Former Colorado QB highlights the brighter side for Ryan Day & Co. as Ohio State looks to replace 14 NFL draft picks

College football analyst and former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Joel Klatt believes Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes will have their hands full to repeat as national champions.

The Buckeyes won the national title last season, but saw 14 players get drafted and others sign UDFA deals in the NFL. Ohio State is overhauling its roster, but Klatt ranked the Buckeyes as the third-best team going into 2025 due to the fact that they have the two best players in college football in Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith.

"Obviously, questions at quarterback and questions about how they are going to replace this heavy number of talented NFL draft picks," Klatt said at 41:22. "They have to replace 14 NFL draft picks, 14 that is wild. They have the two best players in the country...

"They are still going to be able to throw to Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. They are still going to throw to Brandon Inniss, they are still gong to have backs to hand it to. The defense, even though they lost a lot of players, they brought in Matt Patricia as the defensive coordinator," Klatt added.

As Klatt says, Ohio State still has plenty of talent despite 14 players being drafted into the NFL.

As Klatt says, as long as the Buckeyes have Jeremiah Smith on offense and Caleb Downs on defense, Ohio State can still be a top team in college football.

The Buckeyes have the best odds of winning the national title at +500.

Ryan Day needs Ohio State players to take leadership roles

With so many key players off to the NFL, Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day is hopeful that the team has the right leaders this season.

There are several players returning who will have an impactful role and Day says he needs them to be leaders for this group and show the new players what it takes to win.

"That’s important, and I think it’s different when you’re actually in that role as a leader. We’re going to try to use that as a reference point, just to try to help them understand that when you’re a leader, you have to take on the burden of being a leader," Day said, via On3.

"It’s one thing to sit in the back and watch somebody else do it because we have we lost a lot of leadership. Now, we do have some guys who are stepping up in a big way and they just need more opportunity. So that’s going to be the summer project.”

Day and the Buckeyes will open their 2025 college football season on August 30 against the Texas Longhorns.