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Dan Hope and Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors bring you inside the Ohio State beat every Wednesday with a podcast covering everything you need to know about the Buckeyes.
Note: This transcript was AI-generated and has not been edited for errors.
[Dan Hope]
Welcome into Real Pod Wednesdays. I'm Dan Hope, joined by Andy Anders as the NFL draft is now complete. Spring football has been complete for a couple weeks.
The transfer portal is now closed. Ohio State did not lose a single scholarship player to the transfer portal, which is certainly a big win for Ryan Day and the Ohio State football program. On the other hand, the Buckeyes have added a couple of players via the transfer portal, most notably North Carolina defensive end Bo Atkinson, as well as West Virginia offensive lineman Justin Terry.
We'll get into them a little bit later in the show. Of course, a great weekend for Ohio State at the NFL draft this past weekend as the Buckeyes had 14 players drafted. If you're looking for our thoughts on the NFL draft, we talked about those a lot on our most recent episode of Press Coverage, which was published on Monday on 11warriors.com and the 11 Warriors YouTube channel. Go check that out if you want our thoughts on what was certainly a great weekend for the most part at the NFL draft for Ohio State. 14 Buckeyes getting picked, came just one short of breaking that record with Seth McLaughlin getting picked, which I know, Andy, you had your thoughts on that, Seth McLaughlin, Remington trophy winner, not getting picked, feel like he should have been picked, but still a great weekend for the Buckeyes. As Ryan Day said on Tuesday, a lot of Buckeyes landing in a lot of great spots.
And I think a lot of those Buckeyes set up for success at the next level. So it's going to be really fun to watch those guys play at the next level. This upcoming season, going to be a lot of rookies to follow in the NFL from Ohio State's national championship team.
But of course, when you lose 14 players to the draft, you've got a lot of great players to replace. One of those players, certainly Pittsburgh Steelers, sixth round pick, Will Howard, another guy who I think we both thought probably should have gone a little bit earlier in the draft, but nevertheless, a quarterback who was phenomenal for Ohio State last season. His experience was a huge asset to Ohio State last season in leading the Buckeyes to a national championship.
And now the Buckeyes find themselves in a different situation at quarterback going into 2025, where instead of having a quarterback who transferred in from Kansas State with all the experience that Will Howard brought to the table, they're now looking at breaking in one of two starting quarterbacks who hasn't played a lot of college football. And either Julian Sane or Lincoln Kienholz. And we've talked a lot about this competition throughout the spring.
And I think there's been probably some people out there who feel like this competition is maybe a media-created competition, but I think there's kind of been this assumption from a lot of people the whole time that Julian Sane is going to win this starting job. But we said it during the spring. Really up until the spring game, Lincoln Kienholz looked like he was outperforming Julian Sane.
And I had heard that there were thoughts within that building before the spring game that Lincoln Kienholz was ahead in the quarterback competition. And Ryan Day publicly confirmed that on Tuesday during his post-spring press conference that he did at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, where he said that Lincoln Kienholz was ahead of Julian Sane in the quarterback competition before the spring game until Julian Sane had a great performance in the spring game to now even it up to where Ryan Day, when he was asked if there's a frontrunner in the quarterback competition on Tuesday, his answer was succinct. It was no. So he says it's still a two-horse race.
It's a very tight battle between these two. But I think hearing what Ryan Day said on Tuesday, to me, was fervor confirmation of the fact that this competition is not wrapped up yet. This competition is not a formality.
Yes, Julian Sane is a five-star prospect that Ohio State has very high hopes for what he can become. But he has to still go out and win this job. And the spring game was, in a very real way, a huge step for Julian Sane to put himself back in a good position to win that competition.
But he's still got to go win it in preseason camp because Lincoln Kienholz made a real push this spring to potentially win that job.
[Andy Anders]
And not just a big step for him just in the competition physically, obviously, and it seems like pulling even with Lincoln Kienholz, but also mentally, right? Getting that confidence going, showing it out in front of the crowd, kind of carrying. The quarterbacks in the room are going to know who's performing best.
If Day is seeing it, certainly they are too. So even for Julian to put it on the field and actually outperform Lincoln in a setting I'm sure there's been other windows of practice where he's looked better than Lincoln too. But as Ryan Day described, the holistic of spring practice, it feels like Lincoln did have that slight edge going into the spring game.
