Speaker 1: Hello everybody, welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm Tony Gerdeman, here as always with Tom O'Rourke. How's
Speaker 2: it going?
Speaker 3: Tony, get to... First of all, I was just thinking,
Speaker 3: we have so much more time before the season starts.
Speaker 3: And I thought, no, no, no. We have one more
Speaker 3: Saturday of not football and then a whole bunch of
Speaker 3: Saturdays of football in a row, which is good. Just
Speaker 3: to be clear, my position on football remains good. It's
Speaker 3: just like, boy, there's a lot of stuff we got
Speaker 3: to do in the 14 or give or take days
Speaker 3: between now and Yes.
Speaker 2: High school football has started. School is back going. There's
Speaker 2: already bus shortages in central Ohio. It's here. Fall is here. Welcome, everybody.
Speaker 2: On the last show, previous show that we did, we
Speaker 2: talked about how deep Ohio State is going to go
Speaker 2: on offense in terms of each position and the bigger games.
Speaker 2: That way you know what the actual true rotation is
Speaker 2: and who's good enough to, who's trusted enough to play,
Speaker 2: who is game ready, as Urban Meyer would say. So
Speaker 2: Now we're going to give that same treatment to the
Speaker 2: defensive side of the ball. Basically, who's going to be
Speaker 2: out there against Texas? Who's going to be out there
Speaker 2: at Iowa against USC? And really, as the season goes on,
Speaker 2: the names will, I think, kind of change. But initially,
Speaker 2: say the first month of the season, who's going to
Speaker 2: be out there regularly, Tom? And I'm asking you, defensive ends.
Speaker 2: Because I feel like, hmm. I think we're going to
Speaker 2: see quite a few, but I think it's going to
Speaker 2: be a smaller group against Texas.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a really interesting group because you go
Speaker 3: back over the years and for example, 2023, when they
Speaker 3: were playing at Notre Dame, it was just JT Tumalo
Speaker 3: and Jack Sawyer at defensive end all game long. Now
Speaker 3: that's not what they would prefer to do, but if
Speaker 3: they feel that the ones are way ahead of where
Speaker 3: the twos are, that's what they might do. I don't,
Speaker 3: I'm certainly not expecting that this year. Cause I don't think,
Speaker 3: you know, I think you've got Kenyatta Jackson and I
Speaker 3: don't think you have anyone else who you're looking at
Speaker 3: as like, so head and shoulders above everyone else that
Speaker 3: you're not going to play.
Speaker 2: With behind them.
Speaker 3: So I'm going to say, I'm going to say four
Speaker 3: people at defensive end for these, for these big games.
Speaker 3: I think that number could go as high as six.
Speaker 3: Cause I think, you know, if you look at the
Speaker 3: whole group, Kenyatta Jackson, Bo Atkinson, Kwee Russo, Zion Grady,
Speaker 3: Epi Satonale. I think there's a possibility that Kari Wilder
Speaker 3: gets into that conversation at some point, but it's probably
Speaker 3: not right away. And I'm certainly not expecting to see
Speaker 3: him against Texas. But I think you could get up
Speaker 3: to six at some point. But right now, I think
Speaker 3: you're going to see three. You're going to see, for sure,
Speaker 3: Kenyatta Jackson, Bo Atkins, and Kwee Russo. I'm certainly expecting
Speaker 3: to see Epi Satonele and Zion Grady some as well. But,
Speaker 3: you know, I think that sort of four-ish range is
Speaker 3: probably about right for the start of the season.
Speaker 2: I think this one is very, very interesting. Just looking
Speaker 2: back last year, four defensive ends played against Texas. Caden Curry,
Speaker 2: Kenyatta Jackson, Bo Atkinson, and C.J. Hicks. Zion Grady did
Speaker 2: not play. Joshua Mickens, no Logan George, no Epi Satonale,
Speaker 2: no Dominic Kirks. But am I ready to say that
Speaker 2: Epi Satonale is not going to play against Texas? I'm not.
Speaker 2: Would it shock me if he doesn't? Not necessarily. Would
Speaker 2: it shock me if Kyrie Wilder doesn't?
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: So, like, yes on Kenyatta Jackson. Yes on Bo Atkinson.
Speaker 2: Yes on Kwee Russo. for the situational aspect. And then, yeah, like, boy,
Speaker 2: if Zion Grady's going to play, why not Epi Satonale?
