Inside Ohio State football’s 11th spring practice and a unique quarterback decision: Buckeye Talk podcast

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State invited its student body to get a sneak preview of its 2024 football team for spring practice No. 11 and Buckeye Talk is here to tell you what happened.

Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis break down the play of all three quarterbacks, and who had positive and negative moments throughout the day.

While the quarterback competition is the most pressing issue, plenty of other things stood out during the 90-minute practice.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk.

Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.

Stephen Means (00:24.229)

Welcome back to Buckeye Talk. I’m Stephen Means, that’s the Fonk Reisnick and that’s Andrew Gillis. You’re getting this pot on Saturday evening. This is also gonna serve as the Monday pot. We’re just giving it to you two days early, because it’s great stuff and we wanted to get it you as quickly as possible. Get the text 614-350-3315, two week free trial, 399. After that, we were texting from Ohio State’s 11th spring practice. We’re a week away from spring game and listen, it was great.

Lot of good stuff. A lot of good stuff came out of Saturday. guess, Stephane, we should start with the quarterbacks, right? That just sounds like the logical place to start. If you had to...

Stephen Means (01:04.375)

No, I’m just gonna say they made the quarterbacks live. What do you think of that decision? And we haven’t talked to Ryan Day. We’ll talk with him on Monday. And I’m sure that will be at the top of everybody’s mind of a position in football in general that you don’t make live. Why did you allow your quarterbacks to be live? They also did it on Thursday’s practice as well. What did you think of that decision in terms of good, bad and different? What’s your thoughts on it?

Stefan Krajisnik (01:31.601)

I liked it. I thought it was a good decision because you have three quarterbacks who haven’t really played a ton of football and you can’t expect them to be game ready without any, you know, getting really any game reps, right? Like quarterbacks have to move around. Quarterbacks got hit, get hit. Quarterbacks got to get up. Quarterbacks we saw on a play where it was fourth and short and they were going forward in practice. Sometimes quarterbacks got a scramble and they got to be the ones to get those yards. And you got to know the consequences of

You know, getting those yards and what comes with that. Obviously, you know, Ohio state’s defenders aren’t, you know, tackling Julian saying in the same way that they’re going to lay, you know, some ferocious hits on other quarterbacks that decide to leave the pocket. But you saw a little bit of it. You, you kind of got to see, know, we’re talking so much about leadership. Like what do these quarterbacks look like when they get hit? Do they get up and do you get right back at it? thought Tavius St. Clair looked great in that sense of, you know, lowering his shoulder, taking a hit, getting back up and acting like nothing happened. So.

That really is the extent of this quarterback competition that I took much from today is that we got to see them play live and get a hit. Outside of that, I don’t know how much we learned, but I like the decision. I just think the situation that you have right now with your quarterbacks and the lack of experience, the more game-like reps that they can get, the better. Obviously you have to be safe and you’re not going to do it all the time, right? Like these quarterbacks weren’t live.

On every drive or on every play, like there were times where, you know, they made it clear, okay, no hitting the quarterback here. but, when they did go live and they let him get after it, I thought it was a good idea.

Stephen Means (03:13.029)

So Andrew, what’d you take away from today? If you had to rank based off performance in Saturday’s practice, Tavi in St. Clair, Julian Sand, and Lincoln Keenholz, what would be your order?

Andrew (03:30.67)

See, that’s an interesting question because I think I would put or I know I would put Lincoln above Julian. However, how do you want to wait Tavian versus, you know, know, threes and things like that Tavian going lower in the pecking order versus Julian and Lincoln kind of mixing and matching, right? So it’s, I think if you had to rank them, you

Just off of pure play today, Tavian’s probably two, probably go Lincoln, Tavian, Julian. However, it’s kind of like saying one guy got a B plus in an AP class in high school and another guy got a B in the regular history class in high school. Right. Like one is very clearly.

more difficult than one is very clearly a tougher task. And I that is probably where I would go with it. I thought Lincoln looked really good at times. You know, I think all the quarterbacks were a mixed bag. I think there was, you know, a lot that Ryan Day is, you know, we joked earlier in the week, you know, depends on what kind of weekend you want to have by how much you look at the film. I think Ryan Day could probably point to a lot of really good with Julian, with Lincoln, with Tavian.

And I think there’s going to be a lot of moments where he’s going to be, okay, we still have a long way to go and we still have a lot to work on. So that would probably be my order. I think if you were to weight it properly, I would put Julian too, but I thought Tavian looked pretty good. I thought, you know, he moved the ball well, the offense moved well when he was out there. He was quick with his decisions. You see the fluid throwing motion. I thought that was, you know, precise.

Steven, you mentioned this, I think afterwards, I think he did escape the pocket a little bit too early. I think sometimes he hit the eject button, pulled the chute a little bit too early, maybe a little bit more than, or a little bit earlier than he needed to. But otherwise I thought he looked pretty decent and there was a lot of good and a lot of bad from all three of those guys. So I think it was an interesting day to watch all three quarterbacks.

Stephen Means (05:55.245)

Stefan, what’s your order?

Stefan Krajisnik (05:59.167)

Probably go Lincoln, Julian, Tavian.

Stephen Means (06:07.065)

Yeah, I think I’m Lincoln Julian Tavian. Tavian looked fine. He looked like a freshman. A very good freshman, by the way. I’m not, yeah.

Stefan Krajisnik (06:15.332)

Exactly what I was gonna say. It’s just like he was a freshman out there. There was good. There was bad He was going against the threes. There’s just not a whole ton to take from in my opinion

Stephen Means (06:23.811)

And it’s not dismissive at all. It’s he just looked like at his best, he made the most of the situation he was in. At his worst, he looked like a dude who’s been here for four months, and that’s fine.

But the bigger thing is we all have Lincoln ahead of Julian. And if you go out in the ecosystem right now, most people are saying that that’s just Lincoln. had a team period when we walked in there, they were in the middle of a team period where they have to, started to 20 and they just have to march to feel down the field, go create a scoring drive. Lincoln did that twice on one.

He got them all the way down to the goal line, or least in the red zone area, and then Sam Williams-Dixon punched it in for a score. Scoring drive for Lincoln Keenholz. On the other one, he hit a 40-yard touchdown pass to Cardinal Tate.

Julian led one. I can’t remember if he ended it with a throw. I don’t think he ended up with a throw or not, because I’m pretty sure that Lincoln was the only one who touched down pass during all that. And then Tavian led one and on Tavians. And I’ll get more of that in the second half. But it was a Bo Jackson touchdown on a play that I think I’m I think I know who I’m getting ready to drive the bus for this year. At least he’s become the leading candidate. And I’ll get more into that in the second part of this podcast. But

Lincoln led a touchdown drive and he also threw a 40 yard touchdown to a guy who’s a starting receiver here. First of all, Carnell and Jeremiah were a little bit more involved than maybe I was expecting them to be.

Stefan Krajisnik (07:58.335)

That’s a lot more Jeremiah today than I thought I was going to.

Stephen Means (08:01.061)

Because on the defensive side, I swear, I only saw Sonny Styles once. Stefan, you didn’t even think you saw him at all. Okay, so regardless, like he didn’t do anything today. Caleb Downs was out there for one period. That was about it. And that’s to be expected. So for JJ and Cardinal, but they’re also trying to get chemistry with a new quarterback. So maybe that played into it as well here. But we all think Julian Sands is gonna be the starting quarterback here.

Stefan Krajisnik (08:07.742)

Yeah, I don’t think he played. I don’t know.

