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Will Ohio State Defensive Stars Opt Out Of The Cotton Bowl? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Tuesday, December twelfth, the im your host
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  tom Or. The Cotton Bowl game against Missouri is in seventeen days, the
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  game against Michigan in three hundred and fifty four days. That Cotton Bowl game
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  against Missouri. On yesterday's show, we went through who we thought might be
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  starting for Ohio State on offense, which is a lot more of a question
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  this year than it is in a lot of years for Ohio States postseason.
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  Today we're going to be doing the defensive side of the ball. We're be
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  welcoming back our buddy Tony Gerdaman if Buckehuddle dot Com to do that. Right
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  now, as of the time we were recording this, there have been no
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  official opt outs, no NFL draft declarations, no further injury news. It
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  is all sort of status quo for the Ohio State defense as of this moment.
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  But the whole point of the show, of course, is that we
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  are not expecting everything to be exactly status quo between now and when the ball
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  takes off from the tee with a little help from a kicker on the night
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  of December twenty ninth. So Tony, let's start with the defensive line.
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  Your hasty defensive line led this year by four members of the class of twenty
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  twenty one, and those four members all potentially NFL Draft eligible. You could
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  theoretically see all four leave, You could theoretically see all four return. I'm
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  guessing the answer the truth will lie probably somewhere in between. But how many
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  of the four potential starters from that class of twenty twenty one are you thinking
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  you're actually going to be on the field for Ohio State when they play Missouri
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  on the twenty nine Tom I was not aware that this was the topic of
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  the show. I have no answers, no answers on any of this stuff.
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  I as I'm going through my mind and thinking about this answer, I
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  don't know. Tyler Williams kept coming up as somebody who might opt out if
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  he's all in on the draft. But I don't know that I can make
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  that leap right now. I've like, first we got to decide as Michael
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  Hall as Mike Hall starting, or as ty Hamilton starting it knows. I
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  guess you know I A, A or B there one of those two will
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  start at knows. I am going to go in on Tyler Williams starting and
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  then the normal nose tackle starting whoever. That is my call at ty Hamilton,
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  and I do believe both JT. Tweed, Miloia and Jack Sawyer will
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  be in the lineup with their teammates because, as Ryan Day said one day
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  before Kyle McCord opted out, he expects everybody to play, all right,
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  But I think I would be a little surprised if you had everyone there.
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  Are you? Are you expecting everyone to be back for twenty twenty four.
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  No, And that's that's the other thing, right, because we've talked about
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  this before where just because you're leaving early for the NFL, or just because
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  you're leaving for the NFL, you may you're out. Obviously, they still
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  have eligibility. That doesn't mean you have to not play in the bowl game.
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  We saw that with Alabama last year with Bryce Young and Will Anderson.
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  You can still play in the game and end of season the right way,
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  even if you're not in the playoffs. But it's one of those things time
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  where I don't think everybody's playing, but I don't know which guy isn't.
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  So if every if everybody is more likely than less likely, I'll go each
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  one of those guys to play and to know that I'll lose my parley,
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  but I'll win three of my four bets in terms of individuals, you know,
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  so I I do expect probably I'm just gonna assume. My belief has
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  been a J. T. Twey moloow is leaving and I've I've kind of
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  been leaning towards Tyler Williams leaving. I think Jack Sawyer and my call are
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  back. I think my call needs to come back. And Jack sar you
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  know, he's coaches like what he does and what he's been, what he's
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  given to the defense, and I think other coaches in the in the NFL
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  will like that as well. But I'm thinking they lose half of those guys,
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  and so Tom half of half, but a quarter not playing in the
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  ballgame makes sense? Or would it just be the two guys that are leaving
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  early. If there are two guys that are leaving early, they just say
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  peace and I won't be playing in the ball game. I am gonna say
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  all four, knowing that I'm probably wrong. By time. You have to
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  give me the specific guys who will not be playing in order for you to
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  be right. Well, I think I would rank I think, based on
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  the way you said it, I were probably going to be largely in agreement.
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  If I was going to rank the four guys in the likelihood of leaving
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  after this year, JT. Tooey moloow is probably first, Tyler Williams second,
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  Jack Sawyer third, Mike Hall fourth. It sounds like based on the
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  way you listed them there, I think we are probably in agreement on that.
