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Ohio State Spring Football: 4 Potential Breakout Players To Watch On Offense · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Sunday March eth
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom or the ball State game in
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty one days, the game against Michigan
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  Speaker 1: in two hundred and sixty five days. Our friends a
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  Speaker 1: Grateful Griddle, Columbus's favorite food truck. They're now on Uber Eats, Grubhub,
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  Speaker 1: check out Gratefulgriddle oh dot com for more. You housed
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  Speaker 1: Buck guys kickoff spring practice Tuesday morning at the Woody
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  Speaker 1: Hayes Athletics Center. We will be there for that. And
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  Speaker 1: when I say we, I mean myself and of course
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  Speaker 1: Tony Gerderman at bucke huddle dot com. Today we're gonna
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  Speaker 1: be talking about four guys and you know, we may
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  Speaker 1: say more than four names, but we're gonna So we're
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  Speaker 1: gonna start with four guys on offense who we are
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  Speaker 1: really give you watching closely this spring. And this may
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  Speaker 1: be guys who are going to take a big step,
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  Speaker 1: potentially becomes, you know, earn a starting role, whatever it
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  Speaker 1: is like, Guys who we think could have pretty consequential
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  Speaker 1: springs in a positive way. So all right, Tony, I
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  Speaker 1: will let you do the honor of taking the first
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  Speaker 1: name off the board here on our list of offensive
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  Speaker 1: players who could be Uh, We're gonna be watching pretty
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  Speaker 1: closely this spring, you.
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  Speaker 2: Know, Tom, I'm gonna assume you're just one of those
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  Speaker 2: people who only watches where the football goes, one of
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  Speaker 2: those lowly people. I'm gonna be watching where the real
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  Speaker 2: football happens. And I'm gonna be watching Ian Moore and
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  Speaker 2: seeing how he does this spring against a cavalcade of
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  Speaker 2: pass rushers and again, how serious will it be until
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  Speaker 2: their pads on? You know, not so much. But I
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  Speaker 2: want to see where he is. I want to see
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  Speaker 2: how he's doing, or see how he moves, you know,
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  Speaker 2: even the silly stuff that I will talk about one
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  Speaker 2: of these shows is just where is he in warmups?
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  Speaker 2: Where where is he amongst the joggers and things like that,
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  Speaker 2: where you're trying to read into everything. So he's going
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  Speaker 2: to be a guy that I am watching to see
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  Speaker 2: if he is whenever they have whenever we can see
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  Speaker 2: they've got the ones out there, and see always with
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  Speaker 2: the ones, is he eighty percent of the time, which
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  Speaker 2: in spring eighty percent is always when with the way
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  Speaker 2: they move stuff around. I just want to see where
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  Speaker 2: he is, how he's moving, and just is he at
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  Speaker 2: his position as much as I'd say Luke Montgomery is
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  Speaker 2: at his position, that sort of thing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was the first name I had on my
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  Speaker 1: list as well, because it just it just feels like
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  Speaker 1: it's trending towards he's going to start at one of
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  Speaker 1: the tackle positions, and is it left tackle, is at
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  Speaker 1: right tackle? Either way, it feels like he's going to
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  Speaker 1: be the guy who fills in one of the one
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  Speaker 1: of the vacant spots on really the vacant spot on
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  Speaker 1: the offensive line. And if you want to hear an
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  Speaker 1: in depth conversation about the offensive line, you can hear.
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  Speaker 1: We're doing a position by position preview of the spring
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  Speaker 1: that will be in the Buckeye Weekly podcast feed, so
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  Speaker 1: you can find that there and of course on YouTube
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  Speaker 1: as well. So, all right, you took Ian Moore off
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  Speaker 1: the board, I'm going to go with someone who you
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  Speaker 1: know Ian Moore played for the buck Eyes last year,
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  Speaker 1: potentially get to take on a bigger role this season.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to take someone who Tony was playing. I
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  Speaker 1: know you're a power five guy, I get it. I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to take someone who's playing way down in Texas
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  Speaker 1: San Antonio last year, Devin mckown. He's someone who comes
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  Speaker 1: in There is certainly an opportunity at that Z receiver
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  Speaker 1: position with Carnel Tate off to the NFL. Devin McEwen
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  Speaker 1: has played consistently pretty well at Texas San Antonio UTSA
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  Speaker 1: for the Roadrunners over the last few years, has put
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  Speaker 1: up some decent numbers against some pretty decent competition, and
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  Speaker 1: now he gets a chance to step up and have
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Smith on the other side of the field. He
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  Speaker 1: just feels like someone who has the opportunity to step
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  Speaker 1: in and be a real field stretcher for the buck
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  Speaker 1: Eyes and really be a legitimate receiving threat on the
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  Speaker 1: other side of the field. But there's always that question
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  Speaker 1: of what is that transition from UTSA to Ohio State
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  Speaker 1: going to be?