Stephen Means (08:26.949)

And that’s been the case. In fact, you talk to people behind the scenes. Everybody thinks Julian Sands is to be the starting quarterback.

But Lincoln Kienholz won today.

What does that mean, Stefan? How should people view what happened today in a world where if you just tell people Lincoln Kienho’s won today, they’re probably overreacting and agendas and narratives are already being formed about it’s 2023 all over again. Some people are team Kyle. Some people are team Devin Brown when it’s actually, what’s the truth? What’s actually happening here? What’s the biggest takeaway from the spring in a world where the first time

We got to really see these guys throw the ball around. Lincoln Keenhove won.

Stefan Krajisnik (09:10.034)

My takeaway is that we have to view this the way Ryan Day told us to view this spring. It’s not about Lincoln played better than Julian today. It’s about Lincoln had a pretty good day of practice and Julian had a shaky day of practice. And on Thursday, it might’ve been the opposite. Last week, it might’ve been the same. We just have to view this as, Lincoln Keenholz is doing things in practice or did things in practice today.

That make me think, okay, maybe he’s more capable of being a starter at Ohio State than we thought at the start of the spring. But it can’t just be Lincoln Kinnos as a starter because he was better than Julian saying today. Like you just can’t think that way because that’s not how Ohio State structuring this spring. That’s not how they’re viewing this spring. And in the Julian saying conversation, he had good moments and he had bad moments. And that’s about what I expected from him this spring. And when you look at the good moments and you see, I thought

Julian, it kind of looked like he was just maybe like a half second behind on some place. He’s a little late to get the ball out. Yeah, that’s a guy who’s entering his sophomore year and hasn’t played a meaningful rep yet. Like he’ll get there. He’s going up against one of the best defenses in the country every day in practice. Like he’s going to get there. I’m not too worried about it. So you see the trace that people like the quick release I thought was there. Julian showed a little bit more mobility than maybe I thought. I think he’s sneaky got some.

some mobility that people don’t necessarily expect a tongue with him just because he’s not a Lincoln Keenholz or he’s not a Tavion Sinclair, but he’s got he’s got some legs to make things happen. Maybe not to the extent of like a CJ Stroud, but CJ was the same way where like, can you just get out? Can you, you know, extend the play when needed? Right? We’re not going to design runs for you all the time. So I don’t know. I just I don’t take too much from it. I refuse to walk away from today.

saying Lincoln was better than Julian. That’s all that matters to me. It was Lincoln had a pretty good day and Julian had a shaky day and we’ll figure out in mid August when it starts to matter bit more who’s better than the other.

Stephen Means (11:16.229)

So Angie, before spring practice started, we did our positional previews. And one of the things that we did was, what’s your number one goal for every single position group? My goal for the quarterbacks was essentially Lincoln making this interesting and not for the sake of maybe it changes who’s the starter. Or maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but that wasn’t why. It was because

You want the best possible result from this. Ryan Day says the standard here is Heisman Trophy finalist, Heisman Trophy caliber, first round draft pick caliber, national championship caliber. That’s the standard at Ohio State. And how do you, you don’t just get that because Julian Sam was the number one quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class. That’s not enough. It’s gotta be bait. And the room has to produce that every single year. And so best case scenario for me was

Lincoln Kienholz pushes Julian Sand to the point that it brings the best out of Julian Sand. So I think Lincoln winning on Saturday in terms of the day, he win. He won the day. If there was a hypothetical power rankings, well then Lincoln would be first in today’s power rankings. I think that is the best possible thing that could have come out of today. Cause if we were left today going, Julian Sand’s awesome.

and the other two quarterbacks are little bit shaky. I don’t think the room is in a good place, but for the sake of where this room is going to be headed into the spring, headed into the fall camp with, you got four practices left, one of those is spring game. Lincoln Keenholz has done his job this spring by making this a competition that’s coming from a place of strength and not what it was in 2023 when it didn’t seem like anybody was emerging.

Andrew (13:13.152)

You know, I think that’s a correct way of looking at it. I also think it’s correct if somebody were to say, yeah, but what if Julian Sand just was that much better than all of them and he really didn’t get pushed and there wasn’t a push from Lincoln and Julian was just, wow, this guy is, you know, my goodness, it’s not even close.

Ryan Day might name the starting quarterback at the spring game type of conversation, right? I do think that there is value in saying, well, we know, and it’s a, the room is in a good place because the starters friggin awesome. So I think, I think you could make a rational case for both arguments. You can make a rational case for Lincoln pushing Julian is a really good thing. And Lincoln kind of letting people know like,

I’m not to be forgotten in this conversation is a really good thing. And I think there’s also probably some people listening to this who are saying, well, if Julian just showed up and was like the best quarterback on the roster, that’s also a really good thing. And he was far and away the best quarterback. That’s really a good thing because he’s a second year guy. And if he’s amazing, then we’re going to have two years of amazing play. So I think.

Stephen Means (14:35.235)

Yeah, but the problem is that got taken off the table after practice number one, Ryan Day told us that’s not going to happen. That way of thinking went out the door. The moment I asked Ryan Day, is there a world where that could happen? And essentially he said no, but also broke down why it’s not set up for either one of these guys to go win the job right now. It’s set up for them to develop. So if that’s not a real possibility for

Andrew (14:40.334)

Mm-hmm.

Andrew (14:58.638)

Mhm.

Stephen Means (15:05.198)

Sure, was there a world that existed where Julian Sand came in here and he was lights out? Sure, maybe that was going to be the case. But that’s not what was going to happen in terms of structure. So okay, what can happen in terms of structure? Ohio State has a legitimate quarterback battle where people can feel like whoever wins this battle is going to be awesome. I think that is better than the other way around when your structure is not going to provide a runway.

for someone to look so much more dominant than somebody else.

Stefan Krajisnik (15:36.539)

If we were going to take anything away from this in the sense of like the quarterback competition and not just how each quarterback is looking individually, the only takeaway I’m willing to have is Lincoln Keenholtz is more of a candidate to start that we’ve been giving him credit for. And it’s not because Julian Sands not good. It’s because Lincoln Keenholtz is better than what you remember watching in the cotton bowl when he was thrust into an impossible situation. I think.

Andrew (15:56.142)

the herd.

Stephen Means (16:00.655)

Yeah. Yep.

Stefan Krajisnik (16:03.494)

And all three of us are part of that problem. I think all of us have looked at this quarterback competition and said, it’s not a competition, it’s Julian saying versus the field. Well, maybe we need to give like a gales more respect. Maybe that’s the takeaway from practice today is that he looked pretty good. He made some plays and maybe it’s more of a true competition because he is making it as opposed to Julian saying is not good. And now what are we going to do?

Andrew (16:16.195)

So.

Andrew (16:26.542)

Stefan, let’s put this in terms that everybody loves talking about now, gambling odds. Before today, put odds on Julian Lincoln Tavian. And did they change at all from after today? And if so, what would they be?

Stefan Krajisnik (16:44.298)

I don’t think so. I would, Julian’s probably like minus 200 to be the starter. I don’t, I don’t think the odds are changed because the odds makers also don’t, and this is a very hypothetical world. The odds makers aren’t looking at Twitter saying, Andrew, Steven and Stefan say that, you know, Lincoln look good today. The odds makers know stuff where they say, yeah, but didn’t they have 10 more practices before that where Julian saying probably might’ve looked better than like, like

Andrew (16:49.262)

Okay, I was gonna say like minus 250 minus 300. Yeah.

