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

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Monday, March ninth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host. Tom wore the ball State game in
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty days, the game against Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty four days. Our friends at Grateful Griddle,
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  Speaker 1: Columbus's favorite food truck. They are now on Uber eats, Grubhub,
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  Speaker 1: out grateful Griddle oh dot com for more. All right.
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  Speaker 1: On yesterday's show, we talked about four Ish players who
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  Speaker 1: Tony Gerdiman and I were very interested to watch on
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  Speaker 1: offense this spring because we think could be potentially a
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  Speaker 1: significant step forward there. On today's show, we're gonna be
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  Speaker 1: talking about the defense once again. Welcome and Tony to
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  Speaker 1: do that. Tony, once again, I will allow you to
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  Speaker 1: take the first selection. Who is one of the guys
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  Speaker 1: you're really getting look interested in looking at and watching
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  Speaker 1: on Tuesday?
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting. The first name that I wrote
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  Speaker 2: down and just was Quai rusa transfer from Alabama defensive end.
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  Speaker 2: We'll show up on the edge there and I don't
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  Speaker 2: know how much we're going to see and what to
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  Speaker 2: make of it, but I want to see what he
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  Speaker 2: looks like running around, because when there have been past
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  Speaker 2: players where you see them on the line, where it's
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  Speaker 2: offensive line or defensive line, you don't need to see
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  Speaker 2: them going against other people. You just see like, oh, Okay,
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  Speaker 2: this guy is big, he's nimble, he's this, and he's that.
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  Speaker 2: So I've not really seen much of him at Alabama,
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  Speaker 2: so I want to see up close and personal what
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  Speaker 2: he looks like, and then if we do get to
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  Speaker 2: see any kind of one on ones at that point,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know that we will necessarily, but just I'm
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  Speaker 2: interested to see what Ohio State has here then and
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  Speaker 2: what he could bring to a room that frankly needs
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  Speaker 2: as much help as possible, but it's it's a young
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  Speaker 2: room and he's an older player, so is his veteran
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  Speaker 2: presidence will help, but maybe more than that in terms
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  Speaker 2: of his physical presence and his experience. I don't necessarily
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  Speaker 2: know why that was the first name. It's just the
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  Speaker 2: first name that came to me. And I mean there's
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  Speaker 2: twenty names. I think we've talked about them all throughout
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  Speaker 2: very Muckeye Weekly shows over the winner, but he was
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  Speaker 2: number one for me, and not that my eyes are
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  Speaker 2: always be there. It's just that's the first guy that
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  Speaker 2: I wrote down.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I had him second on my list because
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  Speaker 1: I'm intrigued by him. He was a contributor at Alabama,
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  Speaker 1: probably would have had much shinier stats if he had
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  Speaker 1: stayed healthy last season. And you know, you take his
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  Speaker 1: stats last year and you double them, and then everyone's
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  Speaker 1: ooing and eyeing about the fact that Ohio State has
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  Speaker 1: gotten one of the you know, most exciting players in
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  Speaker 1: the transfer portal. I think the excitement has been a
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  Speaker 1: little bit artificially suppressed just because of the lack of numbers,
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  Speaker 1: because of some of the bank you know, him being
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  Speaker 1: a little bit banged up last year. But yeah, I
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  Speaker 1: definitely someone where there is a role there, there is
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  Speaker 1: a spot there. Ar val Rees has has headed off
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  Speaker 1: to the NFL. He could be you know, he's probably
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  Speaker 1: he's working more with the edges rather than with the linebackers,
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  Speaker 1: but he's he's going to be someone who I think
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  Speaker 1: could be, you know, in that pass rushing role, in
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  Speaker 1: you know, in whatever role that ends up looking like
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  Speaker 1: in this Matt Patricia defense, I am also Tony going
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  Speaker 1: to go with a former Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to go with James Smith because James Smith
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  Speaker 1: is you know, you just get you know, we're not
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  Speaker 1: in there watching winner workouts. We're not in there, you know,
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  Speaker 1: interviewing coaches or any of that kind of stuff. But
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  Speaker 1: you just have heard enough stuff about James Smith. He
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  Speaker 1: was the number one deep ranked defensive lineman in the
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  Speaker 1: transfer portal this offseason, according to at least some sources.
