The Ohio State football program has used the Transfer Portal deliberately in Ryan Day's tenure as head coach. They have been adding players at key positions that they believe can help put them over the top. Day and his staff haven't always gotten it right, as evidenced by what happened with Ethan Onianwa this year.
Still, Day has done a pretty good job with his portal evaluations over the years. After a crushing loss to Miami in the Cotton Bowl, the Buckeyes can focus on the Transfer Portal. They are able to look at grabbing players at positions of need as some of their players leave for other programs.
On Sunday afternoon, the Ohio State Buckeyes were able to land their first player from the Transfer Portal in the 2026 season, doing something they did in 2024. They have added a tight end from Ohio, bringing in Mason Williams from the Bobcats.
The Ohio State football team lands Ohio tight end Mason Williams
Williams is the second tight end that the Buckeyes have brought in from the portal in recent years, after bringing in Will Kacmarek a couple of years ago. Williams caught 26 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns this past season with the Bobcats.
With Max Klare unsure if he is going to return to Columbus next season and Jelani Thurman in the portal, Ohio State needs some depth at the tight end spot. Bringing Williams in should help them with blocking in the run game, something they struggled with later in the year.
The Ohio State Buckeyes need to get players from other critical positions instead of tight end. A kicker, punter, and some help at the defensive line spot need to be addressed with the portal. A failure to do so will have next year end the same way 2025 did.
Williams should see a significant number of snaps next season. How many passes he catches remains to be seen.