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Ohio State Spring Football Preview: Defensive Tackles · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Sunday, February twenty third.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom Or the Texas game in one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and eighty eight days the game against Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy nine days. If you're planning your
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  Speaker 1: next event, well you should make it unforgettable. With Grateful Griddle,
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  Speaker 1: good vibes. Booker catering today at gratefulgriddleoh dot com talking
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  Speaker 1: about the Ohio State defensive tackles on today's show. Looking
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  Speaker 1: at the guys who've departed, who is likely going to
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  Speaker 1: be starting this year, he said with an implied question
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  Speaker 1: mark at the end of his sentence. And then some
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  Speaker 1: of the other guys who could be in the mixture
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  Speaker 1: playing time as well as the new guys could be
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  Speaker 1: doing that with Tony Garter Bit Bucky Huddle dot Com. Tony,
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  Speaker 1: this is another spot much like the defensive ends who
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  Speaker 1: we previewed it last week, where two longtime starters departing
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  Speaker 1: plus a guy lead headed for the transfer portal. No
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  Speaker 1: Ty Hamilton anymore, No Tylee Williams anymore and Hero Canoe
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  Speaker 1: going to be on the visiting sideline for the Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State Texas game this year, So things are pretty wide
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  Speaker 1: open in terms of who's going to be playing where
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  Speaker 1: on the interior of the defensive line this year.
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  Speaker 2: Very wide open. And I'm looking forward to seeing the
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  Speaker 2: first day of spring so we can start to get
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  Speaker 2: an idea and then seeing the next day of spring
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  Speaker 2: and being like everybody has moved, like can we just
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  Speaker 2: get a little bit of an idea of where things
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  Speaker 2: are going? But I also think that's what the spring
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  Speaker 2: is going to be about, is figuring out where everybody's
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  Speaker 2: going to go. Like Larry Johnson's going to have his guys,
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  Speaker 2: I'm putting you here, and I'm putting you there, and
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  Speaker 2: then after maybe like three or four days, like okay,
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  Speaker 2: now we're going to put you here and I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to put you there for all of the cross training
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  Speaker 2: that he also likes to do.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we always feel like you get through the first
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  Speaker 1: couple of practices of spring, it's like, Okay, we know
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  Speaker 1: where guys are, and then practice three, everyone's in a
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  Speaker 1: different spot. It is like what happened? But the defensive
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  Speaker 1: tackle is not playing safety anymore. I don't understand what's
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  Speaker 1: going on, but yeah, that is that is a common
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  Speaker 1: thing every spring. This year, though, it's going to be
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  Speaker 1: maybe a leaf in a little bit more true because
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  Speaker 1: we don't know exactly what that interior the defensive line
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  Speaker 1: is going to look like. We don't know what the
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  Speaker 1: whole defensive line is going to look like. They've it
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  Speaker 1: has been sort of a consistent look from that defensive
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  Speaker 1: line for basically the entire time Larry Johnson's been here.
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  Speaker 1: That changed a little bit towards the end of last season,
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  Speaker 1: but there's you know, even more of a a up
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  Speaker 1: in the air nature to where things are this spring.
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  Speaker 1: Because of that, we don't know exactly you know, how
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  Speaker 1: much odd front, how much for down. This is all
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  Speaker 1: going to be a little new and exciting. I think though.
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  Speaker 1: One thing I feel fairly comfortable about is Ed McDonald's
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  Speaker 1: going to be a nose tackle. Edric Houston's going to
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  Speaker 1: be a three tech, assuming those are still things that
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  Speaker 1: they're using, and those are guys who are probably the
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  Speaker 1: most likely to be the starters on the interior the
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  Speaker 1: defensive line this year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I completely agree. I wrote the same thing when
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  Speaker 2: I wrote my all of my series on how our
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  Speaker 2: Higo State is going to replace all of their starters
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  Speaker 2: and replacing ty Hamilton and Nose. I went with you
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  Speaker 2: with Kate McDonald and replacing Tyler Williams Edrick Houston. I
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  Speaker 2: also went with you and then said replace ing with
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  Speaker 2: Edrick Houston. And the other thing is like those are
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  Speaker 2: the guys who had the second most snaps at those
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  Speaker 2: positions essentially anyway, So not like we're rocket scientists and
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  Speaker 2: figuring this out, like who played the second most not
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  Speaker 2: these positions last year? I bet I wonder maybe, but
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  Speaker 2: I you know, we could talk a long time about
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  Speaker 2: what Edrick Houston was able to do coming in as
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  Speaker 2: a true freshman defensive end and then's moving to defensive tackle.
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  Speaker 2: I don't so maybe early October or something like that.
