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2026 Ohio State Spring Game Preview: 4 Buckeyes To Watch On Defense · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Saturday, April eighteenth. I'm
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  Speaker 1: your host, tom Or the ball State game in one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and forty days. I'll do the math for you.
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  Speaker 1: That is twenty weeks, the game against Michigan in two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty four days. Our friends a Grateful Brittle,
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  Speaker 1: Columbus's favorite food drug. They are now on Uber eatscrubhall, band,
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  Speaker 1: or Dash. Just search for Grateful Brittle there or check
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  Speaker 1: out Greatful Griddle oh dot com for more. The spring
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  Speaker 1: game kicks off at noon on Saturday. We'll be there
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  Speaker 1: for that. We'll have some pre game coverage for you.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have some postgame coverage for you. You can find
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  Speaker 1: that all on the Buckeye Weekly podcast feed and at
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  Speaker 1: YouTube dot com slash Buckeye Huddle. Today's show we're doing
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  Speaker 1: the other half of yesterday show. Yesterday we talked about
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  Speaker 1: four guys we were really interested in watching in the
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State spring game on the offensive side of the ball.
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  Speaker 1: Today we're going to be talking about the defense. Welcoming
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  Speaker 1: in Tony Gurderman once again. Tony, I will once again
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  Speaker 1: let you have the first choice here because I have
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  Speaker 1: a long list and it's much longer than we could
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  Speaker 1: possibly need for a show with four names.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I know one of the names now on your list,
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  Speaker 2: and that's Quai rusa transfer defensive end from Alabama who
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  Speaker 2: everybody's talking about how strong he is, and Larry Johnson
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  Speaker 2: talks about his speed and his athleticism and being only
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  Speaker 2: six to two, you figure, I guess he could probably
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  Speaker 2: bend and get low as well. So I'll be interested
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  Speaker 2: to see him because you know, to be it's gonna
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  Speaker 2: be fun to just be able to even if it's
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  Speaker 2: not the initial viewing, go back and rewatch and spend
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  Speaker 2: more time watching people because so often in the practices
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  Speaker 2: that we've got to see gotten to see, like there'll
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  Speaker 2: be a flash of number four Quay Rusaw and it's
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  Speaker 2: like sack, and it's like, well, I would like to
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  Speaker 2: have seen all of that, but I only saw the
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  Speaker 2: portion that went right before my eyes. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: watch him a little bit and then after the fact,
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  Speaker 2: watch him a little bit more. So he's he's the
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  Speaker 2: first guy on my list, and not just because he
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  Speaker 2: had the lowest number as I was looking through the
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  Speaker 2: roster here, but certainly a guy that I keep saying
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  Speaker 2: I think right now trending to be the guy opposite
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  Speaker 2: Kenyatta Jackson starting lineup.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he was the first name on my list as well.
