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Ohio State Football Insider: Breaking Down The Quarterback And Offensive Line Battles · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Thursday, March seventh. I'm your host,
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  Tom Moore. The Akron game in one hundred and seventy seven days.
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  The game gets mission in two hundred and sixty eight days. The Buckeyes will
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  be back on the practice field at the Boody Hayes Athletic Center on Thursday morning.
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  We will be there as well, Tony, Kevin, and I think
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  of Mark as well. You could have the full crew there covering Ohio State's
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  second practice of the spring. We'll have video, we'll have photos, we'll
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  have a full practice report. We'll probably do a live show after practice and
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  after interviews. It could be a full day of content for you coming out
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  of practice number two of spring football at Ohio State. You can find that
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  all at buckeyehuddle dot com and YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle. All right,
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  well that's what's going on Later today, let's talk a little bit about
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  more about what happened earlier this week practice number one for the Buckeyes. Afterwards,
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  we've got a chance to talk to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.
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  Had a lot of interesting things to talk about. It seems like every time
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  we talked to Ryan Day. A lot of stuff has happened since the last
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  time we spoke to him, So there's a lot of stuff to get caught
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  up on. They We're gonna get caught up on some of that stuff.
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  Let's start with the fact that, hey, they have a new offensive coordinator
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  since the last time we talked to Brian Day. That offensive coordner's name is
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  Chip Kelly. Of course, he is known for always having one of the
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  best rushing attacks in all of college football. So how much impact does Chip
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  Kelly bring to the run game plan for Ohio State this year? Uh?
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  Yeah, huge, A huge part of it. I think the great thing
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  for he and I is that, you know, we see things the same
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  way. But I think to your point, he brings a background of running
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  the football that you know is really impressive and certainly we know we need to
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  do to run the football. But I think he's excited about you know,
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  the guys that we have. I think some of our guys up front have
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  had really good offseason, so excited to see how the offensive line develops over
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  these fifteen practices. But also, you know, the running backs that we
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  have, and all of our quarterbacks are mobile, So I think that that's
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  significant as well. But but it's been great, you know, it just
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  early on the you know, exchange ideas of things that have gone on the
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  last few years for him, things that we've done here, and you know,
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  as we go what's going to be right for Ohio State. We'll continue
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  to develop that. One of the big pieces of news to come out of
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  practice number one for the spring was that Sunny Styles as in fact, as
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  we've been kind of talking about and speculating about for weeks now, as in
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  fact, moved from the safety group to the linebacker group. That does not
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  mean that that's where he is permanently. That just means that was where he
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  was day one. But okay, Ryan Day, what was the thought behind
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  moving Sunny Styles to the linebackers. Yeah, we want to you know,
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  put guys in position to be the most successful they can, but also embrace
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  it. And Sunny you know, has wanted to, you know, do
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  whatever he can to help the team. And we know that his skill set
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  is versatile and we're going to continue to work on that. But but you
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  will see him at linebacker. You'll also see some do some other things as
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  time goes on. But we think, you know, he brings a lot
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  to the table there. He can do so many different things and and I
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  think that's again the exciting part year and in year out is you have different
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  different people in different spots and then you have to figure out how you want
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  to utilize them. The best today was just a one real basic but he
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  was working at Lnebacker today. So we'll watch the film and continue to build
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  his package. The addition of chip Kelly is going to bring a lot of
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  interesting things to the Ohio State team this year. It also brings a really
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  interesting dynamic because Chip Kelly has been Ryan Day's coach, then he was his
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  mentor, he was his boss, and now Ryan Day is chip Kelly's boss.
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  So how is that gonna work this year? And I think the other
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  part of it is, you know, we've been friends and we continue to
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  be friends. And I think that's probably the thing that over the years,
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  you know, we're both very very competitive. You know, I can tell
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  you stories not right now about when I played or even when we've coached,
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  but then you know, when when the meeting gets over, we get off
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  the field, we're hugging it out and there's a lot of love there.
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  I oll I'm much of where I'm a'm at right now to him, and
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  so this isn't about you know, any of that as opposed to, you
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  know, a couple of guys part of a great program right now that are
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  trying to go chase some great goals. And he's been great. You know,
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  he's really done a great job already of connecting with a bunch of the
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  staff members and coaches, but more importantly of the players. And it's gonna
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  be fun journey to go on. But it's going to be competitive every day.
