Shaun Wade, Wyatt Davis Officially Cleared for Return

The two Buckeye captains were given the official thumbs-up to compete this fall in Columbus.

Ohio State will officially have its two captains back on the gridiron.

Offensive lineman Wyatt Davis and cornerback Shaun Wade were cleared to play for this season, head coach Ryan Day said in an interview on 97.1 FM in Columbus tonight.

Davis and Wade both declared for the NFL Draft just days before the Big Ten announced that they would proceed with a season. It didn’t take long for both players to change their minds, once they learned the Buckeyes will get to play this fall.

Both players were already practicing as they awaited word that they were officially cleared to play. Instead of focusing on the formality of being eligible, Davis and Wade can focus on their matchup with Nebraska on Oct. 24.

The NFL won’t have to wait long for Davis and Wade to find their names back in the draft conversation. Both college standouts are rated the best among their position groups.

Leading up to this season, Wade was named to the 2020 Bednarik Award Preseason Watch List, as the best defensive player in college football. Davis was named a first-team preseason All-American by the Associated Press.

The Buckeyes have finished each of the last two seasons with 13-1 records with Davis and Wade emerging as leaders on their respective sides of the ball. Perhaps the biggest reason why both players decided to come back was the chance to compete for a National Championship, especially considering they fell just one game shy of playing for the title last season.

The Buckeyes will start the road back to the CFP in less than a month. 

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