Stephen Means (17:01.711)

Thank

Andrew (17:08.385)

Exit,

Stefan Krajisnik (17:10.748)

I don’t know. don’t think the odds change much today. I think maybe your outlook on if Lincoln is the starter, it’s not end of the war. Like I think there was some of that hanging around this like, man, if Lincoln Keenles wins this competition, Ohio State’s in a bad spot. Like, okay, maybe Lincoln Keenles just wins the competition because he’s a good quarterback.

Stephen Means (17:28.255)

I you hit it. That’s what it is. It’s our fault and not us at Buckeye Talk specifically. Just this way of thinking. Here’s what happened. Lincoln Keenholz is the number one ninety four player and the number 15 quarterback in the twenty twenty three recruiting class, who Ohio State found late in the process in a cycle where they were already looking for a more developmental guy. He wasn’t even the original guy was Brock Glynn.

who then flipped to Florida State and what felt like a mutual parting of ways for both sides. Lincoln Keenholz has been viewed as this throw in quarterback. He’s the long-term development guy. Let’s check in in year three on him. Julian Sand is the crown jewel of a 2024 recruiting class where he’s the number six player and the number one quarterback. He is the epitome of what Ohio State’s quarterback recruiting is. Highly ranked guy.

who spends his first year learning behind the guy and then his second year he’s the starting quarterback, i.e. CJ Stroud. That’s what he is. And it was emphasized by, I’m glad you brought up the Cotton Bowl. Lincoln Kienholz played 60 snaps his freshman year here. 12 of them were garbage snaps against Michigan State, who they blew out. Eight of them were against Minnesota, who they blew out. And then randomly,

because Kyle McCord hopped in the transfer portal and Devon Brown got hurt in the cotton ball. Now all of a sudden, Lincoln Keenholz, who again showed up in June that year, is thrown into a position he had no business being in and he looked awful in it. And unfortunately, first impressions are everything. And so that’s been the impression of Lincoln Keenholz. Meanwhile, Julian Sand is the Bama quarterback that they couldn’t flip because Nick Saban existed.

Nick Saban retires, Julian Sand comes north, looks awesome last spring and is the third string quarterback last year and he has been anointed the next starting quarterback. Is that still true? Probably, we all still think that, but we did not give Lincoln Kienholz the credit of let’s check in on year three. Well, it’s year three, he’s been developing behind the scenes.

Stephen Means (19:48.581)

Everything Ryan Day saw in him when they turned to him late in that 2023 cycle seems to finally be paying off and he is best position to take his best shot to be this team’s starting quarterback this year. That is not the narrative we had with Lincoln. He knows that is on us to not have that narrative because we just decided Julian Sands starter and he might still end up being the starter, but

It goes back to the original thing I said, Lincoln Kienholz is exactly who people described he would be when he signed here. Let’s check in on year three. It’s year three and he looks like a guy who was three years into the program, looked like he knew what he was doing. Was he perfect? No, I thought his accuracy was hit or miss at times. He’s got a great deep ball. He also had some intermediate throws where he threw it seven yards away from Jelani Thurman.

Right? So he, all of these guys had good and bad about their game. But if your initial impression with Lincoln Kinos was a cotton ball, which was just a pile of, you know what, for everybody offensively throw that out when you’re talking today was the first real piece of information we’ve gotten to get about Lincoln Kinos as a quarterback. And I thought that was a positive and it says something about where this room might be by the time they start fall camp.

Andrew (20:55.106)

Disaster.

Andrew (21:14.688)

I thought Stephen was gonna go into his Dennis Green impression, they are who we thought they were, when he was talking about Lincoln Keenholds for a second.

Stephen Means (21:22.137)

Well, he is. He is. He’s I thought I saw a really good quarterback today in a world where let’s see where it’s at in fall camp. But I think both of those guys showed things today where if they find consistency, I’m not worried about quarterback play. Now there’s that’s why it’s a long ways between now and August 31st because they still both lack that consistency. But for me, I saw what I needed to see from the individual. I think Ryan Day making his quarterbacks live.

because they’ve played a combined 87 snaps, the three of them in that room, and 40 of those snaps came in a game that was two years ago and is kind of irrelevant in the storyline of Ohio State. 40 of them against Missouri in a cotton ball. The Kinkinos played eight snaps last year. Julian Sayen played 20-something snaps last year. So they have to play real football. And so Ryan Day decided to take that at a time when Mason Mags not

practicing this spring. it’s not just that they have three scholarship quarterbacks that phone, they have three quarterbacks period. So this is a risky move to make them live when you can’t afford any of these guys to get hurt. And it paid off because you got to see a real look of how they handle things when everything is a consequence. If you’re going to lower your shoulder like Tavian did on Saturday and go fight for extra yards, there’s a consequence, but it also tells you something about Tavian St. Clair’s mindset. If

Lincoln Kienholz is gonna stay in that pocket, take the hit and make the throw to Cardinal Tate. Great throw, but there’s also consequences to that. That’s a mindset thing. If Julian Sand, who we’ve talked about his quick release, that’s great, but he also used it sometimes to try to bail himself out. And sometimes it works and sometimes it led to a pick for Jermaine Matthews.

Stefan Krajisnik (23:12.488)

Which I also thought was a great interception and probably gets into something we want to talk about later, but I just, yeah, there, there’s, there’s just not a ton. The people on social media who are just naming Lincoln Kienels are starting quarterback because of practice today. Just don’t, don’t let yourself fall into that hole. Think, think, cognitively.

Stephen Means (23:18.126)

Yeah

Andrew (23:32.206)

Yeah.

Yeah. you know, it’s again, you can have. It’s not the end of the world of Lincoln, Keenholds is the better quarterback, right? Like it doesn’t mean like we had this conversation last year, Steven, where, look, it’s a different situation. I said that the other day. It’s a different situation with Devon Brown and Will Howard. You had Will Howard who’s coming in as a fifth year quarterback kind of felt like art. Like if we think Julian Sands is going to be the starter, the starting quarterback this year.

I think we really felt like Will Howard was going to be the starting quarterback last year. And it’s like, do you remember in the beginning part, it was like, hey, Will and Devin are kind of even and Will and Devin don’t look super different. And basically what it was, was Will Howard had showed up in January and needed some time to learn who he was throwing the football to. This year’s a little bit different, but because obviously, look, that’s a veteran guy played a lot of football.

It’s learning the offense, learning the system. This time around, it’s still learning. It’s just a different type of learning, right? There’s going to be a growth process. And I think one practice is not necessarily indicative of where things are going to be. Because when we see a week from now, as we record this podcast, a week from now on April 12th, Julian could go out there and be the far and away best quarterback that we see. And that could just be the way that this thing goes, right? Like that we saw.

Basically, if it’s a 65 inch painting, if it’s this big painting, we saw five inches of it and people are trying to make rash decisions about it. That’s just not the way that this works right now.

Stephen Means (25:20.163)

Yeah, but even in that, the other guy who was in the competition, realistically in the competition, Devon Brown, he played 104 snaps coming into that spring. So even then he’s played more snaps than all three of these guys combined. here, this is what I, are you encouraged by what you, cause this is it, right? They’re not going to go crazy difficult next week because there’s going to be coaches clinic things going on. They’re gearing up for the spring game and whatnot. So this is,

There’s some finality to this practice as much as there is some finale to next week as well. Are we encouraged about the direction of the quarterback play, regardless of the winner right now, just the overall play of the room? Because we’re also living in a world where I’m looking back at this. I said better, Stefan, you said better, Andrew, you said better in our text or 614-353-315 two weeks, we try out through nine after that. When we did this,

We all said the quarterback play in 2025 would be better than the quarterback play in 2024. We also said, myself, Stefan and Texer said it would be the second best position group.

