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Ohio State Chalk Talk: Breaking Down The Buckeye Linebackers · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Wednesday, July tenth. I'm your host,
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  Tom Moore. The Akron game in fifty two days, the game against Michigan
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  in one hundred and forty three days. We know, of course, at
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  this show is based on the website Buckeye Huddle dot com. We talk about
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  that at the end of the show all the time. I don't usually talk
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  about at the beginning of the show, but today's show was inspired by one
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  of our members, Mount Pleasant Buckeye was on the on the Huddle Board presented
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  by Jeff Ruby Steakhouse, which is one of our member exclusive areas, was
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  asking, you know, hey, can we do some more shows and more
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  content on x's and those stuff. We've got a ton of x'es and those
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  guys on the site. It is one of our one of our big strengths
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  is the site. We have a ton of x'es and those guys. All
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  Right, We're going to do a show just about the linebackers today. We're
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  going to do it with our buddy Devinradcliffe of bucke Huddle dot Com. I
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  asked, Devin, Okay, what do you want to shoot? Do a
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  show about and he said, do a show about the linebackers. We are
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  going to do a show a line about the linebackers with Devin. Devin.
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  I guess let's start first of all with you got some new personnel. No
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  more Tommy Iikenberg, no more Steel Chambers. This year. You got Cody
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  Simon, you got Hicks, you got Sunny Styles, you got gay Powers,
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  you got a whole whole bunch of different guys who could slot in a
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  bunch of different spots. Let's start with just where you see these guys slotting
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  in one you know, who's slotting in as maybe likely to be a starting
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  at the mic, the will? Are they going to go with the Sam
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  this year? Are they going to go with the jack this year? Where
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  do you see guys maybe slotting in at least sort of in the base defense
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  this year? Now, I think if you're in a call, uh,
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  I think we'll go ahead and safe to say we'll call a four to two
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  a base or four to two five the base defense for Jim Noles in Ohio
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  State at this point, which for this particular conversation means there's two linebackers called
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  the mike or middle linebacker or the will or week side linebacker, and the
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  past couple of years under Jim Knowles, tom Yeikenberg had been the middle linebacker
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  and Steel Chambers had been the week side linebacker. Cody Simon was a third
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  linebacker they would bring in in packages, which we'll get into it a little
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  bit later here in the show, but Cody Simon also would fill in.
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  He would rotate the will linebacker for Steel Chambers, and he started in Tommy
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  Eikenberg's absence last season at mike linebacker, and that included the Bowl game.
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  So if I was going to slot or make a prediction, if you will,
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  on where we'll see Cody Simon, who as a as a note,
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  I thought was playing the best ball of the three linebackers at the end of
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  last season. Granted we all understand what Tommy was playing through uh found out
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  after the season, but I would say Cody Simon would most likely be our
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  middle linebacker. And we will see the competition which we saw in the spring,
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  and you know, got a lot of coverage was between Sonny Styles converted
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  safety and c J. Hicks, you know, another high ranked five star
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  recruit, both going to their junior seasons, were competing for that will linebacker
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  spot. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out in the fall.
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  And the top of this conversation is that segue and how do we use
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  all three of those talented, talented positions and talented players at the linebacker position.
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  And what we've seen with from Jim Knowles is he uses a four to
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  three personnel as a sub package against teams that run what's typically called heavier personnel.
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  Uh So, this day and age, that typically implies a tight end
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  or two or tight end and a fullback. Thank you of m as a
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  very fresh in the brain easy example. I think Wisconsin of years past,
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  Iowa, uh you know, smash mouth I formation type football teams could be
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  where you'd want to see three linebackers on the field. And it really is
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  quite simply a matter of you want a bigger human being defending bigger human beings.
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  We all last year teams were able to formation the Ohio States nickelback Jordan
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  Hancock into the box by moving players around. Jordan Hancock typically played to the
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  wide side of the field. When the balls on a hash teams would move
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  their formation and put more guys to the short sided field, which forced Ohio
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  State's defense to slide and put Jordan Haycock in the box or match up with
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  the heavier player like a bigger tight end for example, and that's not really
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  advantageous matchup for the Ohigo State defense when you have a that's just say two
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  hundred and fifty pound tight end on a two hundred pound nickelback. As good
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  as Jordan Hancock is against the run, he's still giving up fifty pounds five
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  six inches to a tight end. That's what we want to bring in that
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  third linebacker to create that matchup, which is where I think we could see
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  the three linebacker sets this year with Cody Simon, CJ. Hicks at Sonny
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  Styles all in the field at the same time. Yeah, it's so interesting
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  because it feels like for years and years and years, Ohio State's based defense
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  was a four to three. Now they've gone to a four two five,
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  and the four to three is kind of this exotic wrinkle you might see sometimes.
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  I want to go back kind of earlier in your answer there where you
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  talked about the fact that CJ. Hicks and Sunny Styles were both kind of
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  battling for the will spot, and you know, Cody Simon seems like he's
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  pretty set at the mic spot. If you're looking at a team that is,
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  you know, maybe going a little lighter where you're not, you know,
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  the teams that are going heavier, you might go to the four to
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  three if you're going even on the lighter side of you know, the more
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  base formations or you know, the type of thing that would forced Ohio State
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  into its base defense. Could you see or do you see a scenario where
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  you have sunny styles and CJ. Hicks on the field where it's you know,
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  is that something you might see more in passing downs? Is that something
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  or is it really going to be one of those guys at the will If
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  there's two linebackers and then you know Cody Simon or you know, maybe Gay
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  Powers or someone at the mic, how do you see them eventually getting those
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  two guys on the field at the same time if you think that might happen.
