Hits and misses in 5 years of the transfer portal for the Buckeyes: Ohio State roster building

Ohio State has five years of adding players since transfer rules changed and the portal really opened up. How have they done in this area of roster building?

Ohio State safety Caleb Downs has been one of the most successful transfer additions in college football history. (Photo courtesy of Ohio State)

This is part of a series we’re running this week on the current state of roster building in college football and how Ohio State is navigating it. Today, we’re examining how the Buckeyes have worked the transfer portal.

Roster building: The mega show breaking it all down

Roster building: The recruiting piece

As we discussed on our Wednesday show diving into Ohio State roster building, the transfer portal comes third. When the Buckeyes think about building a roster, their first priority is spending money to retain players, and their second focus is recruiting. The transfer portal is third, and a way to fill in the gaps.

Now, that can change year-to-year. With a lot of major programs who could be changing coaches after this season (hello Florida), the Buckeyes could be bigger players in the portal this offseason. But so far, the additions have been pretty targeted. For example, in the number of players the Buckeyes added in the portal this season, they didn’t rank among the 50 biggest transfer classes in the country.

When they have gone into the portal since the transfer rules changed in 2021, how have they done? For this exercise, Bill and Doug looked at the scholarship transfers into Ohio State, and whether they were a hit, miss or it’s too hard to tell. They ran through this on the show as well, and some of the answers might not match up exactly. Some of these close calls can changed depending on your mood.

But here, the total is 12 hits, four misses and nine players that are still too close to call.

2021

Noah Ruggles, K (North Carolina)

Hit or miss? Ruggles made 148 of 149 extra points as the Buckeyes’ kicker over two seasons. He made 37 of 41 field goals. But he missed the 50-yarder on the last play of the playoff semifinal against Georgia, and if it makes that, the Buckeyes almost certainly win the national title (no offense to TCU). So a hit for 99 percent of his OSU career, and a tough miss when it mattered most. We’ll let you decide how you characterize that.