Ryan Day Believes 'A Lot' of Ohio State Players Could Return Next Season

Ryan Day is confident that the Ohio State Buckeyes could return a lot of players in 2024 for another run at the College Football Playoff

Matt Galatzan | Dec 23, 2023

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Ohio State Buckeyes

The Ohio State Buckeyes finished 11-1 with their only loss of the season coming to the now No. 1 Michigan Wolverines in the final week of the regular season.

In fact, were it not for a pair of Kyle McCord interceptions, and a questionable call or two from Day, the Buckeyes may have had enough to pull the upset and earn their way to the Rose Bowl vs. Alabama.

Typically, given the current college football climate, a season like that would follow with a mass exodus of top talent to the NFL the following spring.

However, according to head coach Ryan Day, it will not be a surprise to him if Ohio State is able to buck that trend, and return a lot of their key talent to Colombus is 2024.

“I'm optimistic because I think a lot of these guys feel like there's some unfinished business here," Day said. "There's a great opportunity to come back and have a great team on all three phases and both sides of the ball."

Of course, Day was not specific about who he believes could return next season.

That said, there are plenty of NFL-eligible Buckeyes that are staring at an NFL decision at this very moment.

Marvin Harrison Jr. 'Undecided' on Status for Cotton Bowl, NFL Draft

Most notably, Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, J.T. Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, MIchael Hall Jr., TreVeyon Henderson, Jackson Sawyer, Tyleik Williams, Cade Stover, and Tommy Eichenberg could all conceivably go in the first three rounds of the draft.

So far, as Day noted Wednesday, there have not been any declarations for the Draft, nor have any players opted out of the Buckeyes Cotton Bowl matchup vs. Missouri next week.

“We’ve got a good group playing in the game,” Day said. “I think there's a lot of guys that have that feeling like they don't want to leave without winning that game. That's for sure. I mean, that's been a huge part of the conversations.”

And perhaps that is a good sign for 2024 as well. We will find out one way or another by Jan. 15 - the deadline for players to declare for the NFL Draft.

Published Dec 23, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com