Ohio State’s Joe Royer enters the transfer portal.
NFL Joe Royer Transfer successful…
Through the first three days of the initial transfer portal window being open, Ohio State had 13 players enter to explore options elsewhere. On the fourth day, a 14th Buckeye put his name in the transfer portal.
Tight end Joe Royer entered the transfer portal on Thursday evening. Royer spent four seasons in Columbus, serving largely as a backup tight end and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
In its sixth year of the current iteration, the transfer portal allows players to enter their names to receive contact from interested schools. This window opened on Dec. 4 and will remain open until Tuesday, Jan. 2. There is a secondary transfer portal window that will open after spring practice from May 1 to May 15.
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Coming out of Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, Royer was a four-star prospect, according to the 247Sports rankings, in the 2020 recruiting class. He ranked as the No. 8 tight end, the fifth-best player from Ohio and the No. 211 overall player in the class, per the 247Sports rankings. Royer had offers from a number of top programs across the country, including Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Michigan State and Michigan, but committed to the Scarlet and Gray on July 2, 2019.
Royer did not play as a freshman in 2020, using the COVID-shortened season to redshirt, as Ohio State had Luke Farrell and Jeremy Ruckert as their primary tight ends. As a redshirt freshman in 2021, Royer played in three games on offense as a backup behind Ruckert, Cade Stover, Mitch Rossi and Gee Scott Jr., catching one pass for nine yards. He also played in two additional games on special teams. After the year, Royer was named an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
In 2022, Royer played in only two games, missing time due to injuries. He also took time away from the Buckeyes after his mother passed away. The tight end played a career-high 28 snaps in the Peach Bowl after Stover was injured early in the College Football Playoff semifinal. He caught two passes for 10 yards throughout the course of the season.
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This year, Royer was behind Stover and Scott, playing in only three of the Scarlet and Gray’s 12 games in the regular season. He caught one pass for five yards.
Ohio State will also lose Stover this offseason, leaving a hole at the tight end position. Scott will be expected to step into a bigger role in 2024, and the Buckeyes will need Sam Hart, Bennett Christian and Jelani Thurman to emerge as more important factors on offense.
Moore ready to get to work and become a great O-tackle for the Buckeyes
In a month Ian Moore starts his Ohio State career.
Ian Moore from New Palestine (Ind.) is one of the country’s top offensive linemen. He camped at Ohio State in June of 2022 and landed a scholarship offer from the Buckeyes and was in Columbus and in Ohio Stadium for the Ohio State 21-10 win over Notre Dame on Sept. 3, 2022. Moore also returned to Columbus and was on hand for the Buckeyes 52-21 win over Wisconsin. He came away very impressed with the Buckeyes in both games.
After the Ohio State win over Wisconsin, Moore said he had narrowed his list of scholarship offers down to four schools, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, before eventually committing to the Buckeyes on Oct. 20, 2022.
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It seems that every edition of the Notes leads with Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey. And why not, right? He is at the center of multiple storms on the collegiate athletic horizon, and quite possibly the key to their resolution. This past weekend was no exception.
Shortly after appearing on College Game Day in Atlanta prior to the SEC Championship Game, Sankey drew some inspiration from Sesame Street when he made the statement, “One of these is not like the other!” It was in response to Reece Davis’ question about the logjam of schools racing toward college football’s Final Four. But rather than playing the children’s game that matched shapes, contrasted colors, or compared animals, Sankey was implying that his league’s teams were not like the others in contention for the College Football Playoff. They were better.
Well, 24 hours challenged that concept. The SEC was dangerously close to not having a member school in the national title tournament, and the Georgia team that dominated weekly CFP rankings slid from the top four under its league championship loss.
Soon thereafter, but prior to Alabama’s upset win over the #1-ranked Bulldogs, current Alabama/former Mississippi State AD Greg Byrne told this column’s editor, “if we would have played a Group of Five game instead of Texas, there’d be no debate right now.” As it turned out, Byrne was right. UA’s win over previous-#1 Georgia and its four wins over top 25 teams only strengthened the Crimson Tide case, offset that one setback, and pushed Nick Saban’s team into the final playoff.
Alabama’s debate about the Texas loss carried only minimal weight. The CFP committee had long encouraged top-flight competition as the means to a national championship invitation. Alabama’s scheduling decision followed the committee’s suggestion, and ultimately played out. But the select group also expected victories in those games from its best teams. Alabama lost to Texas in Tuscaloosa way back in Week 2 of the 2023 season, a loss that until the conference championship weekend seemed to eliminate the Crimson Tide from the national finals. As everyone knows, UA won that league title game, sending UGA careening from the CFP top spot, and advancing UA into the top four. Seems pretty cut and dry, right?
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Ohio State’s J.T. Tuimoloau named a finalist for the 2023 Polynesian Player of the Year Award
The Buckeye defensive end is one of the best college football players with Polynesian ancestry.
J.T. Tuimoloau proved once again in 2023 that he is one of the most dangerous defensive players in college football. The Ohio State defensive end may not have the stats to be in New York City this weekend with teammate Marvin Harrison Jr., but he is still being recognized for what he accomplished.
On Thursday, Tuimoloau was named a finalist for the 2023 Polynesian Player of the Year Award, which is awarded annually to “the most outstanding college football player of Polynesian ancestry that epitomizes great ability and integrity,” for the second straight year. Tuimoloau is one of 10 players named finalists, selected from a list of nearly 100 players by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, including Utah defensive lineman Jonah Elliss, Washington offensive lineman Troy Fautanu, Oregon State offensive lineman Taliese Fuaga, UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu, Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, California running back Jaydn Ott, Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and Utes defensive back Sione Vaki.
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“On behalf of the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame, we congratulate the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award Finalists,” Jesse Sapolu, chairman and co-founder of the award, said in the press release announcing the finalists. “Each of these young men had an incredible season and are a testament to the tremendous impact our Polynesian student-athletes are having in college football today.”
This year, Tuimoloau was Ohio State’s top defensive end and performed admirably. He finished the regular season with a career-high 34 total tackles, six tackles for a loss, four sacks, two passes defended and one fumble recovery. Tuimoloau made two of the most important defensive plays late in the narrow win against Notre Dame, as he recorded a tackle for a loss and knocked down a pass from Sam Hartman to get the ball back for the Buckeye offense which went on to score the winning touchdown. Following the season, Tuimoloau was named first-team All-Big Ten by both the conference’s coaches and media.
Tuimoloa was a five-star prospect and the highest-ranked defensive lineman in the 2021 class, according to the 247Sports rankings, from Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish, Washington. He quickly made an impact for the Buckeyes, despite committing to the Scarlet and Gray on July 4 before his freshman season. In 2021, Tuimoloau played the fourth-most snaps of any defensive end, recording 17 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and one defended pass.
