On offense, the Ohio State Buckeyes are going to look totally different in 2025. This is to be expected for any big program, especially coming off a national title. Those athletes did what they could do there, so it was time to move on. It happens to so many title-winners in college across all sports.
Typically, those teams take a step back. It's hard to repeat after such an exodus of talent. However, Ohio State has a chance because they still have one of the nation's best offenses despite the losses, at least according to PFF.
PFF's Max Chadwick listed them as the ninth-best offense in the nation. "The defending national champions are returning only four starters on offense, but one is the best player in college football: sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith," he said.
With Smith, the best receiving corps in college football resides in Columbus. They also have a potential first-round pick in Carnell Tate and a top-three tight end in former Purdue star Max Klare. "The Buckeyes did lose star running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, but sophomore James Peoples and West Virginia transfer CJ Donaldson are capable replacements," Chadwick said.
"Ohio State will have a new starting quarterback but still has a top-10 quarterback room, thanks to a couple of former top-10 overall recruits in redshirt freshman Julian Sayin and true freshman Tavien St. Clair," he went on. "The offensive line was the team’s biggest issue last season and lost four major contributors, making it an area to monitor."
Despite losing Will Howard and two dominant running backs, this is still going to be an incredible offense. Julian Sayin or Tavien St. Clair should at least be serviceable with Smith, Tate, and others out to catch passes from them. The only question mark remains the offensive line, which wasn't all that good last year anyway.