Ryan Day has done a solid job of keeping Ohio State’s roster from bleeding out in the wrong places, but there are still a few departures the Buckeyes would love to have back. After an offseason that saw roughly 30 players leave the program, including a pair of former five-star receivers headed to Notre Dame, it’s fair to wonder whether Ohio State will eventually regret some of those exits. Three names stand out above the rest.
Joe Royer is one of them. Ohio State’s offense has never exactly been a tight end showcase, and Royer’s role reflected that.
After the 2023 season, he moved on to Cincinnati having caught only four passes in his Buckeye career. The change unlocked a much bigger role.
Over two seasons with the Bearcats, he piled up 938 yards and seven touchdowns, production that helped make him a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Keeping him around would have given Ohio State another reliable option at tight end and may have saved the staff from needing Max Klare or Will Kacmarek.
Quinn Ewers is another departure that still lingers. He remains the highest-rated recruit in Ohio State football history, and he arrived as part of the 2021 class, which was the best recruiting class in school history by ranking.
Ewers spent only one season in Columbus before transferring to Texas. C.J.
Stroud had a strong college run, and Will Howard helped Ohio State beat Ewers on the way to a national championship, but Day almost certainly would have preferred to keep Ewers in the building. The talent was there to develop him into the first-round pick many expected.
Then there’s Hero Kanu, whose exit may have stung the most. He was giving Ohio State valuable depth on the defensive line before transferring to Texas, and that loss showed when the Buckeyes entered last season with major questions about depth up front.
Kanu is still with the Longhorns, and Ohio State had to dip back into the Transfer Portal to patch the issue. If he had stayed, he would have fit into what Matt Patricia wants to do up front and provided a useful depth piece heading into this season.
In Other News...
Will Howard Suddenly Has A Bigger NFL Opportunity Than Buckeyes Fans Realized
Will Howards NFL path has taken a more interesting turn than many Ohio State fans probably expected when he left Columbus, because the former Buckeyes quarterback is now in the mix for a meaningful job with the Steelers. He is competing with Mason Rudolph and 2026 draft pick Drew Allar for the No. 2 quarterback spot, a role that carries real weight in Pittsburgh even before anyone starts talking about the long-term picture.
Howards appeal has never been hard to spot. His leadership and fit in a locker room are viewed as strengths, and those traits matter in a quarterback room where the margin for error is thin. The concern, as always, is whether his arm talent can hold up against NFL standards, but for now he has put himself in position to keep climbing and to make this battle a lot more consequential than a typical backup competition. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Title Hopes May Hinge On One Unsettled Reality
Julian Sayin enters 2026 as the clear starter and, on paper, has already shown why Ohio State feels good about the quarterback room. He put together a strong season and the Buckeyes have no shortage of depth behind him, with Tavien St. Clair and Justyn Martin both giving the staff options if the picture changes. For a program built to chase championships, that kind of stability matters, especially when the offense is expected to keep pushing for a higher ceiling.
The real question is less about whether Ohio State has enough arms and more about how much the staff can trust the one at the top when the games tighten. Sayin has been productive, but the Buckeyes still want proof he can carry that level into the biggest moments against elite competition. St. Clairs upside and Martins experience only add to the intrigue, because this is the sort of quarterback room that can look settled in August and very different by November. [Read more 🡒]
Jacy Sheldon Shares What Ohio State Womens Basketball Still Means To Her
Jacy Sheldon has moved on to the WNBA, but Ohio State still clearly sits close to the center of her basketball story. The former Buckeyes guard, now with the Chicago Sky, has already built a rsum that includes All-American recognition and school records, yet her recent comments made it sound like the college years remain just as meaningful as the pro leap that followed.
While in Dallas with the Sky for a game against the Wings, Sheldon spoke publicly about what her time at Ohio State meant to her and what she hopes current players take from it. Her message was rooted in the same kind of program standard that helped define her own run in Columbus, with an emphasis on embracing the grind and staying with the work when the season gets difficult. [Read more 🡒]