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  Speaker 2: And then by late October he's the backup to Tyler
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  Speaker 2: Waiams of pre Tech, which is pretty remarkable climb up
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  Speaker 2: the ladder, so you'd expect that to kind of continue
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  Speaker 2: and he assumes that role, and Kate McDonald has been
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  Speaker 2: in the mix and he's a freshman. Anytime there's any
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  Speaker 2: goal line or short yardage, here comes Kate McDonald running
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  Speaker 2: out there and being right in the middle of everything,
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  Speaker 2: literally and figuratively. So I think there's plenty of excitement
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  Speaker 2: around these two guys.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, two guys who are finally going to get
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  Speaker 1: their chance to take out a much bigger role this season,
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  Speaker 1: and two guys who, as you said, you've you've already
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  Speaker 1: seen enough to be at least intrigued and maybe excited
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  Speaker 1: about both of those guys based on what you've seen
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  Speaker 1: early in sort of limited action. Now they get to
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  Speaker 1: be the stars of the show, potentially in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of that defensive line. The rest of the middle of
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  Speaker 1: that defensive line, well, that's kind of a question mark
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  Speaker 1: because you've got four guys who are coming back, Will Smith,
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  Speaker 1: Taiwan Malone, Jason Moore, and Eric Mensa. Those guys have played,
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  Speaker 1: you know, to varying degrees. Mensa was a true freshman
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  Speaker 1: last year, did not play a whole heck of a lot.
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  Speaker 1: Will Smith, Taiwan Malone, Jason Moore, those are guys who've
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  Speaker 1: been around the program a lot. All of those guys
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  Speaker 1: could probably will be taking on a bigger role later
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  Speaker 1: this year, but I don't know that I could tell
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  Speaker 1: you with one hundred percent certainty any of them, like
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  Speaker 1: this guy is one hundred percent going to be a
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  Speaker 1: nose This guy's one hundred percent going to be a
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  Speaker 1: three tech. It feels like there's a lot of moving
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  Speaker 1: parts there and it's going to just sort of depend
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  Speaker 1: on who looks the most ready to play and who's
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  Speaker 1: going to be able to, you know, hold up in
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  Speaker 1: which spot exactly.
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  Speaker 2: I couldn't. I could give you some guesses, but that's
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  Speaker 2: all they would be. Like Taiwan Malone has played free
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  Speaker 2: tech in the past, and I think all of these
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  Speaker 2: guys pretty much have. But you're gonna need some nose tackles.
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  Speaker 2: And who are those guys? And you know, Jason Moore
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  Speaker 2: is is six six three h five. Is that what
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  Speaker 2: you're looking for? Like Will Smith has played you know,
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  Speaker 2: a little bit here and there. Eric Mensa hasn't really
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  Speaker 2: done much as a true freshman. Like, so where do
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  Speaker 2: you see these guys and how much are you even
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  Speaker 2: locked in on who is where? And that's why I
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  Speaker 2: mentioned like the cross training, because Larry Johnson's gonna before
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  Speaker 2: you know exactly what you got. I guess you gotta
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  Speaker 2: let them each play each position and figure out. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: well you're you're better hear you're better there, Like Larry
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  Speaker 2: Johnson always knows what he wants and a three tech
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  Speaker 2: and what he always wants in a nose tackle, But
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  Speaker 2: then you've got to let him go out there and
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  Speaker 2: see who can actually perform in that in that realm.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, I I have no idea, like no time.
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  Speaker 2: I have some idea, but it doesn't mean it's the
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  Speaker 2: right idea in terms of where guys will be. So
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  Speaker 2: I don't even want to like make a guess because
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  Speaker 2: you look at nose tackles of the past and three
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  Speaker 2: texts of the past. Like if you go by body
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  Speaker 2: types at Larry Johnson, we've talked before, would you say
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  Speaker 2: Robert Landers that he played nose tackle and it's like,
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  Speaker 2: but he was this big. My call is the size
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  Speaker 2: of a three tech and he played nose tackle. Patty
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  Speaker 2: Williams is the size of a nose tackle. He played
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  Speaker 2: three techs. So like, even going based on physical models,
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  Speaker 2: you can't really give a great estimate as to what
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  Speaker 2: Larry Johnson is going to do.
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  Speaker 1: And before we get to the three true freshmen, because
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  Speaker 1: this is interior defensive line is not an easy spart
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  Speaker 1: for true freshmen to make, you know, to get on
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  Speaker 1: the field before we get to those guys. I look
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  Speaker 1: at the lack of a traditional nose tackle and the
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  Speaker 1: fact that they may be leaning a little more on
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  Speaker 1: the traditional tackle this year, and I think I wonder
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  Speaker 1: what the post spring portal period might look like. This
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  Speaker 1: just this feels like a spot where we'll see how
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  Speaker 1: the spring goes. We'll see how all these guys have
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  Speaker 1: continued to develop, We'll see how all the pieces fit together.