And so now as you look into the fall, a lot of it is going to come down again to what we talked about in consistency. And being that, having that better performance, be it Lincoln, be it Julian, day in, day out in practice. We saw it in the practices we viewed and there was a lot of inconsistency from all of the quarterbacks.
And then the spring game was a much better outing, I think, for the entire room, which was something that Ryan Day touched on a little bit. You watch that spring game and you come out of it thinking, well, okay. And they were facing very generic defenses, as Day put it.
They didn't run different fronts. They didn't mix in creative blitzes. They didn't do a whole lot except one or two different coverages, and that was kind of it defensively.
So that setting did help the quarterbacks some, but you still got to make accurate passes even when you know what the defense is likely going to be or can easily recognize it because you've seen it a bunch of times. And so to me, that's the state of the competition right now is it does, when Day says it's even, it's easy to believe him because we've seen it with our own eyes. We saw all the practices we watched leading into the spring.
It felt like Lincoln had a slight edge. And then in that spring game, our eyes told us Julian had the edge and it almost felt like pulled ahead of the competition in that game, but I think the way Day is expressing it is probably an accurate depiction of where the quarterback battle is as we leave spring practice with those two really being pretty even and excited to see it play out its entirety this fall.
[Dan Hope]
And I think just to hear him say that to me kind of validated what we saw this spring because the reality is, you know, we saw what we saw, what I think two full practices and a portion including the spring game and a portion of three others. So you know, we're only seeing, you know, less than a third sample size of what Ryan Day and Billy Fessler and Brian Hartline saw this spring. So to hear him say that, basically confirming what it felt like we saw this spring makes me feel like, okay, like that was real.
Like the growth we saw from Lincoln Keenholes, the closeness of that competition throughout the spring was real. And like you said, I think with Julian, like I think for people who just saw the spring game, it's easy to say, oh, Julian's clearly the quarterback for this team. And you know, what's everybody talking about?
But I think, you know, Ryan Day said it after a spring game. He said it again on Tuesday, you know, the reality is Julian saying performed better in the spring game than he did in a lot of the spring practices. And that's a good thing because it showed when the lights came on and when the pressure was really on for him to finish, finish spring on a high note, he delivered.
So I think that's a really encouraging thing for, for what Julian saying has the potential to become. Now it's just a matter of building on that, having that consistency in August. I think we both agree if Julian saying performs like that in preseason camp on a consistent basis, he's going to be Ohio state starting quarterback this year, but he still has to go up there and do it.
And I think Lincoln Keenholes did enough this spring to where, you know, Lincoln Keenholes isn't just in this competition because Julian's still developing. He's in this competition because he proves he belongs in this competition. So I think, you know, would it be a little more comforting maybe if Ryan Day just came out right now and said, yeah, Julian's our guy.
We know he's ready. Sure. But I think the good news is I do think that there's real optimism in both of those guys.
And like, like Ryan, they said, you know, you're hoping to have another 16, 17 game season if you're going to go defend your national championship, chances are you might need multiple quarterbacks to play over the course of a season. So right now, a lot of that focus is still on getting both of those guys ready. Even though it's a very different situation from two years ago in that you cannot let this quarterback competition bleed into the season because you play Texas in week one.
So there does come a point where Ryan Day and Brian Hartline and Billy Fessler have to be decisive and say, this guy's our best quarterback. He's going to lead our offense against Texas, but they don't have to make that decision right now. And I think they will let it play out, you know, for the first, you know, two to three weeks of preseason camp before they, they really come to a firm decision on this is our guy.
[Andy Anders]
Right. It completely pushed the timeline back. And you think back to that 2023 battle that did ultimately drag out into the season.
They didn't have a really tough opponent until the end of September with Notre Dame and the way that that definitely changed the trajectory of things with this battle, not just by the end of preseason camp. You don't want to be going into game week of Texas, not knowing who your quarterback is. You want to have that solved with a few weeks left in preseason camp.
So there's not going to be a whole lot of time to figure out who's the most consistent, who's the best option, who is actually going to give us the best chance to go beat Texas, which you got to come to a decision pretty quickly. Don't trust anyone more to do that than Ryan Day. And at this point, and even Brian Hartline setting into that new coordinator role is going to have input.
But Ryan's definitely got a track record as an evaluator of quarterbacks, and hopefully he'll be able to come to a conclusion in that battle pretty quickly in preseason camp. But not the only position battle that we got some interesting updates on, or at least got some more information about at Day's press conference on Tuesday. The right tackle competition has been my sort of, you know, little pet child this offseason.
