Ohio State's Nate Roberts, no longer a fullback, eyeing jump to TE1 this spring
Roberts played a lot for a true freshman in 2025. Now he needs to be OSU's best tight end in 2026.
COLUMBUS — Nate Roberts was going to do whatever was asked of him, especially as a true freshman tight end with a rare opportunity to get on the field at Ohio State. So, Roberts played fullback last year. The results were a mixed bag. Probably because Roberts had never played the position before.
It was the kind of up-and-down introduction to a player that can create a distorted view of what that player actually hopes to become. Roberts played fullback. He didn’t envision himself doing that. He’d do it again if asked. But he came here to play tight end. Now, there’s a starting opportunity staring him in the face as he enters his sophomore season.
Time to go.
“It’s really exciting knowing that this room is wide open, and trying to go take that role,” Roberts said this week. “I want to be the No. 1 starter. If you come to Ohio State, that’s what you want to be. That’s been my goal all offseason.”
There were 1,553 snaps played by Ohio State tight ends last year. A total of 1,132 walked out the door after the season, with Will Kacmarek and Max Klare off to the NFL Draft and Jelani Thurman transferring to UNC.
The returning snap leader is fifth-year tight end Bennett Christian, but he’s out for the spring, which makes Roberts TE1 right now — a distinction he’d likely have even if Christian were available for practice.
“He’s taken quite a bit of a step, and it started in the weight room,” tight ends coach Keenan Bailey said of Roberts. “He was competing every day in there, and he was far and away top-ranked when we came out of winter. That’s why he got the first crack at it when we got to spring.”
Roberts has a good mental make-up. That much is apparent when listening to him discuss his journey to this point. Even if he wasn’t so sure of himself when speaking, tight ends don’t play as freshmen in any capacity unless they have an advanced football IQ. So the fact that he played 160 snaps as a freshman was a rather strong endorsement of where Bailey sees Roberts going.
Pro Football Focus has snap counts for OSU going back to the 2014 season. Roberts’ 160 snaps are the most for a true freshman tight end over that span. Jeremy Ruckert, who played 130 snaps in 2018, is second. No other player comes close, because most tight ends redshirt as freshmen.
There were only three true freshmen tight ends among the entire Power Four who played more than Roberts last year: Alabama’a Kaleb Edwards (369 snaps), Boston College’s Kaelan Chudzinski (204 snaps), and Tennessee’s Jack Van Dorsealer (186 snaps). Roberts, the No. 10 tight end in the 247Sports composite ratings coming out of high school, has a head start on most of his classmates heading into 2026.
“I feel a lot more comfortable now,” he said. “A whole year of preparation and being in the program definitely helps out. So, I’m just going out there more confident every day and just trying to do my job as well as I can.”
Still, he remains a bit of a mystery, at least to outside observers who are wondering exactly how the tight end position will shake out this year.
Tight ends were a bit of a lightning rod last season. There were times when the group played well. Others when it struggled. Overall, the position felt overused. But the top two at the position, Kacmarek and Klare, were largely good last season and leave two large holes in the offense that must be filled — primarily Kacmarek, who was the team’s top in-line tight end last year and its best blocker.
Roberts, Christian, and transfer additions Mason Williams (Ohio) and Hunter Welcing (Northwestern) are competing for the top spot. Roberts might have the highest ceiling among that group, but he’s still the least experienced, especially when you start parsing his 160 snaps.
Eighty of those snaps came out of the backfield. Only 61 of them came from an in-line position, and among those 61, a combined 30 came in games against Grambling State and Rutgers. Also, Roberts was somewhat fazed out of the offensive plan late in the season as the fullback package was scrapped. He played seven snaps against Indiana, and none against Miami.
Put another away: Roberts’ snap count as a freshman tight end was noteworthy, but he wasn’t asked to actually play tight end a lot. He’s eager to show that he can do it.
“I’m able to block in-line, and I can run routes,” he said. “They’ve only seen me go out of the fullback (spot) really. This year, I’m ready to show that I’m an all-around tight end and that I’m able to do anything … I take a lot of pride in it. I’ve put on a lot of weight this offseason to be able to block the C gap. And just because I’m gaining weight doesn’t mean I’m getting any slower, so I’m able to run routes and in-line block.”
Roberts said he came out of winter conditioning around 250 pounds after playing last season between 235-240. He knows there may be some outside questions about his readiness to step up into the TE1 role, but he’s not lacking in confidence.
Asked on Thursday if he’s prepared to step up, his answer was short and sweet.
“Yes,” he said.
It’s one of those things he can talk about all he wants, but the proof will be in what’s on the field.
No need to expound beyond a succinct, self-assured, one-word response.
We’ll know soon enough if he has the stuff to be Ohio State’s top tight end as a sophomore. So far, he’s on the right track.
“He’s gotta keep improving, but we have high expectations,” Bailey said. “And nobody has higher expectations than he has for himself. I’m proud of how he’s progressing.”