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Ohio State Football Insider: 3 Lingering Questions For The Buckeyes' Defense · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Wednesday, April fifteenth, 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 three days, the game against Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty seven days. It may be tax day,
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  Speaker 1: but one thing that is not taxing. Our friends had
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  Speaker 1: Treat yourself to a little lunch while you're findings finishing
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  Speaker 1: at your last minute tax rush today. So we are
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  Speaker 1: going to be talking today in our panic last minute
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  Speaker 1: rush before the spring game on Saturday. Some of the
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  Speaker 1: shows that we've been we started doing last week and
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  Speaker 1: then went, oh, spring games almost here, better better close
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  Speaker 1: the loop on this. We did a show last week
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  Speaker 1: on three questions left for the Buckeyes on offense for
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  Speaker 1: spring ball, so we got to talk about three questions
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  Speaker 1: left for the Buckeyes on defense on spring ball and
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  Speaker 1: welcome in our buddy, Tony Gerdaman, Tony, we got to talk.
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  Speaker 1: We'll start on the off on the defensive line, because
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  Speaker 1: it feels like they've got a bunch of a bunch
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  Speaker 1: of talented players. They've got a bunch of new players.
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  Speaker 1: But I think right now the biggest question is figuring
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  Speaker 1: out exactly how many of those guys are going to
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  Speaker 1: be in the circle of trust for this year. How
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  Speaker 1: many of those guys are people they feel they can
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  Speaker 1: really put out there in big moments.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and just starting on the interior, I think we
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  Speaker 2: saw some good things in the past, say ten days,
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  Speaker 2: with Jason Moore being a silver bullet of the day,
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  Speaker 2: like that's big for him. Of the week maybe, and
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  Speaker 2: then John Walker losing his black stripe because there's some
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  Speaker 2: question is that going to happen. And when we've seen
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  Speaker 2: Will Smith, he's been solid, and boy if they could
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  Speaker 2: get if Jason Moore can continue that trajectory we've said,
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  Speaker 2: I think we say the same thing every pract every
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  Speaker 2: spring though, so we'll need to see more of it.
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  Speaker 2: But being being noticed and you know, mentioned like that
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  Speaker 2: is I think good news for him. But at this
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  Speaker 2: point I still want to see it. We saw some
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  Speaker 2: good things from uh the young guys as well in
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  Speaker 2: terms of defensive tackle when we were there, but overall
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  Speaker 2: it's like it's four with Will Smith and James Smith
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  Speaker 2: and who else is on that defensive tackle Leedther Smith,
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  Speaker 2: Smith and Eddrick Smith. Yes, like we know those four
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  Speaker 2: and if Jason Moore can get in there as well,
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  Speaker 2: that would be great. On the outside. Zion Grady was
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  Speaker 2: there last year and I don't know if he's taken
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  Speaker 2: a step back this spring or other people like Keppie
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  Speaker 2: Satanele has taken a step forward, and you know they're
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  Speaker 2: pushing him, so I think that's good. Kwai Russa has
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  Speaker 2: pushed everybody. To me, I think right now he's never
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  Speaker 2: two like he's He's the guy that's playing alongside Kenyatta Jackson.
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  Speaker 2: That's that's where I view him right now.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's someone who is probably near the
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  Speaker 1: top of the list of people I'm most interested to
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  Speaker 1: see play on Saturday. And we're gonna probably have this
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  Speaker 1: conversation a few times this week just to sort of
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  Speaker 1: preface it, so no one is absolutely melting down on
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  Speaker 1: Saturday afternoon at twelve fifteen when the defensive line is
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  Speaker 1: perhaps having its way. The offensive line is missing a
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  Speaker 1: couple starters. The offensive line is also missing, So you're
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  Speaker 1: missing Austin Siravell, You're missing You're starting right tackle, Philip Daniels.
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  Speaker 1: You're missing Josh Badia, who's someone else who is potentially
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  Speaker 1: in the mix to be a starter. So you're missing
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  Speaker 1: three starters from the first team offensive line. And the
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  Speaker 1: offensive line can sometimes look a little raggedy at this
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  Speaker 1: time of year anyway, So don't freak out if the
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  Speaker 1: offensive line doesn't look great on Saturday, because the offensive
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  Speaker 1: line you see on Saturday is not going to be
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  Speaker 1: the offensive line you see Week one against ball State.
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  Speaker 1: But that does present a lot of opportunities for guys
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  Speaker 1: like kway Rusaw, but also guys like let's see what
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  Speaker 1: bo Atkinson can do, because I don't think they got
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  Speaker 1: what out of bo Atkinson last year what they were hoping,
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  Speaker 1: So can year two? Can he take that step forward?
