Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis predicted Ohio State’s starting 22 against Texas.
Listen to Buckeye Talk, your favorite Ohio State football podcast, five days a week with Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis.Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis mark down the starters for the Buckeyes on both sides of the ball in that game.
It’s a way for the trio to talk about the Ohio State position battles while also putting them on the spot for a prediction: Name the 11 players who will take the first snap on offense and the 11 who will take the first snap on defense. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk and sign up to get text messages from experts Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis at 614-350-3315. Get the insider analysis, have your voice heard on the Buckeye Talk podcast and connect with the best Buckeye community out there.Projecting Ohio State football’s starting offense heading into fall campRead the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.Welcome back to Buckeye Talk. I’m Stephen Means, that’s Tiffan Kreisnick, and that is Andrew Gillis. And we’ve made it! The season has arrived, which means it’s pretty much August, which means it’s time to start marking some stuff down. Mark it down Mondays. Have officially started 614-350-3315 to two-week free trial, 399 after that. For the next four five weeks here, I’ll be sending along different surveys, different questions, because it’s time to start making stat predictions every Monday. leading up to Ohio State season opening game against Texas on August 30th. We’re starting with the starting 22. And this isn’t a project that too deep. It’s not a project, the traditional starting lineup. If you want to be weird about this, you can be weird about this, Buckeye talk, but we are projecting who is going to take the first snap on each side of the ball. Who are the 11 people who are going to be on the field and we can have a conversation obviously throughout this about what we think the traditional starting lineup is going to be. But this is about marking something down so that when you’re wrong or right, you can say you were wrong or right. So if you want to go two wide receivers and two tight ends, have at it. You want to go 22 personnel, have at it. You think Ohio State might come out in a bare front? You should talk about that. You think they’re going to come out and dime? You should talk about that. Here’s how we’re going to do this. Three sections, offense, defense, quarterbacks. That’s how we’re going to do these sections because in the quarterbacks, it’s as much about who we think is going to take that first nap as much as it is about us. I want us to mark down and we kind of dibbled in this last week when we were at Big Ten Media Days, but I want us to officially mark down when we think Ryan Day is going to name the starting quarterback and not necessarily with the date, how many days before the season opener he does it. Because I have the numbers on when he’s done it with the other four quarterbacks as well. Stefan, what side do you want to start? Do want to start defense or do want to start offense?Okay, let’s start with the offense. So here’s what’s happening here. I’m going to just say who I think is the starter. Well, the first snap taker at every single all 10 offensive positions that are non quarterback and all 11 defensive positions. And it’s going to be like Stefan and Andrew’s job to go. Yeah, I agree with you, Steven or go, Steven, you are an idiot. Why would you ever say that name? What is wrong with you? Be a better host and pick a better name than that. If we all agree, we’ll have a short conversation as to why we think that person is going to start. If we have a disagreement, then we’ll discuss that maybe a little bit more in length about why we feel the way we feel about different things. So let’s start at running back. I think there are co-starters in terms of their usage throughout the season, Andrew. And Carlos Loughlin has both vocalized that during the off season, but also what we saw with Trevion Henderson and Quince John Judkins. But somebody has to take the first snap unless you think they’re coming out in 22 personnel, which I do not believe they are going to do, which is why I am rolling with James Peoples as my starting running back. He is going to be the first running back to take the field against Texas.Yep. Yeah, I don’t know what kind of like, running back is the weird one where you could say like, all right, do you want to start at a two back set and whatever? It’s one of the weird ones where it’s like, you could do this, you could do that. But I, I think last year, there was much more of a debate. It feels like this year, there’s much more of an or a clear this guy’s going to be your best running back. Like whereas last year, I think you could have made a case for quinch on or tray this year. I don’t know if you can make that case.Stefan, do you think James Peeples takes the first nap in every single? Cause we had this conversation too, where it’s like, we think this in the season opener, but it might be this, this game. And then that, that game. I think Trevion Henderson took the first nap in every game up until the Penn State game. That was the first time we saw Quinchon take the first nap. But then we also saw games after that where Trevion took the first nap. was almost just like after the- Especially in the playoff. There was almost like a roll of the dice who Carlos Loughlin was going to sit out there first Do you think we see that in 2025 or do we just think James peoples is? This he’s the 1a in the 1a 1b situationI think we’ll see them both get a decent amount of starts. I do have James Peeples getting the first snap though. Right before we got on here, James tweeted some photos from Ohio State’s media day and he called it the money year. So this is his year to prove himself. Although I do think he’s going to share a decent workload in the backfield.That’s a question. Can it really be called a media day if the media wasn’t there? Can it just be picture day?Yeah, but like we’re in the media. Like imagine Big Ten media. That’s true. You know, that’s true. Everybody is evolving that. That is true. I told James back in June when we were in there for the day camps, I went up to him and said, you look like you’re ready to the ball 20 plus times against Texas. And he went, hell yeah, feed me with a dead look, dead, dead look in his eye. And I’m like, okay, yeah, cool. Give him the ball 20 times.I don’t think he’s gonna get the ball 20 times, because Carlos Lachlan is not rocking like that. But the concept of this is a guy you can give the ball to and he’d go be a dude for you. So I don’t know, guess Jerry J is gonna start an ex-receiver, I guess. Like you think he’s good enough to do that?I had this conversation with somebody last year, the Vikings, he’s not their best receiver. The Bengals, he’s not their best receiver.the Giants with neighbors like they’re the I don’t know about that. But here’s the thing. But here’s the point. Here’s the point. That’s nuts. Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson. go. Yeah, you got to give it to him. Then everybody else like Malik neighbors might have like 1500 yards receiving this year. And CD lamb has been like on a Hall of Fame trajectory. And we’re just like, yeah, maybe, maybe. I don’t know. And that’s crazy that we’re able to do that.I’m not saying you’re wrong. I think that it’s worth the debate, not here, but it’s nuts that we’re here.I think neighbors is only in this conversation because it’s closer to JJ and age. So you can’t use like with the CD lamb thing. I agree. CD is probably better than JJ still right now. But then you start taking age into account and it’s like, what can CD do that JJ can’t do and JJ is what like five, six years younger than him. So you take that one neighbors is young so I can see that but neighbors is really, really good. He’s not a physical freak though. I just think he’s a very talented. and speedy wide receiver who also plays for a coach who if all else fails, he’s gonna get the speedy wide receiver the ball, even if the guy who’s throwing it to him is god awful at everything else. Cardinal Tate Z receiver.Okay, those are two of the three returning day one starters for Ohio State this past year. the other one, I’m wondering if there’s going to be a conversation about whether or he has his job or not. Slot receiver Brandon Innes.So we’re all, we all think they’re gonna take the field with three wide receivers to start the game.Yeah, I think Brian Hardline’s first play call is going to be with