As the first day of the early signing period was in full swing, Toledo Football on Dec. 20 posted on Twitter that former Ohio State center Jakob James will play for the Rockets next year.
James wasn’t able to carve out a role for himself on the offensive line at Ohio Statein four years, even when he had a chance to crack the starting lineup in 2023, but an injury forcing him to miss spring practices ended with him as the third-string center behind Carson Hinzman and Victor Cutler. Jr.
James is the ninth Buckeye transfer who has found a new home so far including Cutler (Louisville), Kyle McCord (Syracuse), Chip Trayanum (Kentucky), Omari Abor (SMU), Evan Pryor (Cincinnati), Reid Carrico (West Virginia), Ryan Turner (Boston College), and Kye Stokes (Cincinnati).
Julian Fleming, Cameron Martinez, Jyaire Brown, Joe Royer and Parker Lewis all are still in the portal, and Ohio State has yet to bring in any reinforcements from the transfer portal themselves, though Ryan Day did say after the early signing period they will be on to the next phase of building the team for next year.