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  Speaker 1: But man, this feels like if you were going to
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  Speaker 1: add a piece to the Ohio State defense this year
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  Speaker 1: in terms of somewhere someone who could come in and
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  Speaker 1: at least play thirty forty snaps. We could certainly have
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  Speaker 1: a conversation about the defensive ends, but the interior and
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  Speaker 1: especially the nose tackle position, that feels like a spot
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  Speaker 1: where you might see them at least take a peek
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  Speaker 1: into the portal after spring and see what's out there.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd agree, or else you're gonna have to You
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  Speaker 2: better hope if you don't do that, that one of
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  Speaker 2: these freshmen has stepped up as a three tech and
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  Speaker 2: maybe you can move your best experienced three tech to
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  Speaker 2: nose tackle like Taiwan Malone played ninety five snaps last
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  Speaker 2: year got to start when I think Tyler Williams was out,
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  Speaker 2: Could he move over if you've got somebody else that
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  Speaker 2: can move in as at three, and they've got some
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  Speaker 2: young guys, but I'm with you, wouldn't shock me at
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  Speaker 2: all to see them go and add somebody on the interior.
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  Speaker 2: They did it at defensive end with Logan George, so
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe the right guy wasn't there in the winter.
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  Speaker 2: We'll see what's out there in the spring.
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  Speaker 1: And then for the three true freshmen, Jarqus Carter, Trajan Noden,
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  Speaker 1: Macchewell Roy, we did our black Stripe draft on the
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  Speaker 1: Buckeye Weekly podcast feed, so you already kind of have
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  Speaker 1: a sense for which of these three guys we think
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  Speaker 1: is probably most likely to be a contributor this year.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, any of those three anytime you're talking
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  Speaker 1: about the interior the defensive line, it's a little to
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  Speaker 1: me like the offensive line, where it's like if you
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  Speaker 1: just assume that no one will ever play as a
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  Speaker 1: true freshman, every once in a while you'll be pleasantly surprised,
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  Speaker 1: but generally you're gonna have a pretty good sense for
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  Speaker 1: how it typically goes for guys in the interior the
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  Speaker 1: defensive line.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean remember being pleasantly surprised by Tyler Williams
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  Speaker 2: and Caden McDonald. Those guys played a role And if
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  Speaker 2: you could get somebody like that in this class, that's
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  Speaker 2: about us. When you look at him, like Jarq West,
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  Speaker 2: Carter to me is the guy to be excited about.
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  Speaker 2: But also I don't know that you're going to get
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  Speaker 2: much out of him this year, Like can he be
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  Speaker 2: what Edric Houston was? And I'll remind people Edrick Houston
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  Speaker 2: had seven tackles this year this past year, but he
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  Speaker 2: played and he was the backup. So it's hard to
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  Speaker 2: judge somebody just based on stats, especially as a defensive tackle.
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  Speaker 2: But again, this is somebody that Larry Johnson has compared
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  Speaker 2: to Mike Hall, who played nose tackle, but also says
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  Speaker 2: I like him at Free Tech. So yeah, what are
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  Speaker 2: we doing here?
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  Speaker 1: Making life difficult for people trying to prognosticate where individuals
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  Speaker 1: are doing that. That's what we're doing here. We're we're trying
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  Speaker 1: to make sense of it all. We're doing our best.
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  Speaker 1: We'll see, we'll have a lot more information about a
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  Speaker 1: month from now when spring ball starts. We'll have a
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  Speaker 1: much you know, we'll get our usual look inside spring practice,
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  Speaker 1: be able to tell you after the first couple of
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  Speaker 1: practices here's what's happening so far, and then generally a
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  Speaker 1: week or two later, Aha, Now a bunch of things
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  Speaker 1: have moved around, People are in different spots, things have
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  Speaker 1: sort of started to clarify one way or another. That's
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  Speaker 1: always a fun process. This is going to be a
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  Speaker 1: really fun spring. There are so many question marks on
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  Speaker 1: this year's team. Last year's spring football was exciting because
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  Speaker 1: it's like, man, there are a lot of good football
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  Speaker 1: players in this building. This year is going to be
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  Speaker 1: exciting because, man, there are a lot of good football players.
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  Speaker 1: But there's also a lot of questions about this team
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  Speaker 1: and where where guys are going to, where the replacements
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  Speaker 1: for all those departed good football players are going to
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  Speaker 1: come from. It's going to be a fun thing for
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  Speaker 1: us to sort out all month long at buckeyehuddle dot com.
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  Speaker 1: As we go through springball head into the Spring Showcase
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  Speaker 1: on April twelfth, we'll have all that coverage for you.
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  Speaker 1: There plenty of team coverage, plus recruiting coverage from Mark
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  Speaker 1: X's and O's coverage from our whole team of x's
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: and o's Guruz. They're there to make you a smarter
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: football fan. We're there to entertain and inform you about
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  Speaker 1: the Ohio State football program and everything else all at
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  Speaker 1: bucke huddle dot com. We hope to see you there.
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  Speaker 1: That'll do it for today. Thank you guys all for
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  Speaker 1: joining us. Have a great day. We'll talk to tomorrow.