his three receivers on the field.And well, and not only that, last year I got burned. did this from our hotel in Indianapolis for Big Ten media days. And I think I projected four wide on the first play of the game. And I picked Jayden Ballard to be out there. I think it was.You didn’t pick Jeremiah Smith to be a starter last year, even though I was pleading with you to pick Jeremiah Smith.I don’t, yeah, I like, remember thinking like, I, know what, then, just like, let’s be, let’s take a long shot because then I’ll look like a genius if I’m right. And who will care if I’m wrong and like, who cares that I was wrong, but like, I don’t like, I don’t want to do that again. But then from like a very more like real football stance, like, I think the guy that we’re going to get into next, I’m sure you want him on the field. And I think you want as much comfortability with a new started quarterback.I thought about the idea that maybe they go 12 to start the game. I didn’t pick it, obviously, because I said Brandon in the sense slot, I thought about for two seconds, 12 personnel.play action deep shot just to kind of set a tone for the game. But more than likely, it’s probably going to be like an RPL throw.Andrew Gillis Yeah, I have him like projected to do a bunch of stats stuff so I can’t leave him on the field in the first play. I know the rules of this. Yeah, I know that. I think that you want your best tight end to start. You want your best 11 to start on the first play of the season. And like I said, the comfortability with Julian Saan, think Max Clare might be that guy.Are we sure he’s their best tight end? Like overall, or is he just their best pass catcher in the tight end?I would say he’s, I would say he has enough of an advantage in the pass catching category to where even if he lacks in other areas, he’s still your best tight end.No, I know that, but that room is deep. And again, this is about the first play of the game. And I chose Max Clair, but a part of me was open to like, okay, what’s the play call? Because if you’re running the ball, maybe it is better to have Will Casmeric out there for the first nap. Because I’m thinking, Max Clair is a better receiving threat outside in than G Scott, even though G Scott’s former top 100 receiver who turned it to outside in. I think Wilk has Merrick started against Oregon. So that’s what I’m thinking about. It’s not, get it. Max Clare is a dude in this offense where it’s like, man, a tight end might have 60 catches. Like I get all that. And I understand that the first and all that stuff, but like in terms of what he brings to Ohio state and what the Titans are traditionally asked to do here. And we’re talking about one snap, not a totality of a season. I expect Max Clare to play the most snaps of any tight end here. I expect him to have the most usage. of any tight end here. In fact, in the next couple of weeks here, we’re going to start doing stat stuff. And one of the things I’m going to send to our Texas is I’m going to have them rank Ohio State’s receiving threats in terms of how many catches they’re going to have. And it’s JJ Max, Claire Brandon, Dennis, carnel, Tate, Milan, Graham, Bryson Rogers, but it backs Claire is the only tight end on the list. I’m going to send to our Texas. get all But Will Kaczmarek wasn’t their best receiving tight end a year ago. And he started in the first big game they played. Because blocking in that instance was more important than Will Kaczmarek as a receiving threat. But also they threw Will Kaczmarek a 15 yard pass that probably should have been called for an interception, but it wasn’t. I don’t think it’s as cut and dry when it’s about one play, not about the overarching thing as a starter.Yeah, I can see it. The reason I almost went with two tight ends is just because you do have such an elite pass rush from Texas. So maybe you, you have your tight ends out there early, even if it is a passing play to help out, you know, as we try to figure out exactly how good, you know, Ethan Owen, Yawa is and how, you know, we all think Austin Cerebell is a great player, but he, if he’s your starting right tackle that is still his first time starting out there, right? Like there’s factors to that as well. So that’s why I consider it a two tight end. just think. I think Max Clair is going to be a good enough blocker to where he can be on the field for any play call. And I think we’re going to see that early against Texas. If they’re running the ball, it still would not surprise you if Max Clair was the one tight end on the field.When we were doing this, I thought about it and I was like, well, I think Wilcas Marek is going to get the first snap when they play the Bobcats in week three. Yeah. So I was like, I think in a different scenario, but like, I think you want to come out kind of pistons firing against Texas. And I think that I think that look of 11 personnel where you have your three receivers on the field with Max Clair, I think you want to show immediately thatWe have weapons at all levels of this offense. Whereas Will Kazmarek, think, you want to be able to give your young quarterback a better pass receiving threat, I think, right from the get go, right from play one.Sure, except he’s got three of them who are probably gonna be day one draft picks in Texas like all that all those weapons and stuff is cool until Julian saying Julian saying or Lincoln Kienos is laying on the backThe catcher’s has one of the best defensive lines in the country and Colin Simmons, him and Dylan Stewart are probably the two best pass rushers in the country and Colin Simmons is playing in this game. So yeah, you want all these weapons you have to worry about, but you know a good way to not have to worry about those weapons is if he can’t get the ball off. And we are not 100 % sure about Ethan and Yawa and Austin Cervel or Philip Daniels or Ian Moore or Carl, we have confidence. based off the springs they’ve had and based off the way they’ve talked about it. But it can’t be both ways. We can’t go, I don’t know, Ethan and Yawa’s never really played against guys like this. don’t know, Austin Ditz-Cerevelle’s never really played against guys like this. But at the same time, not consider giving them a little help with a chip on the first play of the game. That’s all I’m saying. I picked Max Clair. It’s because they’re starting tight end. I just didn’t dismiss the idea ofWill Casmeric played the most snaps of tight ends in the Texas game when we did our rewatch while I mentioned that.Yes, and there I got understand G Scott made the play in the receiving game that was probably one of the five biggest plays in that game because of what it set up and G Scott had a pretty busy day in the receiving game as well. But you will catch Merrick played the most and you want to know why because Texas is front seven will get after you especially since they just sit back and zone behind it. That’s there’s the answer because I’m pretty sure G Scott also started in that Texas game but. If Will Kaczmarek is the only tight end on the field when Ohio State’s offense takes the field for the first time, I’m not going to bat an eye and think there’s something wrong with Max Clary at all.So let’s, so since we are all in agreement here, let me, let me ask you guys this. If Max Claire, even if he starts, is there a snap count that if he didn’t reach it against Texas, because we’ve said it, Texas might have the best patch Russia in the country. If it’s not them, it might be Penn state. And they’re also on Ohio state schedules, which is why I asked this. If Max put Claire doesn’t play X amount of snap against Texas. Would there be part of you that’s concerned about his blocking abilities? Cause we’ve, we, we all know that he came to Ohio state to become more well-rounded and if against Texas, a team where they’re going to need the tight end to help block a good amount, if he plays like 15 snaps, are you going to be looking at that saying, okay, there’s maybe some more work here to be done than I thought. Especially when you look at the teams that are left on the schedule.Yes, because it’s gonna tell me a lot. Let me tell you why. It’s gonna tell me a lot about what’s, because we’ve been having this discussion all off season, right? About tight end usage and what we think is gonna happen. And we’ll be marking some of that stuff down next week. But I’m looking at last season against teams who had significant pass rushers. G-Scott played 55 snaps against Oregon. Kazimerek broke his.arm so he only played three snaps so we can’t even really count that one but he did start that game he came back against indiana which was his first game back he