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The 5 Most Underrated Players On The 2025 Ohio State Buckeyes · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Friday, May twenty third,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, tom or the Texas game in ninety
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  Speaker 1: nine days. Yes, we are under one hundred days to
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  Speaker 1: go until college football season. The game against Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and ninety days. If you are planning your
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  Speaker 1: next event, make it unforgettable with Grateful Griddle. Plumba's his
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  Speaker 1: favorite food truck serving up smashburger scoremet sandwiches and good vibes.
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  Speaker 1: Book you're catering today at Grateful Griddle oh dot com.
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  Speaker 1: Heading into Memorial Day weekend, which means we are heading
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  Speaker 1: into summer. That is food truck season, so it is
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  Speaker 1: Grateful Griddle season. It is also time for us to
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  Speaker 1: start looking forward to this year's Ohio State football team
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  Speaker 1: as we are headed under or now one hundred days
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  Speaker 1: to the start of the season, and today's show, I
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  Speaker 1: wanted to talk about some of the more underrated players
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  Speaker 1: on this year's Ohio State team, and I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: you know, one of them. Two of them already have
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  Speaker 1: some starting experience, but I feel like they're probably not
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  Speaker 1: being talked about quite enough. There's plenty of talk about
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs, and those guys are fantastic, certainly,
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  Speaker 1: and there's plenty of other guys that are gonna be
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  Speaker 1: very very effective players that we talk about a bunch,
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  Speaker 1: but I think there were five guys I wanted to
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  Speaker 1: talk about that we're probably not getting talked about quite enough.
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  Speaker 1: We're gonna be doing that with their buddy, Tony Gerdiman
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  Speaker 1: of Bucky Huddle dot com Tony. It's a little weird
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  Speaker 1: for me to be doing the Underrated Buckeye Show and
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  Speaker 1: not start it with Ty Hamilton's name, because it feels
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  Speaker 1: like we've been we've been saying Ty Hamilton the most
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  Speaker 1: underrated Buckeye since he was I don't know, like about
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  Speaker 1: a junior in Pickerington, but we're gonna we're gonna he
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  Speaker 1: is off to the NFL, so we're gonna have some
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  Speaker 1: have some new names to talk about. The First of
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  Speaker 1: those names, however, is another guy from Pickerington. That's Lorenzo
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  Speaker 1: Styles junior, and he's someone who I think we've been
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  Speaker 1: hearing his name for so long, going back to high
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  Speaker 1: school and then he was going to you know, wide receiver,
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  Speaker 1: notre name, and then he came to Ohio State and
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  Speaker 1: then he just kind of has. He spent a year
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  Speaker 1: sort of oft in the wilderness almost and then played
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  Speaker 1: in the dime last year. But I think from what
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  Speaker 1: we've seen, I think he's gonna be much more effective
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  Speaker 1: at that nickel position then most people are talking about.
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  Speaker 1: And it's just very easy to get overshadowed with as
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  Speaker 1: much talent as there is in that Ohio State secondary.
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  Speaker 2: For sure, and you generally think about the safeties in
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  Speaker 2: the corners first. And everybody knows Caleb Downs. I wrote
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  Speaker 2: about Lorenzo Styles on Tuesday and from talking to him
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  Speaker 2: back in the spring, and I think it's very interesting
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  Speaker 2: because when we saw him, he was almost exclusively with
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  Speaker 2: the ones unless he was getting a break. There's been
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  Speaker 2: no like you haven't heard anything like ooh, you know,
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  Speaker 2: concern wise with him, and so like he's a guy
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  Speaker 2: that I had questions about for sure, because we haven't
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  Speaker 2: seen him do this yet. But the thing is, like,
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  Speaker 2: as he said back in the spring, I have done it.
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  Speaker 2: I was Jordan Hancock's backup, so I know all of
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  Speaker 2: the stuff that Jordan does and whether it's playing nickel
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  Speaker 2: or dropping back and playing safety, playing you know whatever,
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  Speaker 2: and so he understands all of that, and it seemed like,
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  Speaker 2: you know, he embraced it the spring, but he's playing
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  Speaker 2: a different a bit of a bit of a different
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  Speaker 2: scheme and will continue to play a bit of a
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  Speaker 2: different scheme depending on what Matt Patricia wants. So he's
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  Speaker 2: focused as well. And I'm not trying to be Jordan Hancock.
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  Speaker 2: I got to be the nickel for this defense because
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be a little bit of a different
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  Speaker 2: defense than the one last year. So he's got his
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  Speaker 2: head in the right place. And what I liked about
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  Speaker 2: some of the things that he said in the spring
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  Speaker 2: is when Lathan Ransom basically called him like the most
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  Speaker 2: confident guy on the team and and he said, well, like,
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  Speaker 2: you've got to be a little delusional to come to
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  Speaker 2: Ohio State as a receiver and say I'm playing corner
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  Speaker 2: now like and to be to come to Ohio State
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  Speaker 2: at all and play corner, you have to be a
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  Speaker 2: little bit delusional and that you know this is there.
