Ohio State injury report: closer look at players who could miss CFP championship game

A college football season was once as brief as 11 or 12 games, but for Ohio State and Notre Dame, it's a 16-game marathon. That race ends in Monday's College Football Playoff championship. The Buckeyes have done remarkably well on the injury front, with a few players who are clearly out and a few more who have some injury questions. Here's a rundown on the OSU injury situation.

We aren't just including recent injuries, and several of these players have been battling longterm injuries over months. We also didn't list players who are injured and have departed in the transfer portal. For their purposes, we treated the injury as secondary to their lack of inclusion on the current roster. With those caveats, here are the currently banged-up Buckeyes.

Ohio State injury report

Ohio State and Ryan Day have only a few players out for the CFP title game, but have some injury issues among substantial contributors that are concerning. (Photo Credit: IMAGN)

Players who are out (generally with injuries from weeks or months ago)

Rashid SeSay, RB

SeSay is out with an undisclosed injury. He began popping up on injury reports around midseason, but hadn't seen any substantial action for the Buckeyes anyway.

Reis Stockdale, WR

Similar to SeSay, Stockdale is listed as out with an undisclosed injury. He also began showing up on the injury reports around midseason and hadn't made any major contributions before his apparent injury.

TC Caffey, RB

Caffey had serious knee injury in preseason camp and has missed the 2024 season. That won't change on Monday.

Josh Simmons, OT

Simmons had a knee injury in Ohio State's October loss to Oregon. He hasn't been able to play again since and is out for the CFP title game. He was a starter, so his loss is a significant one, albeit one OSU has handled over the season.

Seth McLaughlin, C

McLaughlin, who was a superb center this season for the Buckeyes, suffered an Achilles tear in practice late in the regular season. He hasn't been available since and will miss the title game.

Questionable

Inky Jones, S

Jones has been battling an undisclosed late-season injury and has been indicated to be questionable.

Mason Maggs, QB

Another played battling an undisclosed injury, Maggs has been indicated as questionable for this game with Notre Dame.

Various Degrees of Likely to Play

Austin Sereveld, OG

Sereveld was battling an undisclosed injury ahead of the Texas game. He did play in that game, which suggests that he'll probably give it a go in the national title game.

J.T. Tuimoloau, DE

Tuimoloau is an impactful defensive end who got banged up in the win over Texas in the semifinals. He did return to action later in that game, but is clearly battling at least minor injury concerns. He's expected to be out there for the championship game.

Denzel Burke, CB

Burke, a lockdown corner for Ohio State, similarly saw limited snaps against Texas. Frankly, Burke is too good to not play for strategic reasons, so he is clearly dealing with some manner of injury or illness. He has been indicated as expected to play this week against Notre Dame.

What do you think about Ohio State's injury report? Share your take on Monday's big game in our comments section!