We know how much I love talking offensive line play. I've been on the Austin Searaveld bus, and he got talked up a lot by Ryan on Tuesday. Ryan said that Austin Searaveld is going to be a starter for Ohio State here after an offseason in which he's been one of three players named in Iron Buckeye, which Day expressed again how big of a deal that was.
He maneuvered into different spots. We saw him play a lot at right tackle. He started at right tackle in the spring game and in the practices we watched, but there does seem to be an indication that he could still play guard for this team.
That's what Day said at Tuesday. He will be a starter, but the position is not certain yet. And so that makes you start to speculate about different orientations the offensive line could have.
It has seemed clear to me throughout preseason camp, or spring practice, that we've seen Carson Hinsman, Luke Montgomery, and Tegra Shibula as that interior starting trio, center with Carson, left guard with Luke, and right guard with Tegra. But now the thought is, well, could Austin be starting at one of those spots? Maybe Phillip Daniels is making a real push in this competition, and Day talked him up a lot, and the progress he made over the course of spring practice, probably a shock to the system to come in from Minnesota.
And there's another Big Ten school, but there's definitely a step up when you go from a program like that to Ohio State, fresh off a national title, and the offensive line room, the standard it wants to get to, the feedback, the new coaching arrangements there, with what Ohio State's done to overhaul its offensive line coaching staff since the departure of Justin Fry for the NFL ranks, there's a lot to like about that room in general. And now you're creating more competition across the front.
The thing I will say about that right tackle battle is you do get the sense, just based off the fact that he wasn't really mentioned, Day talked about a lot of offensive linemen after I asked him about the offensive line on Tuesday, and I was very interested to get his thoughts for that reason. But one guy that didn't come up was Ian Moore, which I do find interesting, because it does seem to be kind of a Sierreveld versus Daniels battle, but also not necessarily Sierreveld versus Daniels, because if you're trying to find that best five, as Ohio State always seems to be, then it might be a question of, well, Luke, Tegra, Austin, and Phillip, who are the best three of those to then comprise your starting five?
And that's where you start to ask questions about Luke and Tegra, where they are in their development.
[Dan Hope]
Yeah, I think that's very much what it is, is, you know, finding that best five. And that was a strong statement. I mean, you don't usually hear Ryan Day come outright and say, yeah, that guy's going to be a starter this time of year for a guy who hasn't been a starter before, at least a full time starter.
So for him to say that that strongly about Austin Sierreveld, I think tells you how much Austin Sierreveld has impressed them this offseason. And I do think it's a real question still, if he's a starter, is that a tackle or a guard? Because I think we've kind of assumed like Luke and Tegra are the guys, but I don't know if that's set in stone.
And you know, it's interesting because, I mean, you talk about those guys, who's the one guy who started every game of that offensive line last year? It was Tegra Shibola. And yet I wouldn't be shocked if Tegra wasn't a starter.
Like I think it's like, you know, he had his ups and downs last year. So I think there's, there's a scenario where Austin Sierreveld is the starting right guard. We saw him rotate with Tegra in the CFP and Phillip Daniels is the starting right tackle.
I think, you know, a lot of that is still to be determined. You know, Luke Montgomery doesn't have a ton of experience, but does seem to be a guy who's on that upward trajectory. Like you said, I think, you know, Ethan Onianwa at left tackle and Carson Hinsman at center seem to be the most solidified starters, though maybe not set in stone.
He did talk up Joshua Padilla again today, so there's still that scenario where Joshua Padilla could factor in there somewhere on the interior offensive line as well. But it does feel like, you know, Carson Hinsman's the starting center, Ethan Onianwa's the starting left tackle. And I think for me with Sierreveld, it's my question is still, I don't doubt that he's one of Ohio State's best five offensive linemen based on everything we've heard about him this spring.
It's just, is he that right tackle? Like, is he that guy who can play on the edge and consistently block pass rushers off the edge when he's been a guard for his Ohio State, his entire Ohio State career to this point? And so that's where my question comes in is like, is a Austin Sierreveld at right tackle going to be the best offensive line for Ohio State?
Or could it be a Philip Daniels at right tackle with Austin Sierreveld playing one of the guard spots? The good news is, and we've said this before, is there's been times in recent years, particularly if a tackle position where it's been like, does Ohio State have five offensive linemen that are good enough? Whereas this year it feels like Ohio State probably has at least six or seven offensive linemen that are good enough.
