The Ohio State Buckeyes lost another defensive lineman on Friday, leaving the room full of unproven yet hungry players.
On Friday afternoon, the expected news dropped that the Ohio State Buckeyes were going to be losing All-American defensive tackle Kayden McDonald to the 2026 NFL Draft.
A bummer for the Ohio State program, but absolutely the right move for McDonald, who came in and took the nation by storm from the defensive tackle position. As with most lineman positions, it's nearly impossible to tell the story of a player just by looking at his stats.
McDonald was an absolute terror up front for the Buckeyes all year long. He finished the year with 65 total tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and one pass breakup. He stands at 6-foot-3 and weighs in at nearly 330 lbs. The dominant interior defender ate up space in the middle of the defense and was a guy that opposing offenses always had to account for
On Friday, he announced that he was heading to the 2026 NFL Draft and is likely going to be a first or second round selection.
Unless any last-minute transfers hit the portal, that should be the end of the departures from that position group. In total, the Buckeyes lost McDonald and Tywone Malone to the NFL draft, and they lost Maxwell Roy, Eric Mensah, and Jarquez Carter to the transfer portal.
On the other side of that coin, they added John Walker from UCF to that room.
So, as it stands right now, the Ohio State defensive line room looks like this:
- Zion Grady
- Jason Moore
- Trajen Odom
- Will Smith Jr.
- Ahmed Tounkara
- Eddrick Houston
- John Walker
This isn't exactly a murderer's row of names and players, at least not yet. The Buckeyes obviously have a lot of work to do to get back to their levels of production that they had this year and in years past, but I do believe that it can happen.
Ohio State has built this incredible program to this point by building from within. They have taken young prospects and have turned them into superstars through work and competition. While this philosophy is going to have to adjust slightly in the years to come, it absolutely can happen for them again next year.
In my opinion, they will probably need to add another top-level talent in the transfer portal that has some experience, but it will be up to the list above to develop for next season.
The Buckeyes are going to have some major holes to fill this year, especially up front. They aren't going to get a life raft to save them; they must turn internal to get the job done.