuire, a walk-on, to replace Jesse Mirco at the spot.
