COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football’s 2023 recruiting class hasn’t spent much time in the spotlight since arriving as the nation’s No. 4 class.
A class with just one five-star recruit has spent the past two years either developing in the background or being used as depth pieces in key moments only flashing their upside. But now the group enters Year 3 and their time to emerge as stars has finally arrived.
Ryan Day’s third full recruiting class essentially embodies the idea of what former OSU defensive backs Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore were during their college careers. Neither could get on the field their first two seasons for reasons ranging from lingering injuries to being blocked by veterans in front of them. Then something clicked in 2016 with each making a jump putting them among the best players in college football and first-round picks in the 2017 NFL Draft.
That could be the path for a class marred by the idea that NIL prevented it from being the best possible class it could be on Signing Day, to spending two years under the radar.
So far, only Carnell Tate has established himself as a starter. The former No. 8 player and No. 9 wide receiver in the 2023 class caught 52 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns this season playing alongside senior Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith. Now he and Smith are among the few returning starters for the Buckeyes in 2025.
Caleb Downs is the only other third-year player entering 2025 without any question marks. But he wasn’t originally part of that class, starting his career at Alabama and quickly becoming a star.
This season, other 2023 signees should join Tate as starters. You may not know their names right now, but here are nine players you need to know from a class that’s now the core of the Ohio State football program.
Brandon Inniss
High School Rank: No. 38 player, No. 5 wide receiver, five-star.
Career snaps: 227
Career Stats: 15 catches for 234 yards and two touchdowns.
Brandon Inniss’ lack of production in his first two seasons isn’t because he’s done anything wrong. The Buckeyes reloaded their roster last year and that meant asking the wide receiver to spend another year watching instead of playing. He still had moments whether it be a touchdown catch against Penn State or a key third-down completion in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.
Now it’s time for Inniss to join his former 7-o-7 teammates Tate and Jeremiah Smith as a starter. This might be the nation’s best wide receiver trio, but that alone doesn’t make Inniss valuable. Don’t be surprised if the Florida native is a captain in 2025 as OSU not only needs to replace production but vocal leaders.
Jermaine Mathews
High School Rank: No. 47 player, No. 5 cornerback, four-star.
Career snaps: 588
Career Stats: 23 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, three pass breakups, a pick-six and 21 catches allowed on 43 targets for 191 yards.
Is Jermaine Mathews overqualified for this list?
Every coach has considered him a co-starter this season, even if it took a while to make him a mainstay in the rotation. But he is going from co-star to main character this season and that might be all the opportunity he needs to fully take off. Tim Walton has spent the last three years trying to revive the Buckeyes’ cornerback room and has succeeded in doing so. Now all he’s missing is an NFL-level punctuation.
He’s started to recruit the room at such a high level that achieving that goal feels more like a matter of when and not if. Maybe that starts next year, with Mathews showing the country what’s been cooking in Columbus.
Luke Montgomery
High School Rank: No. 92 player, No. 3 interior offensive lineman, four-star.
Career snaps: 305
Career Stats: Six pressures allowed in 133 pass-blocking snaps.
What if OSU’s national title run just unlocked the best version of Luke Montgomery?
He was thrown into the fire during the College Football Playoff thanks to a bevy of injuries as part of a three-man rotation at guard before taking over the starting left guard job full-time for the final two games. Ideally, he wouldn’t have been out there because Donovan Jackson would’ve never moved to left tackle replacing an injured Josh Simmons.
The good thing that came from it is that Montgomery getting thrown into action earlier than anticipated could mean expediting his development. If he wins a starting job in 2025, facing Texas in a season-opener won’t be uncharted territory. A player with an already high ceiling may have just found a way to raise it a little more.
Jelani Thurman
High School Rank: No. 111 player, No. 4 tight end, four-star.
Career snaps: 189
Career Stats: Six catches for 60 yards and one touchdown.
Calling anything ‘Now or never’ in sports always feels like an overdramatization of a situation. Well…unless you’re talking about a 2024 Ohio State football team that’s literally in a ‘Now or never,’ ‘Leave no doubt,’ scenario.
