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Buckeyes Reload At Running Back: Is James Peoples Ready To Start This Fall? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Sunday, February second.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, tom or the Texas game in two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and nine days, the game against Michigan in and
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  Speaker 1: even three hundred days. We're going to be continuing our
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  Speaker 1: spring preview series today, gonna be looking at the running
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  Speaker 1: back position at the quarterbacks late last week with Tony Gerderman.
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  Speaker 1: Welcoming Tony back in to look at the running back position. Tony,
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  Speaker 1: this is a spot where the Buckeyes lost two one
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  Speaker 1: thousand yard, ten touchdown guys that is not an easy
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  Speaker 1: duo to replace in Treyvon Henderson and Quinn John Judkins.
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  Speaker 1: But of course they have James Peoples back. And James
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  Speaker 1: Peoples as a true freshman, made a very positive impact
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  Speaker 1: and very positive early impression for the Buckeyes, and now
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  Speaker 1: he has a chance to do a lot more than
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  Speaker 1: that now that the two guys ahead of him on
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  Speaker 1: the depth dart are golf.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and not just two one thousand yard rushers at
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  Speaker 2: they're replacing two guys that rushed for over thirty seven
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  Speaker 2: hundred yards yet under thirty eight hundred yards in their career,
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  Speaker 2: Trevion Henderson and Quinch On Jetkins. Both had very similar
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  Speaker 2: numbers over their careers, over seven thousand yards brushing between
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  Speaker 2: the two of those guys post to probably one hundred
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  Speaker 2: total touchdowns. And so yeah, replacing those two guys, you
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  Speaker 2: start at Ohio State with James Peoples, who was that
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  Speaker 2: number three guy this year. Is a true freshman, which
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  Speaker 2: is a big role for a true freshman when you know,
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  Speaker 2: like you're the closer in terms of if the game
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  Speaker 2: is out of hand, you're not just going to run
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  Speaker 2: Travian Henderson and quinch On Jetkins out there, So that's important.
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  Speaker 2: It's also important that those two guys don't need as
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  Speaker 2: many reps in practice, so you're the guy giving the
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  Speaker 2: first team some good looks. And I know talking to
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  Speaker 2: him at one of the bowl games, I think at
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  Speaker 2: the Rose Bowl, he took that very seriously, that role
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  Speaker 2: very seriously, and it meant a lot to him, and
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  Speaker 2: that's something you're going to grow from. So I think
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  Speaker 2: when you talk about the Ohio State running backs, you
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  Speaker 2: talk about who's returning, and he rushed for about what
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and ninety some yards this season overall, and
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  Speaker 2: I think everybody in the building loves his potential and
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  Speaker 2: talk to Carlos locked on the bottom of Erele. You're
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  Speaker 2: gonna have to after a while, Like, okay, coach Lock,
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  Speaker 2: we talk about somebody else, Like, let's talk about something else.
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  Speaker 2: I know you like James People's, Like, can we please
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  Speaker 2: move on to one of your incoming freshman or CJ. Donaldson.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we'll move on to ce DJ Donaldson in
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  Speaker 1: one second. But yeah, James Peoples as a true freshman,
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  Speaker 1: you know, Travian Henderson as a true freshman, came in
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  Speaker 1: and was kind of thrust into that starting role. James
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  Speaker 1: People's had the luxury of kind of taking a year
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  Speaker 1: to sort of learn behind a couple of real veteran
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  Speaker 1: guys who really showed him the full ropes everything from
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  Speaker 1: you know, yeah, the stats were great, and yeah they
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  Speaker 1: were great in the passing game as well, but man,
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  Speaker 1: just the blitz pick up and that kind of stuff
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  Speaker 1: and run blocking on those two B power sweep kind
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  Speaker 1: of plays. Like, man, those guys did everything you'd want
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  Speaker 1: out of running back, and now James people is gonna
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  Speaker 1: be tasked with doing that as well. But he will
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  Speaker 1: not be alone. As you mentioned, CJ. Donaldson came from
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  Speaker 1: West Virginia in the portal. You just wrote about Donaldson
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  Speaker 1: late last week at bucke Huddle dot com and you know,
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  Speaker 1: got a chance to talk to Carlos Laughlin about him.