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  Speaker 1: And I think you got to look back at his
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  Speaker 1: numbers from last year, and you can look and you go, boy,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the numbers aren't enormous, But he got hurt
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  Speaker 1: relatively earlier in the year, and what he looked like
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  Speaker 1: before that and what he looked like after that are
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  Speaker 1: two kind of different things. And it sounds like he's
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  Speaker 1: a little bit more back to what he was before
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  Speaker 1: that injury. And you know, a pass rusher with a
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  Speaker 1: foot injury, Yeah, that's probably going to set you back
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  Speaker 1: a little bit. So now that he's healthy, really really
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  Speaker 1: intrigued to see what he looks like Next up, I
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  Speaker 1: got another sec transfer. Let's talk about Dominic Kelly, because
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  Speaker 1: Dominic Kelly is to me. You know, on the last show,
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  Speaker 1: we talked about Ian Moore being sort of the keystone
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  Speaker 1: to understanding what that offensive line is going to look
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  Speaker 1: like this year, because if he can fit in there,
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  Speaker 1: that kind of tells you where all the other pieces
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  Speaker 1: are going to fit together. Dominic Kelly to me, is
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  Speaker 1: kind of one of those guys in terms of the
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  Speaker 1: secondary for Ohio State, because if he is as good
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  Speaker 1: as sort of the indications are that he could be,
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  Speaker 1: and if they feel like they can trust him to
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  Speaker 1: play and be a rotational at least player at corner
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  Speaker 1: at one of those outside corner positions, that opens up
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  Speaker 1: so much more in terms of what they can do.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, hey, you want to kick Jermaine Matthews
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  Speaker 1: inside to the slot, Sure you can do that if
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  Speaker 1: you want to, because if you feel like Devin Sanchez
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  Speaker 1: and Dominic Kelly can hold it up outside if someone
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  Speaker 1: gets hurt, you got it out in another guy who's
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  Speaker 1: ready to play outside corner. It just he is someone
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  Speaker 1: who came in with a lot of potential. We say
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  Speaker 1: it every time we talk about him. Everyone else who
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  Speaker 1: they brought in the bringing in veteran guys, he was
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  Speaker 1: the exception. He was the one guy who did not
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  Speaker 1: fit the same mold as virtually everyone else they brought in,
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  Speaker 1: which was proven veteran guys, which tells you they really
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  Speaker 1: see something there in Dominic Kelly already lost his stripe
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  Speaker 1: this spring. It just feels like there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: stuff that you've seen that is okay. This guy is
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  Speaker 1: probably going to be what we thought he was going
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  Speaker 1: to be and going to be someone who can potentially
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  Speaker 1: contribute this year, but this will be an opportunity for
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  Speaker 1: him to really show that. On Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was also on My Life as well. And
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  Speaker 2: somebody that Tim Walton just talks about how consistent he
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  Speaker 2: is and when asked, well, how did you know that
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  Speaker 2: he could play here? So well, you talk to people.
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  Speaker 2: He played enough, he played like eighty three snaps or
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  Speaker 2: something like that, so last year and you get an
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  Speaker 2: idea there. But you talk to people about their thoughts
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  Speaker 2: on whether he can play, and he's like, yeah, you
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  Speaker 2: just talk to people, you know people, you know the players,
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  Speaker 2: and this is the guy that they've scouted before. And
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  Speaker 2: the way Tim Walton talks about him like it sounds
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  Speaker 2: like he's talking about a starter or somebody that is like,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to be counting on him this year, and
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  Speaker 2: I don't I do wonder if there will be if
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  Speaker 2: he forces his way into rotation. I think we'll know
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  Speaker 2: that will we'll see that down the road. But he's
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  Speaker 2: good size, good length and is just in the right
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  Speaker 2: place at the right time, which is basically what you
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  Speaker 2: want from your corner so certainly want to watch tim.
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  Speaker 2: I don't want to just keep focusing on the transfers.
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  Speaker 2: So let's but let's stay at this position and talk
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  Speaker 2: about Devin Sanchez as who got his feet really wet
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  Speaker 2: last year over three hundred snaps as a true freshman,
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  Speaker 2: now steps in as presumably that boundary corner that has
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  Speaker 2: to be that physical IGB replacement and has all of
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  Speaker 2: the size and mentality for it. So you know, let's
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  Speaker 2: let's see some of it. How much is it going
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  Speaker 2: to be going against Jeremiah Smith. I think that's something
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  Speaker 2: that everybody wanted to see last year, got to see
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  Speaker 2: a little bit of. Maybe maybe we'll see it a
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  Speaker 2: little bit on Saturday, Not too much. That's more of
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  Speaker 2: a Jeremiah Smith snap count thing than anything else. But
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  Speaker 2: he's going to be one that Ohio State needs him
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  Speaker 2: to be everything they expected him to be right as
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  Speaker 2: a sophomore starter and presumably, if all goes well, I'll
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  Speaker 2: have two years as a starter and then he's off
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  Speaker 2: to the NFL. And if that's the case, then you
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  Speaker 2: need to you know, he needs to show it and
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  Speaker 2: they need to see it. But like everything we keep
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  Speaker 2: hearing about him as well as like he's taking that
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  Speaker 2: step and that's exactly what you're going to see.