Andrew, you said it would be the third best behind the wide receivers and the tight ends. We both said it was just going to be behind the wide receivers. Are we encouraged by what we saw today that those predictions, those statements that we made before we saw any of spring practice can still happen?

Stefan Krajisnik (26:46.386)

Yeah, I think the only thing I would change right now is maybe I’m more confident in the offensive line than I was.

Stephen Means (26:50.981)

Okay, you had the offensive line at four. But that was a lot of new. Andrew, are you still encouraged by that?

Stefan Krajisnik (26:54.59)

knowledge.

Andrew (26:59.234)

Yeah, I don’t necessarily think anything has jumped out in front of me to make me go, you were wrong, change it. So I think we’re here. I see no reason to back off.

Stephen Means (27:06.371)

Right. That’s all that matters.

Stefan Krajisnik (27:08.094)

I just, even if I’m not mistaken, weren’t people like kind of freaking out about Justin Fields, his spring before he started, people were freaking. Yeah. People were freaking out, not freaking out maybe last year, but there was questions about Will Howard after the spring. Like I just, I don’t worry too much about it. I will say there was a few moments where the offense, I think on their first play that we saw, it got a delay of game.

Stephen Means (27:15.535)

Justin Fields had a very terrible spring game. An awful spring

Stephen Means (27:34.852)

Yeah.

Stefan Krajisnik (27:35.227)

There were a few sloppy penalties. think at one point Ryan Day was yelling over at someone. I thought it was Brian Harline and then maybe it wasn’t.

Stephen Means (27:41.913)

He was, he was yelling at Julian because he threw in the double coverage. He ended up getting bailed out by a pass interference, but Ryan Day was.

Stefan Krajisnik (27:49.471)

Yeah. During all this, Will Howard is just standing there and I have to imagine like Ryan Day, like every now and then is like looking over his shoulder, maybe picking up his phone being like, how do I get in contact with the NCAA Indianapolis? It’s like three one seven, something like that. Like, can someone get me in touch with the head of the NCAA? Cause I wouldn’t mind having another year of Will Howard right now.

Stephen Means (28:10.585)

Meanwhile, Will’s like, I am so glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore. Okay, that’s quarterbacks. Nobody should be freaking out about anything. We saw good, we saw bad. We saw spring from these quarterbacks. And I think there’s more to hang on to with the good than there is the bad because there’s gonna be a lot of practices between now and when they play Texas on August 31st. Let’s take our break here.

Stefan Krajisnik (28:13.5)

Yeah.

Stephen Means (28:35.621)

And then Stefan wants to talk about the cornerback. So I guess we’ll go there next. But there was just there was a lot happening, a lot to get into. I’ve got some winners and some hot takes coming out of this spring that I want to get into as well. So we’ll do that after the break here on Buckeye Talk. We’re back here on Buckeye Talk. Stephen, me, Stefan, Christ, Nick and Andrew Gillis after Ohio State’s 11th practice, they let the students in, they let the media come in and watch. Get the text 614-350-3315 two week free trial, 399 after that, Stefan, I’ll let you take the lead here.

Stefan Krajisnik (29:05.724)

Well, this is kind of weird because we did a video for YouTube before we left the Woody and there were some technical difficulties. So I’ll summarize what happened in those videos that you now can’t watch in that. I talked about the corners. Gillis talked about receiver play and Stephen talked about offensive lineman. There’s some like sick world where I don’t know what happened.

Stephen Means (29:18.905)

Things happen.

Andrew (29:27.702)

Kinda crazy. was just gonna yeah, bizarre world.

Stefan Krajisnik (29:33.791)

where we just like Freaky Friday did this thing and everyone just started talking about different position groups than we normally do. I didn’t mention R.F.L. Reese once and that’s, I know, I know. The corners I think is the most interesting position battle on this roster and that includes quarterback. think the corner conversation is fascinating because you genuinely have four guys.

Stephen Means (29:41.847)

Not once. Not once.

Stefan Krajisnik (30:02.652)

that I think could start day one on any roster. And I think it’s interesting to note that because I think they’re also the deepest room. And I think the immediate rebuttal that I even made to myself when I was thinking aloud about this was that receiver is the deepest room. Outside of the three starters, I don’t know how confident you are in what you have at receiver right now. They’re all very talented, but we can’t.

just point at them and say that’s a deeper room immediately just because those top three guys are so solidified. But I don’t know what you have after that. I’m fairly confident that Aaron Scott’s ready to start and that Devin Sanchez is not far behind. The corners looked outstanding and we all have penciled in Davison and Jermaine as the starters. And I think it’s fair and I would still do that if I was projecting a depth chart today I would say those two guys are your starting corners. But Aaron Scott and Devin Sanchez are going to be impossible to leave off the field.

And in era where Ryan Day has shown us that he wants to rotate as many positions as often as possible to the point where we’re talking about Austin Cereveld playing 30 different positions on the offensive line. Like this could be another position where we see more rotation than we did last year. We saw it a bit at the end of the year with Denzel and Jermaine rotating a good amount, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Davidson rotated a good amount this year. I think Jermaine’s going to rotate a good amount. I think there’s going to be times where we see Jermaine move to the slot.

And Aaron Scott or Devin Sanchez has to come in. I think all four of these guys are ready to start Devin Sanchez. I know we’ve pumped the brakes a little bit just because the bar that Jeremiah Smith has established is so high. Okay, you don’t have to be Jeremiah Smith. You can still be a starting quality freshman. Denzel Burke got thrown in there and that was more out of a place of necessity, but he wasn’t the highest rated player in the world and he proved that he could be pretty all right as a freshman starting. So

I’m all aboard the Devin Sanchez hype train, which is not saying much like that. He’s been hyped up for the better part of the last half decade. But at the same time, Aaron Scott’s there too. Like that. I don’t know how Tim Wall and Matt Patricia are going to figure this out, but all four of those guys have to be on the field a ton this year because they’re all playmakers. thought Devin Sanchez, he got mashed up with JJ. I thought he held his own. He got mashed up with Quincy Porter pair of five star freshmen going at it. I thought he did pretty well. Aaron Scott went up against some of the best receivers.

Stefan Krajisnik (32:23.794)

Did pretty well like these guys are ready to play, especially by the time you get to August are definitely going to be ready to play. It’s the deepest room. It’s the best room. It’s the most talented room, probably on the roster and. It’s going to be a tough task because I think it’s a it’s a competition. It might not be a competition for starting spot because we know who the veterans and kind of the somewhat established guys are, but it’s going to be a competition to stay on the field like alright, you guys got the first series.

It’s a competition to see who’s going to get the second series of the game. It’s, fascinating to me because those guys all look terrific. think for Julian and Lincoln and Tavian, the quarterback competition has to be such a struggle in a sense that those are the guys are having to throw against every day.

Stephen Means (33:09.583)

So what do we do with that, Andrew?

