Ryan Day Believes 'A Lot' of Ohio State Players Could Return Next Season
The Ohio State Buckeyes finished 11-1 with their only loss of the season coming to the now No. 1 Michigan Wolverines in the final week of the regular season.
In fact, were it not for a pair of Kyle McCord interceptions, and a questionable call or two from Day, the Buckeyes may have had enough to pull the upset and earn their way to the Rose Bowl vs. Alabama.
Typically, given the current college football climate, a season like that would follow with a mass exodus of top talent to the NFL the following spring.
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However, according to head coach Ryan Day, it will not be a surprise to him if Ohio State is able to buck that trend, and return a lot of their key talent to Colombus is 2024.
“I'm optimistic because I think a lot of these guys feel like there's some unfinished business here," Day said. "There's a great opportunity to come back and have a great team on all three phases and both sides of the ball."
Of course, Day was not specific about who he believes could return next season.
That said, there are plenty of NFL-eligible Buckeyes that are staring at an NFL decision at this very moment.
Most notably, Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, J.T. Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, MIchael Hall Jr., TreVeyon Henderson, Jackson Sawyer, Tyleik Williams, Cade Stover, and Tommy Eichenberg could all conceivably go in the first three rounds of the draft.
So far, as Day noted Wednesday, there have not been any declarations for the Draft, nor have any players opted out of the Buckeyes Cotton Bowl matchup vs. Missouri next week.
“We’ve got a good group playing in the game,” Day said. “I think there's a lot of guys that have that feeling like they don't want to leave without winning that game. That's for sure. I mean, that's been a huge part of the conversations.”
And perhaps that is a good sign for 2024 as well. We will find out one way or another by Jan. 15 - the deadline for players to declare for the NFL Draft.
