Speaker 1: Hello, everybody, Welcome to the buck Eye Weekly Podcast. I'm
Speaker 1: Tony Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2: How's it going, Tony, Paul? Camp is almost here. We're
Speaker 2: getting so close you can you can almost smell it.
Speaker 2: How does it smell? It's football players in the heat.
Speaker 2: It's not great, but it's still you know it's not
Speaker 2: It means football season is getting here. So we're gonna
Speaker 2: we're gonna put the smell to the side and we're
Speaker 2: just gonna focus on the storylines and what we're watching.
Speaker 1: Well, the first three days of practice, you know, fans
Speaker 1: have paid to attend, so there will also be some
Speaker 1: food trucks there, so it kind of smells like wings
Speaker 1: and maybe some euros and maybe just that just those
Speaker 1: Tho's things. And also Nike. It always smells like Nike
Speaker 1: at camp. And so we've previously talked about the offensive
Speaker 1: players who have the most to gain, so we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about the defensive players who have the most to gain.
Speaker 1: And Tom, I let you go first in the last show.
Speaker 1: I'm willing to let you go first again. That way
Speaker 1: I can tell you, like I can give you a gotcha,
Speaker 1: or I can disagree with you, which is so is my
Speaker 1: favorite thing. So if you would like to begin, what
Speaker 1: defensive player right now on your mind do you think
Speaker 1: has the most to gain in fall camp.
Speaker 2: I'm going to go with Zion Great and I think
Speaker 2: the reason I'm going to go with him, I think
Speaker 2: there's a lot of guys you could I mean, frankly,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of guys you could go with just
Speaker 2: on the defensive line and say, yeah, sure. I think
Speaker 2: though Zion Grady is someone who coming out of last season,
Speaker 2: he's someone I think we were talking about as this
Speaker 2: is someone who could be a starter next year, and
Speaker 2: I don't know that he's really locked that role down yet.
Speaker 2: If he can do that in fall camp, then and
Speaker 2: you're the defensive end who's starting opposite Kenyada Jackson, that
Speaker 2: that sort of sets you up for not just a
Speaker 2: good season, but probably a pretty good career at Ohio State.
Speaker 2: His stats last year he was solid. I mean as
Speaker 2: a true freshman, thirteen tackles, a couple tackles for loss,
Speaker 2: that's a very very solid season. Had a sack, and
Speaker 2: but you kind of look through and it's like he
Speaker 2: had a TfL again in the sack against Grambling, the
Speaker 2: other TfL came against Minnesota, but he played enough later
Speaker 2: in the season that you know he played in He
Speaker 2: played in the net in the playoff game against Miami.
Speaker 2: That tells you that they trust him in a big
Speaker 2: moment there. So if he can sort of take that
Speaker 2: next step and earn that starting defensive end spot opposite
Speaker 2: Kenyata Jackson, or at least really really solidify himself as
Speaker 2: a major part of that rotation there, I think that
Speaker 2: would be a big, big thing for him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you say very solid season, I want to
Speaker 1: clarify you're talking true freshman seasons.
Speaker 3: Just some people don't.
Speaker 1: Don't get upset, like, yeah, we're talking about a true
Speaker 1: freshman season for a defensive end. That is a very
Speaker 1: solid season where you've got a bit of a contribution.
Speaker 1: But by the end of the season he was playing
Speaker 1: the third most snaps behind Cayden Curry and Kenyada Jackson.
Speaker 1: He had gone past Ba Atkinson a little bit in
Speaker 1: playing time, and in that Miami game, Kenyada Jackson's sixty
Speaker 1: three snaps, Cayden Curry's sixty snaps, Zion Grady three snaps,
Speaker 1: like those are the only three defensive ends in that game,
Speaker 1: and he had played sixteen against Brutgers compared to twelve
Speaker 1: for bo Atkinson. He played eighteen against UCLA compared to
Speaker 1: seventeen for Atkinson, fifteen against Purdue to nine, so he
Speaker 1: had kind of surpassed. And we did talk in the offseason, well,
Speaker 1: if he's already passed by Bill Atkinson, if he's leaving,
Speaker 1: he's even at this point, there's no turning back for
Speaker 1: Zion Grady. But sounds like Bolatkinson had a very solid offseason.
Speaker 1: You could put him on this list in terms of
Speaker 1: the most to gain, and I don't think that would
Speaker 1: be wrong because this is his last year in college
Speaker 1: football and he's this is the contract here, and if
Speaker 1: he can keep from being passed by a younger player,
Speaker 1: which is the fear of every older player. Basically, the
Speaker 1: key's got a lot to gain and if he can
Speaker 1: be productive, then he can turn that into an NFL career.