And we saw last year, like you, you certainly need seven, eight guys on that offensive line or you feel really good about because anything can happen. And so I think that's a big part of it too, is like Austin Sierreveld could start the season starting at one position and could potentially end up playing another position. I think the fact that he's shown them he has that versatility to play both tackle and guard is huge.
Because to your point, like Ian Moore is still kind of an unknown there. Let's say that Philip Daniels ends up starting at right tackle and Austin Sierreveld ends up starting at guard, hypothetically. Well, if Ani Anwar or Philip Daniels goes down, Austin Sierreveld might very well be that next man up at tackle, even if he's starting at guard, much like we saw with Donovan Jackson kicking out to tackle this past season.
So the fact that he's shown them that he can be a starting caliber player at multiple spots, that's a huge development for the offensive line.
[Andy Anders]
Absolutely. And the question with him at tackle really is can he handle speed off the edge, right? I go back to last year, this time, especially January last year, I was calling for Josh Fryer to bump inside from tackle to guard, and I think that take aged pretty poorly because Josh Fryer made the changes to his body, ended up being the stalwart, the only guy who was a full-time starter on day one for the offensive line and played the entire season at his original position there.
And I've written ad nauseum about Josh here heading into the NFL draft. He didn't get drafted, signed as an undrafted free agent, but what he did to change his body to develop as an edge guy who can handle some of that speed gives me some hope as to what Austin Seierwald can be making that transition because I don't think he was ready necessarily to play tackle at the Ohio State level last year, but the fact that he won in Iron Buckeye is huge because with the moves that they've made with him this spring, obviously sliding him out to tackle, it's clear that he's putting in the work to change his body to have the appropriate physical tools to handle those defensive events, still have his strength, but also lean out, have some speed, have some agility and quickness, more than speed, quickness is important on the offensive line to get in your pass sets, get the depth you need, but also stay balanced. There's a lot that goes into pass blocking, and I think that his physical changes are what are going to yield these dividends and make him that versatile piece that Ohio State feels confident will be a starter and potentially at tackle, though, like we said, like we've been reiterating throughout this conversation, it's truly going to be, I think, in the end, who are the best five?
How do you get them in the lineup together? And the fact that Austin now can effectively play guard or tackle for this team allows you to truly get that best five on the field and work with a lot of different formations. Another, speaking of having, you know, five guys and not knowing exactly where to fit them or something along those lines, maybe it's not the best transition, but Ohio State added Bo Atkinson from the transfer portal, as you referenced earlier, Dan, and this is something that he seems very excited about, once said he was very excited at his press conference on Tuesday, Bo, seven and a half sacks last year at North Carolina, adds a more proven asset to a defensive end room that we felt hadn't established too deeply in spring.
But clearly, Ohio State felt the need to go out and get that more veteran, proven edge rusher to complement the room. So, Dan, what are your thoughts on that and what are your thoughts on what they had to say Tuesday?
[Dan Hope]
Well, I think certainly it's a good move for Ohio State to bring in a guy who was as productive as Bo Atkinson was a year ago, as you said, seven and a half sacks, an effective pass rusher, was also a really good run defender for Vitar Heels a year ago. And so I think he's a guy who gives you a more proven commodity than anybody you had in that defensive end room. And I think he can come in and be a starter and be a really productive player on the edge.
You bring back Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Caden Curry, who give you two more experienced guys in that rotation. You know, Logan George has played a lot of good football at Idaho State, but he is making that jump from the FCS level. So there's a little bit more projection there than there is with Bo Atkinson coming in.
And then you've got C.J. Hicks, who made that transition from linebacker to the edge and I think flashed a lot of pass rushing ability this spring. So I think they've got a really good group there now at defensive end. I mean, I think they've got a lot of depth.
And I think the interesting thing now is going to be how do they all coexist? You know, what kind of roles can they all have? And, you know, when I asked Ryan Day about that on Tuesday, you know, he said, you know, he mentioned the fact that, you know, when he got there in 2017, you know, they had Nick Bosa and Taekwon Lewis and Sam Hubbard and Jalen Holmes, and they all rotated a lot at defensive end.