Speaker 2: And vice versa. So I think there will be, I'm
Speaker 2: going to say five, and I'm not going to lock
Speaker 2: in on which five, but I think there will be
Speaker 2: times where, hey, whether it's three snaps, one snap, or two, like,
Speaker 2: I know we're talking about rotational and two or three
Speaker 2: snaps against Texas is rotational against everybody else. So I
Speaker 2: will lock in and say five defensive ends. And if
Speaker 2: I'm wondering, like, how possible, Tom, how shocked would you
Speaker 2: be if it is six? Because then you're just talking Zion, Grady,
Speaker 2: Kari Wilder, and Epi Satonale all get in. It's not.
Speaker 2: but I'm going to say no, but possible.
Speaker 3: If you're setting the over-under at 5.5, I'm probably taking
Speaker 3: the under there. Is it possible that you get two
Speaker 3: or three of them in there, four or three snaps,
Speaker 3: five snaps, something like that? Yeah, absolutely, that's possible. And
Speaker 3: if you have guys in there for just a handful
Speaker 3: of snaps, then that's when it becomes more likely that
Speaker 3: you do. If it's, you know, there's four guys and
Speaker 3: they're all getting 30 snaps, okay, that chews up a
Speaker 3: lot of the snaps. if you feel like, okay, you're
Speaker 3: sort of just situationally shoving guys in. And we also
Speaker 3: don't know how many different personnel packages are they going
Speaker 3: to have because we've heard about them in a 3-3-5.
Speaker 3: We've heard about them in a 4-3. We've heard about
Speaker 3: them in a 4-2-5. And is Quay Roussel going to
Speaker 3: be sort of like an overhang defender and he's not
Speaker 3: one of the four guys? Or is he going to
Speaker 3: be one of the four? There's a bunch of different
Speaker 3: variables here that we're sort of trying to sort out.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I think five is an absolutely reasonable number
Speaker 3: for the, you know, for, for the Texas game in
Speaker 3: terms of guys having at least a handful of snaps.
Speaker 2: Defensive tackle. Jarquez Carter got three snaps last year against Texas.
Speaker 2: Jason Moore, none. Eric Minson, Trajan Odom, none, but they
Speaker 2: played four, actually five, including Jarquez Carter. When they've got
Speaker 2: five veterans, is it going to shock me if Jason
Speaker 2: Moore plays in this game as that fifth guy?
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: I think, I think this is another situation where, you know,
Speaker 2: how many defensive ends are taking defensive tackle snaps? So
Speaker 2: I think last year, if they were able to play
Speaker 2: five with Cade McDonald being not Cade McDonald at that point,
Speaker 2: but I think they, boy, Tom, I'm going to set
Speaker 2: the over-under at four and a half.
Speaker 3: I'll go over that because, you know, the four is easy.
Speaker 3: It's James Smith and Edward Houston and Will Smith Jr.
Speaker 3: and John Walker. So that's, that's the easy four. And I,
Speaker 3: I think they're going to play Jason more, at least
Speaker 3: some this year, because you're going to have, you're going
Speaker 3: to have times when, you know, first of all, it's
Speaker 3: going to be like 90 degrees and 90% humidity. So
Speaker 3: I think you're going to want to keep those guys fresh. And,
Speaker 3: you know, is it possible that you get someone like
Speaker 3: a Jameer Perez who just is just different enough from
Speaker 3: everyone else that, there might be a situation where it's like, well,
Speaker 3: you got to get him in because there's no one
Speaker 3: else who's as big as he is or whatever.
Speaker 2: Fourth and one.
Speaker 3: Yeah, fourth and one kind of situations. Yeah, absolutely possible.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I think I will go over four and
Speaker 3: a half and say that Jason Moore does play five,
Speaker 3: 10 snaps at least.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm thinking it's five defensive tackles in that game.
Speaker 2: So then we move to linebackers. We've been talking all
Speaker 2: along that it's going to be a solid four with
Speaker 2: Peyton Pierce and Christian Allegro and Riley Pettyjohn and TJ Alford,
Speaker 2: I can see, I expect to see all four of
Speaker 2: those guys playing against Texas. If they don't, then, I mean, again,
Speaker 2: that tells you that they have a three that they
Speaker 2: really like, and then the fourth guy can mix in
Speaker 2: in maybe other games. I do think we will see four,
Speaker 2: and just looking really quickly, There was only three that
Speaker 2: played last year, Sonny Stiles, Arvel Reese, and Peyton Pierce.
