Player to Watch: Hunter Welcing brings experience at tight end to Ohio State
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One area where Ohio State lost a lot from last year was at the tight end position. Max Klare and Will Kacmarek were both selected in April’s NFL Draft, while Jelani Thurman transferred to North Carolina.
The most experienced returning tight end from last year’s team is Bennett Christian. The redshirt senior has only caught seven passes in his Buckeye career. Nate Roberts saw some time on the field as a freshman, but a good chunk of those snaps came at fullback.
To try and bring in some experience at the position, Ohio State looked to the transfer portal. Enter Hunter Welcing and Mason Williams.
Welcing will be entering his seventh season of college football after committing to Northwestern back in March of 2019. After playing hockey as a kid, Welcing transitioned to football. In his senior year in high school, Welcing scored four touchdowns in five games before his season ended due to injury.
Welcing didn’t play during the shortened 2020 season, and he redshirted in 2021 after playing in just four games. Then in 2022 Welcing was granted a medical redshirt season after he missed the season due to injury. After tallying 53 snaps in 2023, Welcing finally grabbed his first reception in 2024. The 20-yard catch against Eastern Illinois was his only grab of the season.
2025 was a breakout season for Welcing, as he finished with 28 catches for 296 yards and two scores. The 296 yards were the most by a Northwestern tight end under head coach David Braun. The last time the Wildcats had a tight end with more receiving yards in a season was in 2017.
Welcing’s first career touchdown came early in the season against Western Illinois, with the other coming against Purdue. Last year Welcing had three games with at least four receptions and the 81 yards he racked up against Michigan were a career-high.
Now Ohio State is hoping Welcing can have a similar impact as Klare and Kacmarek, both of whom the Buckeyes brought in from the transfer portal. The book on Welcing is he is a dependable route runner, he has strong hands, and can find space against zone coverage.
Along with being one of the top tight ends in this year’s transfer portal, Welcing was recently placed on the Mackey Award watch list.
With the talent Ohio State has at wide receiver, the Buckeyes don’t need Welcing to go out there and be a Brock Bowers or Tyler Warren. What they do need are tight ends who are sound blockers and are able to haul in passes when their number is called.
If Welcing is able to mirror the numbers he put up at Northwestern last season then Ryan Day should be ecstatic.
What could help Welcing this year is he could be one of the most underrated players in the Big Ten. Many will look at Welcing as a joke since he has been in college for as long as Van Wilder and Tommy Callahan.
Being surrounded by guys like Jeremiah Smith, Chris Henry Jr., Bo Jackson, and others will also help Welcing surprise some people. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Welcing have a big catch in a crucial situation for the Buckeyes this season.
By entering his seventh year of college football, Welcing has seen just about everything there is to see when it comes to football in the Big Ten. Along with leaning on Welcing to help the team on the field, Day is hoping the experience of his transfer tight end will rub off on Nate Roberts.
It’s obvious the coaching staff is high on Roberts as evidenced by the amount of playing time he saw last year, he just needs someone to help him reach his full potential. While Klare and Kacmarek likely worked with Roberts last season, Welcing will expand on their teachings this season.
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