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2021 College Football Playoff predictions: Can Alabama repeat as national champions?

By Rob Wolkenbrod

College Football Playoff. (Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
College Football Playoff. (Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes
Ryan Day, Ohio State Buckeyes. (Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports) /

4. Ohio State

No Justin Fields? No problem.

Ohio State will likely rely on CJ Stroud, a former top recruit, to assume the Chicago Bears draft pick’s spot. Experience in Ryan Day’s system is on his side, but Stroud is fending off two former five-star recruits, Jack Miller and Kyle McCord. If the redshirt freshman stumbles, competition is behind him waiting to step up and even fend off Quinn Ewers, who just dominated sports talk shows after enrolling early at Ohio State due to the state of Texas’ limits on allowing high school athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness.

Someone will emerge, right? This group is too talented to not have someone break out.

In the meantime, the rest of the team is loaded enough to carry on.

Whoever starts at quarterback has Chirs Olave to throw to. Garrett Wilson might be ready to size up his previous numbers. Emeka Egbuka has the opportunity to shine as a true freshman, among other options. Yeah, there are no shortages of options here. Running back is in similar shape, too, with Master Teague, Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson all able to handle reps.

The defense can stop the run, but like the 2020 group, there are holes in the secondary and at linebacker. This team will have trouble against high-octane offenses, and if their own doesn’t hold up, mostly at quarterback, there could be problems.

However, the Buckeyes essentially have two tests before the Big Ten Championship Game: Oregon on Sept. 11 and Indiana on Oct. 23. Penn State is always a hurdle, but a horrible 2020 campaign leaves them as pretender on the schedule. No one knows how real Indiana is. Oregon is the Pac-12’s most talented team, but their own quarterback battle could impact the early September games. If Ohio State manages at home, they could pursue a perfect season, win the Big Ten over Wisconsin and play for the title. There just aren’t strong enough options on the schedule to take them down, so overwhelming quarterback or not, this team has CFP potential, or to crater down a few spots in the standings.