Ohio State’s loaded 2024 roster is finally about to hit the field for its first game.
Preseason camp has reached its conclusion as the Buckeyes’ first game week is now underway. One of the most talented rosters in Ohio State football history will open its season on Saturday when the Buckeyes host Akron at Ohio Stadium (3:30 p.m., CBS).
As we count down the days until the season begins, it’s time for our preseason edition of The Buckeye 20, our year-round ranking of the best players on Ohio State’s roster.
In a vote by 10 Eleven Warriors staffers, Alabama transfer safety Caleb Downs earned the top spot in our preseason rankings as he received 190 out of a possible 200 voting points. Each player received 20 points for a first-place vote, 19 points for a second-place vote and so on down to receiving one point for a 20th-place vote.
Returning stars Denzel Burke, Jack Sawyer and TreVeyon Henderson each also received first-place votes, earning the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots in the preseason rankings with Emeka Egbuka rounding out the top five.
Although he hasn’t even played a collegiate game yet, highly touted freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is ranked as Ohio State’s ninth-best player after looking the part of an immediate superstar all offseason.
The full preseason Buckeye 20 rankings can be found in the table below. (Note: Ties were broken by the number of total ballots each player appeared on; if the players appeared on the same number of ballots, the tie was broken by who received the highest ranking on an individual ballot.)
| Rank | Pos | Player | Pts (1st) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S | CALEB DOWNS | 190 (5) |
| 2 | CB | DENZEL BURKE | 184 (2) |
| 3 | DE | JACK SAWYER | 175 (2) |
| 4 | RB | TREVEYON HENDERSON | 163 (1) |
| 5 | WR | EMEKA EGBUKA | 158 |
| 6 | DT | TYLEIK WILLIAMS | 146 |
| 7 | RB | QUINSHON JUDKINS | 142 |
| 8 | DE | JT TUIMOLOAU | 135 |
| 9 | WR | JEREMIAH SMITH | 104 |
| 10 | CB | JORDAN HANCOCK | 97 |
| 11 | S | LATHAN RANSOM | 94 |
| 12 | CB | DAVISON IGBINOSUN | 93 |
| 13 | WR | CARNELL TATE | 61 |
| 14 | LG | DONOVAN JACKSON | 61 |
| 15 | LB | CODY SIMON | 61 |
| 16 | QB | WILL HOWARD | 59 |
| 17 | LB | SONNY STYLES | 56 |
| 18 | LT | JOSH SIMMONS | 36 |
| 19 | DT | TY HAMILTON | 16 |
| 20 | C | SETH MCLAUGHLIN | 16 |
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Also receiving votes: RT Josh Fryar (16), WR Brandon Inniss (12), CB Jermaine Mathews Jr. (7), LB C.J. Hicks (1), DE Caden Curry (1) |
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Unsurprisingly, Ohio State’s defense is well-represented in the preseason Buckeye 20, taking up all of the top three spots, eight of the top 12 and 11 of the 20 total spots on the list. This year’s preseason Buckeye 20 includes 13 of the 20 players who were included in last year’s end-of-season rankings; four of the other seven were offseason transfer additions (Downs, Quinshon Judkins, Will Howard and Seth McLaughlin).
Speaking to Ohio State’s wealth of experience entering the 2024 season, Smith is the only freshman in the top 20 while Downs and Carnell Tate are the only sophomores.
For more on all 20 players in The Buckeye 20, visit our Buckeye 20 rankings page, which will be updated as we re-rank the players throughout the season. We also broke down the preseason rankings on the first-ever edition of The Buckeye 20 Show, which you can watch in the video below.
