Evaluating how Ohio State utilized NIL to the fullest with $20 million investment

A lot was made this offseason about Ohio State using $20 million in NIL money to build arguably the top roster in college football. On3’s Andy Staples believes that there is a misconception about what exactly the money was used for.

Staples and Ari Wasserman spoke on Andy & Ari On3 Tuesday about how the transfer portal is far from the only reason Ohio State has an elite roster.

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“They did not overhaul their roster through NIL,” Staples said of the Buckeyes. “Everyone’s like, ‘They bought a team.’ Well they did buy a team. But the more important purposes, I would say, are making sure J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer came back.

“Getting Caleb Downs and getting Quinshon Judkins obviously is a huge addition, getting Seth McLaughlin, huge additions. But they already had a good roster, because they’d retained it. I think the way they did it with Will Howard and adding those guys, that’s kind of how you want to do it.”

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Staples sees similarities between how Michigan built its roster that won the 2023 national championship and how Ohio State built this year’s roster that is hoping to do the same.

“It’s what Michigan did last year – when you’ve got a hole, you fill it,” Staples said. “So Michigan got Drake Nugent, LaDarius Henderson, Josaiah Stewart last year. Didn’t need much else. Ohio State, didn’t need much else, but they got the positions they needed.”

Wasserman added that it remains to be seen if Ohio State can have the same type of success the Wolverines did, but he believes the Buckeyes went even beyond Michigan in putting together their 2024 roster.

As he pointed out, Ohio State and Ryan Day were able to add players they didn’t even necessarily need.

“Ohio State seems to be this supercharged version of [Michigan last year], because they have this veteran team that has been developing and on campus for three or four years that could’ve been playing in the NFL right now, on top of plugging holes at quarterback and safety,” Wasserman said. “But then also taking luxury items. That’s the third piece that we didn’t mention here. Like Quinshon Judkins was not needed. That was like a luxury piece into the offense that now might go score 15 touchdowns this year.

“So when you look at the way you’re supposed to build a roster, the reason Ohio State’s in the position that they’re in is because they have retention, they have holes filled and they have luxury items. Like this seems to be the triple crown of how to build a roster.”

Wasserman reiterated that the Buckeyes still have to go out and win big on the field. Ohio State opened the season with Akron and Western Michigan and isn’t scheduled to play a ranked team until Oregon in mid-October.

But there’s no doubt Ryan Day and company have the talent to win big and perhaps bring the Buckeyes home a national title. A smart NIL strategy is a big part of that.

“Now obviously you still have to play the games. They still have to beat Michigan. The playoff is going to be more challenging to win now than ever before in the past. I’m not saying they’re going to win the national title,” Wasserman said. “But this is exactly the way you would want to build a roster… you don’t want to have to rely on adding Caleb Downs, you don’t want to rely on adding Will Howard. … There’s a lot of programs out there that are, I don’t mean to bring up Florida State, but they are relying on not only getting guys in the portal but hitting on them and it’s really, really hard.”