When Ohio State fans talk about the Buckeyes’ tight end room entering 2026, the conversation understandably starts with Nate Roberts. The sophomore is expected to take over as Ohio State’s TE1 after seeing the field in all 13 games as a freshman.
However, if there is one player who could quietly end up playing far more snaps than his name or spot on the depth chart suggests, it may be Mason Williams.
Williams does not need to become Ohio State’s leading tight end or even a serioous receiving option to have a major role. In fact, he probably won’t. His value comes from what he can do before the ball is ever thrown.
The former Ohio Bobcat was one of the more experienced and physical blocking tight ends available in the transfer portal, and Ohio State has already shown a willingness to keep multiple tight ends on the field.
The Buckeyes used 12 personnel more frequently in 2025 than during any other season of the Ryan Day era. Max Klare played 488 snaps behind Will Kacmarek’s 509, while even Bennett Christian logged 255. That makes the “backup tight end” label somewhat misleading.
Williams has the exact skill set Ohio State needs
Williams arrived at Ohio State after three seasons at Ohio, where he went from a lightly recruited prospect into a legitimate starting-caliber college tight end.
He was ranked as just the No. 80 tight end in the 2023 recruiting class and primarily held MAC and FCS offers coming out of Mogadore High School. But his development at Ohio changed his trajectory.
Williams played nearly 1,100 snaps over his final two seasons, catching 45 passes for 487 yards and five touchdowns across those two years.
His final season was his best statistically. Williams appeared in all 13 games, catching 26 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns while earning third-team All-MAC honors.
The receiving numbers are not really why the Buckeyes brought him to Columbus. Ohio State lists Williams at 6-foot-4 and 246 pounds entering the season and according to PFF data, 673 of Williams’ 1,133 career snaps at Ohio came as a run blocker.
His blocking grade was 62.9 over 320 snaps in 2024 and 62.2 over 321 snaps in 2025.
That is exactly the type of player Ohio State can use. Keenan Bailey has spent years developing tight ends who can contribute without needing to be the focal point of the passing game. Kacmarek was the clearest recent example.
Kacmarek started 10 games for Ohio State in 2025, played all 14 games and finished with 15 catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns, but his importance to the offense went far beyond those numbers. Williams has a chance to follow a remarkably similar path.
He has already said Kacmarek’s transition from Ohio to Ohio State showed him that the jump was possible, and the similarities between the two players are difficult to ignore. Williams was a lightly recruited Ohio prospect who developed into a reliable blocker and then followed Kacmarek’s exact transfer path to Columbus.
Ohio State did not bring him in simply to sit behind Roberts or Christian. The Buckeyes wanted another player they could completely trust in the run game, and that could put Williams on the field a lot.
The 500 snap projection
The easiest way to underestimate Williams is to look at the depth chart and assume TE2 means half the playing time of TE1. Ohio State’s offense does not work that way.
The Buckeyes played Kacmarek and Klare 509 and 488 snaps, respectively, last season. That means the No. 2 tight end was on the field for nearly as many snaps as the starter. Williams has a realistic path to do something similar.
Roberts should be the more dynamic receiving threat, and there will be plenty of situations where Ohio State wants his athleticism on the field, but Williams gives the Buckeyes something different. He can line up in-line, block defensive ends, help in pass protection, create an extra gap in the run game and allow Ohio State to remain in heavier personnel without immediately announcing that a run is coming.
That becomes even more important with Arthur Smith now coordinating the offense. Smith’s offenses have historically valued multiple tight end formations, physical run concepts and play-action opportunities created by establishing the ground game.
Ohio State does not need Williams to catch 40 passes for him to be an important part of that system. They just need him to make defenses respect what the offense can do when he is on the field.
That is why I would project Williams for roughly 500 offensive snaps in 2026, with a reasonable range of about 400-525 depending on game flow, injuries and how quickly the younger tight ends develop.
Over five hundred is not unrealistic. Ohio State has already shown that its second tight end can reach that territory, but 500 feels like the sweet spot. That would make Williams one of the more heavily utilized tight ends in the country without requiring him to overtake Roberts as the starter.
That is the point. Roberts may get the headlines. He may lead the room in receptions and become one of Ohio State’s breakout players, but Williams could be the player who is quietly on the field almost every time the Buckeyes want to be physical.
By the end of the season, Ohio State fans may stop thinking of Williams as the backup tight end altogether. He may simply be one of the offense’s most trusted players.