Updated March 9, 2026, 7:44 a.m. ET
Two months after Ohio State suffered an early exit in the College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes open spring practice.
The Buckeyes began the offseason upgrading the staff with new coordinators on offense and special teams and picking up nearly 20 players through the transfer portal, adding a new mix to the roster.
With a new makeup, here are three of the more pressing questions for the start of practices on March 10:
What is Arthur Smith’s early impact for Ohio State?
The Buckeyes made their biggest offseason splash with the hiring of Smith as offensive coordinator. An experienced play-caller who spent the past two seasons in the same role with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he is expected to serve as a sort of head coach of the offense in the mold of Matt Patricia on defense.
When Patricia arrived last year, he introduced multiple fronts and coverage disguises that elevated the Buckeyes’ top-ranked defense despite heavy attrition, and OSU hopes that Smith will have a similar X’s and O’s influence, offering a needed jolt coming off its second-lowest scoring season of the Ryan Day era.
Smith has a reputation for building productive rushing attacks, a background that should complement the Buckeyes’ quick-strike passing game led by quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. While the backfield won’t be at full strength this spring as Bo Jackson and Isaiah West recover from shoulder procedures, the coming weeks will allow them to put in new concepts or other ideas.
After ranking 29th in the Football Bowl Subdivision with an average of 4.99 yards per carry in 2024, the Buckeyes dropped to 51st last year at 4.55 yards per carry. Whether it’s with tweaking the ground game or other areas, the stretch will offer a window into Smith’s potential imprint.
How does the Ohio State offensive line look?
There is no shortage of experience up front as the Buckeyes retained four of their five starting offensive linemen, but they will need to begin finding fixes for the issues in pass protection that emerged late last year. After allowing just six sacks over the regular season, the Buckeyes surrendered five each in losses in the Big Ten championship game and College Football Playoff, contributing to the early exit in the quarterfinals.
While the Buckeyes didn’t turn to the transfer portal for significant personnel upgrades at the position, they could reconfigure the line. Left tackle Austin Siereveld made six starts at left guard in 2024 and would be a candidate to return to the interior. Right tackle Phillip Daniels is another option to move inside at right guard, the lone vacant starting spot after Tegra Tshabola transferred to Kentucky. Either would open up a spot for Ian Moore, a promising redshirt sophomore tackle.
The simplest maneuver is to have Joshua Padilla or Gabe Van Sickle replace Tshabola, but Van Sickle’s performance in the quarterfinal loss to Miami suggested the Buckeyes might need more tinkering with the line. Will they shake things up or stand pat? Or perhaps find something in between?
Will breakout candidates emerge on Ohio State’s defense?
There was angst last year when the defense lost eight starters to the NFL. But managing this offseason’s exodus could prove to be even more challenging. Only two of the eight defensive players who were drafted last year went earlier than the fourth round. There should be twice as many this April.
The latest mock draft from USA TODAY Sports projects three Ohio State defensive players to be taken in the top 10 between linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs. Some see defensive tackle Kayden McDonald as a potential late first-round pick as well.
Their departures leave the Buckeyes in search of potential difference-makers poised for larger roles, a group that could include returning pieces or portal pickups.
Defensive linemen Zion Grady and Eddrick Houston and linebackers Payton Pierce and Riley Pettijohn highlight a core of up-and-coming returners, while defensive linemen James Smith and John Walker and safeties Earl Little Jr. and Terry Moore lead a bunch of experienced transfers who are expected to have immediate impacts.
Will they flash during this offseason phase? The Buckeyes need the next wave rising on the depth chart to be disruptive, especially behind the line of scrimmage. They’re losing nearly two-thirds of their sack production from 2025.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.