After transferring to Ohio State from North Carolina, defensive end Beau Atkinson didn’t have the 2025 season that he would have hoped for.
“I don’t think it went anywhere near the way I wanted it to,” Atkinson said on April 15 during spring practices.
Atkinson was behind longtime Buckeyes Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. on the edge. He finished the year with 214 total snaps, but had only 11 tackles in 11 games, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
That trailed true freshman Zion Grady, who finished the year with less than half of the snaps that Atkinson had, with 13 tackles, two of which were for loss, and one for a sack.
Atkinson isn’t letting the way last year went define his Buckeye career, however. He said that he used last season as motivation to improve before the spring.
“I feel like it has given me some extra fuel to come into this season and work really hard,” he said. “I’ve been feeling much better. I’ve been working on my mobility a lot and I’m feeling a lot looser out there. I’m excited to get back out there.”
With Curry gone to the draft and Jackson returning, there is an opening for the taking for Atkinson. However, he is competing for a starting spot with Alabama transfer Qua Russaw and Grady.
In the spring game, and at every practice that was open to the media, it was Atkinson who earned the starting nod.
Atkinson came to Ohio State out of the spring transfer portal, so he was thrown into the fire in the summer and fall without getting to go through spring ball with the Buckeyes. He believes it will only help him more that he was able to get a full spring in at Ohio State.
“Spring ball is huge,” he said. “To be able to get the playbook and learn everything before having to go straight into competition time is definitely a big factor.”
Atkinson said he hasn’t set any specific goals for himself going into the season and he is only trying to improve as much as he can before the fall.
“I’m not really focused on that,” he said. “I’m just trying to focus on the process of every single day trying to better myself. I’m not looking too far ahead.”