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  Speaker 1: Can Zion Grady take that step forward? Kari Wilder, we've
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  Speaker 1: seen little flashes from him this spring. Can he put
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  Speaker 1: that together and make it show up on the field
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday. So that's some of the stuff to watch
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  Speaker 1: for up there. In terms of the corners, it feels
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  Speaker 1: like you've got They feel very good about Devin Sanchez,
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  Speaker 1: they feel very good about Jermaine Matthews. And then the
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  Speaker 1: question is who else because they've got a lot of
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  Speaker 1: talented potential there in terms of who could be that
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  Speaker 1: third corner, who could be the you know, the two's
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  Speaker 1: at corner? Can they work someone in? You know, could
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  Speaker 1: you get to the point where you feel comfortable with
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  Speaker 1: a three corner rotation this year? That would be a huge,
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  Speaker 1: huge bonus for them. But who is it that is
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  Speaker 1: repping there? Because man Dom Kelly is another guy who
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  Speaker 1: I am super super interested to watch on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: That was what I wanted to ask Ryan Day on
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  Speaker 2: Twoes Monday if I had gotten called on is that?
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  Speaker 2: Do you feel good enough about your corners right now
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  Speaker 2: to think that there could be a three man rotation?
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  Speaker 2: And we saw Dom Kelly has lost his black stripe.
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  Speaker 2: Still waiting for Cameron Cole Calhoun to lose his black stripe,
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  Speaker 2: but Kelly losing his as a sophomore after you know,
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  Speaker 2: two thirds of practice, and he what Tim Walton has said,
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  Speaker 2: He's just been consistent, so you always know what you're
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  Speaker 2: going to get out of him, and that's what coaches
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  Speaker 2: want to know, good or bad. They just want to
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  Speaker 2: know what it's going to be. And for him, it's
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  Speaker 2: been a good consistency. So that's the guy that you
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  Speaker 2: can trust. And if you continue to do that, then
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  Speaker 2: why wouldn't you be able to play him? Because they
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  Speaker 2: always talk about the guys that are good enough for
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  Speaker 2: going to play. This is a position that has rotated
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  Speaker 2: in the past. Jermain Matthews forced his way into a rotation.
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  Speaker 2: Perhaps we could see Dom Kelly do the same thing,
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  Speaker 2: which I don't think is a terrible thing. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: we'll still see what happens when they go dime. Is
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  Speaker 2: that Jermaine Matthews or what they want to do there,
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  Speaker 2: or like a true passing Nickel is that Jermey Matthews.
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  Speaker 2: But overall, like getting more out of Dom Kelly has
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  Speaker 2: been something I don't want to say we expected it.
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  Speaker 2: I think we suspected it that it would happen this
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  Speaker 2: spring because of what we always talk about with them
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  Speaker 2: being so different than everybody else in the portal for
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  Speaker 2: Ohio State.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, not only not fitting the profile of all the
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  Speaker 1: other veterans, they brought in. You know, there's really proven
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  Speaker 1: guys who'd played before. He was the really lone exception there.
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  Speaker 1: But also the response from Georgia folks was not overjoyed
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  Speaker 1: to lose him. So yeah, there were a lot of
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  Speaker 1: sort of indicators and signs that he might be on
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  Speaker 1: the way to being a contributor for Ohio State in
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  Speaker 1: some form or fashion this year, and I think that's
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  Speaker 1: continued so far. We'll see if that continues on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: And then back at the safety positions, it feels like,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you know what you got with Jalen McLain,
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  Speaker 1: Jalen McLain is going to have one of those safety
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  Speaker 1: spots nailed down as a starter. Ear A Little. We've
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  Speaker 1: heard nothing but glowing things about Earl Little all spring.
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  Speaker 1: He lost his black stripe extremely early, and he feels
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  Speaker 1: like he's going to you know, you mentioned some of
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  Speaker 1: the other possibilities at the nickel. I would certainly expect
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  Speaker 1: Earl Little to be sort of the default answer there
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  Speaker 1: at least to start things. But that other safety spot,
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  Speaker 1: Terry Moore Leroy Roker, those are two guys we've heard
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  Speaker 1: more from Lee Roy Roker and maybe a little bit
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  Speaker 1: less from Terry Moore, even though he did lose his
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  Speaker 1: black stripe as well, so it's not like there's concern there,
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  Speaker 1: but it felt like maybe it took Terry Moore a
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  Speaker 1: little longer than you might have thought to get rolling there.
