Ohio State Buckeyes Boasts 6 of 'Top Returning Players' in College Football

Looking ahead to 2024, the Ohio State Buckeyes might have an advantage with experience from top returning players.

Dec 30, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins (4) is tackled by / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 college football season ushers in a new era.

Not only are there storylines of conference realignment and expanded College Football Playoff, but with big-name coaching departures in Michigan and Alabama, the Big Ten and SEC Championships have never been more open.

Dec 30, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins (4) is tackled by / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Ohio State Buckeyes have six players returning that PFF says are some of the best at their positions.

First, the Buckeyes' big running back transfer, Quinshon Judkins, appears on the list as the No. 2 returning player at his position. Last season in the SEC at Ole Miss, Judkins carried 271 times for 1,158 yards and 15 touchdowns for an average of 4.3 yards per carry, while scoring 15 touchdowns. He also contributed 22 catches for another 149 yards and two scores.

"Judkins is the only running back on this list who’ll be playing for a new school in 2024, transferring to Ohio State from Ole Miss in January. He's been the most productive back over the last couple seasons. Since 2022, Judkins leads all Power Five running backs in rushing yards (2,726), yards after contact (1,800) and forced missed tackles (154). Those also happened to be his first two years of college football. Judkins will likely be relied on heavily as a junior to carry Ohio State back to prominence, along with his teammate further down this list."

Wideout Emeka Egbuka is the third-best receiver on the returning list per PFF.

The Steilacoom, Washington, native posted 41 catches for 515 yards and four touchdowns last season, playing in the shadow of Marvin Harrison Jr. With Harrison gone to the NFL, look for Egbuka's numbers to skyrocket.

"Egbuka entered 2023 as my No. 2 wide receiver in college football, trailing only his teammate in  While Harrison continued to shine and is now off to the NFL, Egbuka is returning for his senior season after missing three games due to an ankle injury as a junior. The year before, he finished as the second-most-valuable receiver in the Power Five according to PFF’s wins above-average metric, trailing only Harrison. He was fifth in that same group in receiving yards (1,151) and tied for seventh in receiving touchdowns (10) in 2022."

Offensive lineman Donovan Jackson is the fourth-ranked interior offensive lineman per PFF after a stellar season in Columbus.

"Jackson entered Columbus with a ton of hype as a top-15 recruit in the 2021 class. He impressed on limited snaps during his true freshman season, not allowing any pressure on his 36 pass-blocking snaps. Jackson became Ohio State’s starting right guard as a sophomore and was dominant in the ground game, earning an 80.1 run-blocking grade in 2022, which placed him eighth among Power Five guards."

Pass-rush specialist Jack Sawyer is No. 3 on the returning edge defenders list after being the only FBS edge rusher to earn 85.0-plus grades on both pass and run defense.

"Sawyer’s game is centered on his power profile at 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds. If the former top-five recruit can add more pass-rushing moves to his arsenal in his senior season, he can climb even further up this list."

Tyleik Williams is No. 5 on the interior defensive lineman's list per PFF after becoming a full-time starter his past season and tying for fourth in Power Five interior defensive linemen with 26 run stops.

"He’s a cerebral player who always knows where the running back is going. Despite playing at just 290 pounds in 2023, Williams was able to stack and shed offensive linemen at a high level. He’s now listed at 327 pounds, so that area of his game could improve by leaps and bounds. It remains to be seen how that’ll affect him as a pass-rusher though, as he earned just a 68.4 PFF grade in that respect last season."

Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is the last Buckeye on the list, but the only one to be ranked No. 1 in his position group.

The Alabama transfer is the only rising true sophomore to lead one of PFF's positional rankings.

"Downs has no glaring weaknesses in his game, which is pretty ridiculous considering he’s not even a year removed from his senior prom. He’ll surely be joining his older brother, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, in the NFL in a couple of years. In fact, he’d likely be the first safety off the board next month if he was in this year’s class."

With the current crop of young players, Ohio State should be at or near the top of the new expanded College Football Playoffs rankings near the end of the season.