Greg McElroy identifies Ohio State's biggest needs in transfer portal

Ohio State saw 14 players from its national championship squad get drafted during last month’s NFL Draft. As exciting as that is for the Buckeyes program — that means there will be holes to fill this offseason for next year’s squad.

Of course, the NCAA transfer portal has become a useful tool for situations like the one Ohio State has found itself in. Recently, ESPN’s Greg McElroy broke down the portal needs for many of the top teams in the country, including the Buckeyes. McElroy believes one position group in particular needs some assistance heading into the summer.

“It’s pretty obvious here, when evaluating Ohio State’s spring game, talking to people that have covered the sport — they’ve got to find depth at defense tackle,” McElroy said on his show, Always College Football. “Now, if you look at how Ohio State has attacked this time frame in the past, they have not really been big time buyers at the end of spring football, but they have, at times, added massive quality. Just a couple years ago, they added Josh Simmons, who got there in summer of 2023 and developed into one of the best left tackles in the country.”

Simmons was one of the 14 players Ohio State selected last month. He was the first round pick for the Kansas City Chiefs, and will be blocking for Patrick Mahomes next season.

However, the void Ohio State needs to fill, at the moment, is on the other side of the line. As it stands, the Buckeyes have added eight transfers to their roster this offseason. They’ve added help at EDGE, signing the likes of Beau Atkinson and Logan George, but none on the interior defensive line.

“If you look at their starters, I feel really good about Kayden McDonald and Eddrick Houston,” McElroy continued. “I think those two guys are going to be just fine as the starting two at defensive tackle. But it was pretty obvious when you watch Ohio State in the spring, there was a lot more movement to be had by Ohio State’s offensive line against those defensive tackles not named McDonald in Houston, so you can see the push.

“It was pretty obvious they were re-establishing the line of scrimmage. So I’m not yet going to feel super bullish on what they have from a depth standpoint. So I think Ohio State absolutely needs to fortify the depth at defensive tackle if there’s a good one that is available to them. They don’t need to settle.”