COLUMBUS, Ohio — After initially being disappointed by the immediate returns that he received from his 2013 class, Urban Meyer vowed that the following year would be different.
And for the most part, it was.
Ohio State’s unlikely run to a national championship in 2014 likely wouldn’t have been possible without key contributions from its freshman class. The Buckeyes’ 2013 class proved to be the star of the show this past season—think J.T. Barrett, Ezekiel Elliott, Joey Bosa, Eli Apple, Vonn Bell, Jalin Marshall, Darron Lee—but the “Dream 14” recruiting class, as it deemed itself, ultimately proved to make more of an immediate impact than its predecessor.
That was what Meyer hoped for a year ago when he inked 23 players to national letters of intent with the promise that fewer Buckeyes would redshirt or ride the bench than a season before. “We’re counting on these guys to go play,” Meyer said on national signing day.
Without taking into account medical redshirts, 11 true freshmen saw playing time at Ohio State in 2014. That’s three players more than the eight freshmen of the Buckeyes’ 24-man class who got on the field in 2013.
Of course, each freshman who played—or didn’t, for that matter—made varying impacts on Ohio State’s national title run. Perhaps none whose was more apparent than one of the steadying forces on the Buckeyes’ revamped defense.
Instant Impact
Raekwon McMillan enrolled early at Ohio State last…
Continue Reading: Grading Ohio State’s 2014 Recruiting Class 1 Year Later
