The Ohio State football team has 51 new faces on the roster, a gauntlet schedule, and massive expectations looming. Ryan Day and his staff face both challenges and opportunities.

Ohio State led the country with 11 draft picks in the 2026 NFL draft, with eight of those picks coming in rounds 1-3. In the past two years alone, OSU has had 25 players selected in the draft, along with a slew of free agent signings. This exodus, coupled with the height of the transfer portal, has all led to the Buckeyes inheriting 51 new players on this year’s roster.

Although this seems worrisome, it has become a theme among many top programs across the country under the current NIL regulations. Ryan Day and his staff have also done an exceptional job of finding players in the portal to replenish the talent needed to compete at a high level. Not to mention some of the standouts among freshmen, such as Legend Bey, Chris Henry Jr., and Brock Boyd, who have already shown the potential to make an impact in year one.

Transfers Kyle Parker and Devin McCuin will be expected to play bigger roles, at least to start the year, with Brandon Inniss assumed to be the number two option behind Jeremiah Smith. If Inniss is unable to make the impact needed to keep defenses honest, given Ohio State’s depth, the wide receiver situation could get very interesting, to say the least.

The biggest changes will be seen on the defensive side. Transfers in DT’s James Smith/John Walker, LB Christian Alliegro, and Safeties Earl Little Jr/Terry Moore were highly sought after and will all play huge roles this fall. With this, DC Matt Patricia will have his hands full in evaluating strengths and deciding how these new pieces will fit into a possible new-look defense without the likes of Styles, Reese, Downs, etc.

Anything can happen, but Moore and Little Jr have been as advertised and appear capable of locking down the safety spots along with returning sophomore Jaylen McClain. Smith and Walker project to fill the void left by Kayden McDonald and Caden Curry. Ryan Day and the staff clearly made sure to acquire guys with multiple years of high-level experience, which should bode well for the Buckeyes.

James Laurinaitis has been adamant that even though he hasn’t decided yet, the Linebacker position could see a larger rotation than years past due to the trust he has in the depth and talent in the room, saying, “The standard was to always get our room to the point where you feel a healthy pressure to perform, in the sense of ‘if I have a bad day or two, I could be passed up by the next guy.’”

He insists it could be “five/six deep, or two deep.” Training camp will be telling, but when replacing two elite players that could play every down, it’s likely that we see names beyond Alliegro and Pierce coming in and making an impact- particularly early in the season.

Beyond the replacement of so much depth, Ohio State faces another hurdle this fall- the schedule. Projected as one of the toughest in the nation, Ohio State won’t have the opportunity to coast through portions of its schedule if the roster doesn’t assimilate. Experience in the spring was important, but training camp will be massively needed to solidify roles and further evaluate talent.

Even though a schedule this tough likely allows for a loss or two, Ohio State can’t assume that a run like 2024 is repeatable if they were to drop to a lower seed. Beyond that, there is also the possibility that the Buckeyes lose enough games to become a bubble team and miss out on the playoffs entirely.

Most oddsmakers are setting the Buckeyes’ win total at O/U 9.5, so anything seems possible. That said, the expectations never change at Ohio State. This year will be very telling as to the coaching ability of Ryan Day and his entire staff.

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