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  So I'm gonna take a step back and talk about kind of overarching philosophical
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  involvement involved evolution. Excuse me. I'd like to see Ohio State's defense make
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  under Jim Knowles, and I think it goes back, you know, it
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  goes to the day and age of the transfer portal as a part of it
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  to be to be to be blunt about it, as well as utilizing the
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  player's skill sets you have on your roster, which will get more to your
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  question. You know, you get in particular circumstances and situations where it's third
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  and passing, you know, third and long, third and twelve, why
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  not have Sunny Styles for this example, be your middle linebacker and potentially use
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  C. J. Hicks as a rush end. If he's you know,
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  for for two years now, how good he is as a blitzer. Well,
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  let's utilize him in that type of role and you potentially pull off a
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  fourth defensive lineman, replace him with CJ. Hicks, and you can use
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  a Sunny Styles as a Mike linebacker. And to take a broader stroke look
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  of the defense. You know you've got four really really talented cornerbacks. You
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  know this topic is really focused on linebackers in particular, but you know you
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  got a returning Jermaine Matthews Junior who needs to have role in this team because
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  he could be starting. I think it's fair to say about anywhere else he
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  wanted just to go to. So you got to find a way to utilize
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  him as well. So do you have a three two six four one six
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  type dime package to utilize these unique skill sets you have of the of the
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  athletes on your roster to show them that there's a role for them and there's
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  a place for them on the field and it's not going to be the same
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  eleven guys all game long, every game for the entire season. Yeah.
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  Boy, you started talking there and I thought, well, I wonder if
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  they could work Jermaine Matthews in as a dime and do like a four one
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  for one six kind of look you know you put If you put Sunny Styles
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  as the one at linebacker and you have Jermaine Matthews out there with Denzel Burke
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  and Davison Igunos and Jordan Hancock and Lathan Ransom and Caleb Downs, that is
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  probably the most athletic defense I can think of. I mean in college ball,
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  it maybe ever at least in terms of you know, back seven.
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  That feels like a defense where you know, yeah, obviously not going to
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  run that against Iowa or Michigan or a team that is probably going to be
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  more run heavy, but but against a very pass heavy team, that feels
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  like that might be a really really difficult wrinkle for teams to deal with.
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  And that's and that goes you know, that's something you have the ability to
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  do when you when you have the roster like the Pilo State has. It's
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  a matter of taking that next step in the evolution of your defense and utilizing
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  the player's skill set and what they can bring to the team in those certain
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  stances. And again it does. It's not an every down look in this
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  example, but when it's third and long and you know, why not match
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  up your four best cover guys against their four best you know whoever, you're
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  playing four best wide receivers instead of asking a uh, instead of asking an
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  inside linebacker potentially to have to match a guy in coverage, get him off
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  the field, get a cover guy on the field, and let let him
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  go cover somebody. All Right, So we're talking. We've kind of been
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  talking around this a little bit. We just talked about moving things. You
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  know, you make you shift things a little bit back towards the towards the
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  secondary. You have to talk about the jack position. I hear everyone groaning
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  right now. I'm kind of groaning internally a little bit as well. But
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  We've been talking about it for years. They've been talking to recruits about it.
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  They just Justin Hill was someone they had been talking to about it a
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  bunch and then he ended up committing to Alabama. But we've heard about it
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  with Mitchell Melton, We've heard about it with C. J. Hicks,
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  the talk about it with various guys. How does that maybe fit in with
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  the linebackers that this year? Does that? Does that take a linebacker off
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  the field and it's sort of a fifth defensive lineman? Is it? You
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  know, that's that the jack is the fourth defensive lineman and you still have
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  two linebackers? Is that a situational thing? Like? How how does that
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  potentially fit in? If we really do truly you know, this is the
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  year that the great Pumpkin really does come Charlie Brown, that we do really
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  see the jack on the field this fall. You know, that's a great
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  question, and I know we've done is showing up before. Uh my position,
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  uh of the jack linebacker position is it really needs to be a full
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  time position if you're going to maximize the effectiveness of it. It gives Jim
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  Knowles the ability to move between fronts between a four down front, three man
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  front, odd stack book and really use it to solve answers that he needs
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  with that one particular position. So I really don't think that said without going
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  too far more of a tangent on that. But with that being said,
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  I really don't think we will see the jack linebacker position this year. And
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  I think it goes somewhat to the strengths of the Ohio States defense, which
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  you know, defensive line on paper. You know, they have a one
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  and two rank defensive end recruits in their perspective class coming into their senior year.
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  So by at this point when you want them to want of them to
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  have to go learn to play middle linebacker for twenty five percent of the snaps,
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  let them play defensive end and do what they do well. That being
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  said, we could see potentially as a package where they sub someone they have
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  repping that position, much like they did Jack Sawyer two seasons ago. They
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  try to create a little package for him to run at jack linebacker. Maybe
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  they have someone on the roster they think can do that might be a way
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  to get one of these second team defensive ends on the field and for them
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  to have a rule that that jack linebacker maybe it's something they have to plan
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  for the future and wait for them to rep that a little bit this year
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  with the players they have in mind for twenty twenty five season, but for
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  twenty twenty four as something that's really a big part of their defense. I
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  really just don't see it happening at this time with the roster they have.
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  All Right, Well, hopefully you guys enjoyed that show. And if you
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  did enjoy that show, boy, would you enjoy it at Buckeye Huddle dot
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  buckey Hudle dot com. That is just one of the many reasons that you
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  should check out Buckeyhuddle dot com and become a member. There got a very
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  very fun season ahead. Ed I mentioned this on yesterday show with Tony We
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  had a meeting tea earlier this week just to sit down and talk about the
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  season, to make some plans, and boy, there is some exciting stuff
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  it is all happening right now at bucke Huddle dot com. That'll do it
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  for today. Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day.
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  We'll talk to you tomorrow.