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  And that's one thing that he's always done and something I've always admired about
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  him and the ability to adapt over time and change. And so yeah,
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  already it's been it's been, you know, fun to come to work every
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  day because you know you're gonna get challenged. But even more as you look
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  ahead, do you know this spring, this preseason, as we get into
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  the year, you know, where where is this team going to be?
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  What's the journey look like, what's the offense look like? But but so
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  far, it's it's been you know, enjoyable to come in and you know,
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  be able to step out of the room and know that you know,
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  there's a bunch of guys in our room that are grinding on it, that
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  are going to get it right. There was a lot of talk about the
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  fact that Ryan Day probably needed to take a step back from the more nitty
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  gritty stuff with the quarterbacks and the offense and just kind of be more of
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  a program CEO. And that's probably going to be a good move for him
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  and for the Ohio State program. But it does mean that he's giving up
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  his role as somewhat of the quarterback guru. The person who asked this question
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  called him the quarterback whisperer. So he's is he now handing that baton to
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  Chip Kelly? You know, Chip is is coaching the quarterbacks. And then
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  you know, so much of what I learned was from him and and vice.
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  You know, we work together in so many different areas, and and
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  then you know I coached for him, and even you know it's with the
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  with the Eagles and with the forty nine ers and with him. There's just
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  a lot of back and forth there, and so there's a lot of conversation,
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  and so I'll still be very much involved, but certainly, you know,
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  Chip is running it. He's going to run the meetings. He's going
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  to do all those types of things. But but there's a lot of give
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  and take there as well, a lot of conversation. And but it's it's,
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  you know, it's a good group of quarterbacks. You know, they're
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  you know, they they've got really good leadership. They've had a really good
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  offseason. I think, you know, all the feedback we're getting from Mick
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  has been very very positive. You know, I think we counted up between
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  seven on seven and team reps. I think we had one hundred and fifty
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  reps today, And that's that's a bunch and that's great because that's what these
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  guys need. And the more we can spread those around the better. That
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  quarterback room is full of talented players. This spring, They've got five scholarship
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  guys, all of whom have either starting experience elsewhere or how it came in
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  as five star prospects, or have really gotten some really really good, good
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  reviews early from the Ohio State coaching staff. So when you've got five guys,
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  none of whom have even one hundred snaps at Ohio State, how do
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  you divide up the reps this spring without having anyone among those five guys with
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  a lot of game reps at Ohio State. Well, I think, like
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  I mentioned, we're trying to get as many as we can. If we
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  can get one hundred and fifty a day, that's that's going to be a
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  little bit different maybe when the pads are on, But the more we can
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  get, the better because these guys all need those reps and then we'll put
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  your body of work together and kind of figure out, you know, probably
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  halfway through the spring where guys are at and keep going from there. So
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  I think the key is right now we have the ability, because of mid
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  years and those type of things, to have a pretty full roster, where
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  maybe in the past in the spring, you know, a few years back
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  before we had so many guys at midyear, the transfer portal was wasn't where
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  it's at right now, the preseason roster would look a lot different than the
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  spring roster. Now, you know, there's only going to be a few
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  handful of guys that actually you know, come in during the summer, so
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  we're able to get three three groups reps and equal reps. So again,
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  it all comes down to those reps and making the best of them. The
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  quarterback position is getting a lot of the attention in the spring, but maybe
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  one of the most important positional battles is the one for the open offensive line
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  spot. Matt Jones, the right guard, left after last season completed his
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  eligibility off of the NFL. So how are the buck guys going to fill
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  that spot? Well, there's a whole bunch of different possibilities. One of
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  them that we saw on Tuesday was Luke Montgomery, very very talented second year
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  player. We had talked about maybe he would slot in at right tackle,
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  and they kick Josh Bryer inside. Well, they're starting Luke Montgomery inside at
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  right guard. They're looking at him there first. So what is Rian Day
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  like about Luke Montgomery at that right guard spot. He's very athletic. He's
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  somebody who to me is very skilled in a lot of areas making the transition
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  to the offensive line here in the last couple of years. We think he's
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  got a very very high ceiling, and you know, he's got a list
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  of things that just like everybody has, that he's gonna work on this offseason.
