Redshirt tracker: Who has already burned their redshirt?

Ohio State has played five games, which means that some freshmen have already exhausted their four games and will not redshirt this season, others are nearing that mark. So let’s take a look at who might still be on track for a redshirt.

Thanks to SportsSource Analytics for their redshirt eligibility tool.

Here’s the full list of freshmen:

Freshmen who have already played in five games

There are only three:

• Tyreke Smith
• K’Vaughn Pope
• Cameron Brown

Freshmen who have played in four games

These players will lose their redshirt if they play one more snap this season:

• Jeremy Ruckert
• Tommy Togiai
• Tyler Friday
• Chris Olave

Meyer has already said that Chris Olave won’t redshirt this season. I’d be really surprised if any of these players end up redshirting, especially Tommy Togiai, who seems to have played well as a rotational defensive lineman.

Freshmen who have yet to play

• Matthew Jones
• Max Wray
• Sevyn Banks
• Matt Baldwin
• Alex Williams
• Marcus Hooker

These players haven’t played for various reasons. Matthew Jones and Max Wray are both offensive lineman, and very few offensive linemen are ready to contribute as freshmen. Marcus Hooker was both injured and held out due to disciplinary reasons.

Quarterback Matt Baldwin was injured, and I expect him to redshirt, but I’d also be surprised if he doesn’t get in to a few blowouts soon, assuming he’s healthy. There’s a strong possibility that he’s the number two quarterback next year, so he could really benefit from some game reps.

Alex Williams was a late addition to the 2018 class and could’ve been put at tight end — he might just need some more development time with a lot of established players ahead of him.

Players who could go either way

• Nicholas Petit-Frere
• Taron Vincent
• Tyreke Johnson
• Jaelen Gill
• Teradja Mitchell
• Josh Proctor
• Kamryn Babb
• Brian Snead
• L’Christian Smith
• Dallas Gant
• Antwuan Jackson Jr.
• Javontae Jean-Baptiste
• Master Teague

These are the players to watch, because there will probably be plenty of opportunities for them to get some playing time in blowouts over the next few weeks. I’m particularly interested in Nick Petit-Frere (who is likely to start next season), Taron Vincent (who will likely be a key rotational player at least next season), Tyreke Johnson (very talented, with likely openings for playing time in the secondary), Josh Proctor (obvious openings at safety), and Jaelen Gill (one of the most highly rated players in the class, but with a logjam at H-back — could he be a late-season surprise impact player?).

Older players who could still redshirt

• Jaylen Harris, SO (3 games)
• Amir Riep, SO (4 games)
• Nick Bosa, JR (3 games)
• Jordan Fuller, JR (4 games)

I don’t expect any of these guys to actually redshirt, but they haven’t previously used a redshirt year, and they also haven’t played in more than four games. Obviously Nick Bosa isn’t going to even be here next season, either.