Every Ohio State Player’s Remaining Eligibility After NCAA Adopts Five-Year Eligibility Model

This year’s roster is unaffected by the change; all players who were out of eligibility after the 2025 season are still out of eligibility, and all players who were eligible for 2026 under the previous rules – including seventh-year seniors Ja’Kobi Jackson and Hunter Welcing – remain eligible. Looking forward to 2027, however, fourth-year seniors who would have exhausted their eligibility this season will have the opportunity to play another year of college football should they want to do so.

Players who already took a redshirt year – which will no longer exist under the new model – still have the same number of years of eligibility remaining as they did before last week’s rule change. Players who hadn’t taken a redshirt, however, now have a fifth year of eligibility at their disposal, while teams will no longer have to worry about limiting the number of games their freshmen play to preserve their fifth year of eligibility.

With that in mind, we’re taking a look at how much eligibility all of Ohio State’s 90 scholarship players have remaining under the newly simplified model and how that could impact Ohio State beyond this season. (Note: Players in bold now have an additional year of eligibility than they did under the NCAA’s previous five years to play four seasons model.)

Fifth (or Seventh) Year Seniors in Final Year of Eligibility (13)

QB Justyn Martin

RB Ja’Kobi Jackson

WR David Adolph

TE Bennett Christian

TE Hunter Welcing

C Carson Hinzman

OT Vasean Washington

DE Beau Atkinson

DE Kenyatta Jackson Jr.

S Earl Little Jr.

S Terry Moore

S Brenten “Inky” Jones

LS Dalton Riggs

All of these players have already taken redshirt years and are already in at least their fifth year out of high school, so all of them will exhaust their eligibility after the 2026 season.

One possible exception to the rule is Martin, who told Eleven Warriors in January that he expected to receive a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA after missing the entire 2025 season with an injury. While hardship waivers for injuries will no longer be granted under the new model, Martin remains eligible to apply for a waiver until July 31 because his injury occurred before the new model was implemented.

Fourth-Year Seniors with Two Years of Eligibility (17)

WR Brandon Inniss

WR Devin McCuin

WR Kyle Parker

TE Mason Williams

OT Phillip Daniels

OT/G Austin Siereveld

G Luke Montgomery

G/C Joshua Padilla

DE Qua Russaw

DT Jason Moore

DT James Smith

DT Will Smith Jr.

DT John Walker

LB Christian Alliegro

CB Cam Calhoun

CB Jermaine Mathews Jr.

P Joe McGuire

Until last week’s rule change, seven players in this group had not redshirted and were in line to exhaust their eligibility in 2026: Inniss, McCuin, Williams, Montgomery, James Smith, Alliegro and Mathews. Now, each of those Buckeyes has the option to play another year of college football in 2027 if they want to.

Whether they actually will is another question. Montgomery and Mathews already weighed entering the NFL draft after last season before returning for another year, and all seven of them have the potential to be selected in next year’s draft if they perform well this fall. Siereveld, who already knew he still had two more years of eligibility because he redshirted his true freshman year at Ohio State in 2023, is another strong candidate to enter the 2027 NFL draft even though he’ll still have another year of eligibility, as he’s been projected as a potential early-round pick next spring.

Although McGuire is now older than the NCAA’s new age limit, having graduated from high school in 2018, he remains eligible to play two more years of college football because athletes who had already started their careers are able to use either the previous eligibility model or the new age-based model – whichever is more beneficial to them. McGuire is in his fourth year with the Buckeyes and redshirted his first year at Ohio State in 2023 before becoming the Buckeyes’ starting punter in 2024.

Juniors with Three Years of Eligibility (13)

QB Julian Sayin

WR Jeremiah Smith

TE Max LeBlanc

OT Devontae Armstrong

OT Ian Moore

G Gabe VanSickle

DT Eddrick Houston

LB Payton Pierce

LB Garrett Stover

CB Miles Lockhart

S Jaylen McClain

S Leroy Roker III

K Connor Hawkins

Three more years of Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State? It’s technically now a possibility, though even two more years of Smith in scarlet and gray is realistically a pipe dream for Buckeye fans, as Smith is projected to be the first non-quarterback selected in the 2027 NFL draft.

Other third-year Buckeyes who now have three more years of eligibility instead of two include Houston, Pierce and McClain, who didn’t redshirt as freshmen and are now in line to be three of Ohio State’s defensive stars as juniors. Any one of them could potentially go to the NFL after just one more year at Ohio State, let alone two, so the Buckeyes shouldn’t bank on having them on their 2028 roster, but they now at least know they won’t be punished for playing backup roles as freshmen should they desire to play five years of college football.

Sayin is another Buckeye on this list who will have an NFL decision to make after the upcoming season even though he already had three more years of eligibility, so it’s highly unlikely he’ll still be Ohio State’s starting quarterback in 2028. The rest of the Buckeye juniors are potential candidates to play three more years of college football, though Moore could emerge as an NFL draft prospect within the next two years if he wins one of Ohio State’s starting tackle jobs.

Sophomores with Four Years of Eligibility (19)

QB Tavien St. Clair

RB Bo Jackson

RB Anthony “Turbo” Rogers

RB Isaiah West

WR Phillip Bell

WR De’zie Jones

TE Brody Lennon

TE Nate Roberts

OT Carter Lowe

G/C Jake Cook

DE Zion Grady

DE Epi Sitanilei

LB TJ Alford

LB Eli Lee

LB Riley Pettijohn

CB Dominick Kelly

CB Devin Sanchez

CB Jordyn Woods

S DeShawn Stewart

Despite playing too many games to redshirt last season, Jackson, West, Roberts, Grady, Alford, Pettijohn, Kelly and Sanchez all now have four more years of eligibility along with the freshmen who did redshirt last year. Ohio State isn’t going to count on still having any of them on their 2029 roster – each of them has already flashed the potential to be an NFL draft prospect after just three or four years – but that option is now on the table for all of them.

Freshmen with Five Years of Eligibility (28)

QB Luke Fahey

RB Favour Akih

RB Legend Bey

WR Brock Boyd

WR Jerquaden Guilford

WR Chris Henry Jr.

WR Jaeden Ricketts

TE Nick Lautar

OT Sam Greer

OT/G Landry Brede

G Maxwell Riley

C/G Tucker Smith

C/G Mason Wilhelm

DE Darryus McKinley

DE Dre Quinn

DE Khary Wilder

DT Jamir Perez

DT Emanuel Ruffin

DT Damari Simeon

LB Cincere Johnson

LB Braxton Rembert

LB C.J. Sanna

CB Jordan Thomas

CB Jay Timmons

S Khmari Bing

S Blaine Bradford

S Simeon Caldwell

S Kaden Gebhardt

Calculating eligibility for Ohio State’s newest freshman class over the course of its career will be simpler than it’s ever been before. All 28 members of the Buckeyes’ 2026 class will now begin their careers with five years of eligibility instead of four, and all of them will still have four more years of eligibility next season no matter how much they play this season.

That allows the Buckeyes to play every freshman who earns a spot on the depth chart this season as much as they want without having to worry about redshirt implications. For players like Henry, Bey, Boyd and Timmons who already made a big push for playing time this spring, Ohio State wasn’t likely to worry about preserving redshirts anyway. But it could be a big benefit for freshmen who aren’t quite ready to play major roles yet but are good enough to earn backup jobs or special teams duty, as Ohio State will now be able to play those players in an unlimited number of games without having to worry about long-term eligibility implications.

Click here to read article