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  Speaker 1: And so what is Donaldson bring to this year's Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State team.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting because he's listed at six two, two
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  Speaker 2: thirty eight and as a high school recruit, he was
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  Speaker 2: like a sixty two, two hundred and fifteen pound He
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  Speaker 2: played receiver, but he was a listed as a tight
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  Speaker 2: end because once you're already two hundred fifteen pounds as
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  Speaker 2: a receiver, forget about it, like you're you're definitely gonna
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  Speaker 2: be a tight end. But he's from the Miami area.
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  Speaker 2: Signed with West Virginia. They moved him to tight end
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  Speaker 2: pretty quickly after he signed or after he arrived, and
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  Speaker 2: then before long he was they moved him to new
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  Speaker 2: running back. And if you look at his true freshman season,
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  Speaker 2: he did pretty darn good. In like seven games, he
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  Speaker 2: rushed for five hundred and twenty six yards missed missed
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  Speaker 2: a bunch of time in there as well, average six
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  Speaker 2: yards per carry as a true freshman. Then in the
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  Speaker 2: next two seasons, one hundred and seventy one carries as
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  Speaker 2: a sophomore one hundred and sixty three one hundred and
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  Speaker 2: sixty three carries as a junior, both of those years
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  Speaker 2: under five yards per carry, which isn't great, but he
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  Speaker 2: was a consistent eleven touchdowns in each of those two years.
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  Speaker 2: Overall in his three years, twenty and fifty eight yards rushing.
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  Speaker 2: But also a guy who can I think, can help
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  Speaker 2: you out in the passing game if you need. We
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  Speaker 2: saw some of the two of the split backs the
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  Speaker 2: twelve personnel or the twenty one personnel rather with two
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  Speaker 2: running backs with quinch on, Jetkins on Trivia and Henderson
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  Speaker 2: at times or one of those guys would be like
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  Speaker 2: a lead blocker for the other. I think CJ. Donaldson
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  Speaker 2: gives you some of that ability where he could be
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  Speaker 2: both a runner or a receiver or a blocker because
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  Speaker 2: he's big enough to do all of that, versatile enough
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  Speaker 2: to do all of that. So they will figure out
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  Speaker 2: the all of the different things that they can do
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  Speaker 2: with them and how he fits into the offense. But man,
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  Speaker 2: somebody with I think thirteen games of starting experience, four
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  Speaker 2: hundred carries, just they needed some experience, and they got
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  Speaker 2: somebody in CJ. Donaldson who has that.
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  Speaker 1: And he's so intriguing to me because it's like, what
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  Speaker 1: is he going to do when there's an actual threat
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  Speaker 1: of a pass attack out there to sort of take
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  Speaker 1: some of the focus off of him. Because West Virginia's
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  Speaker 1: passing attack was very, very much middle of the pack
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  Speaker 1: the fifty ninth in the nation and yards per attempt,
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  Speaker 1: twenty touchdowns, fourteen interceptions. Ohio's date fourth in the nation
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  Speaker 1: thirty seven touchdowns, ten interceptions, so a very different end.
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  Speaker 1: We'll trying to run the ball when you have Jeremiah
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  Speaker 1: Smith and Brandon Ennis and Carnel Tate out there as
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  Speaker 1: opposed to know the guy's West Virginia was running out
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  Speaker 1: there last year, So we'll see how that might impact
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  Speaker 1: his production as well. Someone that I am so excited
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  Speaker 1: to be able to include his name in headlines and
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  Speaker 1: YouTube titles and everything else this year Tony bo Jackson,
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  Speaker 1: tech mobile legend, bo Jackson, true freshman running back coming in. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: really bo Jackson. We've seen him for years at those
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  Speaker 1: summer camps and at the seven on seven events at
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State is held, and I've been so excited to
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  Speaker 1: get the chance to use his name all sorts of times.
