Michigan LB transfers to the Ohio State football program

It’s not often that an Ohio State football player transfers to Michigan. It’s even less often that a Michigan player transfers to Ohio State. The most recent example is Justin Boren transferring from TTUN to play for the Buckeyes during the 2009 season. He was playing with his younger brother Zach, so that made the decision easier.

Another former Michigan football player has now decided to make the jump to Ohio State. This time, it’s someone who is a Columbus native and who actually played at DeSales High School. This player will also likely have a lesser impact on the team than Boren did as a starting offensive lineman.

Joey Velazquez transfers to play for the Ohio State football program

Joey Velazquez, a linebacker and a Michigan graduate, will transfer to play for the Buckeyes this season. He comes in as a walk-on linebacker who didn’t really play that much with the Wolverines. In fact, he appeared in just 16 games in five seasons with TTUN. He recorded eight tackles and a fumble recovery while with Michigan.

Velazquez also played baseball for TTUN and was pretty good for them. He made 68 starts in four years on the baseball team. He’ll be sticking with just football for the Buckeyes though. Velazquez is a former three-star recruit and comes back to Columbus to possibly win another national title with a loaded Ohio State football team.

Will Velazquez see much playing time? No. But it’s interesting to see a kid who played at Michigan want to cross enemy lines and play for Ohio State. This is his final season of eligibility, so he clearly wants to go out winning a lot of games. He also saw how much talent the Buckeyes got from the transfer portal. He probably wouldn’t be able to do that at Michigan with everything they are losing next year.

Ohio State and Oregon are the two favorites to win the Big Ten right now. Velazquez is joining a winning program with a tradition of excellence. Perhaps he can help the Buckeyes break a losing streak in The Game.