In case you missed the news, the NCAA has ruled to allow five years for athletes to play college football. That means we'll start to see five-year careers become much more frequent, aside from exceptions we've seen in past years, and different from a year when a player can only be on the field for four games during a redshirt season.
One thing left out of that ruling, however, was players who graduated last season. That means there's a large population of players that will be out of eligibility from the 2022 class, at least before the latest news.
That's because there are a whole host of players ready to go to court to try and get one more year from that 2022 class, and they may have just gotten what they wanted. A judge in Colorado, U.S. District
Judge Charlotte Sweeney, ruled in a preliminary injunction that would allow those athletes to garner another year of college ball.
According to a report from 247Sports' Chris Hummer, former Ohio State placekicker Jayden Fielding looks to be joining the population of players that will seek another year.
Ex-Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding is exploring a 5th year of eligibility following Friday night's court order, his rep @cjrecruiting2 tells @CBSSports.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) August 1, 2026
A former all-Big Ten selection and 3-year starter, Fielding hit 16 of 20 FG attempts during the 2025 campaign. pic.twitter.com/ISonKxjqNY
That's all well and good, but it must be noted that it would be unlikely that Fielding would be the starting kicker if his return were to Ohio State. The Buckeyes dipped into the transfer portal to bring in former Baylor kicker Connor Hawkins to take over the kicking duties. The Buckeyes also have two other kickers on the roster, Notre Dame transfer Marcello Diomede and freshman Cooper Peterson, to provide depth behind Hawkins.
And seeing how the transfer portal window is well in the rearview mirror, it is not known how the NCAA would handle these players if this ruling sticks and if any of those players want to move to another roster.
Though Fielding had a solid career at Ohio State, making 45 of his 57 field goal attempts (78.9%) and 178 of 179 extra point attempts, and even made the College Football Playoff national championship-clinching field goal against Notre Dame, there are some big misses he will be remembered for. The IMG Academy product never made a field goal over 50 yards, missed two shorter field goals (38 and 34 yards) in the 13-10 loss to Michigan at home in 2024, and missed a key 27-yard chip shot against Indiana last year in the Big Ten Championship game.
It's also important to understand how injunctions work. It is just a temporary stay, and the NCAA has already sent a letter to its member institutions that it will be appealing the decision and that things should move pretty quickly. In other words, this could all go away.
The NCAA sent a letter to member schools with its reaction to the Colorado ruling with the 2022 class.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) August 1, 2026
Within the letter the NCAA states it plans to appeal the decision “on an expedited basis.” pic.twitter.com/2VKUFvkFXu
Either way, we'll have more news on this as more becomes available. If you are wondering if there are other Ohio State players who could potentially come back for a fifth year, all the remaining ones were taken in the NFL draft and on team rosters, so no.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Former Ohio State football player exploring 5th year of eligibility
