Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Ohio State held its annual spring game this past Saturday, with just over 40,000 in attendance at Ohio Stadium to not only celebrate last year’s national championship team, but also to get a glimpse into what to expect from this year’s team. Since a number of returning starters either saw limited action or didn’t suit up at all, that gave opportunities for others to make a name for themselves ahead of the start of the 2025 season in late August. Most importantly for the Buckeyes, it doesn’t sound like there were any injuries coming out of Saturday’s event.
Today, we want to know which Ohio State player impressed you the most during Saturday’s spring game. Maybe it was a player you just needed to see more of, like Julian Sayin, since it sounds like he is the heir apparent to Will Howard at quarterback. Or it could be a player who might have gotten lost at a position because the Buckeyes are loaded with talent at that spot. With so many starters from last year’s team now preparing to hear their name called in next week’s NFL Draft, a new crop of Ohio State players is going to quickly become fan favorites, judging by what we saw on Saturday.
Today’s question: Which Ohio State player impressed the most in Saturday’s spring game?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Mylan Graham
There are times we just need to step back and realize how blessed we are to have been able to live through this era of Ohio State wide receivers. The next great Ohio State wideout introduced himself to Buckeye Nation on Saturday. Mylan Graham had an incredible spring game, finishing with four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. In the same way that Jeremiah Smith set up his phenomenal freshman season with an impressive spring game last year, in a way Graham did that this year.
Although Smith and Graham were in the same recruiting class, there was a big difference when it came to their freshman years, though. The Buckeyes needed an impact player in the passing game last year after Marvin Harrison Jr. and Cade Stover both moved on to the NFL. The need isn’t quite as dire this year since not only are Smith and Carnell Tate back, but Brandon Inniss should take on a bigger role with Emeka Egbuka having exhausted his college eligibility.
Head coach Ryan Day said Graham excels with his route running, athleticism, and attention to detail. The biggest knock on Graham is that he needs to work on finishing catches, but that will likely come over time as he builds a rapport with Julian Sayin. Plus, when Smith took the field in his first collegiate game, there was already a target on him since there was some much hype surrounding him coming out of high school. Graham was a highly touted recruit, but he likely won’t see quite as much usage as Smith since Ohio State has great depth at the position. That just means that when Graham gets on the field this season, he’ll be hungry to make plays.
What’s going to be really scary for opposing defenses is the 2026 wide receiving corps, when Smith is a junior and Graham will likely be ready for an even bigger role in Ohio State’s offense. With Graham not only having Brian Hartline as his position coach, he’ll also have Smith to lean on. Smith is already the best wide receiver in college football, and he hasn’t even taken the field as a sophomore. Graham already has the look as the next man up at wide receiver at Ohio State.
Matt’s answer: The running backs
This might be a bit of a cop out, but one of my areas of concern heading into the offseason was how the Buckeyes were going to replace the superhuman talents of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. While James Peoples looked good in limited duty during OSU’s championship run, at this point, we all know that to be a successful college football offense, you have to have more than one back.
Not only does it behoove you to be able to have different runners for different situations, but given the violent nature of the position, you never know when one of your top guys is going to go down. So having a handful of more-than-competent backs is incredibly important for teams with aspirations in line with the Buckeyes’.
So while Peoples only had two carries for six yards, clearly not looking to tax the guy who should be RB1 come fall, the other options more than proved to me that they were at least capable of rising to the level that Ohio State will need from them this season.
West Virginia RB transfer C.J. Donaldson got a bit more work in his first game as a Buckeye than Peoples did, but still less than some of the younger backs on the roster. The former Mountaineer rushed for 35 yards on just four carries (8.75 yards per carry), including a touchdown.
In addition, after entering the transfer portal before deciding to come back, Sam Williams-Dixon went for 64 yards on 11 carries (5.82 ypc), and true-freshman Bo Jackson (no relation) accumulated 88 yards on 13 carries (6.77 ypc), including a score.
It will be interesting to see how much the offense relies on the ground game now that Brian Hartline is calling plays instead of Chip Kelly. Obviously, new offensive line coach and run game coordinator Tyler Bowen will have a hand in crafting the offensive game plan, but Hartline — and Ryan Day — are throw-first guys. However, having seen a productive trio of backs have impress outings (albeit in a scrimmage against an undermanned defensive line), it does give me hope that the Ohio State offense will continue to be well-balanced in 2025.