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  And I'll say sixty percent chance that JT. Chuyimoloa doesn't play in the
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  Bowl game, thirty percent chance of Kylick Williams, and then ten percent chance
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  of you know, someone else opting out and surprising me. That adds up
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  to one hundred. I don't know that I meant to make it add up
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  to one hundred. I think that's I think that's probably like broadly what I'm
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  expecting. Where you set the over under on number of NFL draft departures at
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  two and a half and I probably take the under, probably, and if
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  you set the over under on opt outs at one and a half, by
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  probably taking the under. But I don't know that i'd I don't know that
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  i'd lay out a four way parlay on will these guys all play in the
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  in the Cotton Bowl? Moving out to the linebacker spot. Tommy Eikenberg,
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  we know, has declared that he will play in the Senior Bowl, which
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  means he is planning to leave after this year, which is not really a
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  surprise. Cody Simon Steele Chambers. I would certainly expect them to play Tommy
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  Eikenberg based on the fact that he is literally Tommy Eikenberg does not seem to
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  voluntarily turn down a lot of opportunities to play football. So are you with
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  me in expecting that we may see all three of the potential potential opt out
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  linebackers playing in that Cotton Bowl. Well, and with Tommy Eikenberg and the
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  elbow thing, that's he would have a legitimate reason for opting out in order
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  to prepare for the combine and get his elbow right ready for the bench press
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  and things like that, but not knowing how bad or how good it is
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  at this point, or if it's one of those things where it's not gonna
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  get any worse, so go ahead and play either way, I think they're
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  gonna have a hard time keeping him off of the field because this isn't somebody
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  who is playing for you know, top twenty spot and he needs to be
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  maximize his reps so that he can move into the top eighteen or top twelve
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  something like that. So I would be pretty shocked if any of those guys
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  opted out. And we know at this point Cody Simon hasn't even said what
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  he's going to be doing at this point, and honestly, I don't know
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  that Steele Chambers has either. He does technically have his COVID year available as
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  a twenty nineteen sunny red shirt. Twenty nineteen, twenty twenty doesn't count,
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  and so the last three years he would be a sixty year guy. Next
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  year, I don't expect him back. However, I think he's probably ready
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  to move on, but I would also expect him to play. So I
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  think all three of those guys are in the lineup one way or another.
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  Yeah, I think I believe all three of those guys walked on Senior Day.
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  But that is not you know, that is not a legal declaration for
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  departure. That is just well, it could theoretically be my last, my
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  last time on the horseshoe. So I'm going to walk and then you can
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  always you know, say you had your fingers crossed and come back. So
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  we'll see how that. We'll see how that all shakes out at the linebacker
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  position. But yeah, again, I would bet you know over under on
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  zero point five linebacker opt outs. I'm I'm going under there. Sounds like
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  you are as well, Yeah for sure. All right, So corner,
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  this is where things get a little interesting because Denzel Burke, I think,
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  does maybe fit the raw, you know, fit the kind of guy who
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  does tend to opt out or like at least tends to have a serious decision
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  to make in terms of opting out. You go back. Who was the
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  first player to opt out of a bowl game for Ohio State was Bradley Broby
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  back in the Orange Bowl against Clemson in the two thousand and thirteen season.
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  And then Denzel Ward was the one who kind of kickstarted the recent you know,
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  land rush of opt outs in the twenty seventeen Cotton Bowl against USC.
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  I would think you may see Denzil Denzel Burke almost called them Denzel Ward,
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  Denzel Burke opting out like He's the first guy who I think is probably you
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  know, he and JT. Chwey Molowile maybe are the two guys who I
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  think are better than fifty to fifty that you don't see them play, but
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  you could very well see them play. It's not a you know, future
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  top five pick necessarily kind of kind of a draft profile. He I think
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  is the one that I would kind of keep an eye on. Everyone else
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  at the corner position. You're probably seeing them coming back and playing, right.
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  Yeah, as long as we're not talking about Jordan Hancock yet and I
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  and we'll get to him. But Denzel Brick is the one that seems most
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  likely to not play. He is projected as a possible first rounder. I
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  think playing against Missouri could it maybe help him matching up again Luthor Burden,
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  see what he can do there Theois. I'm not sure if he's still there
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  or not, but the Luther Burden thing, and Missouri likes to throw the
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  ball around. See how well he does in that game. I don't know
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  how much more proof people need from him. It's pretty crazy when you look
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  at his numbers. He's got like only like twenty tackles on the year,
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  but that's because there's not a lot of play around him. He's in nine
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  pass breakups on the season, one interception, I don't know that he needs
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  to prove anything else. So if you're asking me to pick somebody who's not
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  going to be playing in the game, I'm with you. I think I
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  think I have him a little higher than j T two molo in terms of
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  likelihood to opt out. So I think on defense he's my number one prospect
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  to opt out, and I still won't be surprised if he plays. All
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  right, So I want to get your take on Jordan Hancock because I had,
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  you know, I had sort of seen and heard there was maybe a
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  little bit of a decision for him a while ago, and then had some
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  other folks who I really respect kind of say like, what what decision would
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  that be? Uh? And it sounds like you are viewing this as more
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  of a decision. So where you know, what, what are you thinking
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  about Jordan Hancock and what his what his next few weeks and months might look
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  like. Yeah, I absolutely think he should play, and I absolutely think
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  he should come back. It's just been you know, hearing little things here
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  and there and not knowing how true some of this stuff is. But that's
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  one that I think he's playing. I have no reason to think that he
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  isn't or that he's that he's going to turn pro other than somebody mentioned it,
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  and then it grows, you know, the whole butterfly wings. It
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  turns into a hurricane of rumors. But I do expect him to play.