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  Speaker 1: He is now at State. He's with a three true
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  Speaker 1: freshman running backs. We'll start with him though. He's what
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  Speaker 1: kind of role do you think he could he might
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  Speaker 1: be able to take on this year?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think possibly a very similar role to James
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  Speaker 2: People's last year, where you could be the guy that
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  Speaker 2: finishes the games up or gets some spot carries here
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  Speaker 2: and there throughout the season. But yeah, I mean he'll
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  Speaker 2: be in for spring. Let's see. He's he's another versatile
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  Speaker 2: guy who's early on in his high school career recruiting career,
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  Speaker 2: was listed as an athlete, and he's certainly athletic. I
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  Speaker 2: think the number nine running back in the twenty four
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  Speaker 2: to seven composite, good size, six foot two oh five
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  Speaker 2: has always impressed when we've seen him. Really quick feat
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  Speaker 2: and you know, he can take on blockers or he
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  Speaker 2: can take on tacklers rather and he's not just a
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  Speaker 2: you know, ankle tackle, shoestring tackle guy. He can run
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  Speaker 2: through that stuff and he's fast. And I know Ryan
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  Speaker 2: Days really really liked him. And you look at all
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  Speaker 2: of his recruiting, his offers, you know, you've got the
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  Speaker 2: the standards of Georgia and Alabama in there, so they
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  Speaker 2: are trying to get him to come down South, and
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  Speaker 2: Carlos Sloughlin was able to keep him locked up. But
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  Speaker 2: a guy that I think they're going to need something
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  Speaker 2: from their freshmen this year, and he could be the
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  Speaker 2: first at the table.
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  Speaker 1: And he's listed at six foot tall two oh five,
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  Speaker 1: so he's, you know, potentially physically ready to handle some
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  Speaker 1: of that load at running back. Next guy up a
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  Speaker 1: little higher ranked Anthony Rodgers. He's the fifth running back
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  Speaker 1: in the two four seven composite five eight one ninety Tony.
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  Speaker 1: He is not only the holder of perhaps the best
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  Speaker 1: nickname of anyone in this freshman class, Turbo Rogers. You
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  Speaker 1: have to love that. He's someone who I look at
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  Speaker 1: him and I'm like, man, this guy might be amazing
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  Speaker 1: on special teams real early.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a guy that can help out in a
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  Speaker 2: number of ways. And I did talk with Carlos Locklin
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  Speaker 2: about him as well, And I think one of the
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  Speaker 2: interesting things is his last two years, like he's really
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  Speaker 2: only carried the ball think maybe about a hundred times
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  Speaker 2: in high school and his first two years he was
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  Speaker 2: a thousand yard rusher and then he went to IMG
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  Speaker 2: for a year and then transferred out of there and
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  Speaker 2: went to I think Pike ro or not Pike Roade,
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  Speaker 2: but Carver High School for his senior year. And he's
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  Speaker 2: played a lot of slot and so he can do that.
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  Speaker 2: He can also run the ball. When I talked to
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  Speaker 2: Carlos Lachlan about him, he's like, I no concerns that
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  Speaker 2: he's gonna be able to like get back on the
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  Speaker 2: bike as a running back. He's not just a slot receiver.
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  Speaker 2: They're gonna use him in a number of ways, but explosive. Well,
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  Speaker 2: as you said, was committed to Alabama, and we've talked
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  Speaker 2: about these guys before, like, yeah, these these hybrid guys,
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  Speaker 2: what can they do? And I don't necessarily think he's
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  Speaker 2: they're looking at him as a hybrid guy. They're looking
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  Speaker 2: at him as a running back. And then we've seen
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  Speaker 2: like Terryvan Henderson, Carlos and punch On Jenkins, we're both
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  Speaker 2: targeted like together well like forty some catches this year.
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  Speaker 2: Would you consider them hybrid guys, No, they're just running backs.
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  Speaker 2: And as locked them told me about CJ. Donaldson and
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  Speaker 2: Turbo Rodgers, you can't just spread the ball anymore as
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  Speaker 2: a running back. You've got to be involved in any
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  Speaker 2: number of ways. And that's that's not being hybrid, that's
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  Speaker 2: just being today's running back.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. It's not quite positionless football, but it's you're
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  Speaker 1: being asked to do the role of a couple of
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  Speaker 1: different positions at once. So definitely seems like someone who
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  Speaker 1: is equipped to do that. One other guy who could
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  Speaker 1: be equipped to play an early role is Isaiah West.