Speaker 1: So I think you could throw a Pie Satan lay
Speaker 1: in here, as well as the Red Hir freshman who
Speaker 1: could be that guy, or Kway Russol. Basically any of
Speaker 1: these guys that isn't Kanyada Jackson have the most to gain,
Speaker 1: and frankly you could throw Kenyanada Jackson has a lot
Speaker 1: to gain as well in terms of becoming a top
Speaker 1: five NFL type draft pick with a big year. But
Speaker 1: it's just any of these guys opposite Kenyana Jackson could
Speaker 1: be the guy. So I think blanket just throw them
Speaker 1: all in there and sure, we're all right, we're all correct,
Speaker 1: Tom can it? But can I tell you about Riley
Speaker 1: Petty John at linebacker, who he did not get to
Speaker 1: see in the spring. And we've said before, you know,
Speaker 1: we're talking to Ryan Day about the difficulty. One of
Speaker 1: the downsides is they don't know what he can do specifically,
Speaker 1: so they've got to figure that out in fall camp
Speaker 1: and they don't want to waste too much time doing that.
Speaker 1: So I think he's got a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: to gain here because at this time last year, or
Speaker 1: like during the season last year, people have viewed him
Speaker 1: as the next guy, whether that's you know, Will or Mike.
Speaker 1: He's going to be starting in twenty twenty six, and
Speaker 1: he's a monster. Look what he did against Grambling. I
Speaker 1: just want to award people. You can't base the future
Speaker 1: on somebody based on what they did against an FCS
Speaker 1: opponent that is that's a dangerous ground. But we also
Speaker 1: know Riley Petty John is a dangerous linebacker based on recruiting, glimpses, intel.
Speaker 3: All of these things.
Speaker 1: And so I'm just i think, maybe out of anybody else,
Speaker 1: I'm just fascinated to see where he ends up in
Speaker 1: a depth chart and usage in the scheme. And if
Speaker 1: he's versatile enough to play any of the three linebacker spots,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be good for him. But I just think
Speaker 1: he has a lot to gain because that will spot
Speaker 1: is not settled, and what if he settles it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he is absolutely someone who I would have on
Speaker 2: this list as well. But I think a lot of
Speaker 2: the stuff you said about Rilly Petty John you could
Speaker 2: also say about TJ. Alfred, who Riley Petty John was
Speaker 2: playing a little bit more than TJ. Alfred was for
Speaker 2: most of last season, and Alfred played had one more
Speaker 2: snap i think in the Rutgers game than Petty John did,
Speaker 2: but they were kind of within sight of each other
Speaker 2: in terms of And these are again two guys who
Speaker 2: were true freshman last season, so you typically from the
Speaker 2: true freshman season to your second season, you're gonna see
Speaker 2: these guys take a little bit of a leap, and
Speaker 2: these were guys who were playing enough they were getting
Speaker 2: rotational snaps over older players in a lot of cases.
Speaker 2: So those are guys who you see that as a
Speaker 2: true fresh when you kind of go okay, these are
Speaker 2: people who need to be in that next man up conversation.
Speaker 3: And TJ.
Speaker 2: Alfred was healthy for the spring, so he probably picked
Speaker 2: up some ground on Rilly Petty John, you would assume
Speaker 2: with Petty John being out in the spring. So now
Speaker 2: I think you could say a lot of the stuff
Speaker 2: you said about Riley Petgeohn say it about TJ. Alfred
Speaker 2: as well. I was going to mention Christian Allegro because
Speaker 2: I think Christian Allegro is someone who they brought in
Speaker 2: expecting him to be a starter. I think based on
Speaker 2: what we saw in the spring, I'm expecting him to
Speaker 2: be a starter. It's just a matter of you've got
Speaker 2: some really talented players behind you, and this is not
Speaker 2: going to be a position you win by default. So
Speaker 2: how much of you, know, how much of a role
Speaker 2: can you carve out for yourself? Are you someone who's
Speaker 2: they're going to feel comfortable having on the on the
Speaker 2: field all three downs? Are you someone that they're going
Speaker 2: to have to pull off situationally depending on what the
Speaker 2: opponent is doing. Just the opportunity to show that and
Speaker 2: just show yes, I can be a three down linebacker
Speaker 2: for Ohio State this fall, and also not only that,
Speaker 2: I am a better three down linebacker than only other
Speaker 2: really talented guys who are in this room. I'm expecting
Speaker 2: big things from Christian alecro this year. I think he's
Speaker 2: going to have a really really good season for the Buckeyes.
Speaker 2: But you've got to, you know, you've got to kind
Speaker 2: of give people the stiff arm to keep them at
Speaker 2: a little bit of a distance and make sure you
Speaker 2: were you were staying in that in that you know,
Speaker 2: sort of at the top of the top of the
Speaker 2: depth chart there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And if he is that will and can also
Speaker 1: play some of the sam on the on the line,
Speaker 1: then that leaves that third linebacker spot for either Alfred
Speaker 1: or Petty John or Stover or you know, somebody else.