And we've kind of seen Larry Johnson get away from that a little bit the last couple of years, where we've seen J.T. Tuamolo and Jack Sawyer play the heaviest amount of snaps there at defensive end, play the majority of snaps in those big games. My feeling is we're probably going to see it go back more to being more of that rotation this year. I've said that before, and I still believe it with Bo Atkinson coming in.
But I think, you know, they're probably going to, you know, rotate a little bit more on the edge of this year. And, you know, Ryan Day also mentioned as well that, you know, that a lot of these guys have different skill sets. You know, Logan George, a different player than C.J. Hicks and Kenyatta Jackson, a different player than Caden Curry and so on. So with Matt Patricia coming in and what we know he likes to do of multiple fronts, I think that's one of the things I'm most intrigued by with this defensive end group is what kind of packages, schemes can Matt Patricia draw up to play to these different guys strengths? I mean, I mean, you think about it like there's there's a world in which you could have a scenario where you get all five of these guys on the field. You could have Bo and Kenyatta lined up on the edges, traditional defensive ends.
You could kick Caden and Logan inside for a Rushman package and have C.J. coming off the edge as a stand up linebacker. I think because these guys have different skill sets, I would expect Matt Patricia to get creative in how he deploys these guys. And I think especially with the fact that we know the depth that defensive tackle is not where it needs to be right now, I think there could be more incentive to do some more of that Rushman stuff this year in those pass rushing situations, because if you have to be heavily reliant on on Caden McDonald and Edrick Houston to be your two interior run stoppers, then regardless of how effective they are as pass rushers, there's going to be incentive to get those guys off the field when you can just to just to manage their level of snaps.
And on that point of defensive tackles, you know, that that's still a big kind of question here right now with, you know, the transfer portal being closed, but Ohio State not necessarily done adding transfers yet. Ryan Day said they want to or they expect to have 90 scholarship players this year. By our count, they're at 88 right now.
So they've got a couple more spots. And you would think the top priority is to use one of those spots on a defensive tackle. The problem is there's not a whole lot left out there.
But the two players who we knew were targets for Ohio State were Murad Watson from Syracuse, who ended up going to Texas without visiting Ohio State, and then Troy Pikes, who made a visit this past weekend. But it sounds like maybe some things didn't go quite the way that Ohio State wanted them to on his visit. He ends up committing to South Carolina on Tuesday.
And so you look at the board out there, there's not a whole lot of defensive tackles out there who would be a clear upgrade over what the Buckeyes already have. I think the one defensive tackle to watch would be Justin Kirkland, who entered the transfer portal, officially announced on Monday, even though the portal technically closed at midnight on Saturday morning. He's a guy that if Ohio State could get him, and it does seem like there's a little bit of mutual interest there, at least, that he'd be the one guy I think that's still out there in the portal that if Ohio State can add, it should add.
He's six foot three, 335 pounds, that true nose tackle, who's a really good run defender, had a 77.2 pro football focus grade versus the run in 2024. So if Ohio State can get Justin Kirkland, I think that would be a huge addition at defensive tackle. Now, it sounds like they're going to have some competition there.
BYU could be a school to watch. He's from Utah. He is Mormon.
So, you know, BYU is always going to have a good chance of guys like that. But, you know, I think he'd be the one guy that if you can get him, Ohio State should absolutely get. If not, I'm not sure there's really anyone else left out there at this point who would really solve the need Ohio State has, which isn't a numbers thing.
Ohio State has the numbers it needs at defensive tackle. The question is outside of Caden McDonald and Edric Houston, who can they really rely on to play significant snaps this year? And if Ohio State doesn't add another defensive tackle, that I think is probably going to be both of our biggest concern for this team from a depth perspective, because there just wasn't a clear sign this spring from any of Jason Moore or Tywon Malone or Will Smith Jr., Eric Mensa. You know, if you just didn't see enough from those guys this spring to really feel confident that they are ready to be that next wave at that position.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, concern from a depth perspective, and I'd say in turn that makes it my biggest concern for the team because I don't think there's any starters. You know, we don't know who's exactly the starting five on the offensive line, but I expect them to be really good. The quarterback, don't know who's going to win that battle, but you, especially with the weapons around them, still feel good about Ohio State at quarterback.
It's that depth at defensive tackle is so important. The amount of punishment those guys take throughout a game, you have to roll them in and get them reps. And I think that's an excellent point you make about maybe there now being a bigger emphasis on getting Edrick, getting Caden off, if you can, off the field and pass rush specific situations, mixing in more rushman type packages.