That is not the case for Jelani Thurman. He plays a position that’s developmental by nature and is also in a room where three other guys deserve to see the field. Sure, he has the most upside of that quartet, but maybe it’s unfair to expect to live up to every unrealistic expectation. Or maybe it’s not.
Maybe bringing in Max Klare from Purdue, the return of Will Kacmarek and Bennett Christian’s emergence mixed with Day routinely using the media to big up Thurman gives him the proper push he needs. Maybe he becomes the living embodiment of what the “Hooker-Lattimore Award” is supposed to be. For some reason, things just click this year and he taps into the player most already think he’s capable of being.
Malik Hartford
High School Rank: No. 161 player, No. 11 safety, four-star.
Career snaps: 253
Career Stats: 18 tackles, three pass breakups and four catches allowed on seven targets for eight yards.
Malik Hartford enters his third year with a battle ahead. He flashed as a freshman in 2023 even starting a game. Then he watched Jaylen McClain essentially jump him in line to do the same in 2024.
Downs needs a new running mate now that Lathan Ransom is gone. Maybe that comes more by committee because safeties coach Matt Guerrieri feels comfortable with multiple people. Or maybe Hartford — who someone in the program once told was a three-and-done talent — takes a jump this offseason and is ready to take on the responsibility
Lincoln Kienholz
High School Rank: No. 194 player, No. 15 quarterback, four-star.
Career snaps: 68
Career Stats: 10 of 22 for 111 yards.
Lincoln Kienholz spent the first two years of his career knowing it would be about the big picture with his development. That got interrupted at the end of the 2023 season with him having to play in the Cotton Bowl thanks to Kyle McCord transferring and Devin Brown getting hurt. He wasn’t ready for that moment and no one expected him to be so it’s not even worth using it as part of the evaluation.
Now he heads into his second spring with a chance to claim the starting job even if right now most assume that former five-star Julian Sayin is the favorite ti win it. Two years in, Kienholz has his first real opportunity to have a role for the Buckeyes.
Best case scenario, he wins it. Worst case scenario, he pushes Sayin bringing the best out of both of them while he’s always one play away from the field.
Arvell Reese
High School Rank: No. 213 player, No. 22 linebacker, four-star.
Career snaps: 309
Career Stats: 43 tackles, four tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, seven pressures and nine catches allowed on 10 targets for 64 yards.
James Laurinaitis might have a star in the making with Arvell Reese. He looks the part and flashed enough as the third linebacker this season that there’s optimism that the starting mike linebacker spot is in good hands with Cody Simon’s departure.
It’s been a while since the Buckeyes have had a bonafide stud at the position even if there’ve been quality players over the year. Hiring Laurinaitis signaled that those days back could be right around the corner. Maybe that’s arrived in 2025 through a Glenville product ready to make a significant impact.
Kayden McDonald
High School Rank: No. 269 player, No. 38 defensive lineman, four-star.
Career snaps: 247
Career Stats: 20 tackles, three tackles for loss, two pass breakups and three pressures.
There were a lot of positive things said about Kayden McDonald this season as the guy third in the defensive tackle hierarchy. Now he’ll potentially move to the front of the line bringing what could be a productive season with him.
He flashed when given the opportunity last year most notably during Ohio State’s goal line stand in a 20-13 win over Penn State. McDonald could’ve been a weak link as a young guy playing in the most high-leverage snaps of his career. Instead, he thrived even making a few game-deciding plays. Williams called McDonald his mini-me last spring. This year we will find out why.
Austin Siereveld
High School Rank: No. 302 player, No. 16 interior offensive lineman, four-star.
Career snaps: 495
Career Stats: 11 pressures allowed in 274 pass-blocking snaps.
Austin Siereveld’s situation is similar to Montgomery’s. He started the first two games of the season in place of an injured Jackson. Then he spent much of the year playing both left and right guard, even if he wasn’t healthy down the stretch. His ability to play both spots makes him an intriguing prospect heading into his third season.