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  Speaker 1: And it feels like there's a roadmap at this point
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  Speaker 1: where with as many corners as Ohio State as it
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  Speaker 1: into the draft and in the first round of the draft,
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  Speaker 1: the roadmap is sort of established where you see a
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  Speaker 1: little bit of the field as a true freshman, and
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  Speaker 1: then your second year you're ready for a bigger role
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  Speaker 1: and you're not going to be a first team All
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  Speaker 1: American as a sophomore, but that's okay. If you're kind
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  Speaker 1: of an all conference type player your second year, you're
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  Speaker 1: then on the way to being an All American type
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  Speaker 1: conversation player your third year. And then you're standing next
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  Speaker 1: to Roger Goodell relatively early on a Thursday evening not
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  Speaker 1: long after that. So Devin Sanchez only one year, but
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  Speaker 1: as early as he was out there, and as much
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  Speaker 1: as he was out there, with as many other names
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  Speaker 1: as there were, this was not a just an empty
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State corner room. It was like, well, we have
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  Speaker 1: to play someone, so I guess it's you, rook It was.
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  Speaker 1: He was out there day one and was out there
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  Speaker 1: ahead of some highly touted recruits who had been there
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  Speaker 1: longer than him, so it feels like he's on track,
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  Speaker 1: but sort of just checking in and checking that box
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday. I think is a really interesting one.
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  Speaker 2: Man.
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  Speaker 1: Oh man, there are so many names. I feel like
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  Speaker 1: I should just run down the list of all the
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  Speaker 1: other names I have here, because it's like, boy, I'd
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  Speaker 1: love to say I'm really interested to see James Smith.
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  Speaker 1: I'm really interested to see Cary Wilder. I'm really interested
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  Speaker 1: to see Christian Allegro. I'm there are just there are
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  Speaker 1: so many guys there, Earl Little, Terry Moore, Lee, Roy Roker.
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  Speaker 1: I guess I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say Terry Moore here.
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  Speaker 1: I think I think that you could you could choose
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  Speaker 1: any of those guys and probably several others that I'm
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  Speaker 1: not thinking of right now.
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  Speaker 2: TJ.
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  Speaker 1: Alfred probably is on that list as well, Jay Timmins,
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  Speaker 1: Jordan Thomas, I mean, all of these guys, but I'm
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  Speaker 1: gonna go with Terry Moore because I think Terry Moore
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  Speaker 1: is someone who coming in. Just looking at his production
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  Speaker 1: at Duke in twenty twenty four, he looked at that
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  Speaker 1: and thought, boy, this could be one of the best
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  Speaker 1: portal editions in the country and felt like he started
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  Speaker 1: a little slow. And where does he stand with the
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  Speaker 1: Lee Roy Roker, because it feels like those two guys
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  Speaker 1: are sort of battling for one starting position, and he
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  Speaker 1: started out a little slower than are a little or
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  Speaker 1: a little lost to stripe right away. Terry Moore took
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  Speaker 1: a few extra practice, has lost kind of in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of the spring, which is a perfectly normal time
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  Speaker 1: to lose your black stripe if you're going to be
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  Speaker 1: someone who's a starter in the fall. I just we
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  Speaker 1: haven't seen a whole heck of a lot of him,
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  Speaker 1: so this is going to be the most we get
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  Speaker 1: a chance to see him. And you know he and
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  Speaker 1: Leroy Roker, who looks better out there? He was one
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  Speaker 1: of those guys more dynamic. Is one of those guys
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  Speaker 1: more of a playmaker? Does one of those guys break
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  Speaker 1: on the ball or break up a couple passes or
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  Speaker 1: pick an interception like whatever? Like those those two guys together.