played 18 snaps and g scott played 34 snaps tennessee g scott played 34 snaps will casmeric played 37 snaps oregon the second time around will casmeric played 37 snaps G Scott played 32. She got that wrong both has America played 32 against Tennessee G Scott played 34 G Scott against Oregon 32 to Will Casmer X 37 against Texas 27 for G Scott 36 for Will Casmeric Against Notre Dame 31 for G Scott 38 for Will CasmericSo 15 was obviously a hyperbolic number, if he doesn’t get to 30, you saying, okay, that’s interesting?If he’s under 30 against teams where we know the defensive line might get after you a little bit, it makes me start rethinking Max Clare’s role in his offense because it still means that Ohio State’s valuing blocking above everything else.Because yeah, that means to me that doesn’t mean we think Will Kazmarek’s a better blocker. To me, like a lower number like that wouldn’t be, well, it’s just the matchup thing. A lower number would mean Max Clair is an outright liability blocking. That I think that there’s a difference between those two things. I think there’s a difference between, hey, you know what, Will Kazmarek just is that really good and that dude might have. you know, one of the safest NFL draft projections on Ohio State’s offense, because he’s going to go be a third tight end somewhere and he’s going to make the team because he can block and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that, and that might make sense. If you were telling me that like Max Clair is not reaching, I mean, 15, like, that’s.Yeah, well, yeah. And I think what the crux of this kind of point would be would be like, if Ohio State runs 60 plays and he doesn’t have 30 snaps, and I think it’s also like determine like how his usage looks. Like if he’s only on the field in, you know, third and long situations where you need to throw the ball and you need somebody out there and he’s not playing that many snaps to me. that screams not only do we not think he’s as good of a blocker as Wil Kazimarek that screams we genuinely just can’t have him on the field. So I don’t think that that’s a problem. I don’t think that that’s going to be a problem necessarily. That low would be a no, that would be a red flag.Yeah, on a scale of one to ten, like how serious do think this could be? I’m at like a one. Like I don’t think that’s gonna happen.Yeah, I’m not a one or two. It’s more, but it’s, it’s again, they don’t need Max Clair in the passing game. They have him and they’re going to use him in the passing. But if he’s not G Scott level blocker in a world where your other passing options are J or G RMI Smith, Cardinal, tape, Brandon, and his Bryson Rogers, Mylon Graham, James peoples. I don’t live without it because they’ve been living without it for a literal decade, especially in a room that deep like Bennett Christian’s going to play. Jelani Thurman is going to play, Will Kazimeric is going to play, and Max Clair is going to play. So, Max Clair is not Brock Bauer’s level, at least I don’t think he is. And so since he’s not Brock Bauer’s level as a receiving threat, they don’t have to be in this all or nothing world with Max Clair. But the point of the matter is I think they’re top two at tight end and really solidified. And if Will Kazimeric takes the first snap, won’t be shocked, even though I’m thinking Max Clair will do it. Ethan Yawa starting left tackle, Luke Montgomery.Yeah. I, the only, the only thing that I think you could really kind of debate would be like right guard. At that point. know people in the building love Gabe van Sickle and they’ve been kind of waiting for him to pop and they’ve been waiting for him. Like I had somebody tell me like when this guy puts it all together, he’s going to, he’s going to be a really, really good player. He’s going to play in the NFL for a long time. I think you could make a case for Philip Daniels in that spot as well. you know, if you feel comfortable with, you know, Ian Moore, maybe at Right Tackle or something like that. to me, this was pretty basic and straightforward.He repped it guard a little bit during the spring. Now we’ll see about fall camp. Yeah. The fall camp stuff is going to be interesting where he starts this slide in.Right now, like football game. No. No, I get that. I’m speaking with an actual football game though, because he’s a gay fan single didn’t play any snaps last year. So Philip Daniels has only ever played right tackle in his career. No, he’s played a little bit of left tackle, but he’s only ever played tackle in his career as a college football player. And Gabe Van Sickle didn’t play at all next year. I think Gabe Van Sickle is probably a year away, but the fact that there’s already good things being said about him, I think probably gives you bit of confidence in what Ohio State’s going to have in 2026.So I think with Philip Daniels, I think this becomes a conversation where if Tegra Shibola is their third best offensive lineman, do you move Austin Cerabell back inside and put Philip Daniels at right tackle or do you move Philip Daniels to right guard and keep Austin Cerabell outside? But I think that is Tegra Shibola, if you’re looking for your best five, is Tegra Shibola one of your best five?Are we open to the idea of Tiger Shibola taking a step this year? You started every game for Ohio State last year and here we are going into the season. think all three of us projected him to be the starting right guard. So what if, what if some of those concerns about Tiger Shibola go away? I just, with the resources Ohio State has, I struggle to think thatThey wouldn’t have been more aggressive in the portal, specifically a right guard, if they truly thought Tegra didn’t have another step to take.I think it’s less about Tegra Shibola and my worries about him and more about you went and got guys out of transfer portal. So maybe there’s just an upgrade that he had there, regardless of what type of.Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I agree with you because we were talking about that back in the winter of yes, go get two offensive linemen. Worst case scenario, the guys who were already here develop and they’re better than the guys you got out of the portal. And so now you’ve just got deaths. So I think this is I think this is a win-win scenario regardless of how this plays out. Okay, so that’s the offense James peoples, Jeremiah Smith, Cornell Tate, Brandon Dennis, Max Clair, Ethan Inyawa. Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinsman, Tegra Shabola, Austin Cerevelle. We’ll take a break and then we’ll flip over to the defensive side. Here on Pukka Talk. And we’re back in the book. talk Stephen Means, Tafar Kreisnick and Andrew Gillis. We are breaking down Ohio State’s starting 22 against Texas. And this means who’s taking the first snap of the game. We all predicting 11 personnel to start the game against Texas on offense. And now we get to the defensive side where I’m wondering if guys got a little creative with this. I’m gonna start in the back end and work my way up to the front.What about running back? Wouldn’t it have been great if I just said, alright guys, Caleb Towns is going to start it running back. The Heisman campaign starts now!Did you, was it week one last year that he got his snap at tight end? Was that against Akron?Okay, what if, all right, they just Julian saying on the bench and they have downs and Jeremiah in the backfield.See now you guys want to throw out all these. I’m down. I’m down for Caleb playing any position he wants to play. If that dude wants to play left guard, I’ll think. I think if you give him six months to eat a bunch of donuts, he figured.I think there’s, I think this is one of the more legitimate battles of training camp. think they’re quote unquote, illegitimate battles of training camp that we’re going to hear from coaches that are battles. namely one that we’re going to get to the end of the podcast and talk about. but I think safety is a legitimate battle, but I just, think Malik Hartford has the edge and I probably think he’s going to be the guy there. And when you Talk about what’s gonna happen at our next position. I think Malik Hartford starting next to Caleb Downs just makes sense.Yeah, I am very open to the idea of Jalen McClain starting. I think what happened in the spring was Malik was pretty impressive and was Jalen, was he, I can’t remember, was he hurt, was he limited or?No, he was playing. What happened was during the season, Malik Hartford was dealing with injuries and so it allowed Jalen McClain who had flashed in the spring to have an opportunity. And I think it was easy to just say, Jalen McClain is jumping Malik Hartford in