The Ohio State football team is losing a lot of talent from the 2025 team. Defensively, they were possibly the best team in the country. Offensively, they weren't able to keep up. Now, spring practice is just a couple of weeks away for the 2026 season.
With that being the case, the Buckeyes have three players who need to play well on the offensive side of the ball during spring practice. If these guys aren't able to put together a solid spring, they might be either stuck at the bottom of the depth chart, or the Buckeyes might not be able to reach their goals.
1. Joshua Padilla
The right guard position was a disaster for the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2025. Tegra Tshabola had a rocky two seasons in that starting role. Now, he is off to Kentucky. Josh Padilla was reportedly pushing Tshabola for starting reps later in the year, but he kept getting hurt.
Now, the right guard spot is Padilla's to lose. It will be a battle between him and Gabe VanSickle for that position. VanSickle struggled in the Big Ten Championship Game when he replaced Tshabola, so Padilla should be viewed as the front-runner. This is the best chance for playing time he's going to get.
2. Brandon Inniss
The senior receiver was voted as a captain last year. He's clearly someone the rest of the roster respects for his hard work. However, Inniss' production hasn't matched the level of respect he gets from the team. Last season, he just recorded 271 yards and three touchdowns.
Carnell Tate is now headed to the NFL to likely become a first-round pick. An exodus of receivers left behind him in the Transfer Portal. Inniss is the clear number-two receiver heading into next year. Inniss will never get a better shot to put up big numbers, and this is his final season to do so.
3. Tavien St. Clair
There is no shot that Tavien St. Clair starts at quarterback next year for the Buckeyes. Julian Sayin is the undisputed starter and should be even better next year after being a Heisman Finalist. Still, this is a critical spring for St. Clair, who is a former five-star recruit.
As a true freshman last year, he had no shot to win the starting job. With Lincoln Kienholz now at Louisville, he has a shot to take a stranglehold on the backup spot. A good spring could see him win that role, and allow him to be the favorite to be the starter in 2027.