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  Speaker 1: He's kind of more of the Bo Jackson size. He's
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  Speaker 1: listed at five to eleven and more than two hundred pounds,
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  Speaker 1: so again, someone who might be ready to be physically
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  Speaker 1: ready very early in his career. He comes to Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State from Saint Joseph's Prep. That's a school that has
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  Speaker 1: produced some pretty good offensive talent for the Buckeyes over
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  Speaker 1: the last few years. Name one's let's go with a
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  Speaker 1: wide receiver by the name of something something junior. There's
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  Speaker 1: a quarterback of some note as well. They've they've pulled
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  Speaker 1: a lot of talent out of Saint Joseph's Prep over
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  Speaker 1: the years, and Isaiah West just the most recent.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I believe this was a Carlos lock than special.
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  Speaker 2: They had already had two guys committed and were able
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  Speaker 2: to get a third running back in this class with
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  Speaker 2: the with Rogers and West coming in after bo Jackson.
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  Speaker 2: So this is a nice boon overall. But West, he's
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  Speaker 2: he is a very shifty, hard to tackle, has enough
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  Speaker 2: speed to hit the home runs, but maybe more of
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  Speaker 2: just a jump cut kind of guy, whereas maybe Bo
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  Speaker 2: Jackson is a one foot one cut and go Isaiah
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  Speaker 2: West will we'll make some guys miss. He doesn't saying
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  Speaker 2: he's a dancer or anything like that, like he won't
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  Speaker 2: waste his time, but can make guys miss. And I
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  Speaker 2: think that's what they've seen with them as a recruit
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  Speaker 2: and another guy that wants to get him here. You're
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  Speaker 2: gonna see those freshmen are all going to be competing
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  Speaker 2: against each other, competing with each other, competing against each other,
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  Speaker 2: and I'll be fascinated to see what that pecking order
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  Speaker 2: looks like from day one in spring and then you know,
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  Speaker 2: day thirty.
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  Speaker 1: And also what's interesting is you kind of describe three
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  Speaker 1: different types of running backs, three different kind of running
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  Speaker 1: back styles between those three guys. So it might be
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  Speaker 1: a little bit of a complimentary thing rather than a
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  Speaker 1: you know, this guy's going to be number one, this
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  Speaker 1: guy's may be the number two. This guy's going to
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  Speaker 1: be number three among those freshmen and that's it, and
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  Speaker 1: that's how it's going to be. So they have some
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  Speaker 1: different roles carved out for those guys. Carlos Laughlin has
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  Speaker 1: certainly shown a willingness to mix and match a little
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  Speaker 1: bit at that running back position early. Let's see how
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  Speaker 1: that plays out for him at the running back position
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  Speaker 1: this year. That'll be one of the many storylines we
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  Speaker 1: were watching for you as the buck Eyes head into
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  Speaker 1: spring practice in we don't exactly know yet. Soon we'll
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  Speaker 1: find that out. It's a little bit of a different
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  Speaker 1: year at at Ohio State and in college football, and
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  Speaker 1: then is a little bit of a different year at
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  Speaker 1: buckeyehuddle dot Com as well. I'm going to have lots
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  Speaker 1: of fascinating storylines to cover all spring long. We head
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  Speaker 1: into what is the defending national championship season for the Buckeyes,
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  Speaker 1: owing their national title win over Notre Dame just about
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  Speaker 1: a week in goodness, two weeks ago, Holy smokes, time flies. Anyway,
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  Speaker 1: it has been a it has been quite a month there,
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  Speaker 1: quite a season there, and it's gonna be quite a
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  Speaker 1: year coming up. Very different kind of year at bucke
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  Speaker 1: huddle dot com. That's where Tony, Kevin and I cover
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  Speaker 1: the team, markcovers recruiting. We got our whole team of
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Max's nose gurus there as well. Mickey you a murder
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  Speaker 1: football fan. That's all at bucke huddle dot com. We
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  Speaker 1: hope to see you there. That will 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.