Speaker 2: No Riley Pettyjohn or T.J. Alford or Garrett Stover. But
Speaker 2: I think this year, four. And the real question for
Speaker 2: me is, can they go beyond that? I don't think
Speaker 2: they need to. I don't think they will, at least
Speaker 2: on purpose, they won't. Something would have to happen before
Speaker 2: they go over four, in my opinion.
Speaker 3: That's about where I would have the line as well.
Speaker 3: Cause I think, you know, we, we have heard a
Speaker 3: bunch of good stuff about Eli Lee this year, but
Speaker 3: I don't think you want to be playing five linebackers
Speaker 3: when you're going to be in a four to five
Speaker 3: for a good bit at a time where you're not,
Speaker 3: you know, you're not going to be playing three linebackers
Speaker 3: at a time. So if you're at four, you know,
Speaker 3: if you're in a four to five playing four guys is,
Speaker 3: you know, basically two platoons. And obviously you're going to
Speaker 3: be in a four, three Selman. You're going to have,
Speaker 3: you're going to have plenty of opportunities for those guys
Speaker 3: to play. But yeah, I, I don't expect, you know,
Speaker 3: last year, Riley, Petty John, TJ, Alfred not playing. That
Speaker 3: doesn't surprise me. They were true freshmen in their first games.
Speaker 3: I think the only true freshmen who saw on defense
Speaker 3: last year in game one against Texas with Devin Sanchez.
Speaker 3: But now those guys are sophomores. I think you're going
Speaker 3: to see Petty John. I think you're going to see Alfred.
Speaker 3: I know you're going to see Allegro. I know you're
Speaker 3: going to see Peyton Pierce. So I think four is
Speaker 3: a good number there. And I think you're going to
Speaker 3: have three of those guys at least with 20 snaps
Speaker 3: at least, you know, I think, I, right now if
Speaker 3: you're you know gun to my head I'm saying Peyton
Speaker 3: Pierce Christian Allegro 40 snaps 50 snaps you know whatever
Speaker 3: the number is a lot of snaps for those two
Speaker 3: guys 20 or so for Riley Pettyjohn and probably you
Speaker 3: know five to ten for TJ Alford something like that okay.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about trying to figure out how to do
Speaker 2: this with corners, just outside corners. I think the number is,
Speaker 2: it's two or three. It's Jermaine Matthews and Devin Sanchez
Speaker 2: and can dominate Kelly. Is he to that point now
Speaker 2: where he is going to play? And I almost feel
Speaker 2: like this depends on how well the two corners are playing.
Speaker 2: If they're playing well, you don't necessarily want to mix
Speaker 2: things up. But as you just reminded me, it's going
Speaker 2: to be really hot. And now it's still going to
Speaker 2: be night, but we're from Ohio. Like, I know Devin
Speaker 2: Sanchez doesn't, but the rest of us. And I know
Speaker 2: Dominic Kelly isn't, but the rest of us. No, I
Speaker 2: think you would like to be able to get a
Speaker 2: third guy in there for that. And again, if they
Speaker 2: can play against Texas, if they do play against Texas,
Speaker 2: I expect them to play every other game as well.
Speaker 2: We have not seen a ton from Dominic Kelly since, well,
Speaker 2: we haven't seen anything since the first three practices. I've
Speaker 2: never really heard much either. We know he's working with
Speaker 2: the ones and twos. I don't think that continues. Do
Speaker 2: you think this number reaches three against Texas?
Speaker 3: I think the default answer is going to be keep
Speaker 3: it at two unless you need to. And the situation
Speaker 3: may dictate that you need to. But everything we are
Speaker 3: hearing about Devin Sanchez has been very, very positive this month. Very,
Speaker 3: very positive. I think you want to keep him on
Speaker 3: the field as much as you can. Jermaine Matthews is
Speaker 3: a proven veteran senior. He's been very, very good. I
Speaker 3: think he's going to hold up pretty well. And I
Speaker 3: think they're going to stay, you know, some of this
Speaker 3: depends on does Jay Timmons, you know, do they feel
Speaker 3: that Dominic Kelly is better than Jay Timmons and then
Speaker 3: you end up taking Jermaine Matthews and slotting him into
Speaker 3: the nickel or something like that? Possible. But I think
Speaker 3: if they had their druthers, they would probably right now
Speaker 3: keep Jermaine Matthews and Devin Sanchez on the field as
Speaker 3: much as they possibly can.
