Will Howard, a transfer from Kansas State, has taken over the starting quarterback’s job at Ohio State from last year’s starter, Kyle McCord, who transferred to Syracuse.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
Some of them have established themselves as stars at Ohio State. Others arrived through the transfer portal. One hasn’t played a college football game yet. But they all are players expected to do big things individually for OSU as it pursues a national championship. Here are five Buckeyes to watch:
Will Howard
One of the reasons Ohio State settled on Howard as its transfer portal target to replace Kyle McCord at quarterback was that he could run the ball and he liked to run the ball.
That is something that has been absent from OSU’s offense for the last three seasons.
Justin Fields in 2020 is the last starting quarterback at Ohio State to run for a touchdown. He had five rushing TDs in 2020 and 10 of them in 2019. McCord did not have a rushing touchdown last season and Stroud’s only career touchdown on the ground was during his freshman season in 2020 when he was Fields’ backup.
Howard passed for 2,643 yards and 24 touchdowns last season at Kansas State and ran for 351 yards and nine touchdowns. The fifth-year senior had 48 touchdown passes in his four years at KSU and scored 19 rushing touchdowns.
“I want these guys on my team to know I’m willing to run the ball and go get those extra yards when I need to,” Howard said after a preseason training camp practice. “When it’s third and five at the end of the game and everyone is covered downfield am I going to be able to tuck the ball and go get six yards and run someone over?”
Howard weighed in at 249 pounds when he arrived at Ohio State in January but is between 230 and 235 pounds now. He says he notices a difference when he has to move around in the pocket on pass plays and when he runs straight ahead.
While he is a big part of Ohio State’s pursuit of a national championship, Howard says he doesn’t feel a lot of pressure.
“I don’t feel like I have to be a hero. I have the guys around me that I just need to facilitate and get the ball to them. I don’t have to do anything superhuman,” he said.
Emeka Egbuka
Egbuka was among several NFL draft eligible players who chose to return to Ohio State.
He missed three games and was limited most of the season because of injuries last year when his production was cut nearly in half from what it was in 2022. He caught 41 passes for 515 yards and four touchdowns last season after having 74 catches for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns and running for two more scores.
If he stays healthy it would not be surprising to see him lead Ohio State’s talented group of receivers in catches, yards and touchdowns.
“There’s a lot that went into the decision,” Egbuka said about his return to OSU. “Coming out of the last game against Missouri I was really 50-50 and I didn’t know where I was going to go. I just stayed prayerful about everything and I leaned on my Lord to give me guidance and direction and I feel like he gave me the guidance to come back here for my senior year. It turns out a lot of my friends felt the same way and here we are with a very veteran senior team and we’re looking to do something great.”
Egbuka first got on the field as a freshman by averaging 29 yards per kickoff return in 2021 during a season when Ohio State struggled at times on kickoff and punt returns. He will still be involved in returning punts, coach Ryan Day said recently.
Quinshon Judkins
For now, Judkins’ greatest contribution might be making Ohio State fans feel just a little bit better by announcing he was coming to Ohio State through the transfer portal a few minutes after Michigan won the national championship.
But the expectation is that the former Ole Miss running back will contribute much more once this season gets underway.
Judkins was one of the biggest pickups for the Buckeyes in the portal. He was the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year when he rushed for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2022 and was first-team All-SEC when he gained 1,158 yards on the ground last season.
He ran for 100 yards or more in 14 of the 26 games he played at Ole Miss. His 545 carries are the most by a college running back in the last two seasons. He and Herschel Walker are the only SEC running backs to run for at least 15 touchdowns in both of their first two seasons.
If he and TreVeyon Henderson stay healthy Ohio State could have the best running back duo in the country. Henderson gained 1,248 yards as a freshman. He had 926 yards rushing last season even though he missed three games. He has missed eight of OSU’s 26 games the last two seasons because of injuries.
Judkins took less than a week after entering the portal to commit to Ohio State, a team that did not offer him a scholarship when he was in high school.
He was a 3-star recruit coming out of high school but had offers from Notre Dame, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Penn State and Tennessee.
Denzel Burke
Burke is among the most confident of the Buckeyes. Confident enough to say it out loud that after becoming a starter at cornerback from day one as a freshman, he had a mostly forgettable injury-riddled sophomore season.
But he righted the ship as a junior and surprised many people by coming back for his senior season after being named first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-American.
He called his sophomore season “the lowest point of my life as a football player.” Suddenly, receivers were making more catches against him and scoring more touchdowns, including the game-winner for Georgia in a College Football Playoff semifinal game.
“But I’ve grown from that and that’s something I’m always going to remember,” Burke said.
“After my freshman year, I’m an 18-year-old kid. I’ve just started all 12 games and have gotten a little complacent. I felt like I was on top of the world. I kind of lost that edge a little bit going into my sophomore year. Then I got hurt (shoulder and hand) and had to deal with all those difficulties.”
Cornerbacks coach Tim Walton says Burke is clearly the leader at that position for OSU. “We look to him for leadership. I give him challenges every day,” he said. Burke calls Walton “a great addition to my life on and off the field.”
Burke has started 35 games at cornerback. He has a chance to break William White’s Ohio State record of 46 starts at that position.
“I want to be recognized as the best corner ever to come through here. I want to put my name on the wall, get a tree (in the Buckeye Grove) and win a national championship,” he said.
Jeremiah Smith
Smith, the No. 1-ranked recruit nationally at any position when he signed with the Buckeyes, has been compared to legendary Ohio State receivers like Cris Carter and Marvin Harrison Jr. before he has ever played a college game.
Coach Ryan Day says Smith is an exceptionally talented football player but he is going to refrain from praising him too much until after he has played a game.
Ohio State’s defensive backs, who have competed with him closely in practice and workouts since he enrolled for the second semester in January, are less cautious with their opinions.
“He’s like a different type of talent. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like him because he’s so tall and big (6-3, 215) and can run as well. He’s got a good mix of everything,” cornerback Jermaine Mathews said.
Burke said, “He has everything you want in a prototypical receiver. He’s next up. I’m really excited for his ceiling these next couple years and what he’s going to bring to the table for our team this year. Marv is hands down the best receiver I ever played against. He has a little of Marv in him now so imagine what he’s going to be like in his third year. It’s going to be nuts.”
Smith said, “I know there are big expectations for me coming in because I’m the No. 1 player in the country and all the hype around me. I just try to block out all that stuff and focus on the main thing — the team, our receiver room and the locker room.
“Off the field, I’m a quiet person. On the field, I’m a different type of person. I’m just a quiet person who is all about his business.”
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