Speaker 1: But like even if it's even if that's Riley, Petty
Speaker 1: John or TG Alfred, a second your players, that's generally
Speaker 1: where that third linebacker spot has come from the last
Speaker 1: coup play years, whether it was Arvel Reice in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four, Peyton Pierce last year as a sophomore being
Speaker 1: that third guy, and it the trajectory is just fine.
Speaker 1: It worked out for Arvel Reice, it has worked out
Speaker 1: for I was gonna say Cody Simon, but Cody Simon
Speaker 1: also started before he was that third linebacker because him
Speaker 1: and Tommy Iicknberg kind of switched back and forth. But
Speaker 1: that third linebacker, whoever it is, that just leads to
Speaker 1: the next year being something even more substantial. So whoever
Speaker 1: wins that, like, you don't have to win the starting job,
Speaker 1: you don't have to win that will spot to be
Speaker 1: set up for a solid, very solid, very productive career
Speaker 1: at Ohio State. The third linebacker will set you up
Speaker 1: for that just as well. And you can have all
Speaker 1: kinds of impact as that third linebacker as well. You're
Speaker 1: just not going to be playing as much. Tom Can
Speaker 1: I give you somebody in the secondary, And I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna go with the obvious guy. I'm going to say
Speaker 1: Leroy Roker because here's what, here's why everybody's already just
Speaker 1: it's it's Terry Moore, it's Earl Little, it's Jalen McLain.
Speaker 1: What about Lee Roy Roker. And this is a guy
Speaker 1: that was with the Ones for the first half of
Speaker 1: spring before either he gave way to Terry Moore or
Speaker 1: they wanted to see Terry Moore with the Ones after
Speaker 1: some some rust got shaken off. But this is Leroy Roker.
Speaker 1: This is his opportunity to say, no, I'm I'm I
Speaker 1: can play, and let's find a place for me to play.
Speaker 1: He played last year kind of as a dime when
Speaker 1: other guys were hurt. And you know, he's maybe like
Speaker 1: the seventh dB, but would be the sixth when somebody
Speaker 1: went out. He's They really like him, and he's athletic,
Speaker 1: he's got good size, he's got good range. This is
Speaker 1: his opportunity to say, you're gonna have to find roop
Speaker 1: for me.
Speaker 2: And I think there is potentially a role for him
Speaker 2: this year and he I would say, going into fall camp,
Speaker 2: my assumption is he's probably the fourth safety where if
Speaker 2: anyone goes down, he's probably the next man up there.
Speaker 2: But you could certainly earn a bigger role one way
Speaker 2: or the other. You know, even if those guys are healthy,
Speaker 2: you could certainly carve out a spot for yourself. He
Speaker 2: was he was a much bigger part of the conversation
Speaker 2: this spring than I was anticipating heading into the spring,
Speaker 2: and sort of stayed in that spot he was. We
Speaker 2: didn't see Terry Moore doing nearly as much nearly as
Speaker 2: early in the spring, and I think Lebra Roker was
Speaker 2: certainly a part of that. And now it's a question of, Okay,
Speaker 2: can you sort of maintain that spot right in that conversation,
Speaker 2: because yeah, I think I think there's a real opportunity
Speaker 2: for him to at least secure a rotational spot and
Speaker 2: be a fifteen twenty snaps a game and maybe maybe
Speaker 2: heats a lot more than that would just sort of
Speaker 2: see how the fall goes. I'm assuming when you said
Speaker 2: the obvious one that you were not going to talk
Speaker 2: about the obvious guy. The obvious guy feels like it's
Speaker 2: Devin Sanchez because it's you know that he's going to
Speaker 2: be the guy who you know that really freshman year,
Speaker 2: like he was ahead of where all these other freshmen
Speaker 2: we've been talking about on the show were you figure
Speaker 2: he's going to be ahead of them as well. I
Speaker 2: to me, he's your starter right now, So yeah, it's
Speaker 2: a big camp for him. To me, it's almost and
Speaker 2: this maybe I'm overthinking this, but is this not a
Speaker 2: bigger fall for Dominic Kelly in some ways than it
Speaker 2: is for Devin Sanchez. Like Devin Sanchez, it feels like
Speaker 2: he's gonna be the starter and it's a question of
Speaker 2: how good can he be this year? And that's obviously
Speaker 2: a huge question. Dominic Kelly is kind of a is
Speaker 2: he ready? Is he ready for prime time? Is he
Speaker 2: ready to be someone who is in that conversation with
Speaker 2: Jermaine Matthews with Devin Sanchez to play meaningful snaps or
Speaker 2: can he be you know, they haven't really done the
Speaker 2: three corner rotation thing as much as they did in
Speaker 2: pre you know, in sort of previous eras. Do they
Speaker 2: feel they can do that this year because he's another
Speaker 2: second year guy. He played at Georgia last year and
Speaker 2: was you know, kind of doing kind of in the
Speaker 2: same sort of genre as a lot of these truepressions
Speaker 2: we're talking about at Ohio State, where you know, there
Speaker 2: was a lot of buzz around him. He was playing situationally,
Speaker 2: playing you know, only playing in certain sort of moments,
Speaker 2: but making the most of those opportunities. He's kind of
Speaker 2: the cornerback version of the Riley, Petty John, the TJ.
