Ohio State knows a thing or two about top-tier talent when it comes to college football, and that was reflected once again on Pro Football Focus’s top 10 positional rankings for returning players ahead of the 2021 season.

PFF’s rankings, which include 10 players and “one more name to watch” at 11 positions altogether on offense and defense, feature six Buckeyes in total, and we’ll break down where each Ohio State player slotted in on their respective lists.

The six returning Scarlet and Gray performers that made the cut were spread over four different positions, with PFF awarding three different Buckeyes the distinction of being the top returning player in their group.

Seven positions, however, featured no Buckeyes at all.

Scoring criteria for these lists included each player’s PFF grade as well as other advanced metrics, and PFF stated that NFL potential did not factor in.

It came as little surprise that the Buckeyes performed best at the wide receiver position, where PFF named Ohio State’s two star wideouts the No. 1 and No. 2 returning players in the country.

Senior Chris Olave, who surprised many with his decision to come back for a fourth season in Columbus following a stellar junior year, earned the nod as the top wide receiver in the nation.

Olave caught 50 passes for 729 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and that was in seven games alone. Even with an inexperienced newcomer replacing Justin Fields at quarterback this season, it should be shocking to see the potential first-round draft pick finish the 2021 campaign without another long list of highlight reel plays and productive performances.

Junior Garrett Wilson ranked just behind Olave at No. 2 on PFF’s list, and given that his productivity was only a small step behind Olave’s own in 2020, it’s not hard to see why.

PFF called Wilson “one of the best route-runners in the game”, and as a true sophomore, the Texas product hauled in 43 passes for 723 yards and six scores over the course of eight games.

Wilson played in the slot last year, but in what many expect to be his final season of college football, he’ll move back outside for what should be another explosive season.

Full list here.

Ohio State’s two starting tackles may have flown under the radar in terms of national recognition last season, but Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere consistently charted at or near the top of several different PFF metrics for their efforts in 2020.

That is no different when it comes to their positional rankings, as both players appeared in PFF’s top 10 offensive tackles list, with Munford sitting in pole position ahead of his fifth year with the Buckeyes.

A fully healthy season did wonders for Ohio State’s multi-year starting left tackle in 2020, who has made it known this offseason that he wants to be considered the best tackle in college football in 2021, and the top-rated OT in his draft class.

Munford can scratch PFF off the list though, as his grade from last season ranks highest among returning tackles, and the outlet has him placed atop the heap before the 2021 slate begins.

Coming in at No. 9 is Munford’s counterpart on the right side of the Ohio State line, as Petit-Frere helps make up what PFF calls “the best tackle tandem in college football.”

Prior to the Alabama game, Petit-Frere had given up just one single pressure all season, and if the Buckeyes expect to get back to the CFP in 2021, they may need him to be just as good.

Full list here.

Returning All-American defensive tackle Haskell Garrett gives the Buckeyes their third positional No. 1 per the PFF rankings, as the Bishop Gorman product became the breakout defensive star on the Ohio State roster a season ago.

Battling through facial bullet wounds in the lead-up to the 2020 season, Garrett hardly skipped a beat and started all but one game for the Buckeyes in his first year as a first-string player on Larry Johnson’s defensive line.

Garrett was tied for third on the team with two sacks, fourth with four tackles for loss, and co-manned one of the best rush defenses in the country alongside Tommy Togiai in the teeth of the Buckeye front.

Perhaps the highlight of Garrett’s campaign was an interception in the end zone against Michigan State that resulted in a Buckeye touchdown during a 51-12 blowout.

Garrett missed the spring with an undisclosed leg injury, but star status awaits him on the Ohio State defense upon his return if Garrett can replicate last season’s productivity throughout a full slate in 2021.

Full list here.

Total sack tallies don’t jump off the stat sheet for any single Buckeye due to the shortened season in 2020, but the one returning Ohio State pass rusher that appeared to reach new personal heights at the end of last season did make it onto PFF’s list of top 10 defensive ends.

Tyreke Smith, who returns for a fourth season with the program in 2021, is only officially credited with one sack in 2020 –– although one is likely incorrectly credited to wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who wears the same number –– but his PFF grades reflect one of the top pass rushers in all of college football.

Those looking to hang their hat on a singular Smith performance need only run back the tape from the second half of Ohio State’s CFP win over Clemson, where the Cleveland native routinely bullied the Tiger line to wreak havoc upon Trevor Lawrence, even forcing a fumble from the eventual No. 1 overall 2021 NFL Draft pick.

Expectations may still be higher for third-year DE Zach Harrison, who will likely start opposite Smith on the edge for the Buckeyes this season, but Smith is the top returning pass rusher on the Ohio State roster as far as PFF is concerned.

Full list here.

While the Buckeyes are well represented in a handful of positions, there is an even larger number of position groups in which no Ohio State players appear at all.

It comes as little surprise that no quarterbacks, running backs or interior offensive linemen made the cut, as a bevy of Ohio State stars from those positions exited the program this offseason, but the oversight of senior tight end Jeremy Ruckert may be the most eyebrow-raising omission on the offensive side of things.

On defense, a complete linebacker overhaul didn’t leave any OSU LBs much hope of cracking the list, and given the struggles of the Buckeye pass defense a season ago, no cornerbacks or safeties turned up in PFF’s rankings either.

However, the beauty of offseason rankings are, of course, that every player will have a chance to prove them right or wrong once the new year rolls around this fall.