Ran into the Scout for the Washington Redskins at the Columbus Airport guy was RAVING about Ricky Hunt Jr and Anthony Tyus he immediately said those 2 when I asked if any guys could potentially play on Sundays.
He even said he was more impressed with our RBs than States.

LFGOOOOOO

Next year? Hell, they could be gone next week when the second portal window opens back up. I know that comment was tongue in cheek, but in Hunt's case, it's somewhat surprising he even ended up at Ohio in the first place. From what I was told, he actually ended up here because of the portal in a roundabout way. He's a P5 guy that landed at Ohio (for the time being) because of the impact the movement in that portal has on the recruitment of high school kids. He got caught up in the shuffle of that at that time. I suspect that his time at Ohio will be short lived. Remember, he redshirted last year too, so he still has four full years of eligibility remaining. Sure, he could end up staying at Ohio. But if the bowl game was a glimpse at what's to come for him in the future, he's got much bigger fish to fry than playing MAC football. He could be playing for OU down the road - just the one in Norman, not Athens.

I suspect that the answer for the future will become to just play any player that can help. Most freshmen won't be high enough up the depth chart to play in more than a few games, and thus will qualify for a redshirt year anyway. I'm not sure that's much different than how it is done now.