Buckeyes OL Ben Christman enters transfer portal
COLUMBUS — Ohio State third-year offensive lineman Ben Christman has entered the transfer portal, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.
Christman played just nine offensive snaps with the Buckeyes, all last season in garbage time of a runaway victory against Indiana on Nov. 12, according to Pro Football Focus.
The 6-foot-6, 315-pound Akron native was four-star prospect from Richfield (Ohio) Revere, where he emerged as the No. 8 interior offensive lineman in the 2021 cycle, per the On3 Industry Ranking.
Christman shed his black stripe in November 2021, nearly three months into his true freshman season. He redshirted that year.
Christman played significant snaps during this year’s spring game, which he began as the Buckeyes’ second-team left guard. That position, however, is the most solid on an otherwise pretty inexperienced Ohio State O-Line.
After all, left guard is manned by Donovan Jackson, one of two returning starters up front.
Christman is the third Ohio State player to hit the portal during the spring transfer window, which runs from April 15 to April 30. Second-year wide receiver Caleb Burton entered his name Tuesday, and fourth-year place kicker Jake Seibert announced his move on April 17.
Ohio State has yet to add a player from the portal in the spring transfer window. The Buckeyes brought aboard six scholarship transfers in the winter, an uncharacteristically high number for head coach Ryan Day and his staff. That group included Louisiana-Monroe offensive lineman Victor Cutler, who was the second-team center during this year’s Ohio State spring game.
Toward the end of spring ball, Day was asked about the idea of turning to the portal for another transfer offensive linemen.
“I think that’s a conversation to have,” he said. “But we gotta kind of go through and see how the [spring] game plays out, see how that looks on film, take the body of work, and then make some decisions from there. But you know we’ll kind of have those conversations and see where we’re at. It’s a delicate situation, for sure. I think we believe in the guys that we have. Otherwise, we’d say, yeah, we gotta bring in a guy.”
Day continued: “I think we believe in the guys. We know that they can do it. We’re looking for more consistency. I mean, I think if I if you rewind it a year from now, and I was sitting up here and we were asking about Paris [Johnson Jr.] at left tackle, I’d be concerned. I was. He came a long way. And so I know these guys can as well. Justin [Frye] does a great job teaching technique. But they’re gonna have to do that here in the next couple months.”