Speaker 2: I think you could see when they go dime, maybe
Speaker 2: Jermaine Matthews is the other slot guy and Dominic Kelly
Speaker 2: comes in. I think that's one way we can say, okay,
Speaker 2: there's that. Before we get to the nickel, you could
Speaker 2: also have, with this whole, all of these, the dime linebacker,
Speaker 2: the dime DB linebacker, Maybe the dime, we'll say, will
Speaker 2: go too deep with maybe Jermaine Matthews and maybe Simeon Caldwell,
Speaker 2: the safety as that dime linebacker. Nickel, it's Jay Timmons,
Speaker 2: and whether that's– I wouldn't expect– again, this is when
Speaker 2: it gets all kind of wonky with the packaging. He's
Speaker 2: the number one nickel. He's not rotating with anybody other
Speaker 2: than when the packages change him in and out. We
Speaker 2: would agree with that. Tom, safeties, what are you expecting?
Speaker 2: Can they get three safeties out there and just a non-dime,
Speaker 2: just typical, okay, let's rotate Jalen McClain, let's rotate Earl
Speaker 2: Little out? Because I don't know that I see that
Speaker 2: right now. I don't see that right now.
Speaker 3: No, I think right now, based on what we're hearing
Speaker 3: and what we've seen so far this fall, I am
Speaker 3: expecting this to be Earl Little and Jalen McClain. And
Speaker 3: maybe you get Terry Moore out there for a handful
Speaker 3: of snaps. Maybe you get Leroy Roker out there for
Speaker 3: a handful of snaps, but I think the odds are
Speaker 3: that happened. That's more likely to happen in a dime situation,
Speaker 3: which we're sort of, you know, we're sort of setting
Speaker 3: that to the side right now, because there's a lot
Speaker 3: of possible answers in terms of how they're going to
Speaker 3: configure that. And that's one of those things they were
Speaker 3: trying to sort of nail down over the last few
Speaker 3: days to figure out where, you know, situationally, where do
Speaker 3: all the different pieces fit together? So, We may have
Speaker 3: a better sense for that later on this week. But
Speaker 3: right now, I would say, similar to the outside corners,
Speaker 3: if it's up to them, if everyone is able to
Speaker 3: hold up physically in terms of the amount of snaps
Speaker 3: and the weather and everything else, I think they would
Speaker 3: prefer to have just those two safeties out there.
Speaker 2: Yep, I would agree. Do you guys agree, if you're watching?
Speaker 2: Have we missed anybody? Do you think they're going to
Speaker 2: go deeper on defense than we are talking about? Go
Speaker 2: ahead and throw your comments in. in there and we'll
Speaker 2: take a look at those. Feedback is always welcome. Even
Speaker 2: the negative feedback, Tom, I've seen a couple. And does
Speaker 2: it hurt? Of course. Do I let it bother me?
Speaker 2: Of course. But no. As long as you're watching and subscribing,
Speaker 2: I almost don't care. But, you know, feedback is always welcome.
Speaker 2: Five-star rating review on the audio side, always welcome. And
Speaker 2: the most welcome, Tom, come join us over at BuckeyeInsiders.com.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for those of you who have.
Speaker 2: I know say this on a lot of the shows,
Speaker 2: you know, come see us, come see us. Thank you
Speaker 2: guys for, thank you for those of you who have.
Speaker 2: And of course we welcome certainly anybody that would like to,
Speaker 2: to join us over at BuckeyeInsiders.com. That will do it
Speaker 2: for today. Thank you all for tuning in and we'll
Speaker 2: talk to you all later.
Speaker 1: Love, this time, can what I feel be real?
Speaker 3: Well, she threw away the motel key. I wish it
Speaker 3: never meant nothing to me.
Speaker 1: Say you will, now say you will. Oh, yeah. Say
Speaker 1: you will, now say you will. If you tell me
Speaker 1: that Des Moines's alright, we could steal a car and
Speaker 1: leave tonight.