the hierarchy here. And it’s just like, no, Malika wasn’t healthy and now he’s healthy and he looks like he’s ready to play.Yeah, so I’m open to the idea though of Jalen McLean. Like we heard when a Mecca Bucca just throws out your name, like it sticks in the back of my mind, like nothing else. So like I am very open to this being like Andrew said, maybe the best position battle in in fall camp. But I also, I am leaning Malik as well. By the way, one more thing on a Mecca. Did you guys see the clip of Baker Mayfield on a Kelsey podcast? Yeah. Draft the Mecca Bucca in your fantasy football leagues.I would draft to Mecca. I would draft Garrett Wilson because Justin Fields is only going to throw him the ball. and they just gave him $130 million. And Aaron Glenn, when we were at the combine, somebody asked him about Garrett and he was just like, just give him the ball as much as possible.You can do that. You can do that. I would draft all three of those and you’re a civil.We also like not talking about Marv and frankly if Chris Olave had a quarterback I would take him as well.Listen man, Chris Olave is just trying to survive every day after Derek Carr was trying to take him out every single Sunday and more.That’s a fun podcast like which Ohio State receiver is going to have the best NFL season because you’re like, can point to like the best guys and you’re like, oh, well, there’s one guy who’s like currently holding out who is maybe the best quarterback of anybody on that list. Like there’s a lot of really, really talented Ohio State receivers in the league right now. They’re going to absolutely kill it in 20.Because after that the answer is easy. Which Ohio State receiver will have the best season? I’m digging JJ.That’s what saying, we have to do it this year and next year because then once JJ is in the league, we can’t play that game anymore. This is not a game. It’s Scottie Scheffler versus the field.Yeah, we just have to say. You just like to say which Ohio State receiver is going to have the second best NFL season this year?Jay just gonna have 120 catches this first year in the league. Michael Thomas, you’re in trouble. Okay, nickel. I thought a long time about this. I thought about people who have only been playing nickel during their time at Ohio State. I thought about young, talented guys. I thought about what gets the best 11 on the field, in our opinions here. But the reason I settled here is because of the opponent. I think if they were playing Grambling State or OU first, I think I would throw a different answer out there. But you have to go with the guy you know can play the position, even if you don’t think he’s the guy who by the end of the year is still playing the position. Because I would assume that right now they have more trust in Lorenzo Styles at Nickel than they do the two young, even if they’re five-star cornerbacks, being a starting cornerback against a top five team that might be If you have to make a list of pre of games right now in the preseason of like this could be a. A preview of the national championship game. Ohio State, Texas is probably on that list. Alabama, Georgia, I think might be on that list. I think LSU Clemson might be on that list depending on how you feel about Brian Kelly. Oregon Penn State might be on that list. Penn State, Ohio State might be on that list. This is one of those games and this is the first of the year. That’s one of those games and I just don’t know if you can throw a young guy into that.Stefan Krajisnik Yeah, I echo basically everything you said there. think because of the timing of when this game is in the season, you’re going to be a bit more conservative with this position specifically.Andrew, if they, let’s flip the schedule real quick. Let’s say this is like 2023 where there’s a buildup to the big game. So let’s just assume they’re Grambling State in Ohio the first two weeks of the season before you play Texas. What’s your answer at nickel?That’s a good question. I think, honestly, I might be the inverse of you guys. think you start Lorenzo Stiles at nickel if you start. Yes. Well, not still. I think against a team like Texas, which is going to have your there. mean, look,Sark is able to scheme some stuff up and Sark’s going to be ready for you. And I think you want to put your best corners on the field in that game, which is why I have Jermaine Matthews starting in the slot against Texas. I think Matthews is going to be one of those guys where Tim Walton is going to have a, I think a very, cause we are all very high on Jermaine Matthews and we saw him do it before. And I think he’s going to have a very, very frank realization at some point during camp, if he hasn’t had it already. And he’s going to say, Jermaine Matthews is one of our three best corners. He needs to be on the field against a team that has a lot of talent at receiver and might be really efficient passing the football. We can’t do this. Let’s put Lorenzo styles out there. And if it doesn’t work, well, then we have a better corner, maybe, or at least a more talented corner that we can slide into the slot and say, Hey, here we go. We could just do this because what happens if the first two drives don’t go great? And then you got to make that change. I think you start with Jermaine Matthews because if you start aggressive, I don’t think anybody’s saying that Lorenzo Stiles doesn’t know how to play the nickel, doesn’t know how to do it, can’t do it. I think you start with your best guys there. And to me, that’s Jermaine Matthews. To me, that is somebody that has played the position at a high level, has flashed incredibly high. I’m putting him out on the field on first nap against Texas.Your debate, your debate though isn’t Lorenzo and Jermaine. Jermaine’s not coming out of the field. Now your debate is Lorenzo or Devin or Aaron.No, I think he could play on the outside too, but I have two other guys that are going to play on the outside as well. Like two other guys, I think you have two other guys on the outside and then Jermaine on the inside. And I think if you needed to make a change, like if you wanted to put Lorenzo on the field, you could move Jermaine on the outside if you want it to. don’t think, I don’t think that this is like a rigid situation.Right, that’s the point he’s making. No, it’s not. But what we’re saying is Jermaine Matthews is going to be a starting defensive back for Ohio State. the conversation isn’t Lorenzo Stiles versus Jermaine Matthews. It’s Lorenzo Stiles or somebody else starting at outside cornerback. That’s what we’re, Jermaine is not in the conversation of will he start or not.So my question to you is, guess we can bring the other corners in here. David, but they’re not though. They’re two very different positions. We said Jordan Hancock could do both, but he didn’t do that that often. The only game he really played both nickel and cornerback was in 2023 because Denzel Burke got hurt. And you didn’t just want to throw our two freshmen out there for 70 snaps against Penn State. That was not the, it is not normal.for guys to be able to play both. Sean Wade was an elite nickel for Ohio State. They moved him outside and he was picked for. Right, so to say they’re not, there’s a reason why outside cornerbacks are constantly top 10 draft picks while nickels are unlucky to see themselves get drafted in the third round. So we can’t say they’re interchangeable when they are not. We have to both be sure that Jermaine Matthews is an elite nickel, which there’s no,actual proof of that because he played 28 snaps in the slot last year and 21 of them came against Nebraska and part of the reason why is because Lathan Ransom didn’t play and so Jordan Hancock had to play more high safety. This is not, he’s played 30 snaps at nickel in his entire career of his 588 snaps. We know Jermaine can cover outside. We don’t know for sure he can play nickel.And we for sure do not know that Devin Sanchez and Aaron Scott are 100 % ready for this type of thing. So I just want to make sure this is what you want it to be and that’s fine. But we can’t just say that nickel and corner are interchangeable when literally everything about football tells you they’re not interchangeable.You are 100 % sure that Aaron Scott is ready for his first meaningful snaps as a college football player, as a guy who played 74 snaps last year. And again, that matters, but only so much. This is Ohio State we’re talking about. This is what they do. They replace really good players or really good players, sometimes even better players than the guy who had the position before. So I don’t want to make this a like, are you sure that Aaron Scott’s going to be