While Ohio State’s primary focus right now is on competing for a national championship in 2024, it’s also building its roster for the future.
With high school football camps and official visits ongoing at Ohio State this month, the Buckeyes are in the heart of their efforts to build their 2025 recruiting class. Those efforts have gone quite well so far as Ohio State currently has the top-ranked collection of talent in the country, receiving another boost to that No. 1 ranking on Sunday when No. 2 safety Faheem Delane committed to the Buckeyes.
Those efforts may be bolstered by the fact that Ohio State projects to have plenty of opportunities available for new players to compete for playing time next year. While the Buckeyes are set to have a veteran-heavy starting lineup this year, most of their 2024 starters will be on their way to the NFL in 2025, leaving many doors open for new starters and contributors to emerge a year from now.
While that makes this year a “natty or bust” season for the Buckeyes, Ohio State still projects to have a roster loaded with talent next year. The long-term outlook is certainly stronger at some positions than it is at others, though.
With that in mind, we take a position-by-position look at how Ohio State’s roster could stack up in 2025 – not to look past what could be a special season in 2024, but to put into perspective the combination of player development, recruiting and potential transfer additions Ohio State will be relying on to build another championship-caliber roster a year from now.
Following that conversation, we also spend a few minutes at the end of the show discussing Andy’s top takeaways from Jake Diebler’s first press conference of the summer, starting with how Diebler’s upfront approach to championship expectations differs from his predecessor Chris Holtmann.
The rundown of where you can hear us talk about what in this week’s show:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:17 Ohio State’s 2025 class is the best in the country right now
- 2:31 Ohio State will likely have to replace most of its starters after this year
- 9:22 Long-term QB outlook looks great on paper, but roster retention questions will remain
- 12:43 Ohio State will likely need to add another transfer RB next year
- 16:46 Wide receiver might have the best long-term outlook of any position on OSU’s roster
- 20:56 Multiple tight ends playing big roles this year would benefit 2025 Buckeyes
- 23:39 Offensive line could be an even bigger question mark entering next year than this year
- 32:29 Defensive line set up for success in 2025 despite four senior starters
- 37:39 OSU well-stocked at linebacker if C.J. Hicks, Sonny Styles stay for senior seasons
- 43:21 Cornerback future looks very bright despite possibly losing three starters after this year
- 45:38 Strong safety a question mark for 2025, but it’s nice to know Caleb Downs will be back
- 48:02 Jake Diebler’s embrace of championship expectations is important
- 52:29 Diebler is turning the page from Chris Holtmann, which he needed to
- 55:36 Devin Royal, Juni Mobley could be keys to OSU’s 3-point shooting
- 58:48 OSU still expected to add frontcourt depth with final scholarship
You can watch this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays in the video of the top of the page or listen to this week’s episode of RPW in the audio player below. All episodes of RPW are also available on Eleven Warriors’ YouTube channel and our Spotify and Apple Podcasts feeds.
