Ohio State has woken up.
After seeing 29 players enter the transfer portal, the Buckeyes remained patient — opting to search for the right players to fill some holes — and added six players to their 2026 roster between Sunday afternoon and Monday.
Ohio State added two safeties, two defensive linemen, an experienced quarterback and a tight end to potentially replace Max Klare, who has not yet announced whether he will head to the NFL Draft.
The Buckeyes waited through most of the first week of the portal without any big additions to the roster, which led to a lot of fan anxiety — especially as more players departed. But the news of the past couple of days should help quell much of that, as coach Ryan Day has added not only depth, but experience.
The first commitments on this run were the two safeties, Florida State’s Earl Little Jr. and Duke’s Terry Moore. Both arrive at Ohio State with just one year of eligibility remaining and a lot of production to their names.
Little was one of the best safeties in the ACC this season, leading Florida State with 76 tackles and four interceptions on the way to being named second-team all-conference. Moore missed the 2025 season with a torn ACL but was regarded as one of the top safeties in the country in 2024, recording 71 tackles, seven for a loss, four interceptions and six pass breakups. With All-American Caleb Downs declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft, they’ll join returning safety Jaylen McClain. Ohio State feels good about both its experience and versatility at the position.
Tight end was a position that needed a small overhaul with Will Kacmarek out of eligibility, Jelani Thurman in the portal and Klare likely headed to the draft. Ohio State added Hunter Welcing from Northwestern. Welcing will be a seventh-year senior after a breakout season in which he tallied 28 catches for 296 yards and two touchdowns. The 23-year-old joins a group that will include 22-year-old Bennett Christian, 21-year-old Mason Williams and a high-potential sophomore in Nate Roberts.
The Buckeyes got their fourth quarterback, too, with Maryland’s Justyn Martin committing after Lincoln Kienholz transferred to Louisville. It’s unlikely he’ll battle for playing time, given the return of starter Julian Sayin and five-star 2025 signee Tavern St. Clair, but he will bring four years of college football experience to a group of backups that is short on experience. Martin attempted 35 passes for UCLA in 2024.
Lastly, Ohio State needed more help along the defensive line and struck gold with the Alabama duo of Qua Russaw and James Smith. They were four-star prospects and teammates at Carver High School in Montgomery, Ala.
Smith is not the pass rusher Russaw is, but he’s a stout defensive tackle who accounted for 26 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks this season. With Kayden McDonald heading to the NFL Draft, Smith will compete for starting spot alongside Eddrick Houston and UCF transfer John Walker. Ohio State has buffed up its interior line with Smith and the edge with Russaw.
Russaw started the first four games of the 2025 season before getting hurt at Georgia and didn’t return until Nov. 22 against Eastern Illinois. In nine games, he had one sack and six pressures on just 50 pass rush snaps, per TruMedia. Smith, by comparison, had 11 pressures on 198 pass rush snaps.
Ohio State still needs help at a few positions, including cornerback, running back and kicker. For now, these were big additions for a program that had largely been watching from the sidelines during the transfer portal window that runs from Jan. 2-16.
Much like Notre Dame’s surge, which included Buckeyes transfer receiver Quincy Porter, Ohio State is back in the portal game and should make some more noise in the coming days.
