The Buckeyes had 26 commits sign with Ohio State between Wednesday and Thursday of last week, their largest class since the 2018 cycle (also 26 signees). With the recruits finally signing scholarship agreements, head coach Ryan Day was allowed to comment publicly on the players joining the program for the first time during his Signing Day press conference.

We’ve gathered a few quotes of his thoughts on many of the 26 commits and how they could impact Ohio State going forward.

FIVE-STAR QUARTERBACK

On being Ohio State’s QB for 2025: “I think he’s done a really good job of leading his own team and being somebody that is very unique in Bellefontaine. He came down for almost every spring practice to get around the guys and to see what’s going on in terms of the meetings on the field and what it looks like. And then when he went on to some of the camps and Elite 11s, he really carried himself very, very well there, competed well. He knows what he’s stepping into because he’s around the facility as much as he is. It’s an easy ride for him to get here. And he’s going to come in and look to compete right away. And I think he’s excited to get here. I think he feels like it’s been a long recruiting process now because it has been a while (since he committed). And we’re obviously very excited to build around him.”

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How he’ll handle the pressure of being from Ohio: “Being the quarterback of the state of Ohio is different. So we’ll have a plan for that and explain exactly what’s going on and what the expectations are and showing him what it’s supposed to look like. But for him to be down here as much as he is, I think he’s getting a feel for that already.”

On managing expectations for an Ohio quarterback: “We’ve talked about it as a group with his family, what comes with that. We do have some experience with that. It’s not going to be normal for him in his town of Bellefontaine. That’s one thing when he comes here to Columbus that will be new. That’s really the case for a lot of these guys. Being the quarterback in the state of Ohio is different.”

FIVE-STAR CORNERBACK

On his leadership for the 2025 class: “You look on the defensive side, Devin and his parents were very much involved as well. They were excellent during the whole process. A lot of these guys, as you can imagine, had guys coming at them from all over the place. Just the overall loyalty there was great … I think they did a great job sticking together.”

FOUR-STAR RUNNING BACK ANTHONY “TURBO” ROGERS.

Discussing how Rogers’ stature is different from Ohio State’s normal recruiting profile at 5-foot-8 and what the Buckeyes envision from him: “(Running backs coach Carlos Locklyn) has known him for a while and has been recruiting him for a while, so he was very familiar with him. We felt like based on what we saw him do this year, he was lined up as a receiver a lot. He was a returner. So he kind of gives us a little bit of that hybrid where he can line up a receiver, he can come into the backfield, he can return kicks. Haven’t had a ton of those guys. Xavier Johnson was probably the guy that was probably the best comp that way.

“Whenever you can get guys like that, it’s important. I think when you look at the way things are going in NIL with roster limitations, I think the more hybrid guys that you can bring in that can do multiple things will be important, especially this time of year when you’re looking to make a run late in the season. You may take injuries. There’s obviously the portal thing that we’re working through right now. So guys who can do multiple job descriptions, I think their value is going to continue to increase, and I think Turbo is one of those guys.”

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN JAYVON MCFADDEN, CARTER LOWEAND JAKE COOK

How OSU envisions their roles: “Jayvon is really going to give us something at tackle. Carter is a swing guy, Jake’s a local guy, and all three of those guys are guys we feel good about.”

What Lowe brings with his versatility: “First off, he can play a couple of different positions. He’s got good size. He played basketball, he’s got good feet, Very competitive and wants to be at Ohio State and knows what it means to be a Buckeye. All those things add up.

“Tough, physical. But again, I think he can play a couple of different positions. He can play tackle if we need him to. He can play guard. He’s got the size to do that. He’s got the feet to do it. So we’ll kind of see when he gets here, but we’re hoping that he can make a difference early on.”

LINEBACKERS RILEY PETTIJOHN AND ELI LEE

On their futures: “I’ve been really impressed with our linebacking corps. Eli, obviously from Ohio, and Riley.

Breaking down those three: “Cody is from Ohio and comes from a great program, great family. He’s going to be a huge addition to our team. DeShawn had a really great year, suffered an injury late but has huge upside. Faheem is one of the top safeties in the country.”

TIGHT ENDS NATE ROBERTSAND BRODY LENNON

On Roberts: “I think (tight ends coach Keenan Bailey) really works hard at it. Everybody in the country was on Nate from the job and continued all the way until this last week. But he wanted to be a Buckeye through and through. His family is excited. He’s from Norman, Oklahoma, so he’s right in the teeth of it. I thought there was a great relationship built there.”

On Lennon: “Brody is very, very talented, can do a lot of things, great skill set. He has a really big upside, we feel. So, again, another upgrade there in the tight end room, which we know is a huge part of our offense. We need those kind of guys to come in and make an impact early on, which I think coming in mid-year, both of them have an opportunity to do that.”

DEFENSIVE TACKLES AND JARQUEZ Omo CARTER

How Ohio State needs interior linemen to step up for next year’s team: “We’re going to need our interior D-line to step up with us losing those guys next year. We think all these guys can make a difference early on in the process, and we’re going to need them to.

“And who knows what that’s going to look like once Jack (Sawyer), JT (Tuimoloau), Ty (Hamilton), and Tyleik (Williams) move on. Is that front going to look the same, or are we going to consider some other things? So we wanted to bring in some guys with different skill sets that may not fit the exact prototype of the guys that we brought in in the past, but that can give some different versatility based on some things we may look at front-wise depending on the next year.”

WIDE RECEIVERS QUINCY PORTER, PHILLIP BELL,BODPEGN MILLLER AND DE’ZIE JONES

On Porter: “I think Quincy really is a bigger receiver that is a different style than we’ve probably had. Obviously Jeremiah’s big, but Quincy really – we loved his film going into last year. We felt like the game that he had against Chaminade, against Jeremiah’s team the year before, was the one that really separated him for us. He really competed well, played well, and then you saw the season he had for Bergen Catholic this year.

“It’s a state championship program and he’s a big physical guy. And when you look at those guys, you look at where Marvin Harrison Jr. was as a junior and senior in high school, Jeremiah’s a little bit different. But those bigger guys, they grow into their bodies and just become stronger and faster. We think all that’s going to happen with Quincy. Got a great work ethic, works really hard.”

On Jones: “De’zie is the teammate with DeShawn (Stewart) at DePaul Catholic. We signed him early. We think, again, another versatile guy that can line up inside and line up outside, does a lot of great things.”

On Bell: “Phillip Bell has had a challenging fall, has been through some different things, but is very mature. Our comp for him is probably Emeka, just with his physicality and the way he plays. He could line up inside or outside as well. So, again, versatility with him.”

On Miller: “Bodpegn is kind of the wild card. He’s a local guy who came to camp, did some great things, ran some really good times. And then you watch him run some routes, which he hadn’t done a whole lot of in his high school career. You see some really high-end things that he was doing, especially with his size at 6-foot-4. And then you watch some of the games he had this season, very, very competitive and plays quarterback. So I don’t know if that will be a year one for him, but we think that he can be a very, very good receiver.

“So some different styles of guys in there. But, you know, you’ve got to have 10 or 11 guys on a roster, and you want to be able to develop some guys. So we have some guys that will probably be a little bit further along when they first walk in than some other guys that we’re going to develop.”