In offensive line terms, there’s a who’s your best five, but then also who’s the best guy for each spot conversation. And I know Stefan is throwing around this idea of like, okay, what if we just move Jermaine Matthews in the nickel? Because he’s better, he’s a better corner than Lorenzo Stiles or Bryce Weston is. Even though nickel’s a very different role and Lorenzo Stiles might be a better nickel than Jermaine Matthews is. But if you’re trying to get the best three guys on the field,

What if you move Jermaine Matthews inside and then Aaron Scott and Devin Sanchez battle it out at the other outside corner spot? What if you have a dime look where Davis and Nick Binoza is on the interior, which they did some last year. What do we do with corner is the sip? Is it just simple to say based off how we saw them handle usage with guys last year, Tim Laws got four corners. He’s going to rotate them and somehow some way Davison

If you play for every eight snaps, Davison plays six of them. Jermaine plays five of them. I don’t even know if this is good math and well, I’ll just say Jermaine play Jermaine and Davison play 65 to 70 % of the snaps. And then you sprinkle in Aaron Scott and Devin Sanchez, 30 % of the snaps. Or is there a world where three of those four guys are starters full time? What would you, you’re going to be Tim Walton. What would you do, Andrew?

Andrew (34:41.294)

get on my hands and knees and pray that those guys don’t leave every day and try to keep them in the building. So because I’m a sicko like this, I was standing in the Woody and I thought to myself, Aaron Scott looks pretty frigging good today. And there was a play, had a pass breakup with Jeremiah and I was standing with some of the other writers and I kind of looked at him and was like, that was pretty nice. That was a pretty nice play. And then I thought to myself,

Stephen Means (34:44.818)

he’s already doing that.

Andrew (35:09.142)

Naheem Awfulord was supposed to come here too, Like, this is where-

Stephen Means (35:13.039)

back

Andrew (35:18.552)

Dude, because I was thinking about the depth in that room because I was like, man, they have four guys like because I had that I had that same thought too with Stefan or I was just like, man, I don’t see any reason why you look at this room that Ohio State has where you have the number one defense in the country and you just won the national championship. I’m not saying anybody should leave, but you just start to think like.

Stefan Krajisnik (35:19.292)

His mind went to Oregon. What is surprising about that?

Stephen Means (35:21.039)

That’s fair.

Andrew (35:47.604)

Aaron Scott could start at every program in the country. And Jermaine Matthews probably would have started last year at like every program in the country.

Stephen Means (36:00.005)

I think the only two spots, Jermaine Matthews and the Big 10 would not have started at are, or at least been their best corner are Michigan, Oregon, and you can have a conversation about Penn State.

Andrew (36:09.004)

Michigan.

Andrew (36:15.616)

Yeah, but like that’s where we’re at. So I was thinking to myself like, my God, what do you do? And look, people come to Buckeye Talk for answers. I slammed my desk. People come to Buckeye Talk because they want to know and they want to know what’s going to happen. I have no idea. I have no idea. I think you just you look at these guys and you say, okay, Davison starter. Germaine starter.

And then I think you look at Aaron Scott and Devin Sanchez and go, we’re going to rotate them. And then Lorenzo Stiles is in that mix too, right? Like they do like Lorenzo is like a nickel type. And it’s like, okay, there might be certain situations where, you know, maybe there’s somebody that you think Lorenzo should be on the field against, or maybe you go into a dime look. I know Stefan, you know, was talking, you know, like hypothetically like, Hey, what if they ran dime? Like this team could be sick in dime coverage this year.

or in dime looks where you have four corners on the field and maybe there’s a look where Lorenzo’s better and maybe more equipped to that. It’s just, I have no idea. this corner back room is so deep, so talented and because it is corner, you’re not gonna put four of them on the field unless you want to go one safety look.

Like Steven, we did a podcast, I forget when that was, but you talked about that 2019 team and you were like, hey, they just had one deep safety and it was Caleb Downs or not Caleb Downs, but they had one deep safety and maybe they could do that in 25 with Caleb Downs. have Caleb Downs and then you have four corners on the field and you kind of move guys around and move guys down and back and sideways and all kinds of different directions. And it’s like,

I don’t know, but this is a good problem to have. Right. You know, people like people talk about this all the time where it’s like, man, who’s going to be this team’s number two corner? Who’s going to be this team’s number three corner? Who’s going to be blah, blah, blah, blah. This cornerback room is at a level where you talk about the talent and say they have to figure out how to get all of these guys in the mix to maximize a defense that has.

Andrew (38:45.41)

four genuine number one, number two corners at pretty much every program in the country. I don’t know how you do that. I’m not going to lie and say like, here’s what they should do and here’s how they should do it. I have no idea. I have absolutely no idea how they’re going to map this out. But man, is it a fun problem to talk about because one of Aaron, if they do a three corner set on the first play of the season against Texas.

one of Aaron Scott or Devin Sanchez is probably gonna be on the sideline and that’s just crazy.

Stephen Means (39:21.935)

think this might end up looking similar to 2016. That’s the last time it truly rotated that corner when they had Garyon Conley, Marshall Latimore, and Denzel Ward, except now I think they might be able to do it with four. And depending on where Devin Sanchez is by then, it might be three against Texas, or it might be four against Texas, but I just think they have an opportunity to handle some things in different ways.

Stephen Means (39:48.237)

Okay, I want to talk about Austin Tervel. So here’s my offensive lot based off of what I saw on Saturday with the ones and Ian Moore and Philip Daniels were also working in with the ones. But Ethan Owen, y’all was probably going to be this team starting left tackle though. I don’t think he looked great on Saturday, but again, that’s a these transfers haven’t hit has all as hard yet.

But let’s also give it some time. These transfers aren’t Quin-Shawn Judkins and Seth McLaughlin guys who are coming from Power Five programs who are national championship contenders or the best running back in the country arguably. So give it some time there. But I think left to right so far, I would probably pencil this in. Ethan Owen Yawa at left tackle, Stefan, Luke Montgomery at left guard, Carson Hensman at center.

Tiger Shabola at right guard, though I think that one may be a little lighter in pencil. I think Austin Cerebell is going to be this team starting right tackle. And I mentioned earlier a play that Bo Jackson had for a touchdown. I feel like Austin Cerebell was driving whoever the defensive lineman was. Like 40 yards down the field, even though was like a 15 yard touchdown run. I don’t know. He has gone over the last 48 hours of you and I talking about him as, Hey, is this the guy who’s rotating in a bunch of different spots?

to now, what if he’s just potentially their best offensive lineman this year? They put him at right tackle and he’s just a dude this year.

Stefan Krajisnik (41:21.692)

Yeah, he looked terrific today. That, that play that you talked about with Bo Jackson was just amazing. It was one of the, at that point they had let students and media kind of shuffle in behind the line of scrimmage. like if they’re, let’s say if the line of scrimmage, they were starting at like the, the defense’s 40 yard line. We were maybe like back at the, around the 50 yard line. we’re pretty close to the action kind of getting to see the eyes. you know, Julian saying and Lincoln Keenholz and

You see Bo Jackson go out to the right and Austin serviles just for lack of a better term, hauling ass and he just like he’s ahead of Bo Jackson and just plows his way, uh, helping. I don’t think it was a touchdown, but he got pretty close to the end zone. It was just amazing to the point where you’re just sitting there thinking to yourself like he’s obviously one of the five best offensive linemen at this.

And I think our idea still stands of you can rotate and put him in everywhere. Maybe he just plays the most snaps of every offensive lineman, but doesn’t have the most snaps at any one position on the offensive line. I don’t know. It’s just impossible to keep him off the field. And if Philip Daniels or Tegra Shibola just isn’t looking the part, he’s just got to start and he’s got to just control as many reps as possible at those spots.