good? He’s a five-star recruit.Yeah, he’s five-star recruit. It’s conversation if he’s not good by year two, not if he is good by year two. Why? So it’s less about that and more about you being sure that Jermaine can play nickel. More than it is about whether or Aaron Scott, as a five-star recruit in his second year, is ready to go be a good football player for Ohio State. You are 100 % sure that Jermaine Matthews, who has 30 snaps of nickel under his belt,Yeah. mean, I’m also what I’m not going to do though, is like pretend that Lorenzo styles has been starting nickel for two years. Like Lorenzo styles, he’s got more reps. You don’t need to read the rep count out. get it. But like, I think like we’re talking about a guy who just was a depth player who played when it was mop up time against the, you know, the poopy teams of the big 10, right? You know, we played 24 snap against Purdue. We played 20 snaps against Northwestern.Like when he played 23 total against Akron and Marshall, like I get it. But I think Aaron Scott is somebody that you throw him out there to start because I would I went back and forth about this because I think Ibn Osin is locked in. And then you go to the other side and you say, what’s the best case scenario for Aaron Scott? OK, well, Aaron Scott just doesn’t give that position up. Right.Like for as much as we talk about Devin Sanchez, it’s okay. Well, this is a five star corner as well. They’re both five star corners. Devin top 10 player, whatever. What’s the worst case scenario? Aaron Scott’s not ready. Then you still, then do you want to go to Devin or do you want to, do you want to have that scenario or do you want to have Devin? You throw him out there. Devin’s not ready. You go to Aaron Scott. And I think I’m starting with the veteran. I’m starting with the guy. who has been around a little bit, the guy who has been through kind of the off season and a season and another weight conditioning summer and all those things. So I went with a safer pick here. Maybe I get burned because you know.I don’t think that’s the saber pick. I think that’s the more aggressive pick. To move a guy who is essentially never paid.Yeah. No, that’s what we’re saying. This isn’t about like Aaron. This isn’t this is about you moving a guy to a whole different position. Like Aaron Scott being ready to play college football in year two. No one. He’s a five star recruit. He should be ready to go after a year of learning. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be the best version of himself, but it does mean he should be ready to go. This is about you are moving a guy a different position because essentially for me, I don’t know, Stefan, you might think differently.I don’t think it’s too aggressive. think the debate, like this is the point I was trying to make earlier. think what Gillis is debating isn’t Lorenzo versus Jermaine. I think what he’s debating is what’s a better combo, Lorenzo and Jermaine or Jermaine and Aaron Scott. And I guess that comes down to how trusting you are of Jermaine to play the slot. And if Jermaine’s, if you think Jermaine’s ready to go and like,I don’t think that’s an absurd thing because we saw him rep there in the spring. It’s obvious Ohio State wants to throw that option out there. Like if you think Jermaine is ready to go in the slot, I’m not opposed to the idea of Aaron Scott being ready to go at outside. Like that’s, he should be ready to go.I don’t know, I just don’t know if Jermaine’s ready, snap one game one to play the slot.I also don’t know if like him repping and at nickel the last two years in the spring where it’s more about individual development than trying to put together a game plan anyway is more because they envisioned him doing that long term, which is why we do this market down Monday before we see anything because then like you’re locked in. can’t, have to go off of the information you have leading up to before fall camp. I don’t know if it’s we see like when Jordan Hancock was repping at nickel. It’s because they recruited him to come play nickel. I don’t know if this is like a Donovan Jackson doing some tackle stuff because like, well, you want to cross train people because you never know what might happen. I don’t know what might happen. I don’t know. Your first round left tackle might get hurt against Oregon and then your backup gets hurt against Nebraska. So now you got to play your left guard at left tackle. Who knows, right? It’s how Tyler Bowen in the spring was cross training everybody but Ethan and y’all. because you want to just have make sure that in a pinch, people know how to play different positions. I think that is different than us going, no, Austin Cereveld is playing right tackle in the spring. And that means something we think he might be there starting right. And I can’t figure out which one it is yet with Jermaine Matthews, because he wasn’t the only one that was repping at nickel in the spring. A lot of guys are repping at nickel. I don’t think this is crazy though. If listen, if they’re starting. Cornerback Trio is a five star, a third year starter who according to Andrew might be a first round draft pick and a third year former top 60 recruit who might be on the verge of a breakout season. That’s not a crazy thing to say. So let’s make that abundantly clear.I, yeah, if, if Jermaine is, if Jermaine is ready to play nickel, I think a trio of Jermaine Davison and Aaron Scott or Devin Sanchez, whichever one is more ready is better than a trio of Davison, Jermaine and Lorenzo Stiles. It’s just a matter of is Jermaine ready to do that? Do they want him to do that? And, and Gillis saying yes to that, I don’t think is necessarily a wrong answer.I was thinking about this isn’t necessarily the question. just I want to I think this is helpful for me just to kind of figure out like how you guys view the room. You had Lorenzo in the Nick at the nickel. IGB on the outside, Jermaine Matthews on the outside. That was your starting trio. OK. First snap of the season, Lorenzo Styles tweaks an ankle needs to go off the field is off the field. What’s your backup nickel at that position?I mean, either Jermaine Matthews or Bryce West, who’s a top 100 recruit in year two, is like ready to go. Because I think the same thing applies. Top 100 recruits in year two, being ready to play football, isn’t, no, it’s not insane. So yeah, that’s the other part of this equation is maybe, I don’t know, is Bryce West ready? And maybe he’s just starting nickel against Texas. The options aren’t Lorenzo Stiles are nothing for Ohio.Do we think he’s the, I know he’s playing well in terms of like his function on the field, but are we anticipating that he’s the guy who has the green dot and not the actual microwave?Yeah, yeah, yeah. So will by boss snap, these are my responsibilities, but Mike, in terms of like vocal presence and like getting everybody organized and whatnot.And it could just be a preference. mean, if Caleb, you know, doesn’t want that, he, you know, why would you give it to him? But it makes sense.I don’t know how many safeties in football period have the green dot, I don’t know how many safeties are cable. So it kind of goes. Yeah. How many safeties out there are telling teams, Hey, you should just throw away positional value and just take this guy. Arvo reset Mike.I thought extremely hard about putting Peyton Pierce at Sint out there alongside these two and taking a defensive lineman off the field. The reason I didn’t take a defensive lineman off the field is because Ryan Day said a third name at Big Ten Media Days when he was talking about defensive tackle depths. Had he not said a third name, had he had the same language about the defensive tackle depth that he had coming out of the spring, I would have taken a defensive tackle off the field and started a third linebacker. And I’d say that they were running a 3-3-5. Because if you only have two defensive tackles, you can’t plan both at the same time.Ryan Day’s comments on defensive tackle at Big Ten Media Days was maybe the first time I’ve like exhaled a little bit when it comes to defensive tackle.Yep. Especially since it wasn’t a name I was thinking of first when it was like, okay, this guy’s got to take a jump, right? He was probably the third guy I was thinking about when it’s talking about taking a jump.Well, we’re not going to talk about it as a starter. They’re listed on Monday, that happened on Tuesday. It’s been a while. But a refresher. That was Will Smith Jr.That’s Will Smith Jr. Yeah, whose father was a former All-American here. The late Will Smith. Edrick and Kaden are the starters. I don’t think anybody’s... Okay, here’s my question