After losing so many starters from last year’s national title team, there are going to be some growing pains at spots for Ohio State in 2025.
We are a little more than a week away from Ohio State’s spring practices wrapping up with the “spring showcase” at Ohio Stadium next Saturday. With a few weeks of practices under their belt, we are starting to get a better idea of what the starting lineup might look like when the Buckeyes welcome Texas to Columbus at the end of August for the season opener for both teams.
While there are a few positions that are rock solid, such as the wide receiver group with Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, and others, there are other positions that there will be plenty of questions about throughout the spring and summer. Today we are going to look at three positions that still feel pretty fragile.
Luckily there is still almost five months before the season kicks off, so any positional questions have plenty of time to put in work ahead of the Texas game.
Defensive tackle
Eddrick Houston and Kayden McDonald figure to be the starters at defensive tackle for the 2025 season, replacing Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton. Houston and McDonald were the only defensive tackles currently on the roster to play at least 100 snaps last year, so at least they aren’t going into this season totally green.
What is worrisome about the defensive tackle position is the lack of depth. It’s not that Ohio State doesn’t have bodies that can play at defensive tackle, they just don’t have players that have much college playing experience behind the projected starters.
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The Buckeyes took a hit at defensive tackle when Hero Kanu entered the transfer portal. Had Kanu stuck around for another season in Columbus, he likely would have been battling to be a starter this season. Now Ryan Day, Matt Patricia, and Larry Johnson might have to look at the transfer portal following the spring showcase to try and add a little more depth to the position.
Even though there won’t be any top tier talent in the portal, Ohio State doesn’t necessarily need someone who can step right in and start. What they will need is someone who can add to the depth at the position, since the expanded playoff will grind on the offensive and defensive lines, so the deepest teams will find the most success.
Running back
If we’re being honest, there are going to be questions when you lose two running backs like TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. At least Ryan Day dipped into the transfer portal and brought in West Virginia running back CJ Donaldson to add some experience to the position.
Donaldson ran for over 700 yards and 11 touchdowns in each of the last two seasons for the Mountaineers. At nearly 240 pounds, Donaldson is more of a bruising running back who will wear on defenses with his physical running style.
Likely to split carries with Donaldson this season is James Peoples, who is more of the “lightning” side of the pair. Peoples saw time on the field late in games last year when the Buckeyes had established big leads. The San Antonio native ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns on 49 carries. Rumblings from spring practices are that Peoples has made big strides so far in the offseason, looking the part of a starter in the backfield for Ohio State.
The main concern at the position is the unknown. Not only have we not seen much of Peoples at running back, who really knows how Donaldson is going to transition to the bright lights at Ohio State after suiting up for a mediocre West Virginia squad over the last couple years. If either of these running backs don’t work out, there is even more inexperience on the depth chart in Bo Jackson, Sam Williams-Dixon, and Isaiah West.
Strong safety
Obviously it is going to sting losing a player like Lathan Ransom. Luckily for the Buckeyes they have Caleb Downs at free safety on a defense that could see three safeties on the field at times. Malik Hartford has seen time on the field during his career but Jaylen McClain seems like a more natural fit to start at strong safety. Behind McClain on the depth chart are Faheem Delane and Keenan Nelson Jr.
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What is most concerning here is much like at defensive tackle and running back when it comes to inexperience not only at starter, but also with the rest of the depth chart at the position. McClain saw some limited playing time last year, while Delane is a true freshman, and Nelson didn’t register any snaps last season.
If necessary, Hartford could probably slide over to strong safety from his free safety position, but that’s probably something the coaching staff would try and avoid if necessary.
The presence of Downs at safety can help to alleviate some of the worries about the inexperience at strong safety. What we don’t know is how defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is going to use Downs in the defense, so things could look different from what we saw in how Jim Knowles used Downs.
Even though it would be nice to have Ransom on the roster for another year, these are the types of problems teams in college football often face, with them being even more frequent these days with the transfer portal.