Ohio State Buckeyes tight end Max Klare has been given borderline unfair expectations to live up to ahead of the 2025 college football season.
Bucknuts' Dave Biddle pondered on if OSU's TE room is the best in program history.
"Ohio State assistant coach Keenan Bailey might have the best tight end room in college football entering the 2025 season. The Buckeyes are loaded with talent, depth and versatility at the position, led by junior Max Klare who transferred in from Purdue in January," Biddle wrote.
"In addition to Klare – who was the No. 1 TE in the transfer portal – Ohio State has the services of fifth-year senior Will Kacmarek, fourth-year junior Bennett Christian, junior Jelani Thurman and true freshman Nate Roberts. Kacmarek, Christian and Thurman played a lot during the Buckeyes' national championship run – along with Gee Scott Jr., who is now with the New England Patriots. There were a handful of times when Ohio State was in "14" personnel, meaning four tight ends on the field, during the College Football Playoff.
"Even if Klare did not transfer to OSU, the tight end room would look promising. With him? It might be the best room top-to-bottom that the Buckeyes have had in a very long time. Perhaps, ever."
Of course, going from West Lafayette, Indiana, to Columbus, Ohio, is akin to a pond-to-ocean ecosystem switch. Especially when factoring in the upgrades in almost every conceivable way from being a Purdue Boilermaker to being a Buckeye.
Klare didn't stick around a sunken ship at Purdue. The coaching staff that recruited him, Jeff Brohm's, left to make the Louisville Cardinals a contender in the ACC. The Ryan Walters era left a bad enough taste to drive Klare and countless others out of town.
Klare's coming to Ohio State hungry, but quarterback Julian Sayin has a lot to prove after being named the starter to bring credence to Biddle's claims.
If Sayin could prove himself, though, there's an opening to become the best tight end in program history. Or at least have the best season as a Buckeye from the tight end position.
Pretty high expectations for a transfer, to say the least.