Ohio State football: Max Wray enters transfer portal

The Ohio State football team will be losing an offensive lineman to the transfer portal.

Offensive lineman Max Wray has entered the transfer portal. The Franklin, Tennessee native was a four-star recruit and one of the nation’s top ten tackles when he joined the Ohio State football team as a part of their 2018 recruiting class.

After redshirting his freshman year, he appeared in three games in 2019. He became a member of the extra point and field goal units last season and saw action in all eight games.

Wray will be best remembered during his time with the Buckeyes for being pressed into a starting role against Michigan State last year when both of the team’s offensive tackles, Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petite-Frere, missed the game with positive COVID tests. The Buckeye offense did not miss a beat and Wray played well enough to be graded as a champion by the coaching staff.

Based on his performance against the Spartans, I expect Wray to follow in the footsteps of former Buckeye lineman Keven Feder, who transferred to Kansas and became almost an immediate starter after seeing little playing time with Ohio State.

Wray does have ties to Colorado. His brother, Jake, signed with the Buffaloes as a part of their 2020 recruiting class but announced his retirement from football recently for medical reasons. This is pure speculation on my part, but the Colorado program could be a landing spot for the former Buckeye.

Wray was expected to be the top backup to Petit-Frere on the right side, so this cuts into the Buckeyes’ depth a bit. There is talent and versatility throughout this unit, so I don’t think this is a major blow. Paris Johnson, Jr. and Dawand Jones, who are battling for the right guard spot, can easily step in and play tackle; Jones started the Michigan State game for Munford last season.

The battle now begins among the younger tackles for the spot on the depth chart that Wray’s departure has left open. It’s not going to get much attention, but I don’t doubt this is going to be a real dogfight. The spring game could give us a clue as to who may have a nose in front.

Wray has not released any statement addressing his decision to leave Ohio State. He is the second Buckeye to leave the program in the last few months. In early January, freshman receiver Mookie Cooper transferred to Missouri.