Ohio State EDGE Joshua Mickens plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal

Ohio State junior EDGE rusher Joshua Mickens plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3’s Hayes Fawcett reports.

Across three seasons in Columbus, Mickens played in 12 games and recorded 12 tackles, one sack, and one TFL.

Prior to enrolling at Ohio State, Mickens was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 101 overall player in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus. He was the No. 14-ranked EDGE rusher in his class and the No. 1 overall player from the state of Indiana, hailing from Lawrence Central.

NEW: Ohio State EDGE Joshua Mickens plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @Hayesfawcett3 reports. https://t.co/k2uK0NjDEj pic.twitter.com/1U6R4R1de7

— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) January 13, 2026

Mickens’ decision to enter the portal comes 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

Joshua Mickens is now the 29th Ohio State player who is expected to enter the Transfer Portal.

• So. OL Devontae Armstrong
• Fr. DL Jarquez Carter (Miami)
• Jr. K Jackson Courville
• Fr. S Faheem Delane
• Sr. EDGE Logan George (Washington)
• So. WR Mylan Graham
• Jr. S Malik Hartford
• Sr. LB C.J. Hicks (USF)
• Sr. LB Ty Howard
• Fr. OL Isaiah Kema (Utah)
• So. DL Dominic Kirks
• Jr. QB Lincoln Kienholz (Louisville)
• Fr. OL Jayvon McFadden
• So. P Nick McLarty (Arizona State)
• So. DL Eric Mensah (Virginia Tech)
• Jr. EDGE Joshua Mickens
• Fr. WR Bodpegn Miller
• RS-Jr. S Keenan Nelson Jr.
• So. RB James Peoples (Penn State)
• Fr. WR Quincy Porter (Notre Dame)
• Jr. WR Bryson Rodgers (USF)
• Fr. DL Maxwell Roy (UCLA)
• So. CB Aaron Scott Jr.
• So. OT Justin Terry
• Jr. TE Jelani Thurman (North Carolina)
• Sr. OL Tegra Tshabola (Kentucky)
• So. CB Bryce West (Wisconsin)
• So. RB Sam Williams-Dixon (South Carolina)
• 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.