The Buckeyes must replace starting tight end Gee Scott, Jr., so tight ends coach Keenan Bailey looked into the portal and grabbed the top guy available. As a redshirt sophomore at Purdue last season, Max Klare caught 51 passes for 685 yards and four touchdowns. He earned Third-Team All-Big Ten marks, finishing behind All-Americans Tyler Warren from Penn State and Colston Loveland from Michigan.
An Ohio native, Klare played at Cincinnati Xavier High School where he was a three-star prospect. He was ranked the No. 69 tight end in the class of 2022 and the No. 1191 prospect overall. He was the sixth-ranked tight end in Ohio — and the second-highest-ranked Ohio tight end signed by Purdue that year.
What To Like
The tight end position at Ohio State is always described as a guy who needs to be able to block like a left tackle and also run routes against defensive backs like a wide receiver. That’s an impossible task, but as long as the effort is there, the coaches can work with it.
The first thing you may notice in the clips below is the amount of effort that Klare is exerting despite the fact that Purdue is trailing Notre Dame by 59 points. He is still finding work and staying locked in as his team desperately tries to run out the clock and get to the locker room. He is still playing as hard as he did in the first quarter.
These are most of the run-blocking snaps Max Klare had against Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Illinois last season. Two of those games were blowouts, but you can’t tell the score from Klare’s blocking. He is a willing participant throughout these clips and shouldn’t just be seen as a pass-catching tight end.
The Potential
That being said, Max Klare is a hell of a pass-catching tight end. He is patient in setting up his routes when needed, which is great for mis-directions and screens and throwbacks. He can also do a lot after the catch, as these clips will show. Klare (86) has good speed for the position and is very capable of making a defender miss.
Keenan Bailey was able to get five tight ends ready to play last season, so it will be very interesting to how Klare responds to his coaching. He clearly takes the position seriously and got to Purdue ready to work. After redshirting as a true freshman, Klare caught 22 passes through five games before his 2023 season was cut short due to an ankle injury. He was on his way to a season very much like the one he ended up having in 2024.
The Expectations
Max Klare is going to share some time on the field with Will Kacmarek when the Buckeyes are in “12 personnel” (two tight ends, one running back). He has lined up everywhere at Purdue, including out wide as a potential blocker on screens. He has had to get good at blocking in space and for long stretches of time. There aren’t a lot of clips below of pass blocking, but the same effort is there as he’s shown everywhere else.
It wouldn’t be crazy to expect a season similar to what tight end Cade Stover had for the Buckeyes in 2023 — 41 catches for 576 yards and five touchdowns. This is a very deep group of tight ends currently, so expecting another 50-catch season for Klare might be a bit much — especially with the receivers that Ohio State has.
But the potential is always there for a big game or a big play, which just means one more weapon for the Buckeyes’ next starting quarterback.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that Ohio State didn’t go and get Max Klare so that he could play 20 snaps per game as part of a five-man rotation. He will still definitely rotate, but the Buckeyes have added a proven playmaker at the tight end position and he will be utilized.
Even though the Buckeyes have a relatively deep tight end room, Keenan Bailey still saw an opportunity to make the room better. Klare gives the Ohio State offense some mismatch opportunities, while also adding a tight end who has no issues being asked to block.
Max Klare is a complete tight end who can be the pass-catching side of 12 personnel, or the guy who is tasked with blocking for a running back in 11 personnel. Whatever Ohio State wants him to do, he’s already done — and he’s done it very well.
[Max Klare photo courtesy of the Purdue dept. of athletics.]
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