Cleveland.com's Stephen Means set up Ohio State Buckeyes fans to experience the most disappointment possible ahead of the 2025 season if OSU doesn't repeat as College Football Playoff National Champions.
Means declared the Buckeyes the owners of the best offensive and defensive players in the sport: receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs.
"His athletic ability might’ve been what once made him a five-star recruit in the 2023 class. It’s also what helped him quickly become one of the nation’s best safeties during his only year in Alabama, then build on that success when he transferred to Ohio State. But that mind is why he might be the nation’s unquestioned best defensive player, with the only player in general considered to be better than him being his teammate Jeremiah Smith," Means wrote.
Of course, having the best players doesn't always translate to having the best team. Coaching matters, and Ryan Day's coordinator hirings of Brian Hartline and, in particular, Matt Patricia, don't inspire much confidence from the fanbase.
Hell, Hartline and Patricia have no leeway until their seats begin to warm up. They're playing for their coaching lives immediately.
Having Smith and Downs crowned the top two players in the nation, or at worst, top-five players, sets the team up for failure if a near-perfect season isn't achieved. NFL scouts and front offices won't hold it against them if each is living up to their individual billing, but the team isn't getting it together.
Smith and Downs may have shown enough under Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles, respectively, to overcome any struggles in 2025.
Smith has familiarity with Hartline, who was promoted from WR coach to OC. There's enough reason to believe things will continue to go smoothly there. Assuming Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz are up to the task, anyway.
Patricia is a wildcard, though, calling into question whether Downs will continue ascending this year. Patricia oversaw a weak New England Patriots secondary in 2011 and, in general, has had an up-and-down coaching career with more downs.
Downs has had enough elite coaching through a year on Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide under Kevin Steele and the 2024 season under Knowles and Matt Guerrieri, who returns with more responsibilities this season, to trust he'll be okay in the long run.
It's Day and his assistants that will either be under the microscope, not Smith and Downs, if the team with the best players -- who happen to make up an exorbitantly bloated payroll unseen outside of a handful of programs nationwide -- doesn't win it all.