But maybe even on earlier downs, first and second downs, when you can, perhaps we see one of these defensive ends playing some three tech snaps straight up. If you're not feeling like Jason Moore and Tywon Malone are up to the task in those areas, because so far they haven't shown you enough to say that they are. There's a couple of guys with great run defending backgrounds in this defensive end room now, whether that's Logan George and what he did at Idaho State, obviously have to see how that great game translates.
But as a run defender, man, just did some ridiculous numbers with the tackles for loss and everything he did at Idaho State last year. You just mentioned Bo Atkinson and his run defense. They have some guys in that defensive end room who at least know the basics of run defending.
Now, it's different defending as a three tech, defending the run as a three tech defensive tackle than it is as a defensive end. But there's a lot of similar things in terms of the techniques of hand fighting, strength, getting off the ball. You are going to face a bigger body in there, too.
So that could even be something that you think about just as you're evaluating what your options are at three tech. You know, they said they don't want to take a guy just to take a guy, essentially. They don't want, they're not going to take a defensive tackle just to have another body and fill that roster spot at Ohio State.
They want a guy who's going to come in and be a, if not, you know, not compete for a starting job with Caden and Edrick, then provide legitimate experience depth off the bench. Justin Kirkland would be a fantastic guy. And to me, they still just really, really need another guy who can play nose guard.
And I don't see it on the roster right now. A guy that is ready to play nose guard at the Ohio State level this year, every, all their other depth options, the defensive tackle are really three technique guys. I mean, we saw different mixes of those guys play the nose in the spring, but you need that space eating guy who can go in and plug the run and give Caden a rest beyond just obvious passing downs.
So you have some defensive ends that could maybe help with that if you needed it, the three tech, but you have a lot more three techs too on the depth chart. It is, again, that nose guard position is maybe my biggest concern for Ohio State right now. And that is where Justin Kirkland would be such a huge add.
However, like you said, there's going to be competition to get him. And it just leaves you with like, what are your options if you don't end up landing that guy out of the portal who can fill that role? Because the options are shrinking.
You know, the portal's closed. A lot of guys have already committed places. If they don't get Kirkland, then where do you go from there?
Right. So that is for me, as I said at the top of this little segment here, my biggest concern right now for Ohio State is what are they doing about that defensive tackle depth?
[Dan Hope]
The good news for Ohio State is the portal is closed. Ohio State did not lose a single scholarship player. You know, they lost a few walk-ons, but those weren't guys who were expected to contribute in 2025.
And so Ryan Day did a great job of keeping the roster intact in really all offseason. You go back to the winter portal as well. I think they lost 13 guys, and really the only one of those guys you look at who would probably be playing a significant role this year is Hiro Kanu at defensive tackle.
That's like the one guy, like if you look at there's one guy that they lost that they'd really like to have back, it'd be Hiro Kanu because he'd probably be that backup nose tackle for them. Outside of Hiro Kanu, basically everybody else they lost were guys who were going to be backups who had been passed over by other players, younger players, and who left because they needed to go get playing time somewhere else. And so I think, you know, Ryan Day's done a fantastic job of managing this roster this offseason again.
But one question mark there being that, you know, defensive tackle depth, feeling like they need one more guy there. But, you know, I also, you know, I think he's taking the right approach to it, too, of like, yes, they need a guy, but like, don't just take a guy because if they do have guys, like it's not a it's not a total numbers situation. It's a needing a better guy to be in that too deep.
So like if you don't want to force it, if the right guy's not there, I mean, a big part of why Ohio State built what it's built, won a national championship last year is by bringing in the right guys to Ohio State, guys who want to be there. And if a right guy isn't there as much as you need that guy, it's hard to force it. And so I think, you know, Ryan Day's done a great job, as you mentioned, has added two players in the spring portal, the other being Justin Terry, an offensive lineman from West Virginia now would not expect him to play much this year, even likely be on the too deep.
He's a guy from Pickerington, you know, didn't didn't play in his freshman year at West Virginia. This is really betting on a guy with physical traits and long term upside. I think he's like three hundred thirty five pounds.
Big guy can play both tackle and guard. So this is their number. Their total numbers were a couple down on the offensive line.
So you bring in a guy with local roots who's always wanted to be a Buckeye and give him a chance, see how he develops. And, you know, you hope that, you know, down the line he develops into somebody who can be a contributor on their offensive line. But, you know, that you know, that's really a depth move and future move, not an immediate move.