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  Speaker 1: So this is not exactly an off the board pick here,
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  Speaker 1: but the early returns on James Smith before even practice
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  Speaker 1: one have been that he may be able to live
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  Speaker 1: up to that lofty ranking in the transfer portal, and
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  Speaker 1: it's a spot where he's you know, you figure he's
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  Speaker 1: probably at the three tech spot with Edwerck Houston, and
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  Speaker 1: Edward Houston was a very solid player last year, and
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  Speaker 1: I think James Smith has an opportunity. If Edward Houston
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  Speaker 1: is better and James Smith is replacing Taiwan Malone, I
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  Speaker 1: think James Smith has the opportunity to be a significant
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  Speaker 1: step forward from Taiwan Malone, who was already really solid
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  Speaker 1: player for them last year. So I think James Smith
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  Speaker 1: could play a you know, the more we hear about
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  Speaker 1: James Smith. The more I'm kind of like just pushing
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  Speaker 1: the you know, pushing the level of what my expectations
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  Speaker 1: for him are up just a little bit every time
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  Speaker 1: I hear something else from someone else. And this is
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  Speaker 1: one where I'm very intrigued to finally get a chance
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  Speaker 1: to see him in person.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, one of a handful of guys. When you talk
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  Speaker 2: to people, the words a dude comes out, and he's
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  Speaker 2: a dude. And I don't know how much we'll get
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  Speaker 2: to see him against the offensive line on day one,
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  Speaker 2: but what we will probably get to see is when
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  Speaker 2: the defensive linemen are all wrapping together and basically racing
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  Speaker 2: each other through drills, and you get a pretty good
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  Speaker 2: idea of how you know who the fastest defensive tackle is.
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  Speaker 2: Or sometimes when the defensive tackles you'll have, you know,
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  Speaker 2: like two defensive ends and two defensive ends, two tackles
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  Speaker 2: going out at the same time and racing. And when
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  Speaker 2: you're seeing, you know, a defensive tackle keeping up with
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  Speaker 2: the defensive ends, that's always interesting. And boy, it sounds
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  Speaker 2: like the true value of James Smith. We won't get
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  Speaker 2: to see when he's going against his own guys. It'll
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  Speaker 2: be obviously when he's going against the the enemy and
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  Speaker 2: everything we're hearing is very very good right now. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we're we'll be uh, we'll be confirmation biasing perhaps while
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  Speaker 2: we're watching to be like yep, yep, that's all. That's
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  Speaker 2: all good and uh we told you so, you know,
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  Speaker 2: like we've been trying. So he's gonna be one we're
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  Speaker 2: all watching and and this isn't one of my guys,
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  Speaker 2: This isn't one of my picks, but it's also I
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  Speaker 2: think it's gonna be fascinating to watch how Edric Houston
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  Speaker 2: responds as well throughout all of that. But my next guy,
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  Speaker 2: I don't want to keep going with the transfers. I
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  Speaker 2: want to see Devin Sanchez. You know, he is supposed
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  Speaker 2: to be the number one guy. Now I want to see,
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  Speaker 2: you know, if we get to some one on ones,
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  Speaker 2: how is he doing? What's his mood? Like how talkative
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  Speaker 2: is he? Because Tom every time, even going back to
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  Speaker 2: high school, talking to him at the camps, very serious
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  Speaker 2: and very you know, it doesn't say a lot. Right. Well,
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  Speaker 2: now you are presumably a starting quarterback, You've got to
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  Speaker 2: start talking, right it's the position you've you're replacing Davis Nigbinosen.
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  Speaker 2: You can't just let Jermaine Matthews do all of the talking.
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  Speaker 2: So it's gonna be interesting to see if he has
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  Speaker 2: where's his attitude at because I think as much as
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  Speaker 2: everything else, I'd also like to see that grow and
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  Speaker 2: the all of the measurables are there, but what about
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  Speaker 2: the just the cocky nature that the position, the best
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  Speaker 2: at the position have. I don't need a matter of
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  Speaker 2: fact corner. I need someone that you know, even when
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  Speaker 2: they're wrong, they're telling you about how right they are.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you do not. You know Jermaine Matthews is replacing
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  Speaker 1: Jermaine Matthews, and we know Jermaine Matthews can talk like
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  Speaker 1: Jermaine Matthews. And so if you're on the other side
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  Speaker 1: and you're the one who's replacing Davison Ignosen, the bar
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  Speaker 1: for the talk is pretty darn high, and you may
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  Speaker 1: need to be willing to remove your helmet after a
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  Speaker 1: particularly crucial interception against a particularly crucial opponent later in
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  Speaker 1: the season. There's a certain attitude that comes with that position.
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  Speaker 1: I had Devin Sanchez on my list as well, because
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  Speaker 1: it's year two and he was way ahead of what
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  Speaker 1: you would typically expect for a true freshman corner last year.
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  Speaker 1: But then you've got to be the growth from a
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  Speaker 1: true freshman corner to a second year corner based on
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  Speaker 1: the trajectory that you're sort of expecting from him. That
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  Speaker 1: requires a pretty significant step forward. So it's gonna be interesting
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  Speaker 1: to see what that looks like for him. I'm kind
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  Speaker 1: of torn between two different transfers here. For my last one,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to go. I'm going to go with Terry Moore,
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  Speaker 1: safety transfer out of Duke. He is going to be
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  Speaker 1: the one who's largely tasked with sort of filling the
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  Speaker 1: Caleb Downs role. Obviously, they will be moving guys around
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  Speaker 1: a bunch there, and you're not going to be just
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  Speaker 1: playing one position all the time. But you know, when
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  Speaker 1: we're putting together a depth chart, he's going to be
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  Speaker 1: the guy who's probably tasked with maybe being in that role.
