Ryan Day loaded up the transfer portal with 18 new players, but one key position is dangerously thin. Now, an OSU alum is raising the alarm about a roster position that has seen multiple departures. The Buckeyes are going into the next season with a glaring weakness for a team with championship-or-bust expectations.

OSU may have added players through the transfer portal, but former Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter isn’t convinced the Buckeyes truly addressed one of their most important rooms.

“I don’t see that being something that they’re going to probably major in as much,” Carpenter said, pointing directly to tight end depth as a growing concern. With Will Kaczmarek and Max Klare heading to the NFL Draft and Jelani Thurman transferring, “that room got a lot thinner this year.” Even with portal additions, Carpenter admitted, “I don’t know that you’re gonna have that positional depth. That may be a group that you lean into.”

And the numbers back it up. Last season alone, Klare logged 488 snaps behind Kaczmarek’s 509, while Bennett Christian added 255, Nate Roberts 160, and Thurman 135. OSU leaned heavily on multi-TE packages in recent years, something that becomes much harder to justify when proven production walks out the door.

But Ryan Day has moved quickly, signing Northwestern’s Hunter Welching and Ohio’s Mason Williams. The latter, who followed the same route from Ohio to OSU, is a blocker very similar to Kaczmarek. He had a great season with 26 receptions, 276 yards, three touchdowns, and an outstanding 66.7 run-blocking grade on PFF while giving up only one pressure all season.

Despite playing in one of the worst passing schemes in the country, Welcing had a breakout season in his sixth year at Northwestern with 28 receptions for 296 yards and two touchdowns, earning him honorable mention in the All-Big Ten.

But none of the transfers completely makes up for the volume and continuity that OSU lost. On paper, the Buckeyes are still ready to rotate four tight ends. But in reality, this group looks very different than the ones Ryan Day counted on in past seasons when second and third tight ends often logged hundreds of snaps.

While Carpenter is sounding the alarm on personnel, former head coach Urban Meyer is focused on the coaching staff, offering a different perspective on the Buckeyes’ offseason moves. Meyer believes the hiring of Arthur Smith could be a game-changer, but even his optimism might not be enough to quiet concerns about the roster’s weak spots.

Urban Meyer loves Arthur Smith’s appointment

Urban Meyer described Smith as a “great hire” on The Triple Option podcast, noting that college football has increasingly resembled the NFL. According to Meyer, Ryan Day is following his Matt Patricia strategy of hiring seasoned NFL players who can focus solely on the scheme. With Smith joining Patricia in Columbus, Meyer sees Ohio State establishing a real pro-style staff that values execution and game planning over the typical recruiting grind.

“Coach Day told me a little about which direction he’s going to be headed, without going too far into detail,” stated Meyer. “But I think Ohio State’s jumping all over themselves because they see Matt Patricia as the template to go hire someone. Someone who’s going to focus on the scheme, and Arthur Smith’s got to be one of the best in the business at it.”

Everything looks appealing on paper. After coaching with the Titans, Falcons, and Steelers, Smith offers great NFL credentials. His schemes have always relied on TEs and physical run games, which Buckeye fans have been craving. Add in elite talent like Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and Bo Jackson into that mix, and suddenly the picture looks exciting again.

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But here’s where reality checks the hype. Despite all of the praise Smith has received, the Buckeyes still need to overcome a TE room that has recently lost its core players. Smith’s system thrives when TEs are reliable, but Ohio State is now relying more on projection than output. That’s the pressure Ryan Day faces entering the season with plenty of star power and still a glaring uncertainty at tight end.