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  Speaker 1: But Leroy Roker has really been a big part of
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  Speaker 1: the conversation as well, just watching the two of them
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  Speaker 1: and seeing what they look like on Saturday. That's who's
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  Speaker 1: going to be at that third safety spot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question. And some of the discussion
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  Speaker 2: at least on our message board about Leroy Roker is
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  Speaker 2: like is there more talk about Leroy Roker because there
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  Speaker 2: just hasn't been enough scene from Terry Moore, like he's
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  Speaker 2: not doing enough. So le Roker is the starter there
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  Speaker 2: by default. And what Matt Gerary some of the things
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  Speaker 2: that he said when we talked to him is I'll
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  Speaker 2: just give you one quick quote here, is that Leroy
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  Speaker 2: is a guy who's developed tremendously over the last couple
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  Speaker 2: of years. He has all of the skills to be
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  Speaker 2: a very very very good safety. Three varies tom two
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  Speaker 2: is generally a throwaway. That third is when things really
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  Speaker 2: click and you're like, oh, okay, but yeah, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: four safeties. Is that a bad problem to have? No,
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  Speaker 2: And you know, Leroy Roker is a guy that could
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  Speaker 2: have left. He stuck around. We saw Fame Delaane Lee,
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  Speaker 2: we saw Malie Cartford leave, and it was le Roy
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  Speaker 2: Roker who stuck. And it's interesting to think, well, why
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  Speaker 2: why him over the other guys. And you know what
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  Speaker 2: theory I have is maybe because he can play some
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  Speaker 2: nickel and the others can't. Because in this defense, if
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  Speaker 2: you're playing safety, you're also gonna have to be able
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  Speaker 2: to play some nickel at times. So he's a really
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  Speaker 2: really good athlete. Been some comparisons to Malie Hooker over
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  Speaker 2: the years, which you can only you shouldn't say stuff
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  Speaker 2: like that, but that's what other people have said. Of Course,
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  Speaker 2: the same thing was said about Josh Proctor and he
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  Speaker 2: was very young and you know it didn't turn out
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  Speaker 2: that way, but he was still a good player. But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: those four safeties. I think the key is just like,
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  Speaker 2: at least with more and Roker, they can do similar things,
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  Speaker 2: but they can you know, I think they could play
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  Speaker 2: together as well. And this is another position where well
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  Speaker 2: we've got four and you know, let's play just a
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  Speaker 2: literal rotation of those three and see how it goes.
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  Speaker 1: You made an AI image of the Spider Man pointing
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  Speaker 1: at Spider Man meme and had the four Ohio State
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  Speaker 1: safeties in their jerseys kind of pointing at each other.
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean, if you can do that, the
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  Speaker 1: goal is to have these guys be able to play
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  Speaker 1: all the different positions. So yeah, you could sort of
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  Speaker 1: mix and match there to a certain degree, if depending
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  Speaker 1: on which combination is best for which circumstance. And as
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  Speaker 1: far as why Leroy Roker and not Fahim Delane or
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  Speaker 1: not Malie Hartford. One interesting data point and this is
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  Speaker 1: just a data point, but when they played a few
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  Speaker 1: snaps of dime against Miami and the Cotton Bowl, that
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  Speaker 1: was not Fahim Delane out there. That was Leroy Roker
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  Speaker 1: out there. So he was ahead of Delane at the
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  Speaker 1: end of last season. And this is not just coach speak.
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  Speaker 1: That is the season's on the line and this is
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  Speaker 1: the guy who's out there. So it's not just what
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  Speaker 1: are the coaches telling you, it's what are the coaches
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  Speaker 1: showing you, And that's what they were showing you. So
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  Speaker 1: with all you take that, you take some other stuff
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  Speaker 1: we've seen this spring and it's I think there's reason
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  Speaker 1: to think that it's more than just this a default
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  Speaker 1: thing with Lee Roy Roker. But we will get a
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  Speaker 1: chance to watch all of that this week. We'll be back.
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  Speaker 1: We will have interviews on Wednesday starting around eleven am.
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  Speaker 1: That's always eleven am ish, sometimes eleven fifteen, sometimes eleven
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  Speaker 1: twenty five, but eleven am ish. We'll be talking to
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  Speaker 1: the Ohiostate offensive line and defensive line on Wednesday. We'll
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  Speaker 1: be back in get a chance to watch a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of practice on Friday, and then of course the
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  Speaker 1: spring game on Saturday. Should be lots of content this week.
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  Speaker 1: And of course if you're wondering, well they did an
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  Speaker 1: offensive show, they did a defensive show. Where's a special
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  Speaker 1: team show? We actually did that just today on the
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  Speaker 1: Buckeye Weekly podcast feeds. You can find that there. It's
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  Speaker 1: about a twenty minute breakdown of some stuff we heard
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  Speaker 1: from Ohios State Special teams coordinator Robbie Disher and some
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  Speaker 1: changes that may be coming to special teams there, So
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  Speaker 1: make sure you check that one out as well. That'll
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  Speaker 1: do it for today, Thank you guys all for joining us.
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  Speaker 1: Have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow
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  Speaker 2: At