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  Speaker 1: And there's a big shoes to fill. So what is
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  Speaker 1: that going to look like. He missed all of last
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  Speaker 1: season with a knee injury that he suffered in the
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  Speaker 1: bowl game. At the end of the twenty twenty four season,
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  Speaker 1: all indications are that he's healthy, he's good to go,
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  Speaker 1: no concerns there, but there's a lot of russ that
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  Speaker 1: you're going to probably have to knock off there. And
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  Speaker 1: I think he's someone who we may see a significant
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  Speaker 1: growth in him. You normally think of true freshmen and
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  Speaker 1: how much they're going to improve from the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: spring to the end of spring. I think with as
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  Speaker 1: long as he's been out and as much as is
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  Speaker 1: potentially on his plate for this fall, I think he's
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  Speaker 1: someone who you're probably going to see some significant growth
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  Speaker 1: from and you need to see some significant growth from
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  Speaker 1: this spring.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a good one. And because that's a position
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  Speaker 2: when they do go seven on seven's and whatever, that's
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  Speaker 2: a position where you can watch him and see make plays,
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  Speaker 2: See how he affects quarterbacks, see how he breaks on
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  Speaker 2: the ball, See how much ground he can cover. You know,
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  Speaker 2: can he go from you know, one hash to the other,
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  Speaker 2: one number to the other, those sorts of things. I
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  Speaker 2: think that's when guys just continued they're near the football,
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  Speaker 2: they come down with football. Like Jalen McLain watching him,
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  Speaker 2: I think as a true freshman, he was just always
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  Speaker 2: around the football. That's that sort of stuff can pop out.
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  Speaker 2: I'll go also with the a transfer safety in Earl
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  Speaker 2: Little who will be at nickel. But as we keep
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  Speaker 2: telling you, these safeties with Jalen McLain and Terry Moore
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  Speaker 2: are all going to be interchangeable from from play to play.
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  Speaker 2: Earl a Little will be around the line of scrimmage.
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  Speaker 2: He's a playmaker there. But let's see how he covers.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's gonna be something we get to maybe
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  Speaker 2: watch a little bit of and see how he adapts.
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  Speaker 2: He was a nickel under Nick Saban for a year,
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  Speaker 2: then a nickel Florida State for about a year before
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  Speaker 2: transitioning to safety. And he's a leader and they the
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  Speaker 2: secondary kind of needs some voices, and boy, it's hard
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  Speaker 2: to do better than what they did bringing these two
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  Speaker 2: safeties in terms of the voices, that the playmaking, the experience,
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  Speaker 2: so that sort of thing. Just watching some of the leadership,
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  Speaker 2: like who's talking most in the secondary, it'll be interesting
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  Speaker 2: to watch.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So there you go. There's five names we promised.
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  Speaker 1: Before you're getting five. I'm gonna also real quickly mentioned
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  Speaker 1: Christian Allegro, the linebacker transfer from Wisconsin. He's another guy
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  Speaker 1: who you know, go back and watch our postgame show
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  Speaker 1: for the Wisconsin game last year when before, long before
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  Speaker 1: Christian Allegro was in the transfer portal or there was
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  Speaker 1: any indication Ohio State was even interested in him. We
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  Speaker 1: were impressed with his play, impressed with his tenacity and
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  Speaker 1: his toughness in that game when he was playing a
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  Speaker 1: game for Wisconsin which they lost by forty two points
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  Speaker 1: or thirty eight points or whatever it was. And then
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  Speaker 1: for him to go in the portal and show up
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  Speaker 1: at Ohio State. He's someone I'm very intrigued to watch
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  Speaker 1: this spring because I think he could be someone who
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  Speaker 1: became becomes a real fan favorite this year.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, and i'd also throw like Riley Petty John
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  Speaker 2: as well. But it's hard to see a lot from
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  Speaker 2: the linebackers in spring because they're not allowed to do
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  Speaker 2: what they normally do. But still it's fun watching to
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  Speaker 2: move around and just seeing where they're lining up and
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  Speaker 2: just getting some baseline information that we can apply and
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  Speaker 2: add to later.
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  Speaker 1: So there you go. We promised you for We gave
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  Speaker 1: you like seven or so, and honestly, there are about
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  Speaker 1: another three or four names we could probably throw out
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  Speaker 1: here very legitimately as well, but that don't worry. We'll
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  Speaker 1: have plenty of time to talk about them all spring
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  Speaker 1: long as we cover spring football at Ohio State. Starting
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  Speaker 1: on Tuesday. Tuesday morning, we will have our access to
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  Speaker 1: practice to watch the Bluck guys kickoff spring ball. We'll
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  Speaker 1: be back in there again on Thursday next week and
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  Speaker 1: then be covering them all throughout the spring, wrapping up
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  Speaker 1: with the spring Game on April eighteenth. That'll do it
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  Speaker 1: for today. Thank you guys all for joining us. Have
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  Speaker 1: a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.