Ohio State DL Jarquez Carter enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Ohio State freshman DL Jarquez Carter is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3’s Hayes Fawcett reports.

Carter played in seven games for the Buckeyes this season, where he recorded one tackle.

Prior to enrolling at Ohio State, Carter was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 213 overall player in the 2025 class, according to the On3 Consensus. He was the No. 22-ranked DL in his class and the No. 31 overall player from the state of Florida, hailing from Newberry.

NEW: Ohio State DL Jarquez Carter plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @Hayesfawcett3 reports

4-star recruit in the 2025 class. https://t.co/1iMAGFZ7PC pic.twitter.com/86LB7akJCq

— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) January 9, 2026

Carter’s decision to enter the portal comes one week after the Buckeyes fell to No. 10 Miami in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal). Ohio State seemed poised to be in great contention to repeat as National Champions, but that will not come to fruition.

“I felt like it took us a while to get into the rhythm of the game,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said postgame. “I thought we did coming out of the second half. And by then, it was going to take a very, very efficient second half to win the game, being down 14-0. But I felt like at that point, we got into a rhythm. And when we had that drive there where we took a shot, it was incomplete.”

“And the next play was a hold that got us way behind the chains, and that was the drive that we needed to go win the game. And when you have a start the way that we did, you put yourself at risk of having to be really darn near perfect in the second half to go win the game. So we put ourselves behind the 8-Ball.”

Ohio State opened its season with an unblemished 12-0 record. But the Buckeyes finished the year with back-to-back losses to Indiana and Miami.

Ohio State’s Transfer Portal departures

Jarquez Carter is now the 23rd Ohio State player who is expected to enter the Transfer Portal.

• So. OL Devontae Armstrong
• Fr. DL Jarquez Carter
• Jr. K Jackson Courville
• Sr. EDGE Logan George
• So. WR Mylan Graham
• Sr. LB C.J. Hicks (USF)
• Fr. OL Isaiah Kema (Utah)
• So. DL Dominic Kirks
• Jr. QB Lincoln Kienholz (Louisville)
• Fr. OL Jayvon McFadden
• So. P Nick McLarty (Arizona State)
• RS-Jr. S Keenan Nelson Jr.
• So. RB James Peoples (Penn State)
• Fr. WR Quincy Porter
• Jr. WR Bryson Rodgers
• Fr. DL Maxwell Roy
• So. CB Aaron Scott Jr.
• So. OT Justin Terry
• Jr. TE Jelani Thurman
• Sr. OL Tegra Tshabola
• So. CB Bryce West (Wisconsin)
• So. RB Sam Williams-Dixon
• So. WR Demarion Witten

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.