The opening day of the transfer portal came with a little less drama this year for Ohio State.

This time last year, quarterback Kyle McCord entered the portal, to the surprise of most people around the country. That left Ohio State scrambling into the Cotton Bowl as Devin Brown played just one quarter before getting injured.

This year, it’s Brown who is entering the portal.

He announced on Sunday evening that he planned to enter the transfer portal, but will stay with Ohio State during the Playoff run.

Brown is one of five Ohio State players who have announced plans to enter the portal, joined by linebacker Gabe Powers, offensive lineman Miles Walker and wide receivers Kojo Antwi and Jayden Ballard.

Last year Ohio State lost 25 players to the portal and added seven. We’ll see who leaves this year but the expanded Playoff will make the timeline slightly different.

Here’s what we know so far.

How will Ryan Day and the Buckeyes deal with the portal?

In this NIL era, the transfer portal will hit every program in the winter or spring windows.

The winter window opened on Monday and added a new challenge for teams playing in the first 12-team College Football Playoff. While the NCAA allows players an additional five days after their last Playoff game to enter the portal, for some players the longer they wait the fewer options they’ll have.

That’s why players like Brown entered the portal but stayed with their team through the Playoff. That won’t be the case for every player, some will leave the program, but Ohio State will look at transfer situations on a case-by-case basis, coach Ryan Day said.