I like the idea of him at right tackle. mean, it’s, it’s obvious that he’s capable of playing tackle at this point. Like he’s been doing it all spring. Basically he’s capable there. if Philip Daniels or Ian Moore does establish themselves as maybe the better option at right tackle, I would start Austin Cerebell at right guard. I just don’t know how you keep this guy out the field at this point. I think he’s going to be a captain. think Sonny Stiles is going to be the block. and I think he’s going to be a captain.

Andrew (43:07.596)

I think the... I think... I think...

Stephen Means (43:07.877)

But the thing is...

Stephen Means (43:12.089)

Yeah.

Andrew (43:14.19)

I think the Austin Cervo conversation kind of in a backdoor kind of weird way is a Tegra Shibola or Philip Daniels conversation. well, so well, hear me out, hear me out. So the similarities, I noted this, I think on the pod or on a video or something before. Last winter, Josh Fryer.

Stephen Means (43:26.639)

See, I don’t agree with that. I don’t. I don’t agree. I don’t agree.

Andrew (43:43.698)

one iron buckeye in the winter. And then after the spring game, Brian Day said, we know Josh can play right tackle, but we want to find the best five. We feel like Josh is one of our best five. If we can figure that part out of that part of it out, that’d be great. He’s played a little guard, played a little tackle. The goal is to find the best five. I think Austin Cerevelle

is one of Ohio State’s best five linemen. And I think it’s very much a conversation right now of, okay, what’s the best combination for Ohio State? First off, is Cereveld better at tackle or guard? And does he mix better with...

You know, if he’s at right guard, is the offensive line better? It is maximizing the potential of this offensive line better with him at guard and Daniel’s at tackle. Or is it with him at tackle and Shabola at guard? I don’t know. think Cereveld has kind of proven that he deserves to be in that consideration, that he deserves to be considered one of Ohio State’s best five linemen. And I think

That’s one of the big takeaways from the spring is probably they view him in this category. Now it’s just about finding the right match for that puzzle piece. Now it’s about finding how that side of the line works. You just know that he’s going to be part of it in some way, shape or form.

Stephen Means (45:25.305)

Yeah, like, don’t, Josh Friar is not the, he’s better than Josh Friar, in my opinion. But also, you’re, it’s.

Andrew (45:30.382)

That’s fine, but I think the concept is still the same or he was saying look he’s one of our best five We don’t know if he’s gonna play guard or tackle, but he’s gonna play he’s gonna be started

Stephen Means (45:38.213)

That’s fine. What Ryan Day says and what Ryan Day does are two different things. John Austin, Sarah Vail started because Donovan Jackson was out the first two weeks. He started against Akron and played 66 naps. That game alone is more snaps at guard than Josh Fryer played in five years here. So Josh Fryer never played. He played 62 snaps in his career as a guard and it was in 2022. And even in that year, he played more snaps at right tackle 134 than he did at guard. Josh Fryer.

Andrew (45:54.872)

Sure. Yeah.

Stephen Means (46:07.861)

on game day has never been a guard for Ohio State, regardless of what they’re doing in the background and practices. Yes, he was a backup, so they’re getting them ready at a bunch of different positions, but he has been a tackle his entire career here. He is a two year starter at right tackle. He played 1,956 snaps at right tackle and 22 snaps at left tackle and 62 as a guard. Austin Sarah Veld started game for you at guard this year and was rotating both guard spots.

and playoff games. And then we walked in there two weeks ago and he said left tackle with the starters. And it’s like, huh? And then we got to see it live and it’s like, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. That guy should be your starting right tackle. don’t think what I get what you’re saying, Andrew. I don’t think you’re basing where you’re putting Austin Searveld based off what Tegra Shabola and Philip Daniels are doing. I think regardless.

of what happens with those two, Austin Cerevelle might end up being your best offensive lineman. You start him and then you figure it out.

Andrew (47:15.17)

Well, if he, yeah, if he’s, if he’s your best right tackle, then you play him at right tackle. if he’s your best.

Stephen Means (47:20.383)

Did anybody see Austin Ceravell do anything other than play tackle today?

Andrew (47:26.742)

My eyes were all over the place. I saw him play majority tackle. If he did play guard, I wasn’t looking, but I also didn’t have my eyes on him.

Stephen Means (47:32.121)

He didn’t. He did not play. He did not play a single snap of guard today, and that doesn’t mean again. It’s one practice of 15, so he I’m sure he’s done some guard stuff, but what I saw today was. Ian Moore taking snaps with the ones in the twos at tackle. I saw Philip Daniels taking snaps with the ones in the twos at.

But I saw Austin Cereveld playing strictly with the first team offensive line at right tackle. I did not see him take a single snap with anybody else but the Walters at right tackle.

Stefan Krajisnik (48:09.886)

There.

Andrew (48:12.59)

I mean to be and to be fair they have been talking about cross training like he has played guard in the past so like if they needed him to play guard he can

Stefan Krajisnik (48:14.354)

that.

Stephen Means (48:18.307)

Sure, what was sure, we can only go off what we saw today and they did a lot of competitive periods and he was with the starting offensive line at right tack.

Stefan Krajisnik (48:27.674)

He there was there was one sequence that I’ve jotted down here where he’s 67, right? Yeah, he was playing right guard with the starting offensive line. was going only on what Luke Montgomery Josh Padilla was in at this point. Hensman didn’t play a whole ton. So I wouldn’t read too much in that. Padilla was in then serve held and then 69 is even more right. He was at right tech.

Stephen Means (48:34.521)

Yes.

Okay.

Stephen Means (48:43.406)

Okay.

Stephen Means (48:50.221)

Okay, that’s all I want, because if we didn’t see that, then we can’t have this conversation. I just think he’s their best right time. Tackle. Okay.

Stefan Krajisnik (48:56.242)

I agree with you. I agree with you.

Andrew (48:57.658)

Yeah, and if he’s their best right tackle, then he’s their best right tackle. It’s just I think it’s also a conversation about like who is that right guard. It’s like, well, if Syravold can play both at a high level and like it’s OK, well, what if right tackle and right guard are equal for him? What if you think he’s you know, this he can be the same level of player at tackle or guard. Then it’s a conversation of who does he pair best? Who does he pair best with? If it’s a conversation of, well, he’s a better tackle than he is a guard. Well, then you play him a tackle. That’s the point of me.

Stephen Means (49:00.163)

I just, don’t think that...

Andrew (49:28.056)

If he’s a better guard than a tackle, then you probably play him at guard, right? Unless you have to play him at tackle. I don’t think you’re gonna have to do that.

Stephen Means (49:35.203)

You said when he was at guard, Ian Moore was at tackle.

Okay. And we don’t have to get bogged down in this because they got like 60 practices before they have to play a football game. just, he looked better than everybody else today. And it’s again, just like with Lincoln Keenholds where maybe we were overlooking stuff. Austin Cerevo’s recruitment came down to Ohio State and Alabama. Nick Saban’s Alabama. So.

Throw the 302 overall ranking number 16 on interior offensive lineman in 2023. We that out the window. This dude was down in Ohio State in Bama. That’s gotta mean something and it’s gotta mean something that they told that guy. Hey, we’re playing playoff games. We’re quite frankly if we lose these games, it might get real rough around here. Can you play both sides for us and he kind of thrived in it and now they’re putting him at right tackle. That’s my hot take. He’s gonna be there starting right tackle this year if I’m wrong.

no, he’s the starting right guard this year. But regardless, I think there is a world where I saw enough from Austin Cerebell where I don’t know if I came into this practice thinking I’m going to leave it going Austin Cerebell is their best offensive lineman. But I think I left thinking Austin Cerebell is their best offensive lineman.