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  Speaker 2: Like, yeah, and so far it sounds like things are
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  Speaker 2: going very well for him, and being now a senior,
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  Speaker 2: that's as much as you could expect it, Like if
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  Speaker 2: you're coming from up to a larger level. Bigger level
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  Speaker 2: certainly helps if you've seen it all before and you're
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  Speaker 2: a veteran and when you look at the games that
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  Speaker 2: he's played in. He's played in against five ranked opponents
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  Speaker 2: the last two seasons, and that doesn't include a game
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  Speaker 2: that he missed. And Jeremiah Smith in the last two
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  Speaker 2: regular seasons has played in oh let's see, I think
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  Speaker 2: four five regular season games against ranked opponents. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: it's a bigger level, larger level Ohio State. But Devin
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  Speaker 2: mceewn has played against top twenty five teams and so
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  Speaker 2: at least he's got that experience there. He's also got
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  Speaker 2: the experience of always being relied upon, like you, forty
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  Speaker 2: catches as a freshman, forty catches as a sophomore, and
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  Speaker 2: then sixty some last year is a junior. He's always
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  Speaker 2: been a weapon, he's always been a part of the offense.
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  Speaker 2: He's always been a guy with pressure on him, and
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  Speaker 2: now now he goes up to a level where there's
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  Speaker 2: all kinds of pressure, but all of the pressure, the
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  Speaker 2: most pressure is on Jeremiah Smith. This feels like a
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  Speaker 2: really big opportunity this whole season but also this spring,
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  Speaker 2: where it is you've got this guy with one hundred
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  Speaker 2: and some career catches and yet he can go under
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  Speaker 2: your fly, under the radar because of Jeremiah Smith because
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  Speaker 2: of the freshman that people are talking about. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: I just played a little old utsa. I don't even
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  Speaker 2: know what football is, and I'm not gonna be surprised
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  Speaker 2: if he is one of the players we're talking most
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  Speaker 2: about after campaigns.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so he'll be someone we definitely are keeping a
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  Speaker 1: close eye on starting on Tuesday. Who is your second
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  Speaker 1: pick here for the offense.
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  Speaker 2: End of the ball. The second name on my list
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  Speaker 2: was Devin Mchewn, So Tom, let's go with freshman running
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  Speaker 2: back Legend Bay, who comes to Ohio State from the
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  Speaker 2: quarterback position in Texas where he would do things with
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  Speaker 2: the football and making people miss that. You look at
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  Speaker 2: it and it's like that is a unique athlete. And
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  Speaker 2: he may not, you know, too little, too small to
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  Speaker 2: be quarterback at big time football, and in his future
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  Speaker 2: is running back, wide receiver whatever. His future wasn't quarterback.
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  Speaker 2: And he's got a ton of potential and he's got
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  Speaker 2: some bursts and some moves that Ohio State didn't have
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  Speaker 2: last year at the running back position. And so I
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  Speaker 2: think we always want to see the new kids, and
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  Speaker 2: this isn't the only true freshman We're going to be
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  Speaker 2: watching or talking about. But he's going to be one
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  Speaker 2: where you want to see, Like, there's a lot of
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  Speaker 2: hype right now, there's a lot of expectations, a lot
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  Speaker 2: of good buzz going around. So yeah, I want to
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  Speaker 2: see it confirmed. I want to be like okay, Like
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  Speaker 2: like anytime we're hearing some and you get to see
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  Speaker 2: it's like okay, now I get it. I will also buzz.
