Three observations from Ohio State’s 2026 spring game

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Ohio State played its annual spring game on Saturday, giving fans their first opportunity to see some of the new Buckeyes that came in with the freshman class or via the transfer portal from other schools.

It wasn’t the best weather for a spring game, and there’s only so much one can glean from the glorified practice, but is always interesting and there are always players and moments that make it memorable.

Speaking of those players and moments, here are my takeaways:

Chris Henry Jr. quickly makes an impression

You can never really read too much into a big performance in the spring game, but when it’s a freshman — especially one who is expected to flash early — it’s at least worth paying attention.

Tavien St. Clair found Henry for some big plays early, including a 40-yard touchdown. Henry amassed nearly 100 yards receiving in the scrimmage, using his speed, height, and catch radius to his benefit.

He doesn’t look like your average freshman wide receiver any more than Jeremiah Smith did. He did technically have a drop, but he had lost his footing trying to put on the brakes on a play in which St. Clair threw behind him.

Jerquaden Guilford, on the other hand, looked like a freshman, panicking a bit at the goal line as the ball arrived, and he appeared to be about to drop the ball even before Blaine Bradford made a nice play to ensure the pass was incomplete.

That doesn’t mean Guilford won’t have a great career — possibly as good as or better than Henry, because you never know — but what a freshman usually looks like and how Henry looked on Saturday were two different things.

To be fair, Guilford also made one nice catch on third down on Saturday and drew a pass interference call.

Pressure was familiar territory for Sayin

Much like the last two games of last season, Sayin saw entirely too much of opposing pass rushers in his face on Saturday. Although they didn’t have to make a tackle under the game’s contact rules, Kenyatta Jackson and Beau Atkinson harassed the sophomore quarterback repeatedly in the early stages of the game.

While the offensive line in the spring game was shuffled and is still a work in progress, Ohio State must protect better in 2026 than it did in the two postseason games at the end of the 2025 campaign.

Jackson and Atkinson will need to wrap up rather than simply touch the quarterback when the games count, but it was good to see them asserting themselves as Matt Patricia reloads the defense.

Plenty of defensive standouts

With a lot of guys rotating in and out, it doesn’t leave much time for players to leave a big impression. That said, there were some standouts on defense, and this is who flashed on Saturday.

• Atkinson did well to latch onto a tipped ball from Will Smith Jr. to give himself an interception to go with his sack. It’s hard to quantify the eye test, but Atkinson looked more explosive to me.
• Jackson picked up a couple of sacks, although a big grain of salt must be taken with spring game sacks due to the touch rule for quarterbacks. He seems poised for a big 2026 season.
• Several Buckeyes shone in coverage, but it would be nice to see the defense hang on when an opposing quarterback puts a pass in their hands.
  • Bradford, Cam Calhoun, Miles Lockhart, and Ryan Rudzinski aren’t household names, but all made at least one nice play in coverage in the first half, when Sayin and St. Clair were spinning the ball.
• Cincere Johnson showed he’s going to be a monster on a third-and-short play, when he shot a gap and pulled down Ja’Kobi Jackson, who had just shown in each of the two previous plays how hard he can be to tackle.

Obviously, the defense is ahead of the offense at this point, which is why the Gray squad won the game.

The depth players looked solid, and Matt Patricia will enter his second year looking to build on an incredible first year in Columbus.

Spring ball is over, and we won’t get another look at the Buckeyes until the season opener. The team will look a bit different with injured players who were held out returning before the Ball State game.

There are jobs still to be won and lost. But the coaching staff has a good understanding after spring practice and the spring game of what they have to work with as the 2026 season gets closer.

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