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  And my question for him is next year, if he is coming back,
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  where does he Where does he play? Is he inside or outside? We'll
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  get to that. We have many more shows to to explore with that,
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  but I think he's playing. Obviously, David Igbinosen, being sophomore, will
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  play bargaining unforeseen things. But yeah, I expect can Cock to play,
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  and at the safety spots. I think the most interesting question is about a
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  guy who's probably not going to play, but will he come back? And
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  that's Leithan Ransom who was injured and was theoretically maybe gonna be able to get
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  back for a college football playoff game. I don't know that you necessarily rush
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  him back for a non college football playoff game, but then the question is
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  does he come back for twenty twenty four and another chance to play in a
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  college football playoff game. Josh Proctor obviously would be his last game. He
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  doesn't really fit the profile of the opt out, guy, I don't think.
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  But what are you looking at in terms of safeties? Yeah, I
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  think Josh Proctor definitely does not fit the profile of somebody who opts out.
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  Other than the fact that I think we've talked about this before, he's made
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  it this far being healthy this season. Do you just pack up your bag
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  and say, I made it, I'm done. I'll see you at the
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  combine. I'm not expecting that. I think he's gonna play. And you
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  know, again, this is a this is an offense, the Missouri offense,
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  where the secondary can show out and make some plays and just a little
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  bit more on film because they frankly didn't have much to put on film against
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  the Big ten this year in those passing games. So this will give more
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  information to Obviously, they're all thinking it will give more positive information to NFL,
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  to the NFL scouts and GMS and things like that. So I expect
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  him to play again. I don't. I don't think Lathan Ransom, even
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  if he's healthy enough, you're not going to rush him back for this.
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  So I'm thinking, yeah, you'll see Josh Proctor and he'll be starting next
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  to I assume sunny style. That's probably a good a good guest there.
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  We got three quarters away through this, and I thought the way we did
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  this on yesterday's show was that we actually named who we thought was going to
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  start, and not just who we thought was gonna option. Yes, Tony,
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  we're going to do a speed run on this, and you're gonna tell
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  us who you were expecting was so opt outs. You're thinking Denzel Burke,
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  j T two, Wey Moloaw, maybe Tyler Williams, maybe Jordan Hancock.
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  I mean, run us through who fills the pills the starting spots around the
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  Ohio State defense. Just take us through those eleven guys. And as I
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  started out with the show, I'm saying all four starters on the defensive line
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  will be starting in the game. So then you go with Steel Chambers or
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  Cody Simon, whoever they want to start. They're probably Steel Chambers given the
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  the offense that they're facing in Tommy Iickenberg quarters, Davis Niguanosen and say Jermaine
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  Matthews and then Nicole Jordan Hancock and your two safeties Josh Proctor and Sonny Styles.
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  Yeah, and you know what, I think that's probably about a realistic
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  best case scenario for Ohio State. I think you're you know, whether whether
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  it's Denzel Burke or j T. Twemlowo, just it feels like at least
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  one of those guys is probably opting out it. We would be pretty surprising
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  to have all eleven starters back for that for that Cotton Bowl. If they
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  do well, that's probably good news because that defense is going to get tested
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  quite a bit by Missouri. Jermaine Matthews. You would be interesting to see
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  Jermaine Matthews going up against that Missouri that Missouri wide receiver unit, because that
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  is a talented group and a quarterback Brady Cook who likes to sling it around
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  quite a bit. And Eli Drinkwotz said they were expecting to have everyone have
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  the full full group of players for the Cotton Bowl. This is a game
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  that Missouri is you know, this is this is one of the biggest games
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  in the last decade of Missouri football. And I think Ohio State players and
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  fans are looking at it and kind of going, well, I mean,
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  it's okay, I guess if you have to, so, yeah, It'll
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  be interesting to see how many Buckeyes choose to choose to opt out. But
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  you know, if Tony Gerdaman is correct, and when has he not been,
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  could be a pretty pretty full contingent for Ohio State on defense. When
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  that game does happen on December twenty ninth, Tony and I we will never
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  opt out. We will be there along with Kevin Noon, covering the game
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  and all the lead up to it for buckeyehuddle dot Com. We'll be down
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  in Dallas for several days before the game, cover the game itself, of
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  course, and then before we get down there, we're gonna be covering early
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  signing Day, the transfer portal, all that excitement, all for Buckeye Huddle
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  dot com. Mark Kifler covering recruiting for US, Ross and Devin and Mickey
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  and justin covering x's and o's making you a smarter football fan all at Buckey
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  Huddle dot Com. That will do it for today. Thank you guys all
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  for joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.