With the deadlines to enter the NFL draft and the transfer portal now passed, Ohio State knows what its 2025 roster will look like entering the spring.
While it’s still possible that Ohio State could add transfers to its roster, the window for players from Ohio State – and all other schools – is now closed until the 10-day post-spring window from April 16-25. Any further transfer additions for 2025 are most likely to come after spring practice, as most of the top players who entered the portal this winter are now enrolled at new schools, while it’s not expected that Ohio State will make any late additions to its 2025 high school recruiting class.
Given that, we’re taking a first look at how Ohio State’s 2025 roster stacks up at every position now that we know which Buckeyes are staying in Columbus, who’s going to the NFL and who’s transferring elsewhere.
The following roster breakdown includes all players who were on the team this past season that have not exhausted their eligibility, entered the NFL draft or entered the transfer portal, along with all players who signed with the Buckeyes as either a member of their 2025 recruiting class or a transfer.
Walk-ons are denoted with an asterisk. Some walk-ons from the 2024 season could lose their roster spots for 2025 with the impending roster trim from 120 players to 105, but walk-ons with remaining eligibility who did not participate in Senior Day or enter the transfer portal are listed as returning.
Quarterbacks
Returning: Lincoln Kienholz, Julian Sayin, Mason Maggs*
Incoming: Tavien St. Clair
Outgoing: Will Howard, Devin Brown, Air Noland, Chad Ray*
Sayin, Kienholz and St. Clair will all compete for the starting quarterback job this offseason; Sayin is viewed as the frontrunner, but Kienholz will also get a shot to win the job and St. Clair’s five-star talent gives him a chance to be an immediate factor in the competition.
Maggs is a walk-on who spent much of this past season with the running backs, so Ohio State would ideally like to have one more quarterback on scholarship by the start of the season. Any such addition would likely be a veteran transfer who’s comfortable with playing a backup role, similar to the additions of Tristan Gebbia, Gunnar Hoak and Chris Chugunov in recent years.
Running Backs
Returning: James Peoples, TC Caffey*, Rashid SeSay*, Chase Brecht*
Incoming: CJ Donaldson, Bo Jackson, Anthony “Turbo” Rogers, Isaiah West
Outgoing: TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, Sam Williams-Dixon
Peoples is the only scholarship running back from Ohio State’s 2024 roster returning for 2025, but the Buckeyes added some much-needed experience with the transfer addition of Donaldson, who ran for more than 2,000 yards in three seasons at West Virginia. Donaldson and Peoples are expected to lead Ohio State’s 2025 running back room in one order or the other, but the door is open for all of Jackson, Rogers and West to compete for immediate playing time.
Wide Receivers
Returning: Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, Bryson Rodgers, Mylan Graham, Damarion Witten, David Adolph, Dorian Williams*, Nolan Baudo*, Shawn Lodge*, Brennen Schramm*, Reis Stocksdale*
Incoming: Phillip Bell, De’zie Jones, Bodpegn Miller, Quincy Porter
Outgoing: Emeka Egbuka, Kojo Antwi, Jayden Ballard, Joop Mitchell*
Ohio State’s wide receiver corps projects to be the best in the country once again in 2025 with Smith, Tate and Inniss returning to lead the way and Graham and Rodgers topping the candidates to play bigger roles behind them. With 11 wide receivers on scholarship, Brian Hartline’s position room remains in very healthy shape.
Tight Ends
Returning: Will Kacmarek, Bennett Christian, Jelani Thurman, Max LeBlanc
Incoming: Max Klare, Brody Lennon, Nate Roberts
Outgoing: Gee Scott Jr., Patrick Gurd, Jace Middleton*
Klare, a Purdue transfer who caught 51 passes for 685 yards and four touchdowns last season, adds a dynamic pass-catcher to a deep position group that returns three contributors from this past season in Kacmarek, Christian and Thurman. Add in LeBlanc entering his second year and incoming freshmen Lennon and Roberts, and Ohio State’s tight end room is as loaded as it’s been in a long time.
Offensive Tackles
Returning: Deontae Armstrong, Ian Moore
Incoming: Phillip Daniels, Ethan Onianwa, Jayvon McFadden, Carter Lowe
Outgoing: Donovan Jackson, Josh Fryar, Josh Simmons, George Fitzpatrick, Zen Michalski, Miles Walker
While redshirt freshmen Moore and Armstrong are the only returning tackles on the roster from last season, the Buckeyes have plenty of incoming reinforcements with the transfer additions of Onianwa and Daniels plus incoming freshmen Lowe and McFadden. Onianwa is likely to start at left tackle while Daniels is likely to start at right tackle, though Moore is also a player to watch.
Guards
Returning: Luke Montgomery, Tegra Tshabola, Austin Siereveld, Devontae Armstrong, Gabe VanSickle, Julian Goines-Jackson*
Incoming: None
Outgoing: Toby Wilson*
Tshabola, Montgomery and Siereveld are all back after rotating as Ohio State’s guards in the College Football Playoff, giving the Buckeyes three options to start at guard – or potentially keep that rotation going – in 2025. None of Ohio State’s incoming freshmen are expected to play guard primarily, though all three of them have the potential to move to guard if needed, as could any of Ohio State’s returning centers.
