Seven Buckeyes players ranked in On3 Top 100 for 2023 season

COLUMBUS — With 100 days until the start of Week 0, headlined by Navy-Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland, On3 released its list of the top 100 current players in the sport ahead of the 2023 season. The list, which includes seven Ohio State players, was created by On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power and On3 college football analyst Clark Brooks.

Like Ohio State, Georgia and Michigan — also part of last season’s College Football Playoff — have seven players ranked in the Top 100.

Alabama, Florida State and USC all have five players on the list.

Here are On3’s top 15 players in college football this season:

1. Caleb Williams, QB, USC
2. Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina
3. Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
4. Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia
5. Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State
6. Harold Perkins, LB, LSU
7. Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State
8. Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame
9. Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama
10. Kalen King, CB, Penn State
11. Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
12. Graham Barton, OT, Duke
13. Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
14. Blake Corum, RB, Michigan
15. Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ole Miss

Lettermen Row has a rundown of where the Buckeyes’ ranked players clocked in, including Harrison:

No. 3 – WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Marvin Harrison Jr. is the first non-quarterback on this list, and for good reason. Harrison has a legit shot to become the first wide receiver drafted in the top three since Calvin Johnson Jr. went No. 2 overall to the Detroit Lions in 2007. Harrison has a catch radius that makes scouts salivate and quarterbacks especially trusting. He’s on a bit of a revenge tour to win the Biletnikoff Award, and he might just do it.

No. 22 – WR Emeka Egbuka

Some sites have Harrison and Emeka Egbuka as the top-two wideouts in college football this season, but On3’s list has Egbuka behind Texas wideout Xavier Worthy. Still, Egbuka and Worthy — who caught 60 balls for 760 yards and nine scores last year — are only separated by one spot, and Egbuka is ranked inside the top 25. Egbuka and Harrison eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark in 2022, with Egbuka reeling in five or more receptions in nine different games.

No. 26 – DE J.T. Tuimoloau

J.T. Tuimoloau is the fifth “EDGE” on this list. Notably, Penn State’s Chop Robinson is one spot higher than him. It was at Penn State that Tuimoloau demonstrated his true potential. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive end caused four Nittany Lions turnovers and even took an interception back to the house, helping Ohio State flip the script in Happy Valley. Tuimoloau’s numbers don’t do his impact justice, but he does need to finish more consistently: He piled up 32 pressures but only 3.5 sacks last season.

No. 44 – LB Tommy Eichenberg

Tommy Eichenberg is ranked the fourth-best linebacker in On3’s Top 100. Eichenberg decided to put the NFL Draft on pause and return for one final season with the Buckeyes after a monster 2022. Last season, he recorded the fifth-most solo tackles (77) in the country, and his total tackle count of 120 nearly doubled his mark form the season prior (64). Eichenberg also gave Ohio State a lift in the pass rushing department. The Cleveland native was third on the team with 23 pressures, per Pro Football Focus.

No. 71 – RB Miyan Williams

Ohio State running backs Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson are back-to-back on this list, with Williams arriving first at 71st. Both were hampered by injury last season, but Williams was on the field more down the stretch and finished atop the team’s rushing leaderboard with 825 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. Williams is a bruiser: 67.8% of his rushing yards came after contact, per PFF.

No. 72 – RB TreVeyon Henderson

Henderson will likely be option 1A in the Buckeyes’ backfield in 2023. That is, if he can stay healthy. Power addressed that in the Top 100.

“There’s no doubt TreVeyon Henderson has the talent to be the top running back in college football. The Ohio State back has a bunch of juice as a rusher and receiver out of the back field. He just needs to show he can stay healthy for extended periods.”

Charles Power, On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings

Henderson fractured a sesamoid bone in his foot Week 3 against Toledo and tried to play through the pain of that injury, in addition torn ligaments and tendons in his foot, from that point forward. But that task eventually proved too difficult, and he missed four of the final five games, including the CFP. It’s easy to forget that Henderson tallied 1,248 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground as a true freshman.

No. 76 – DT Mike Hall

The sky’s the limit for Ohio State defensive tackle Mike Hall, who flashed All-American talent last season before dealing with a nagging shoulder injury that cost him a game and curtailed his snap count toward the end of the season. Hall teased first-round talent in his first five games last year. During that span, he registered 12 pressures and 4.5 sacks. And, keep in mind, three of those games occurred after he injured his shoulder against Arkansas State on Sept. 10.