then. Because they’re gonna have to rotate. Those guys can’t play 75 snaps. Do I think they play 58 snaps against Texas? Yes, I do. But who’s the guy who rotates in? Is it Will Smith? That’s the first guy off the bench when somebody needs a breather on the interior? Or do we think Jason Moore in Taiwan Malone might spend the next 30 days after Ryan Day essentially just lit a fire into both of their butts and now we see them actually start to take that jump and fall camp.Yeah, I you have to. I think I think you listen to what Ryan says about that. And I would say.But again, is that him saying that because do we listen more to the name he did say or the fact that he didn’t say the other two names?If the Texas rushing to tag is as good as we think it is, maybe Edger comes off first. And then Taiwan probably.Yeah, because that’s what I was because then at that point you’re like 285 to 90 at both your defensive tackle positions, which is a little light. Now, hilarious to look at. Edrick Houston and Smith Jr. is regular people to a little light, but they are a little light. Yeah.It’s relative to the position they play. Taiwan alone needs to take a jump over the next 30 days. Because they have one true nose rightAnd they need Tywan Malone to play to 12 to 15 snaps again. And if he can play more than that, even better. I, Edrick might be a all big 10 dude by the end of this year and that’s fine. But I don’t think anybody’s worried about how state’s ability to get to pass it. They’re worried about their ability to stop the run. And Edrick is still new. This is still his first full year at defensive tackle. And so it can’t be, Hey, Caden McDonald came off of the field. and now we can’t stop the run. needs to be, hey, Ty Lee came up with a field against Penn State and Katie McDowell made a play. So, and of the three guys behind those two, Tywan Malone’s physical makeup best describes nose tack.To me, Ohio State might have the best interior starting defensive tackle tandem in the Big Ten. And I think we still kind of have concerns about defensive tackle and it’s all about the depth behind it. So I think you put those two guys on the field and I think that it’s, yeah, like there was part of me that wanted to take one of them off to just kind of get funky with it. But like, I really think those guys are gonna be awesome. And I think. You know, this Texas game might not be the game where you really rotate a lot of defensive tackle. I think you’re going to need to at some degree, but that’s going to come in the following two weeks.Okay, yeah, and some of that is because of who they’re playing, right? We can say Texas has some good receipt like Ryan Wingo. It sounds like it’s going to be in for a breakout year this year, but it’s not like their receivers last year. They were fast, but they weren’t super productive. None of them had over 58 catches last year. It’s more. It’s part of the reason I thought more about the linebacker situation is because Texas really gets its running backs involved in the past game.Like a lot, I mean, remember both that are touchdowns last year, they weren’t the receivers. They were on wheel routes to a running back, which is why we’ve been talking a lot about Sonny Styles and his ability to cover. Trey Weiser had 44 catches last year. J-Dom Blue had 42 catches last year. Matthew Golden is the only wide receiver last year who had more than 50 catches and he had 58. While Gunnar Helm, their starting tight end last year, they got another really good tight end this year, had 60 catches last year. They are not a, they throw the ball, but they don’t throw it the way that. Ohio State throws the ball. Now, can that change this year because Ryan Wingo in year two takes a step and so Matthew Golden turned 58 catches in the 987 yards and nine touchdowns and Ryan Wingo turned 58 catches in the 1200 yards and 12 touchdowns? Maybe, but that’s still just one option at wide receiver. It’s the pre-snap motion. It’s the running backs on wheel route. It’s... Arch Manning can wiggle a little bit more than Quinn Ewers can. It’s not the coverage for me. It’s not the back end. It’s the front end for Ohio State. So that’s why I started thinking about the three linebacker look, because maybe you just have a guy out there who’s like, your job is to make sure Arch Manning stays his butt in that pocket and proves he’s got north.And well, so that I think that I think is actually maybe a decent argument for Kaden McDonald being the one if you were to, if you were to be funky and put a third linebacker out there, maybe you take McDonald out there. Cause if, if, if the quarterback can run, do you want more speed on your line?Nah, he’s, no, yeah, you can just contain him. That’s the that the quarterback running is not on the defensive tackle. The only edge is to not get undisciplined the way that JT would at times like she and Dylan Gabriel would get loose. don’t know, I don’t, a defensive tackles main job responsibility, especially in this defensive scheme that we’ve seen the last three years, isn’t to make sure the quarterback doesn’t run. It’s to eat up double teams so that the,linebackers can make tackles on the hole. And then if the defensive ends do their job and making sure that the quarterback don’t get out the pocket and he has to step up, then you can do what Mike Hall and Ty Leigh Williams did for multiple years and say, hey, Arch Manning, come give me a hug. But it’s not built around. Keeping up with a quarterback. It’s built around containing quarterbacks and making sure that nothing is explosive. Now, how much does that change under Matt Patricia? I think that’s part of the equation here because that might be a little bit different in a world where CJ Hicks and Arvel Reese might come off the edge a little bit more. So maybe that responsibility for falls more on the defensive end position that we’re going to talk about right now.Ohio State’s defensive tackles, at least in terms of depth, takes a step back. And arch manning is way more mobile and more willing to run the ball than quineurs. Would you be surprised if that number was 40 or above in week one? 40 carries.No, no, I think the first thing Texas is gonna do is test the middle of all states defense before they do anything else. It’s how they got too much speed on the edge this year to try to like outrun them. But I do think you can just go through them potentially. And Texas is a good team to like gauge that a little bit. Though I think it might be to the problem is I don’t know if it’s to Texas advantage to do that in terms of their. Personnel makeup either, because they’re replacing a bunch of offensive linemen, but you have to test it. You got to see if you can run the ball through the middle of Ohio State. Because you don’t beat Ohio State by trying to go over them or around them. You beat them by going straight through them.Did we, yeah, I was gonna say how much of that either outright was because of or aided because of some of the things that were said at Big Ten media days. Like Sonny was pretty effusive with Kenyatta in his expectations for him this year.I was already thinking about it, but I mean, JJ calling him a first router definitely helped. So, I mean, but even Ryan Day was talking about some of the league, like he seems like he’s really stepped up into this JT and Jack are gone. This is my defensive line room now in a way that I’m not sure people were 100 % expecting, but he’s done a good job of doing that.You don’t think this is a situation like Trey and Quinchaun where the guy who’s been here gets the first snap, even if he doesn’t play the more snaps.Yeah, we’ve heard good things about Bo and then not only that, mean, Bo was a very, like Bo was a really, really high level player that came out of the portal that had a lot of answers and Ohio state with probably Kaden Curry projected to start on the opposite side of Kenyatta. If we believe that about Kenyatta, like the first round town stuff, like with Kaden Curry there, Ohio state deemed it important and necessary to go.Did they, I feel like Bo Atkinson’s addition was similar to the Max Clara audition where it’s, it’s more about the, like it helped more. Yeah, like I don’t know if they 100%, if like if Bo Atkinson didn’t hop in the portal, would Ohio should have added a defensive end? Or did they add one because Bo Atkinson was in the portal?Yeah, I don’t think they opened the portal page and went to DN and said, we’ll take whoever’s here. It felt like Bo Atkins’s name was atop the players available list and they took them. But.Yeah, and then, but you got them. Yeah. Andrew, if they were playing Ohio or ground, let’s stay, would you, I’ve still picked