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  Speaker 2: And so I think he's gonna be one that we're
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  Speaker 2: all watching.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, as you said, there's there's some positive scuttle butt
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  Speaker 1: around him right now. But I think what makes him
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  Speaker 1: intriguing is this also potentially a path to some kind
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  Speaker 1: of a role this year where if you're you know,
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  Speaker 1: if you're a guy who's in a really crowded room
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  Speaker 1: as he is, there's a lot of talent in that
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  Speaker 1: running back room. It can be hard to get on
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  Speaker 1: the field, but they don't necessarily have the speed, explosive
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  Speaker 1: kind of guy that they have had in the past.
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  Speaker 1: That could be a role for him, where last year CJ.
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  Speaker 1: Donaldson carved out a role as sort of the short
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  Speaker 1: yardage goal line kind of running back. Maybe if legend Bay,
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  Speaker 1: you know, is what you're sort of starting to hear
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  Speaker 1: he might be and he can sort of develop through
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  Speaker 1: the course of the spring. There might be a situational
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  Speaker 1: kind of role for him this fall as a true freshman.
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  Speaker 1: Which if you're a true freshman running back and you
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  Speaker 1: can work your way into that kind of role, that's
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  Speaker 1: that's a pretty big deal.
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  Speaker 2: A goal line quarterback.
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  Speaker 1: It has been done before. We have we have seen
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  Speaker 1: that happen before, so you know, we'll we'll see has
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  Speaker 1: not has yet to do his take take part in
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  Speaker 1: his first practice at Ohio State. So still a lot
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  Speaker 1: to a lot to learn. We're we're riding the we're
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  Speaker 1: riding the brakes here on the hype train here. But
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  Speaker 1: just just sort of a name to keep an eye
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  Speaker 1: on there, Tony. I know, as you just demonstrated, you
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  Speaker 1: are just all about the glory and the touchdowns and
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  Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. I personally, I would like
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  Speaker 1: to focus where the real football is, Tony, and that's
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  Speaker 1: along the offensive line. I know you would never deign
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  Speaker 1: to think about mentioning an offensive lineman, but I, Tony,
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  Speaker 1: I'm gonna mention Jake Cook. And Jake Cook is this
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  Speaker 1: is this is a guy who last year came in
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  Speaker 1: with no expectations. None, not even not even a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: He was one of the lowest rated players in the class,
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  Speaker 1: a true freshman offensive lineman. You always just assume we'll
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  Speaker 1: see you next year. You know, have fun, enjoy your
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  Speaker 1: first twelve months. There's no expectations, there's no real path
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  Speaker 1: to the playing field. And yet then he got out
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  Speaker 1: there a lot earlier than you expected, and you keep
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  Speaker 1: hearing positive things about him. Just sort of people around
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  Speaker 1: the program have a positive impression of him. Is sort
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  Speaker 1: of similar to Austin Seerveld or Austin Siriveld was not
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  Speaker 1: the most exciting player in his recruiting class, but you
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  Speaker 1: just kind of kept hearing stuff about toughness and work
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  Speaker 1: ethic and all the little stuff that really makes coaches excited.
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  Speaker 1: You hear a lot of that about Jake Cook, and man,
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  Speaker 1: it is a crowded, crowded depth chart in the interior
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  Speaker 1: this offensive line. So you know, this is absolutely not
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  Speaker 1: me saying Jake Cook is going to vault over Luke
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  Speaker 1: Montgomery win the starting left guard job. I'm not saying that,
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  Speaker 1: but I think this is a spring where I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to be interested to see if Jake Cook can work
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  Speaker 1: himself into a role where maybe he's playing fifteen snaps
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  Speaker 1: a game where they're they're rotating some guys in. We've
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  Speaker 1: certainly seen them do that on the offensive line over
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  Speaker 1: the last couple of years. I think he has the
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to earn a you know, a bigger role like that. Again,
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  Speaker 1: not a starting role necessarily, but get get on the field,
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  Speaker 1: take meaningful reps in a bunch of games, and really
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  Speaker 1: position yourself to then be maybe the front line you know,
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  Speaker 1: the frontline guy for a starting job in twenty twenty seven.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Jake Cook is like the big engine that could
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  Speaker 2: just keep chugging along and moving up. I will be
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  Speaker 2: interested to see if does the rotation at right guard
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  Speaker 2: this season end because taker Sibala is no longer there,
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  Speaker 2: or is this a thing that you know what it
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  Speaker 2: has worked and so you'll keep doing it one way
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  Speaker 2: or another. Whether I don't know that you necessarily need
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  Speaker 2: to rotate with Luke Montgomery at left guard, but it'll
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  Speaker 2: be interesting to see if they keep some sort of
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  Speaker 2: a rotation going there. But yeah, I'll be looking for
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  Speaker 2: him as well to see if he is locks down
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  Speaker 2: a spot in the too deep and it wouldn't shock
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  Speaker 2: me if he does.
