Ohio State Buckeyes Placed on Concerning 2025 List

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been placed on a concerning list ahead of the 2025 season.
Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes were able to accomplish the one goal that they had during the 2024 college football season. They won the National Championship.

Now, the challenge of the 2025 season is ahead of them. Ohio State has had its chance to celebrate their championship, but now the focus shifts to next year.

Finding a way to repeat as champions is a very daunting task. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes are going to have to attempt to do that without having many of their key players from 2024.

Bleacher Report took a look at the list of college football teams who lost the most talent to the NFL Draft. Ohio State was firmly on that list.

Among the list of players who will be heading out of Columbus are JT Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams, Jack Sawyer, Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson, Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka, Josh Simmons, Seth McLaughlin, Donovan Jackson, Lathan Ransom, and of course Will Howard.

That is an incredibly long list of players who the Buckeyes will have to replace.

Obviously, that is a major concern. Having that much professional talent walk away will leave Ohio State with quite a few holes to fill. It won't be easy, but Day has brought in some great pieces via recruiting and the transfer portal as well.

In order to have any kind of chance at competing for a second straight national title, the Buckeyes are going to need a lot of young players to step up. Julian Sayin is expected to be the team's starting quarterback and will be asked to play beyond his years and experience.

Thankfully, the young talent that Ohio State will be relying on is all considered to be elite talent.

It is going to be very interesting to see how the Buckeyes look in the first game of the 2025 season. They will be taking on the Texas Longhorns, who are also expected to be a championship contender.

Fans will have a decent idea of just how good Ohio State can be in that game. Should the team come out and play a dominant brand of football against one of the better teams in the nation, it will be clear that they are just fine.

Hopefully, Day and the coaching staff will have the young players who step into bigger roles prepared for the challenges ahead.


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Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers college football, the NFL and NBA. He has contributed to the On SI network since July 2021. He has also written for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.