Boac.Yep. I again, I think you made it a priority to go get this guy like whether or not like, he was just there. Like I, I understand like you could debate to some degree about that, but like you did go get him and Steven, we were walking around at the recruiting camps and Steven just kept like looking back at him every couple of minutes and be like, it’s good as a big dude. He just kept saying he’s a big dude, man. And then I think the next one was he’s a large human being.Like he just kept pointing that out. And then you hear some things behind the scenes about Bo. And I just, I wonder if Bo Atkinson is just going to be one of those. think this might be the position to where we have the most debate about. And then we get a weekend to fall camp. see three practices and we go, why the hell did we ever debate that? Of course it’s Bo Atkinson and Kenyatta Jack.Yeah, I’m not saying Kate and Curry won’t. I just think he might be your third. And I think it might be one of those Bo Atkinson and Kenyatta Jackson who just wanted to clear cut.My reasoning for picking Bo Atkinson is because he’s bigger than Kaden Curry and you have to stop the run first. I think third down, if we see Kaden Curry out there who also has been on the interior of the past of the Rushman package at times. So he looks undersized, but he doesn’t play undersized. But you got to stop the run and Bo Atkinson has very large shoulders. I think they’re gonna start Bo Atkinson. I think I would be picking Kaden Curry if they weren’t playing. Cause we’re talking about Larry Johnson still. And he goes with the guys who have been around and been in the system and know what they’re, he knows that they know what they’re doing. He always goes there first. So if they were playing OU or Granley state first, I think that Kayden Curry would take the first snap. I also think that Kayden Curry, Bo Ackerson and Kenyatta Jackson are all going to be well north of 400 snaps this year. So it’s, this is a first snap conversation, not a who is going to play and who is not going to play conversation. Nobody said CJ Hicks.CJ Hicks was the guy to where, like that I thought about if you were to take a defensive lineman off the field, AKA either Kayden or Edrick, I think that would be your guide to where you have CJ kind of bump down and you run like a 3-3-5 type look. That would have been the answer for me, but I didn’t have.Or, yeah, he’s not a linebacker. You know you can put down there, put down number eight from Glenville down there. That’s what you do. And I honestly think they’re gonna do that a lot. I honestly think that, because Peyton Pierce is just a traditional linebacker. And so I think what we’re gonna see is Sonny Stiles and Peyton Pierce being a more traditional linebacker, or Sonny Stiles will obviously come off and blitz it every so often. But when we see that three, three, five,We should have done offense predict who plays the first nap, defense predict who plays the first third and seven.That’s a better way to put it because I think at that point you’re taking Kayden off the field and then like adapt. see, but here’s the thing. The funny thing about that is third and seven. I think there’s just as good of an argument, if not a better argument to say Arvel and Sonny are going to kind of stick at their traditional linebacker spots. And then you kind of walk CJ down because it’s a pass opportunity, not Arvel because he’s big.I mean, he could be a standup and then you can buzz him out in coverage. Like you’d be like a 34 almost outside linebacker at that point. Did I watch the what game?Did you watch the game last year? The Purdue game last year? They dropped him in coverage. It wasn’t great.I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of CJ in coverage. think CJ is a defensive end. We will not see lot of Kenyatta Jackson or Kaden Curry in coverage either.No, it’s not what. Yeah, I do. No, no. Like they put JT, they did that with JT and Jackson times and dropped them coverage. They were also four year defensive ends who had been in the system for three. Like they’re not dropping. TJ Hicks is out there to go look at the, you see that man dropping back with the ball, go get him as many times as you can this season. I think Rushman package though. think there’s a world where it’s CJ’s on edge. I think Kenyatta is on an edge.I think this is a variation of it. There’s going to be a lot of different variations, but I think one of the variations we might see this year is CJ and Kenyatta off the edge and then Bo and Kaden Curry on the interior. Or Kaden Curry and Edric Houston or Edric Houston and Bo Atkinson. And then maybe sometimes you see Sonny Styles or Arville Reese also coming off the edge. But I do think whenever we see, when they’re in rushman package, I think for sure that the outside guys are probably going to be Kenyatta Jackson and CJ Hicks. And that might be. where CJ is most impactful is third and seventh. So that’s defense. Kenyatta, Jackson, Boakinson, Kaden, McDonald, Etterkustin, Arville, Reese, Sonny Styles, Jermaine Matthews, Davis Nake, Mnose, and Lorenzo Styles, Caleb Downs, Emily Hartford. That is what Stefan and I have. The only difference for Andrew is instead of Jermaine Matthews as an outside corner, he moves in the nickel and Lorenzo Styles comes off the field and Aaron Scott Jr. is his other starting. outside corner, let’s take our final break and then we’ll mark down the quarterback here on Buckeye Talk.We’re back here on Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Tefan Kreisnik, and Andrew Gillis marking down Ohio State’s starting players who will take the first snap of the game against Texas on each side of the ball. We’re all picking Julian Sand. Ryan Day has not picked the starter yet, but I just, we’ve all kind of reached a point here, and I know I speak for all of us because we’ve had enough of these conversations away from microphones and on microphones. We would be significantly shocked if Julian Sand is not the person Ryan Day eventually names as the starting quarterback. And it’s not a slide against Lincoln. It’s just, we’ve seen and heard enough that the way this is going to end is the moment that Julian Sand can do the thing that Ryan Day is looking for. that’s the, this is my team. Part of this Ryan Day is going to name him. So instead of us doing that, and trying to have a 15 minute conversation where we all just say, Steve and I agree with you. I want to do this instead. I have the dates that every single quarterback since Ryan Day has been the head coach has been named the starting quarterback and how far away that was from the season opener. And as an average, it’s 11.5 days before season openers that Ryan Day has named his starting quarterbacks. So for this year, that would be either August 19th or August 18th of 2025. Justin Fields got named the starter in 2019 on August 19th, 2019. The season opener that year against Florida Atlantic was August 31st. That was 13 days before the season opener. CJ Shroud in 2021 was named the starting quarterback on August 21st, 2021. The season opener was on September 2nd. That was a Thursday. that year if I’m remembering correctly, that was 12 days before the season opener. I might have that wrong. So I’m gonna check that while I’m doing that. But that’s 12 days before the season opener. I wanna make sure of that actually. I’m not always great at math as you can see. Yeah, it was a Thursday. So that’s 12 days before the season opener. Kyle McCord’s is a little tricky, but Ryan Day named him as the starting quarterback for the season opener.against Indiana on August 29th. That was the same day as game week. was essentially his Tuesday press conference of game week. So it was five days before the season opener on September 2nd at Indiana. He was officially full time. I’m just throwing this out here for the sake of that, just in case anybody thinks Ryan Day might do this. He was named the full time starter heading into the Western Kentucky game that year. That was September 12th. So that was 10 days after the season opener. I’m just throwing that out there for the sake of facts, but. He was named the starter for the season opener on August 29th, five days before the season opener. That’s latest Ryan Day has named the starting quarterback. And then you have Will Howard last year, who is the earliest Ryan Day has ever named the starting quarterback. The season opener was on August 31st against Akron. He named Will Howard the starter on August 15th. Stefan, I think that might’ve been your first day in Columbus. If I’m not mistaken. Yeah, cause that’s the second time that we’ve hired someone at cleveland.com.whose first day in Columbus on the beat was the day Ryan Day named his starter. Nathan got here on August 19th in 2019. 