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  He know, he played tackle last year and did some good things,
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  and we think he can still play some tackle. But we also really want
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  to look at him at guard one because that's sort of an open spot right
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  now. And then two, we also think with this quickness, he can
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  get on guys quickly and he can bend and that's very very important in that
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  position. And so with some of the schemes we're going to be running,
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  we think, you know, he has the skill set in order to do
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  it, So now he just needs the reps to go, you know,
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  prove he can do it. I think we'll come up for air in the
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  spring and figure after spring's over and figure out what kind of progress has been
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  made to evaluate it, and then go from there. There are not a
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  ton of positional battles on this year's Ohio State team, largely because virtually everyone
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  is back. They lost a few players of note after last season, but
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  there are a lot of guys back all around. That depth chart really makes
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  for a promising season, but not necessarily a wide open spring. There are
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  a lot of event of advantages to bringing back a veteran team, now,
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  least of which is this time of year you don't need those veterans don't need
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  as much time, which means you're potentially opening up more time for the younger
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  guys to get practice reps. Yeah, like I mentioned before, there's guys
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  that are different points of their career on the roster right now, and so
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  as time goes on. Right now, we just want to get as many
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  reps as we can and get these guys going. But but as time goes
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  on, I think to your point, we have to evaluate some guys.
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  Some guys that are working on getting things better. You know. Take a
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  guy like you know jt or Ty Leek or you know, Cody Simon.
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  I mean, they have a list of things that they're trying to get done
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  use purposefully this spring. Then there's some guys, take you know, some
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  of the defensive linemen like you know, Jason Moore, Caden McDonald, Will
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  Smith. I mean, these guys are trying to you know, push to
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  get on the field and play completely different position. Take a guy like Jeremiah
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  Smith who's a freshman who just literally you know, got here about a month
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  or two ago and is learning the offense for the first time. You know.
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  Then you have guys like you know, Quinn Shawn or Will who have
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  played football before but now they're learning our offense. So all different guys and
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  different points of their career, So we want to get as many reps as
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  we can. But knowing that, like you said, there's certain guys that
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  have played a bunch of football here and you know, the idea for them
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  is and you just get as many reps as we can. The idea for
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  them is to be pointed in what we're trying to get done with them as
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  the spring goes on. In some of the spots where the starting position is
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  open, the Buckeyes have supplemented through the transfer portal, bringing in veteran players
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  Queen John Judkins at running back. That's the spot where they lost a couple
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  guys off the top of their depth start quarterback as well, Will Howard another
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  spot where they lost last year's starter Kyle McCord, and they're looking for a
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  new starter this year. So how have those guys, Queen Schewn Judkins,
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  Will Howard, some of the other transfers they've brought in, Sath McLaughlin,
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  how have those guys been integrated getting integrated into the program this spring? Well,
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  I think you don't just walk into Ohio State have said this before and
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  just you know, think you're going to go become the starting quarterback. It
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  doesn't work that way. There's just too much pride here. What mcmuratty and
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  our strength staff does here in the offseason, there's just a lot that comes
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  with it. You don't just show up in the weight room and then go
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  home. I mean, there's a lot of accountability that happens, and our
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  guys take a lot of pride in that, and so there's only one way
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  to do that. That's to earn it through respect. But we had our
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  champions meeting yesterday in the first quarter and we had a bunch of newcomers,
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  you know, great out as gold, and that's a big deal, and
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  that's how you earn the respect of the guys around you. But that's going
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  to be like that for the freshmen as well. You know, the guys
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  who are coming in and you know, should still be seniors in high school
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  or here trying to do that now they're younger and they don't have as much
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  experience as maybe some of the older guys like Will and you know, Quinn
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  Shawn or Caleb Downs. But but they still have to earn the respect of
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  the team just as just as much, and that starts, you know,
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  in the in the weight room, but ultimately it's going to matter when we
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  get on the field. You heard earlier Ryan Day talking about how they're going
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  to sort of divide up some of the reps for the five quarterbacks this spring,
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  and how they're going to have to try and spread things out among all
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  five of those guys. But when it kind of comes down to it,
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  you figure Will Howard Devin Brown probably are the favorites. One or both of
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  them are the favorites to win the starting job coming out of the spring or
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  going into the fall. So are those two guys maybe get to get more
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  reps than the other three guys in that quarterback room in the spring, at
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  least in the first quarter of the spring. I mean, we're just gonna
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  let them go play and just get a bunch of reps and roll them.
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  I think as as that starts to set a little bit, we'll start to
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  maybe, you know, make sure you know, guys are getting the reps
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  with the ones that need to. But but we're gonna let them compete,
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  you know, And it's hard for us to say, you know, someone
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  like you know, Julian Saying or Lincoln or you know Air or whoever.