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  Speaker 1: But we've seen enough Lee Roy Roker that you have
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  Speaker 1: a sense for what you have there, Terry Moore, I'm
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  Speaker 1: just interested in does he look exactly like we were
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  Speaker 1: sort of expecting. Is he's sort of still knocking some
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  Speaker 1: of the rust off. Where does he look like he
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  Speaker 1: is after fifteen practices.
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  Speaker 2: And inn't that realm. It's going to be interesting to
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  Speaker 2: see who does the best among the safeties in the slot,
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  Speaker 2: who's handling that nickel position the best, and who looks
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  Speaker 2: like boy, they're kind of a liability. Maybe the spring
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  Speaker 2: is figuring out what people can and can't do. And
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  Speaker 2: so just if you see somebody that can't do something,
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  Speaker 2: don't worry. They may not be doing it during the season.
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  Speaker 2: This is the time to find that out. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: watching watching the whole safety situation, Tom, can I throw Well,
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  Speaker 2: I'm gonna just mention, like you mentioned eighteen guys, Christian Allegro,
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  Speaker 2: seeing where he's lining up because and also how he's playing.
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  Speaker 2: When we've seen him, he's done well, whether it's a
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  Speaker 2: past defense, whether it's getting into the backfield and thinking, oh,
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  Speaker 2: nice job by bo Atkinson on that sack. It's like, no,
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  Speaker 2: that was Christian Allegro and bo Atkinson's number last year.
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  Speaker 2: And then also another guy I'm going to watch his
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  Speaker 2: number ninety to Maury Simeon, who is freshman defensive tackle
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  Speaker 2: who when we saw the practice, the student appreciation practice
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday two weeks ago, he looked like the fifth best
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  Speaker 2: among the defensive tackles, which is you know, they're looking
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  Speaker 2: for somebody and he's competing. Jason Moore was a silver
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  Speaker 2: bawler over a week or two ago. Like that, job
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  Speaker 2: I think is wide open, and I just I just
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  Speaker 2: want to see if that was just a very good
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  Speaker 2: day for him or if he's continuing to progress. So
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  Speaker 2: that's just a couple of names I don't want to
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  Speaker 2: take up all of the time, Tom, and I know,
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  Speaker 2: as you said, there's a bunch of names, and you
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  Speaker 2: already mentioned a bunch of them as well. And we're
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  Speaker 2: still waiting to see some more from Deshaun Stewart, who's
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  Speaker 2: been healthy at times in the spring that we've been
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  Speaker 2: there at number twenty nine. What can he bring? What
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  Speaker 2: can he do? Is there anything more that we see
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  Speaker 2: from him? Just guys that we didn't get see anything
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  Speaker 2: of last year who were on the team last year.
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  Speaker 2: This is an opportunity for them to show up.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, there's a lot of names that I'm
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  Speaker 1: really really interested to see, and a lot of guys
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  Speaker 1: who have a chance to work their way into some
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  Speaker 1: kind of a role Larry Johnson said, to go back
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  Speaker 1: to Murray Simmy, and they want five guys who they
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  Speaker 1: feel like they can play in the interior of the
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  Speaker 1: defensive line. I think they've got four right now. So
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  Speaker 1: who is that fifth one? Do they have a fifth one?
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  Speaker 1: Could it be to Murray Simeon, Could it be Jason Moore?
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  Speaker 1: Is it someone else? We will see. We'll learn a
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  Speaker 1: lot more on Saturday. Inside the Horseshoe, we'll be talking
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  Speaker 1: about it, pregame with you, we'll be talking about a
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  Speaker 1: postgame with you. Dot com slash pukee Huddle, and on
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  Speaker 1: the Buckeye Weekly podcast feed. You can find those shows
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  Speaker 1: there as well. That'll do it for today. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: guys all for joining us. You're enjoying the Spring game.
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  Speaker 1: You go into the Spring game, have a wonderful time.
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  Speaker 1: We will see you after the game.