Stefan Krajisnik (50:52.328)

Can I ask you this though? Like, I agree. Right now I’d probably pencil him in as a starting right tackle. What if instead of rotating between left guard and right guard, he rotates between right guard and right tackle this year?

What if, what if Tegra, Philip Daniels and Austin Cervel rotate on the right side of the line?

Stephen Means (51:16.345)

then can we just give him the Outland Award Trophy?

Stefan Krajisnik (51:19.752)

Well, we have to, we have to change the name of the Donovan Jackson award that we named literally like last podcast to the Austin Theravod award.

Stephen Means (51:26.507)

No, Which would be more fitting because Donovan did it out of emergency. This would be doing out of place because we want to do it.

Stefan Krajisnik (51:33.116)

Right. But you gotta win a national championship. It’s like naming the Monday pod, which this is, I guess.

Stephen Means (51:36.389)

That’s true.

Stephen Means (51:41.007)

And I have zero doubt that Austin Cerroville is going to be good. Quincy Porter lost his black stripe, first true freshman to do so. This is the third straight year wide receiver was the first. In fact, I think Marv was the first in 2021 true freshman. It was him and Jack Sawyer on the same day. I don’t remember who was first in 2022.

I don’t remember, but I do know that it was Marvin 21, was Cardinal in 2023, and then JJ last year. So this is a lot of years in a row where the wide receivers are first, which should be shocking, this is what they do. Andrew, anything else? We’re almost an hour in here. Anything else of note you think is worthy of bringing up today?

Andrew (52:28.526)

Let’s see here. Quincy Porter, we covered the corners. Yeah, I mean, that is going to be a really interesting mix because it’s like, I don’t think Davison can play inside. I think you’re keeping him outside. After that, it’s like, think Devin’s outside. I think Aaron’s outside. It’s like, OK, basically is Jermaine Matthews your slot? There’s just there’s a lot of interesting dynamics there, and that’s going to be really fascinating. Quincy Porter. there were a handful of recruits there.

You just touched on that briefly. Darius Gray was there. He’s a five-star interior offensive lineman from the central Virginia area and the Richmond area. He’s obviously one of Ohio State’s big-time recruits, one of their big-time prospects. He got an offer from Fry last year, Justin Fry, after he played. He was awesome in the camp. He was their best offensive lineman. And when they put him against J’Kim Stewart, that was like, well, it was a war. Braylon Womack, he was here.

That is a commitment that I think Ohio State’s obviously really, really interested in. They’re trying to roll the red carpet out for him, certainly. He is a kid, I think, when you look at and you go, wow, talk about look different from June to April. When he got his offer last year, you saw everything. And this time you’re like, my goodness, this kid’s an adult. So we’ll see how the five star, his commitment goes.

Defensive lineman Demare Simeon, was here, 2026 kid, he’s an edge. Favor Aki, the running back out of Delaware, Delaware, Ohio, for those not in state. he’s like 206 in the class. He was back on campus. This was his third spring visit of this practice. He’s gonna be on campus again for spring practice. Those of you who have the text, 614-350-3315, knew that already. So congratulations to you guys. Pat yourselves on the back.

Cause you knew that information. Favre was here. Their offensive tackle Samuel Roseboro was here. JB Shabazz was here. had another offensive, a couple other offensive linemen here, man. Like Tyler Bowen, he’s cruting his butt off and he is really, really aggressive with getting these kids to campus. And Ohio State has three prospects right now committed in the 2026 class. They’re obviously working on more and a lot of trench guys here today, but yeah, it was.

Andrew (54:54.392)

Stay tuned for more on that from the tech service, but yeah, there were a lot of notable recruits and I think it’s pretty clear to see kind of where Ohio State’s priorities are. And those certainly start with like Darius Gray and Braylon Womack.

Stephen Means (55:10.405)

Chris Renney Jr. looks like a basketball player.

Andrew (55:12.494)

Oh yeah, Chris Henry Jr. was here. Duh, I’m an idiot. Chris Henry Jr. was here. And one of the reasons I knew he was here is because he’s very, very tall. And, but I remember I saw him stand on like way on the other side of the field, which again, tall. And I was like, huh, I’ll have to, I’ll have to get a picture of him later. You know, let people know he’s here. I walked over later and he was talking to Jelani Thurman and Jelani Thurman is six foot six. He’s listed at six foot six.

Stephen Means (55:22.437)

taller than everybody.

Stephen Means (55:41.859)

A lot of the time it is not six foot six.

Andrew (55:43.68)

Well, he’s listed at it and Chris Henry Jr. was taller than him. I was like, look at it. It’s like, all right. Well, even if Jelani Thurman is six foot five, like Jelani Thurman is not six to like Jelani Thurman is a big kid and Chris Henry Jr. is taller than him. And I think Steven said this like. He looks like a basketball player. He looks like he’s here for a basketball visit because he is just so much taller than everybody else. That is a very, very fascinating.

player. He obviously just shut down his recruitment, the five star in the 2026 class. So keep an eye out on on his senior season because again, I mean, Ohio State’s pulling another five star and he’s the next one and he’s a different type of receiver than they have had because he is a different type of receiver than many people because not many receivers enter enter college at six foot six.

Stephen Means (56:38.021)

think Brian Hartline’s only concern in terms of losing Chris Henner Jr. isn’t losing him to a different city, it’s losing him to a different building because Jay Deberg might try to pull him into shot.

Andrew (56:47.542)

If he gains two, if he grows two more inches, he’s going to learn some post moves and he’s a first round pick.

Stephen Means (56:52.633)

Now it’s 6-8, he’s not a post player.

Andrew (56:56.3)

You could be a three.

Stephen Means (56:56.887)

Lucas 6-7 playing point guard.

Stefan Krajisnik (57:00.926)

Cooper flags like 6-7. I’ve yet to see him pull out the post moves consistently. I keep forgetting how tall basketball players

Stephen Means (57:02.499)

Yeah, like he’s He’s tall. Yes, for a football player before a basketball player is average height. I’m just saying Jake Deaver needs wings. I mean, he bigs to maybe he should come. Well, even that’s the thing. But football players are not tall in comparison to basketball players are just big people.

Andrew (57:02.732)

That’s fair. That’s fair.

Hahaha

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Andrew (57:22.794)

No, they’re huge. that’s that’s well, that’s the funny thing. I remember when I was in when I was in college, every football player thinks that they could play on the basketball team. Every single one of them, they all think they have game. And then you talk to the players on the basketball team. like, you think you can play football? Like maybe one of them is like, I think I could play football. And everybody else is like, no, I don’t want to get hit. What are you talking about? I don’t want to play football.

Stephen Means (57:31.886)

Yeah, and every

Stephen Means (57:46.098)

And yeah, to be fair, at 6′9″, taking a hit over the middle just doesn’t sound like lot of fun. You just can’t protect yourself the same way. Step on anything else you want to hit on.

Andrew (57:49.992)

that sounds awful. my goodness.

Stefan Krajisnik (57:54.911)

Andrew brought him up there. I thought Jelani had a pretty good practice He was playing a lot with or he was playing a decent amount with the ones. I thought Jelani looks looks good out there You guys mentioned yeah Chris Henry jr He’s probably the next freshman to be the first freshman to our next receiver to be the first freshman lose their black stripe It was Kai Stokes in 22 Steven. I found the the tracker you guys published So that’s that’s

Stephen Means (58:18.021)

It was? Okay. Okay.

Stefan Krajisnik (58:23.688)

breaks the streak. Although there wasn’t a great receiver in that freshman class, if I’m not mistaken.