There's still the possibility they could add another transfer offensive lineman as well. They hosted Sam Houston State offensive tackle Orion Irving over the weekend. He's expected to make a decision this week.
They had also hosted Purdue transfer Jayden Ball. And I think they I think they felt pretty confident Jayden Ball, another Ohio guy, that they were going to get him out of a portal. However, Minnesota ultimately able to sign Jayden Ball.
And so still looking for one more guy. Basically, based on what Ryan Day said in the past, they want 16 scholarship offensive linemen. They're at 15 right now.
So they want one more guy to kind of round up that depth. And Orion Irving is a guy who does have some starting experience at tackle. So he would be a guy if they landed him who would become possibly a factor in that right tackle competition.
I wouldn't call him the favorite by any means if he was to come to Ohio State. But he would be a factor. He'd be a guy who would get a look to at a minimum be on that too deep at offensive tackle.
So it'll be interesting to see if Ohio State is able to land him. I know there's some, you know, other power for schools that are in contention trying to land Orion Irving as well. And then they could possibly add a kicker as well.
They hosted Ball State's Jackson Corville last week. Now, you know, my understanding is this would not be a replace Jayden Fielding situation. This would be more of a bring in a second guy to, you know, give Jayden Fielding a little competition.
But then, you know, if Fielding continues to build off where he was last year, you know, we talked about it a couple of weeks ago that I think Jayden Fielding had a really good spring. Most likely, Jayden Fielding continues to be Ohio State's kicker in 2025, you know, keeps that job as long as all goes well. And then they would develop, you know, Grum Jackson Corville to be that next guy in 2026 where, you know, he still has a couple of years of eligibility.
So they certainly need a second kicker just for depth if they could if they could land him a guy who had a really had a really good couple of years at Ball State. That would certainly be a positive addition. And so, you know, we'll see how that unfolds this week.
Again, Ryan Day saying he thinks, you know, how they love 90 scholarship players this year, you know, being at 88, that gives them, you know, some flex. I mean, and things are a little more flexible, too, even than they've been in the past, because it's not like the 90 is like a hard mandated limit from the NCAA. You know, I mean, it's more of a this is what Ohio State has told them they can get.
But, you know, there's also ways around it, too. Now, if revenue sharing coming into college football this summer where, you know, you could bring on a guy and say, well, we don't have any scholarships left for you, but we'll give you a revenue sharing package to basically cover your costs. And so there's a little bit more flexibility there than there's been in past years in terms of how many scholarship players you can have.
But I think, you know, all in all, this is a very well stocked roster right now for Ohio State. If they can add two or three more pieces here, you know, over the next week or so to really round things out, I think they'll feel really good about the state of where their roster is. And I mean, you just think about what's going on here these last few months.
Ohio State wins a national championship. Then this past weekend, they have 14 players selected in the NFL draft. They don't lose a single player to the transfer portal after spring practice.
All the while, they're continuing to add high level talent for Bo Atkinson. It's clear the Ohio State football program's in a very, very good place right now, Andy.
[Andy Anders]
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, as reporters, I think sometimes we have an inclination not to talk about things like intangible things like brotherhood or culture, things that you hear coaches say a lot that we sometimes think about as coach speak or, you know, everyone says these things. It's important everywhere.
Maybe it doesn't need stated because it's obvious. But it's clear that Ryan Day has done an excellent job establishing those things at his program. Great culture, a bond between coach and player and player that players don't want to leave, even in some cases where they aren't going to be starters.
I mean, we saw Sam Williams-Dixon enter and then leave the portal as an Ohio guy, you know, even though he's clearly probably in line to be a backup this year, willing to stay and stick it out at his dream school because of the culture and the brotherhood that's been established. And it's a testament to that. It can't it can't not be what Ohio State has accomplished, has accomplished over these last three months and change as it's April 30th.
Now, it's it really is a testament to what they've done. And as far as, you know, the transfers you talked about. Yeah, I think you look at the future at the tackle position, too.
It's not as clear what direction you go in after you lose. You know, Ethan Onyon has only got a year left of eligibility. Ohio State, I think in a lot of ways, is still trying to make up for some misses and in recruiting at tackle.
And so maybe you look at, you know, bringing that Pickerington guy, a guy who loves Ohio State, and give him a couple of years to develop and see if he does ultimately win a tackle job in the future. You know, it's good to create that competition and have that depth. I really like I was looking at Jackson Corbill today, you know, a lot.
