The Ohio State Buckeyes' offseason was ranked the fourth-best in the Big Ten, behind the defending champion Indiana Hoosiers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. ESPN's Eli Lederman, Max Olson, and Adam Rittenberg weren't totally out of line with that line of thinking, though there are arguments against that hierarchy.
Ranking Ohio State's offseason as the 10th-best in College Football, though? That was an interesting decision, especially considering some of the programs from other conferences the Buckeyes ended up behind.
Per Lederman, Olson, and Rittenberg, "Georgia, Texas A&M, and several other programs had great offseasons. But it's hard to nitpick much about how the Buckeyes' offseason played out, with plenty of star power returning and key veteran additions on defense. New OC Arthur Smith's influence on the offensive direction will be intriguing to follow as this squad pursues its second national championship in three years."
While doubting the Arthur Smith hire initially was understandable, the pieces have come together nicely in spring practice, and really showed out during the spring football game on April 18 at the "Shoe." Chris Henry Jr. not only staying, but breaking out, is enough in and of itself to push Ohio State's offseason up these rankings.
Ohio State had a definitively better offseason than Ole Miss and Texas Tech
Two programs that really shouldn't be above the Buckeyes are the Ole Miss Rebels and Texas Tech Red Raiders. For very clear and obvious reasons, their offseasons should not be in that kind of company narrative-wise.
Ole Miss, though they recovered as well as humanly possible, lost their head coach, Lane Kiffin, to a rival, the LSU Tigers, in the middle of the CFP. Sure, they had a strong portal haul, but many expect the Rebels to fall back in line.
Meanwhile, as ESPN admits, Texas Tech's future is up in the air with quarterback Brendan Sorsby currently in rehab for gambling issues earlier in his college career while with the Hoosiers. Maybe they know something the rest of us don't, since Sorsby was the crown jewel of an admittedly sterling portal haul and holds a lot of the Red Raiders' hopes in his hands.
Ohio State is expecting guys to move up the depth chart from last year. Internal improvement is never as eye-popping as portal additions. But the Buckeyes have built up depth for years. Enough to believe in their offseason moves more than ESPN does.
Add us as a preferred source on Google