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  Hey, you gotta come in here and compete when you know, the first
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  thing they do is take a bunch of reps with the threes. Now we
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  want to roll you whether that whatever drill it might be, and so that
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  you're getting reps with everybody so you can show what you do. So we'll
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  compete. I mean, we have the fortune of having a little bit of
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  time right now and then as things shake. I think the big focus,
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  and this is something we talk to our staff about, is in the spring,
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  we want to develop the individual player. As we get closer to the
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  preseason, now we start to really grab onto you know, the schemes and
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  the team and the chemistry of the group. Now you still need to understand
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  the schemes in the spring and how you fit into them. But that's something
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  that we want to make sure we're you know, developing each individual player right
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  now. And that's the folks more than how does he fit in with the
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  scheme or the chemistry of the offense or defense. Talked earlier a little bit
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  about the offensive line and the intrigue around that one open starting position. Remember
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  they have starting center Carson Hinsmen back after last season, but he did not
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  play at all in the Cotton Bowl after just kind of a rough time during
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  practice in December. They brought in transfer center Seth McLaughlan from Alabama, so
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  there's obviously a little bit of a positional battle going there as well. But
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  how has Carson Hins been progressed over the last couple of months since he did
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  set out that Cotton Bowl. Where do things stand with him right now?
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  And where do things stand with the center battle. He had a really good
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  last couple of months. It was excellent with Mick. I think having that
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  year of experience has really helped him. He's you know, his numbers in
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  a weight room are very very good. So you know, the combination of
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  having a year under his belt and having a good offseason, you know,
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  allows him a great opportunity to go compete this spring. You know, we'll
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  kind of see what it all looks like here again in the pads aren't on,
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  so with the offensive line, we won't know anything for a little while.
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  But we've seen strides for him and again improvement marked with you know,
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  or combined with the fact that he played last year a bunch and we won
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  a bunch of games with him in there. That matters. So you know,
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  I'm fired up to see what he looks like here as we head into
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  the middle of spring. Last up, Ryanda was asked about this being just
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  an incredibly talented group and just sort of looking around and seeing not only all
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  the guys that came back after last season, but new faces like Jeremiah Smith,
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  Caleb Downs, all this talent, all these incredible football players around.
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  This is a really interesting answer. This is one I coach youth sports.
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  I'm gonna be stealing some of this. The portion about about no talent,
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  you know, no talent required stuff really mattering. This is this is good
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  stuff. So rand is asked about does all this talent get you excited?
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  But the answer goes in kind of an interesting place. During our workouts and
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  Matt drills or seeing some of the team runs. It's kind when you think
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  about those type of things. You know, you look at the guys and
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  you see the potential and it gets you really excited. But then as much
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  talent as we have, it's gonna take. It's gonna be the no talent
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  issues that actually help us win our and reach our goals. So that's been
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  the focus now and so once we get on the field, it's that's what
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  you focus on. You know, it isn't seeing Jeremiah run a goball like
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  that's great, but like it's you know, it's the discipline of knowing what
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  to do. It's the focus. It's running to the ball, it's effort,
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  it's energy, it's all the things that again take no talent, and
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  so that's going to be the focus. It's not about the talent anymore.
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  That was that was about the last couple of months. Now we need to
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  acquire this skill and discipline it's going to take to go reach our goals and
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  that's what springs all about. So that'll do it for this morning show.
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  We will be back with you a little bit later on on Thursday morning with
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  some reporting from the inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, practice photos, practice
• 16:48
  video, practice reports, interviews with Ohio's date players and coaches. Lots of
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  good stuff coming coming to you on Thursday at Buckey Huddle dot com and YouTube
• 16:57
  dot com slash bucke Huddle. Make sure you are subscribed to both places.
• 17:00
  We're gonna have a lot of great content coming for you over the next month
• 17:04
  at Buckeye Huddle dot com as we go through all of springball there's a lot
• 17:08
  of recruiting news that could be on the verge of popping in the next couple
• 17:12
  of weeks. There's gonna be a lot of stuff to talk about. A
• 17:15
  great place to talk about it all, as on the huddle Board presented by
• 17:18
  jeff Erubys Steakhouse at bucke huddle dot com. We hope to see you there.
• 17:22
  It is a great place, great community, lots of stuff to talk
• 17:25
  about, really really potentially setting up to be a very very memorable and historic
• 17:30
  season of Ohio State football. We hope you will be join us there talk
• 17:33
  about it all at buckeyehuddle dot com. That will do it for today.
• 17:37
  Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk
• 17:38
  to you tomorrow.