The Ohio State football program continues to sort through the Transfer Portal after it opened up on Friday. After they lost to Miami, the Buckeyes have decided to focus their efforts on the portal. Doing that, the Buckeyes have already landed a player from the portal.
Even so, the Ohio State Buckeyes have lost far more players to the portal this season than they did a year ago. Up to this point, they hadn't lost anyone of consequence. No significant backups or any starters had decided to enter the Transfer Portal. That is, until Sunday afternoon.
One of the most maligned starters on the roster was Tegra Tshabola. Tshabola was getting criticism during the 2024 CFP run, and he ended up getting rotated at the guard spot. This season, he was replaced in the CFP due to injury. Now, the Buckeyes have to replace him on the roster.
The Ohio State football team loses Tegra Tshabola to the Transfer Portal
Tshabola has decided to leave Columbus in favor of the Transfer Portal. He becomes the first starter that Ohio State loses to the portal. Fans likely won't miss Tshabola. Josh Padilla showed some real vigor in that spot before he was injured, and that's likely who gets the first shot at winning the starting job next season.
Without Tshabola, the offensive line should actually be better next year. Still, it's not ideal that Ohio State is losing starters to the portal. Ryan Day has several positions of need that he needs to address after the decable against Miami, and getting the offensive line to be better is a big priority.
Tshabola only has one more year of eligibility left, so he has to go to a place that will allow him a chance to be a starter. That might be another Big Ten school, or an ACC school. He is still good enough to be a starter at a P4 program.