Centers
Returning: Carson Hinzman, Joshua Padilla, Simon Lorentz*
Incoming: Jake Cook
Outgoing: Seth McLaughlin
Hinzman is likely to remain Ohio State’s starting center after manning that position for Ohio State’s national championship run, though a move back to guard could also remain an option if Padilla emerges at center. Cook will likely begin his Ohio State career as the Buckeyes’ No. 3 center.
Defensive Ends
Returning: Caden Curry, Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Joshua Mickens, Dominic Kirks
Incoming: Logan George, Zion Grady, Epi Sitanilei
Outgoing: Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Mitchell Melton, Cade Casto*
Curry and Jackson could finally get their chance to start in year four after waiting their turn behind Sawyer and Tuimoloau, while George is also expected to play a big role in Ohio State’s defensive line rotation. Depending on what Ohio State does schematically in 2025, C.J. Hicks could also factor into the Buckeyes’ edge defender rotation, while the possibility of Eddrick Houston moving back to defensive end also remains on the table.
Defensive Tackles
Returning: Kayden McDonald, Eddrick Houston, Tywone Malone Jr., Jason Moore, Will Smith Jr., Eric Mensah, Ahmed Tounkara*
Incoming: Jarquez Carter, Trajen Odom, Maxwell Roy
Outgoing: Ty Hamilton, Tyleik Williams, Hero Kanu, Bryce Prater*
Even with the transfer departure of Kanu, Ohio State has a deep defensive tackle roster with nine DTs on scholarship. None of them have consistently played major roles yet for the Buckeyes, but McDonald and Houston are the top candidates to lead the depth chart while Malone, Moore and Smith are all entering their third year as a Buckeyes.
Linebacker
Returning: Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, C.J. Hicks, Payton Pierce, Garrett Stover, Alec DelSignore*, Zach Hayes*, Nate Riegle*, Eli Riggs*
Incoming: Tarvos Alford, Ty Howard, Eli Lee, Riley Pettijohn
Outgoing: Cody Simon, Gabe Powers, Jalen Pace*, Joey Velazquez*
Styles and Reese – and possibly Hicks depending on what his role ultimately looks like – project to lead Ohio State’s linebacker depth chart with Pierce and Stover having the potential to play more in year two. The additions of Howard from the transfer portal and the freshman trio of Pettijohn, Alford and Lee give Ohio State excellent depth with nine linebackers on scholarships.
Cornerback
Returning: Davison Igbinosun, Jermaine Mathews Jr., Lorenzo Styles Jr., Miles Lockhart, Aaron Scott Jr., Bryce West, Diante’ Griffin*, Glorien Gough*, Bukari Miles Jr.*
Incoming: Devin Sanchez, Jordyn Woods
Outgoing: Denzel Burke, Jordan Hancock, Calvin Simpson-Hunt
Igbinosun returns for his third year as a starting cornerback, Mathews projects to join him in the starting lineup after playing substantial snaps off the bench for the last two years and Styles has been groomed for the last two years to replace Hancock at nickel. Sanchez has the talent to make an immediate impact while Scott, West and Lockhart are also players to watch entering their second year as Buckeyes.
Safety
Returning: Caleb Downs, Malik Hartford, Jaylen McClain, Keenan Nelson Jr., Leroy Roker III, Brenten “Inky” Jones*, Ryan Rudzinski*
Incoming: Faheem Delane, Cody Haddad, Deshawn Stewart
Outgoing: Lathan Ransom, Jayden Bonsu
Downs returns as college football’s best safety while McClain and Hartford are each potential candidates to start alongside him after serving as Ohio State’s second-string safeties in 2024. The returns of Nelson, Roker and Jones – who played regularly on special teams this past season despite being a walk-on – and the freshman additions of Delane, Haddad and Stewart give the Buckeyes plenty of safety depth options.
Kicker
Returning: Jayden Fielding
Incoming: None
Outgoing: Casey Magyar*, Austin Snyder*
Ohio State needs to add another kicker via either a walk-on or transfer so it has more than one option, but Fielding likely saved his job as OSU’s top kicker by going 4-for-4 on field goals in the Buckeyes’ final three CFP games, including a pair of 46-yard makes.
Punter
Returning: Joe McGuire, Nick McLarty, Anthony Venneri*
Incoming: None
Outgoing: Hadi Jawad*
Ohio State has a fully stocked roster of punters with McGuire, McLarty and Venneri all still on the roster for 2025.
Long Snapper
Returning: John Ferlmann, Morrow Evans*
Incoming: None
Outgoing: Max Lomonico*, Collin Johnson*
Ferlmann is returning for his third year as Ohio State’s starting long snapper while Evans is in line to be his top backup as a redshirt freshman.