And he is the kicking numbers last year were very impressive. 11 of 13, Norm of 52, guy that can definitely be an Ohio State starter. I mean, kicking is kind of like the easiest position to evaluate, right?
You either make the kicks or you don't. It's kind of like, you know, you don't have to go in and break down all this film like you would with most other positions in football he produced at Ball State. And so to have that as a ready-made replacement for Jaden Fielding is a very sage, would be a very sage addition for Ohio State.
And so that, to me, you have to like the moves Ohio State's making in the transfer portal, although it still need to address that defensive tackle dilemma. Either way, things looking great at Ohio State right now.
[Dan Hope]
Ryan Day said it Tuesday, he was talking about the NFL draft class and he said, we've got unbelievable feedback from so many NFL personnel about our guys. And it was clear that these teams appreciated and valued how unselfish they were, how much they praised their teammates, their football IQ, how much they loved Ohio State football, the program, the run that they went on and just their overall character. I think that speaks right there.
And certainly not an accident that Ryan is bringing that up in a press conference. But, you know, I think that speaks right there to what you were talking about, about, you know, this culture, the brotherhood, it's real. And NFL teams are taking notice of that.
Like it's like these are not just things that just affect these guys at the college level. I mean, NFL teams, when they're evaluating these guys, you know, they're looking at the whole picture and like that's like a guy like a Cody Simon, who maybe a lot of the NFL draft analysts didn't have going as high as he did. You know, they're looking at that stuff saying, hey, look at all the great players on this team.
And this guy got the block out. Like this guy was the captain. Everybody said this guy was the leader.
And like he gets drafted in the fourth round, like all that stuff matters. Like teams are going to look at this stuff later and say, like, hey, like, you know, maybe this guy had to wait another year to be a starter because he chose not to transfer. But he stuck it out and he he stayed with this team like that stuff.
NFL teams are going to consider versus maybe a guy who's hopping, hopping from one team to another in the transfer portal every year. Like, you know, it's just like anybody. Like if you were just going for a regular job, like if someone looks at your resume and they see that you're going from one job to another one year to the next, that's going to raise questions.
If they see that you've stayed at one spot, you know, that's going to help. So, you know, not to say that, you know, transferring can't be a good thing. Like it sure was for Will Howard.
I mean, it sure was for Cam Ward, the number one overall pick in the draft. But, you know, I think, you know, there's a lot of guys at Ohio State that, you know, I think are really kind of, you know, seeing the long-term vision for themselves at Ohio State. And I think I think Ryan Day and this program are doing a great job of kind of selling everybody on that long-term vision and getting that great buy-in from across the board as a team.
And so I think, you know, it's, you know, you sit here today and we talk about all this. And frankly, it seems crazy that five months ago the conversation was, is Ryan Day going to get fired? Like you just think about like everything that's going right for this program right now.
And granted, you know, any, you know, Ohio State goes and loses to Texas in week one, you know, things, you know, some some of that good feeling starts to go away. So, I mean, it's just the way it is in football. It's always what have you done for me lately?
And, you know, the expectations at Ohio State are higher than they are anywhere else. But right now on all fronts, Ryan Day and his program are meeting those expectations. And so a lot to be excited about for Ohio State football fans coming out of spring, coming out of the NFL draft, you know, lots of good vibes around Ohio State football.
Getting into that quiet portion of the year now, not as much happening, at least in terms of, you know, football players on campus. Ryan Day said it Tuesday. He wants those guys to get away for a little bit right now, spend some time with their families, you know, the long season and then going right into classes and winter workouts and spring ball.
You know, he's giving those guys a little bit of a break. The assistant coaches are out on the road recruiting. And so, you know, that'll be one of the big things we'll be following here over the next couple of months is recruiting as that really ramps up.
Of course, you know, camp's coming up at Ohio State in June. And, you know, it's going to, you know, it's going to be, you know, an interesting few months ahead to see, you know, can Ohio State, you know, close the deal here and add a couple more players in the transfer portal, finalize its roster and then continue to build up to that very big season opener that I know we're all excited for when Ohio State will host Texas at the shoe at the end of August. And so lots more coverage to come on 11warriors.com and 11warriors YouTube channel as we continue to build up to the 2025 season. For now, he's Andy Anders. I'm Dan Hope. Thanks for joining us.