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  Speaker 1: All right, do you have any other names you at
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  Speaker 1: least want to just kind of mention here, because I
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  Speaker 1: feel like there are there are a couple others that
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  Speaker 1: you could. Yeah, I think that I'm going to be
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  Speaker 1: watching for, even if we're not including them in the
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  Speaker 1: official title of the episode.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know everybody's gonna be watching for Chris Henry
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  Speaker 2: Junior to see what he can do on this spring.
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  Speaker 2: Certainly day one when we're there watching, that's going to
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  Speaker 2: be everybody's going to have their binoculars out watching and
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  Speaker 2: ooing and aweing or whatever. So certainly he'll be one
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  Speaker 2: that we're watching and we'll be talking about and we'll
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  Speaker 2: get questions about him when we're doing live shows and
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  Speaker 2: things like that, how's he looking? Has he done anything yet?
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  Speaker 2: He still? Has he done anything? Like Jeremiah and it's like,
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  Speaker 2: just calm down. So yeah, am Turbo Rodgers and you
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  Speaker 2: know Jie Quad and Guildford as well, another freshman, but
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  Speaker 2: frankly all of the freshmen because it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: important for some of them to step up this year.
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  Speaker 2: The receivers.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of a lot of talented receivers. They
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  Speaker 1: are both and new faces there, both transfers and incoming freshmen.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, a lot of a lot of interesting names
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  Speaker 1: to watch there. I will throw out, you know, this
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  Speaker 1: is this is not exactly a low pro profile name,
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  Speaker 1: but Tavian Saint Clair. We just we didn't see a
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  Speaker 1: whole heck of a lot of him last year once
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  Speaker 1: the season got going. I think through two passes all season,
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  Speaker 1: and that was against Grambling that he congratulations, you're now
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  Speaker 1: the starting You're now the guy who's one snap away
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  Speaker 1: from being the starting quarterback. Probably you know, you assume
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  Speaker 1: he's going to be QB two this year. So I'm
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  Speaker 1: very interested to see what kind of progress he has
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  Speaker 1: made because you know, the physical talent is there, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the work ethic is there. You've seen it, You've seen
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  Speaker 1: the development that he's gone through. You know, he's been
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  Speaker 1: around the program about as much as you possibly can
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  Speaker 1: for someone who's only through his freshman year. So it
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  Speaker 1: is a you know, it is it is a really
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  Speaker 1: really intriguing, intriguing possibility what he might look like this
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  Speaker 1: year is still technically wrapping up his true freshman season,
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  Speaker 1: but of course was in here last Sea last year,
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  Speaker 1: so he's twelve a little more than twelve months into
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  Speaker 1: his Ohio State career. We'll see what that looks like.
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  Speaker 1: So there you go, four guys asterisk and some others
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  Speaker 1: as well who we're going to be really intrigued to watch.
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  Speaker 1: When spring practice kicks off on Tuesday morning, we will
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  Speaker 1: be there inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for that.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have photos and videos, a full practice report. Get it,
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  Speaker 1: get a chance. I believe they talked to Brian Day
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  Speaker 1: on Tuesday as well, so it should be a lot
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  Speaker 1: to talk about. We'll be talking about all of it
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  Speaker 1: with you at Buckey Huddle dot com and at YouTube
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  Speaker 1: dot com slash Buckey Huddle. That'll do it for today.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day.
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  Speaker 1: We'll talk to you tomorrow.