16 days before Ryan Day, before the season opened, Ryan Day named Will Howard his starter. That’s the earliest. So in order, Will Howard, Justin Fields, CJ Stroud, Kyle McCord. That’s an average of 11 and a half days.So that would be over. Because if it’s the number of, okay, the number of days, right over 11 and a half. that’s okay. Okay. I want to make sure I have that Okay, before or after yeah.before August 11th. So the cutoff we’re looking at is about August 19th. I think it’s going to be August 11th.So you’re saying 20 days before the season opener, he names a starting quarterback. That would be the earliest significantly four days earlier. That’s almost a whole week. That’s a week earlier than Justin Fields. It’s a week earlier than CJ Stroud and that’s two weeks earlier than Kyle McCord. And it’s four days earlier than Will Howard got named the starting quarterback. You essentially think that Julian Sand is gonna spend the first seven days of.I don’t know if we said this on a microphone or not, but you brought up the fact that Ryan, I think you were the one who asked about the quarterbacks. And then he brought up the idea of I’m gonna get with Mick and we’re gonna look at who might’ve been the Iron Buckeyes and whatnot. And I think you said it, if Julian Sand is an Iron Buckeye, this is over.It’s just the levels like gold, iron buckeyes the ultimate level and like gold is right under that and blue under that.Right. That was brought up in the context of the quarterback competition. He was asked about basically where the quarterback competition has gone this summer. believe it was Joey Crawford from the dispatch that had asked him at the big podium. And he had essentially said, you know, these guys, there’s not a ton you can take from the summer, which he is correct about that. There’s not a ton you can take from the summer, but he brought up the idea of we’ll see where these guys are and golden iron buck like If one of these quarterbacks is an Ironbuck guy, it’s either Lincoln Kenos is an Ironbuck guy and we’re saying, okay, hang on, there’s some competition here. If Julian Sane’s an Ironbuck guy, like, what are we talking about? And I feel like Dave tossing that out there makes me think maybe one of these guys will be an Ironbuck high.I think it’s before. And I think you might get close to that 11 and a half day thing publicly. I think there is going to be, I think there is going to be a determination before that. Like maybe a couple of days before that. I threw out on a previous time. What’s up?because I originally threw out a day of August 15th that Friday. And I said, at that point, you have two weeks of fall camp camp starts at 31st, right? 31st. You have the 31st of you have that. So that kind of week, you get through two weeks of camp. You make a determination. You see guys in different situations because again, the first few days of camp are not, hey guys, let’s put on pads and smack the crap out of each other. Like there is a building in period to this. like, I think you do want to see the evolution of Julian. I do think you want to see him get pushed. I think you want to see him in those scenarios. So I said August 15th. but the thing that I kept thinking of was I was like, that might be the perfect time, like the 13th, 14th, 15th for Ryan Day to talk to us and then say, Julian is starting to separate himself. We have a scrimmage on August 16th and we’ll see. And that’s why I said the 18th. So I originally said like the 15th would be a good idea because you have that kind of two week buffer. So I’m still going to agree with that. I feel like this is a situation where Lincoln Keenholz will be told and Julian Slane will be told who’s the starting quarterback and the team will be told on the weekend of August 16th. That’s Saturday weekend after the scrimmage at some point.And then I think we find out about it on Monday, August 18th, because that’s the week really like the first two weeks at camp, you’re really probably just going to be, you know, repping your stuff, doing some Texas specific stuff. Once you get into the week of the 18th and the 25th, it is pure Texas. And I think you want that situation. So Monday, August 18th, that is the day we find out.That’s a Thursday. No, sorry, the 14th, sorry, 14th. So that’s 16 days for me. I’m essentially splitting you two in the middle. And I’m not doing this on purpose. I didn’t like hear your answers. No, I said this because I thought about, essentially, my reasoning is combining both of your guys’ reasoning. Justin Fields and CJ Shroud got two scrimmages before Ryan Day named them. It was the first scrimmage.That made you go, okay. And then the second scrimmage made you go, yeah, everything I already thought just got validated in that second scrimmage. Will Howard got one scrimmage. They started practice last year on August 1st. It’s always this Thursday going into August. So August 1st they started. So they put pads on, I think that’s Sunday, August 4th, because it’s two days of acclimation period. And then it’s two more days of like, you got everything on, but you’re not tackling to the ground. then on like the six day of practice is when you get our full go. They had their first scrimmage on the 10th. And I think Ryan Day wanted to get through the 17th before he named his starting quarterback. But Will Howard performed so well in that scrimmage and he got the locker room that Ryan Day couldn’t make it to the 17th. And he was probably going to do it the 19th, which was to your point, Andrew, two weeks out, which is essentially what Justin Fields and CJ Strada are two weeks out from the game. So now I’m thinking about this year. how I think things might go. Thursday, they’re in uppers. Friday, they’re in uppers. Saturday and Sunday, they put on full but they’re not tackling to the ground. August 4th is the first day they’re full tackle. August 9th, they have their first scrimmage. I think if Brian Day had not brought up the whole iron book, I think in relation to the quarterback Stefan, I would be with Andrew and say they’re going to go through two scrimmages and then Ryan Day is going to name Julian Sand because he wants to get through whether Julian Sands won the job or not. He wants to get through two scrimmages before he does this because why do it any earlier when you’re not starting game prep until you’re two weeks out anyway?But if Julian Sand had the type of summer where he did the one thing that we’ve all right now are questioning and that’s his ability to be a leader and to be vocal and to command a locker room, if he spent the summer doing that, then there’s no need to go through two scrimmages when he’s already the better arm talent. So because of that, I think it might play out very similar this year where they get through that first scrimmage on the ninth. Go through the next week of practice and then that Thursday after we talked to Ryan day on a Monday, August 11th, we don’t have the schedule yet. So this is some of this is projecting what we think the schedule might be. If we talked to Ryan day that Monday and he says the magic words Andrew’s talking about of Julian saying is starting to separate or he’s starting to take command of the offense, whatever the verbage he uses, then four days later he’s gonna name. Julian Sann as a starting quarterback. So that’s what I’m gonna mark down. You mark down, Stefan, August 11th. I’m marking down August 14th, and Andrew is marking down August 18th. That would be 16, 20, and 12 days before the season opener, because that’s Ryan Day’s process. So that’s our markdown. Those are our starting 22 for the Texas game, 6-1-4, 3-5-0, 3-3-1-5. Driving the buses up next. There are a lot of candidates. to choose from? Will Andrew double down on his bus from a year ago? Will Stefan continue to fall in love with a linebacker from Glendale? Is Steven gonna pick another wide receiver? That’ll be later this week. Plus we’re gonna be talking about previewing fall camp later this week as well. If you wanna drive a bus, get the TEC 61435, 3315. That call out is going out right now. It’s a two week free trial, 399. After that, that will get you through the first two weeks of fall camp. It’s a good time to do that because it’s a lot of insider information as we’ll be out there watching practices for the next couple of weeks as Ohio State prepare to play Texas in the season opener. For Stefan Kreisnick and Andrew Gillis, I’m Stephen Means. That was Buckeye Talk. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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