Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel talk up Ohio State's 2024 roster

Two ex-Ohio State football greats went all-out in their praise for what Ryan Day has done to the Buckeyes' roster ahead of the 2024 season.

Urban Meyer joins Jim Tressel in complementing what Ryan Day has done with the Ohio State football roster in 2024. / Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Ohio State was one of the most active teams this offseason, especially when it came to raiding the transfer portal, and that work has resulted in what former Buckeye head coaches Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel consider to be arguably the school's most talented roster.

"As of now, this is one of the most-talented rosters in the last decade, maybe ever," Meyer said from the Ohio State Golf Club, via 10TV. "I mean, that's a big statement and they've got to play, but you look at the quality of athlete at every position, I've never seen anything like it."

Head coach Ryan Day signed blue-chip players out of the portal, including one-time SEC rushing champ Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss, veteran ex-Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, and former five-star Alabama safety Caleb Downs, among other high-profile acquisitions.

On his own staff, Day brought in former head coach Chip Kelly to call the offensive plays, a major coup for the program after losing coordinator Bill O'Brien weeks after he was hired.

"I don't know if I've ever seen that many great players in that building all at once," Tressel added, via 10TV. "Every position, every place you turn, so Ryan's done a great job. Ohio State's done a great job."

Of course, with that high praise from Ohio State legends comes equally heavy pressure, to take advantage of that roster of all-stars and get the most out of it.

Day's team failed to make the playoff a year ago and his depleted roster dropped a result to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. The year before, the Buckeyes lost a 1-point CFP semifinal game against Georgia as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve.

Despite his overall excellent record and proven recruiting prowess, Day has lost the last three of what Ohio State fans consider the most important game on the schedule: to Michigan.

Last season's result helped propel the Wolverines to a third-straight Big Ten title and that school's first national title in the 21st century.

And while a division-less Big Ten and an expanded College Football Playoff removes some of the national title implications usually present in The Game, beating that team up north is still paramount.

Sitting in second place in the 2024 national championship odds picture and at No. 1 or No. 2 in most preseason rankings, Ohio State looks in prime position to strike.

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