Speaker 2: Alf Ford, the Zion Grad. I mean, these guys we've
Speaker 2: been talking about on this show. If he can earn
Speaker 2: a spot, I think that third corner spot is really
Speaker 2: wide open right now, very much up for grabs, and
Speaker 2: I think with a good camp he could earn that
Speaker 2: spot and maybe earn a spot as a real rotational
Speaker 2: player this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No, this was my obvious answer. That's that's why I
Speaker 1: left it for you, Tom. But the potential is there.
Speaker 1: We saw him, he looked very good in the spring,
Speaker 1: So I have no issues with anything that you're saying.
Speaker 1: As you're talking, though, I'm thinking this is also an
Speaker 1: opportunity for Cameron Calhoun, Oh yeah, to jump, to jump
Speaker 1: Dominic Kelly, or to be somebody that they just want
Speaker 1: to have that veteran presence out there. Maybe he's good
Speaker 1: in the slot, maybe he's good outside where he's Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm a veteran, but I can I can also I'll
Speaker 1: show it on the field. And Ryan Day always talks
Speaker 1: about how he wants his veterans to play veteran and
Speaker 1: maybe that's something that Camon Calhoun can do. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think there's a number of guys. And when we've
Speaker 1: talked about the linebackers, it's basically the same answer that
Speaker 1: I said with the defensive ends, like whoever, when's that
Speaker 1: job opposite of Peyton Pierce, Like they have the most
Speaker 1: to gain. Whoever finds a role that is outside of
Speaker 1: the established starters, they have the most to gain and
Speaker 1: can push themselves into that rotation. And what we do
Speaker 1: know is it's up to the player whether they get
Speaker 1: on the field or not. And you've got the coaches
Speaker 1: here on the defensive side of the ball for Ohio
Speaker 1: State looking for players to play. Larry Johnson didn't want
Speaker 1: us at stop playing bo Atkinson last year just because
Speaker 1: you know, like he had to stop playing him for
Speaker 1: a reason. There's they want to play more. They want
Speaker 1: to play more corners, they want to play more linebackers,
Speaker 1: they want to get more guys on the field. Trust me,
Speaker 1: James Laarden I just wants to play six linebackers. If
Speaker 1: he could, he would do it. But it's up to
Speaker 1: the linebackers, it's up to the corners, it's up to
Speaker 1: everybody to show that they belong and I think they've
Speaker 1: got some guys that can do that this year and
Speaker 1: certainly in camp and then and then after ten or
Speaker 1: twelve practices, you've got to start paring it down to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: who's playing against ball State and preparation for Texas.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. It's this is a time of year when
Speaker 2: they want to see everything. They want to make sure
Speaker 2: they have given everyone an opportunity because you did that
Speaker 2: in the spring. But a lot can change between the
Speaker 2: spring and the start of fall camp, and guys can
Speaker 2: get a lot better, guys can get healthy, guys can
Speaker 2: get hurt, a lot can change. So that's why these
Speaker 2: first few days of fall camp are always really really
Speaker 2: you know, a chance to gain a lot of insight
Speaker 2: into what this fall is really gonna look like.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because in spring that's when you clean up surgeries
Speaker 1: and all of those sorts of things. So you don't
Speaker 1: really get to see your full team until fault camp,
Speaker 1: and we're all interested and seeing what that looks like.
Speaker 1: We will be talking about it at buckey Insiders dot
Speaker 1: com once camp gets underway, a in fact, we are
Speaker 1: talking about it before then as well. Would love to
Speaker 1: see over there. You sign up now and join us
Speaker 1: for the price of a lousy chain store pizza as
Speaker 1: we know, and of course you'll get much more than
Speaker 1: that over at Buckeye Insiders dot com. So would love
Speaker 1: to see you all there. Thank you all for tuning in,
Speaker 1: and we will talk to you guys.
Speaker 3: Letter let it throw away, don't know. Tell me I
Speaker 3: wish you'd never met nothing men were. If you can
Speaker 3: tell me that's the moor, it's all right. We could
Speaker 3: steal currently tonight