Ohio State Football: Two Buckeyes enter the transfer portal

The Ohio State football team is gearing up to play Georgia in the College Football Playoffs. Two current Buckeyes have entered the transfer portal.

It has been a very busy week for head coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State football team. Between recruiting, losing an offensive coordinator, learning that they would play Georgia in the CFP, and having to navigate the transfer portal, Day’s head has to be spinning.

But it was announced on Monday that second-year safety Jaylen Johnson and fifth-year linebacker Teradja Mitchell will enter the transfer portal. Johnson has yet to see a snap after tearing his ACL his freshman year and Mitchell only played one snap on defense this season against Northwestern.

Mitchell took to Twitter to thank Ohio State and to say that he’s with the team for its upcoming playoff run:

Mitchell was a highly touted recruit in that huge 2018 recruiting class for the Buckeyes. He was a top 50 national player but his play on the field never seemed to match his ranking. Maybe a season under former linebacker coach Bill Davis will do that to you. But when he did get a chance to start in 2021, it did not go well, and he was often injured.

But Mitchell did seem to be liked by coaches and teammates alike, so we wish him nothing but success at his next stop.

Johnson came in from LaSalle High School outside of Cincinnati by then-defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs. Johnson was seen as a project from the start as a three-star prospect but once he tore his ACL last season, he could never gain any ground and was passed up on the depth chart by a lot of players.

If Kerry Coombs sticks around at Cincinnati maybe that would be a nice landing spot for Johnson. But in the end, with the way this transfer portal has worked thus far, we have to expect Buckeyes who get passed up on the depth chart to leave every season.

Best of luck to Mitchell and Johnson.