Five Ohio State football players who have defined the Ryan Day era so far

4. Justin Fields

Day grabbed his first big player from the transfer portal when he was able to land Justin Fields in the Spring of 2019. He came in from Georgia and was eligible to play right away. He led the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season in both 2019 and 2020.

Had Fields not miscommunicated with Chris Olave at the end of the Fiesta Bowl against Clemson, they would have played for a national championship in 2019. Instead, he threw a game-ending pick. No matter. Fields would emerge as a leader on and off the field in 2020.

After Kevin Warren tried to cancel the Big Ten playing football in 2020, Fields was one of the most vocal voices in the conference to get him to change his mind. He wanted the Ohio State football team to get their shot at winning a national championship.

The Buckeyes would eventually get a chance to play and they made the most of it. They went undefeated and got their revenge on Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. Unfortunately, they ran into the last truly great Alabama team of the Nick Saban era and they lost in the National Championship Game.

To date, that is the only time Day has played for a national championship. He had a really good team but fell just short. Fields was the leader of that great team. He went on to be the 10th overall pick in the NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. This offseason, he was traded to the Steelers.

The next player on this list is the next quarterback that Day had.