Stephen Means (58:25.21)

Yeah.

Stephen Means (58:29.323)

No, there wasn’t. That’s like the only class that didn’t have a five star. Well though, Caleb Burton was, but he got injured and kind of tumbled down the-

Stefan Krajisnik (58:36.55)

Yeah, he was one of the later players. mean, yeah, I’m sure they were fine at receiver in 2022, but.

Stephen Means (58:41.317)

Yeah, another JJ who wore number 18 back then. Okay, I think that’s it for Monogram continues to look like Garrett Wilson reincarnated. I thought Malik Hartford and Jalen McLean if we were worried about the safety depth, I thought they looked really good, especially as Caleb Downs didn’t do anything. Both of those guys spent some time with the ones.

Stefan Krajisnik (59:04.542)

I’m laughing at you like one of our footnotes from practice. This guy reminded us of Garrett Wilson once again. We’ll just mention that in passing. Literally a first round pick. First round pick, of the best receivers.

Stephen Means (59:14.785)

It looks like little Garrett out there.

Andrew (59:17.515)

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Ohio State, their fifth receiver is a first round pick.

Stephen Means (59:23.564)

Yeah, he looked like little Garrett. I don’t know what you want me to say. He looked like little Garrett out there. Cajun McDonald is a really good run stopper. He got stuffs on Sam, Sam Williams, Dixon and CJ Donaldson because they’re going forward on four friend one every single time. Cause you’re not punting. You did pump period already. And so Cajun McDonald, when you’re looking for some noses, it’s very clear. He is going to be a very good player here. Dominic Kirk’s got a sack on Julian say and legitimately a sack, not the.

touch and then argue with your coaches whether it was a sac or not because they were alive. He literally pulled Julian Sand to the ground or going to.

Stefan Krajisnik (59:56.795)

Edrick had one, I can’t remember who the quarterback was. Edrick had one where it wasn’t a live period. And I think he was sitting there being like, boy, are you lucky? Because I was about to light you up.

Stephen Means (01:00:05.989)

Yeah, that was the thing because they’re going the quarterbacks are alive and all of sudden the entire defensive line is like, yeah. It was a lot of fun. I think that’s about it.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:00:18.142)

CJ Donaldson, you and I talked about it a little bit after practice. He’s 50, man. He’s quick. This is not West Virginia CJ Donaldson.

Stephen Means (01:00:21.625)

Yeah.

Stephen Means (01:00:26.787)

Yeah, just throw out all the film from West Virginia.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:00:28.722)

Yeah, this is not the he literally looks like a different human being.

Stephen Means (01:00:32.567)

Yeah, I didn’t see any three fours, so I didn’t leave practice early. It was they’re running a four to five.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:00:40.21)

The when they I texted you guys when they ran the dime and I looked out and at this point I think Peyton Pierce was the only linebacker out there. Maybe you know, just again, Sonny wasn’t playing the whole time. We saw a lot of Peyton Pierce. But CJ Hicks was on the field and I was like man this time look when you got CJ Hicks on the roster playing defensive end is nice.

Stephen Means (01:00:43.352)

Yeah.

Stephen Means (01:00:47.471)

Yeah.

Stephen Means (01:01:00.483)

Yeah, and Peyton Pierce was making a lot of plays.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:01:02.866)

Yeah, he looked good.

Stephen Means (01:01:04.599)

I think they’re pretty locked in with their top three linebackers, Sonny Arvel and Peyton Pierce. Arvel kind of quieted that.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:01:10.654)

It is funny. Yeah, it was kind of a quiet day for our bell. It is funny. We look up and down this roster and I think we all walk away from practice being like they’re losing a lot, but at most spots they’re fine. But the main takeaway for the entire world is the quarterback room is on fire. Ohio State’s going to go five and seven.

Stephen Means (01:01:28.727)

All because Ryan Day yelled at Julian Sam for throwing in the double coverage. But okay.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:01:32.19)

There were, I will say there were a lot of flags. It was kind of sloppy in that sense.

Stephen Means (01:01:37.859)

Listen man, yeah, thank you for bringing that up. Listen, practice refs. Chill. Okay? Chill. No you don’t. Chill.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:01:46.686)

You gotta get the reps in.

They’re preparing you for facing the SEC. Flag heavy, apparently. Based on last season.

Stephen Means (01:01:53.711)

Just, just chill. Just chill. There were a lot of flags for PIs thrown on plays where the ball wasn’t even close to a receiver being able to catch it. And that was a cross report. All the quarterbacks were over and under throwing guys at times. And it would be clearly he can’t catch this and then you see a flag go up in the air. And I was standing next to Tony Gerdman and we were just like, chill out. Relax a little bit, man.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:02:20.254)

Listen man, if you want to be a mid-season form, you can’t pretend like officiating is just going to be perfect. I would have personally called it targeting on someone just because.

Stephen Means (01:02:29.707)

Just cuz kick somebody out of practice

Stefan Krajisnik (01:02:32.252)

Yeah, and we’ll sit there for an hour. We’ll look at the replay and we’ll say that can’t be targeting and then we’ll say the call is confirmed. It’s targeting. You have to be in mid please inform our vel Reese.

Stephen Means (01:02:42.831)

They put it up on the screen in the morning and we all like, we had a little skirmish between Philip Daniels and freshman linebacker Riley Pettyjohn after a play. Cause again, the quarterbacks are live, but then also offensive lineman do take it personal when you hit the quarterback. He helps Julian saying off the ground, want to play where he think, when y’all got beat on the place. So it was on him. So a little bit of skirmishing, which is good. There’s nothing wrong with that. Little nippiness has never hurt nobody in football.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:02:47.517)

Hahaha

Stephen Means (01:03:13.625)

I think that’s it. Yeah, it builds character. I mean, yeah.

Stefan Krajisnik (01:03:16.456)

I mean, could hurt someone in football,

Andrew (01:03:18.35)

Yeah, unless yeah, unless so when I was covering the Ravens in 2020 Earl Thomas and Chuck Clark had a fight, but whichever was like, ah, training camp. It’s fine. Well, it’s normally when it’s an offensive lineman or a defensive lineman coming at it, not two players in the same position. So we didn’t have any of that. So that was good.

Stephen Means (01:03:37.985)

Yeah, listen, man, those character one other freshman. want to point out Jake Cook, lower rated guy in the toy 25 recruiting class. He was working with the twos at left guard, which I think is intriguing. You’re always looking for which one of these offensive linemen where offensive linemen don’t start as true freshmen. At least they’re not supposed to. But which one of these guys are maybe setting themselves up for the future? And I think Jake Cook is doing that along with Quincy Porter, Bo Jackson, look great. And then Desi Jones and Philip Bell had some good catches as well. That’ll wrap up everything. Get the text because.

I’m sure I have more things that I have just forgetting right now that I’ll be sending out throughout the text. 6 1 4 3 5 0 3 3 1 5. Again, this is also your Monday pod. So the next time we record will be after we talk with Ryan Day on Monday heading into the spring game. And which means it’s time for Stefan and Andrew to put on their GM hats. We’re going to be drafting spring rosters to put to the test.

And then you guys get to tell me how stupid they were for how they went about their drafting process. It should be fun. Coach’s clinic is next week as well, which is always great to just learn some ball. We’ll be taxing off of that. Plus plenty of other things. Two week free trial, 399 after that, 614-350-3315. For Stefan Krystic and Andrew Gillis, I’m Stephen Means and that was Buckeye Talk.