Ohio State Football hitching its hopes on transfers

The transfer portal has become a huge part of the college football landscape. Players are now jumping in and out of the portal at their leisure. The Ohio State football program has used the portal, but not as much as other programs have since it became a thing.

This year is a bit different though. This is the first time under Ryan Day that the program will be counting on multiple transfers to do something significant for the team. Justin Fields is obviously the most significant transfer the Buckeyes have had, but he was just one guy.

In 2023, the Buckeyes are looking for multiple players to start right away and have big impacts, specifically in the secondary. Both Ja’Had Carter and Davison Igbinosun are expected to come in and fix some of the problems that plagued the secondary a year ago.

Both players have shown the ability to do so in their previous stops, but that’s still a lot to ask from two transfers. Victor Cutler, a tackle who transferred in from ULM, could fight for a starting role on the offensive line as well. That would be three transfers who could start next season.

The secondary is going to be a big deciding factor on whether or not the Ohio State football team is able to win it all. That’s the unit that kept the Buckeyes from winning a national title this past year. It needs to have a big improvement next season in order for a national championship to be won.

I wouldn’t expect the transfer portal to become a normal source of super-talented players for the Buckeyes. Recruiting has always been the primary way that Day gets his guys. He has said on multiple occasions that the portal will only be used to fill immediate needs.

Hopefully, he’s able to up the level of recruiting so that those needs don’t need to be filled by guys from other programs.