Buckeyes' Ryan Day excited to see the growth from defensive end Caden Curry

"Caden's somebody to me who has been in the program and put a lot of time and energy and effort into, you know, earning his opportunity to be here in this moment," he said.

Prior to this season, his career-high in tackles sits at 22, tackles for a loss at four and sacks at 2.5. Each mark Curry is set to surpass by a large margin this year.

"Caden, you know, to me is a great example for some of the younger players on, it doesn't always go exactly the way you think it might, and there's ups and downs along the way," Day said. "But he has come out the back end stronger for it."

Curry joined the Buckeyes in the 2022 recruiting class out of Center Grove High School in Indiana. Coming out of high school, he showed lots of promise to the coaching staff.

"I mean, when he was in high school, I remember just hearing so many stories about, you know, what a great player he was," Day said. "And then when you got a chance to see him play on both sides of the ball, he was a multiple sport athlete. And now you're seeing all that come to fruition here."

His explosiveness was the excitement to his game, especially if it could be consistent game in and game out.

Most notably that play style shined against Purdue last season with a blocked punt, the sole one of his career.

"Caden's [even] played special teams. He's made [his] place for us all over the field and he's a big part of our defense now," Day said.

Over the last few seasons, he has been behind highly-talented, future NFL players and guys who helped lead the team to a national championship in 2024. While not getting much playing time, but having the high ceiling, it became a concern that he would end up transferring out.

However, he showed his commitment to the program and stuck around. Now, that loyalty is paying off as he has been a staple on defense in 2025.

"If we're going to reach our goals this year and get to where we need to be, we need Caden to be the playmaker he is right now for us," Day said. "He plays with a high motor, just has a great feel for the game."

Ohio State and coach Day will look for Curry to keep his strong start to the season going against Big Ten opponent, Washington, on Saturday.

The two team's are set to clash at 3:30 p.m. on the road.