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  Speaker 2: There's a lot of talent here that's very difficult to
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  Speaker 2: get on the field and to think that you're going
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  Speaker 2: to be one of the few, Like, yes, there's confidence
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  Speaker 2: you need that you need to be good but also
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  Speaker 2: you need to have this idea like yeah, he's like
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  Speaker 2: I don't I'm I don't want to say I'm delusional,
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  Speaker 2: Like I want to prove Lathan Ransom, like I want
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  Speaker 2: to show to him that I'm not delusional. But you
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  Speaker 2: still have to have some of that maybe called bravado
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  Speaker 2: or just you know, innocence to think that, yeah, I
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  Speaker 2: can do this.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah he's He's I think a gonna be gonna be
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  Speaker 1: playing a surprisingly important role for the Buckeyes this fall.
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  Speaker 1: So he was the first name I wrote down, the
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  Speaker 1: second name I wrote down. This is one where I
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  Speaker 1: don't know, I may get some pushback from you in
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  Speaker 1: terms of you know, this is this is a guy
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  Speaker 1: who people talk about, but it just feels like he
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  Speaker 1: does not someone who gets talked about enough and is
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  Speaker 1: wide receiver Carnell Tait And when you were in the
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  Speaker 1: wide receiver room and Jeremiah Smith is also in the
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  Speaker 1: wide receiver room, he just kind of sucks all of
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  Speaker 1: the oxygen out of the conversation. Everyone wants to talk
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  Speaker 1: about Jeremiah Smith because I mean gestures vaguely towards everything
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Smith has done in the last twelve months and
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  Speaker 1: yet you're all nod and going, oh, yeah, that was awesome. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: Carnell Tait. I go back to Marvin Harrison talking about
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  Speaker 1: Carnell Tate being ahead of where Marvin Harrison was at
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  Speaker 1: one point during his first year, and Carnel Tait had
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  Speaker 1: a really good second year at Ohio State. But when
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  Speaker 1: you're the wide receiver out there with a Mecca Abuka
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  Speaker 1: and Jeremiah Smith, it's very easy to go. You know,
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  Speaker 1: he's he is the part of the Gilligan's Island thing
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  Speaker 1: where it's and the rest like that was Carnell Tait
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  Speaker 1: last year. It just feels like he doesn't quite get
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  Speaker 1: talked about as much as he should.
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  Speaker 2: Well and like and the rest. I do think this
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  Speaker 2: season they will add Professor Marianne and Cornel Tate to
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  Speaker 2: the theme song to make sure people know about him.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, when we talked to him last year,
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  Speaker 2: he was kind of a quiet and subdued guy, and
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  Speaker 2: and has come out of a shell more as he's played,
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  Speaker 2: and we talked to him in the spring, he's kind
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  Speaker 2: of he's a bit of a different guy now that
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  Speaker 2: he's he knows he's being relied upon, and he knows
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  Speaker 2: that a Mecca has gone. He's got to be a
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  Speaker 2: leader for this team, like he's he's He and Brannan
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  Speaker 2: Innis are the oldest guys. He's the most experienced guy
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  Speaker 2: out there now. He's played more than anybody else. So
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  Speaker 2: he's got to be that leader, and I am happy
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  Speaker 2: for him. I'm starting to see him on like my
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  Speaker 2: and I've seen the draft people already talking about him
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  Speaker 2: as a first rounder, so like they at least understand
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  Speaker 2: that there's somebody there. I don't know how much they've
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  Speaker 2: watched him. It's just an understanding of this is the
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  Speaker 2: next guy in line. This is the next draft eligible
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  Speaker 2: Buckeye wide receiver, So just go ahead and put him there.
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  Speaker 2: That's the free space. And I think we will see
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  Speaker 2: a lot from him this year. And he's coming off
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  Speaker 2: of a fifty catches seven hundred yards, like that's that's
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  Speaker 2: a pretty darn good year. Twenty years ago that would
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  Speaker 2: probably be a top five or top ten season in
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  Speaker 2: Ohio state history. And now you're like, oh, yeah, Carnell Tay.
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  Speaker 2: And the thing is, like you if you put the
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  Speaker 2: wide receivers all at tables of like autograph seekers, I
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  Speaker 2: don't know if he's I don't does he have the
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  Speaker 2: second deepest line or is it the third deepest line,
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  Speaker 2: like you know, so that that's the kind of you know,
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  Speaker 2: attention that he's not gotten yet that he will soon get.
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  Speaker 1: I think, yeah, I think he's someone who you're going
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  Speaker 1: to hear his name a lot more this year. Last
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  Speaker 1: year you kind of heard it during that Northwestern game
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  Speaker 1: when he had a couple of touchdowns in his return
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  Speaker 1: to his hometown in Chicago, and then the rest of
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  Speaker 1: the year it was kind of like, oh, yeah, everyone's
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  Speaker 1: while cardinal tape makes this really incredible play, but let's
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  Speaker 1: talk more about Jeremiah Smith and I get it, I understand.
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  Speaker 1: But the next one, it's a tight end. Tony and
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  Speaker 1: I've gone back and forth between two different guys. It's
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  Speaker 1: either Will Chasmeric or Bennett Christian, and I feel like
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  Speaker 1: it can make it an interesting argument for either one.
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  Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna go with Will Kasmeric because we
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  Speaker 1: talk about him, but he just he missed a chunk
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  Speaker 1: of that season last year, did not play in four games,
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  Speaker 1: barely played in that organ game. So there's a five
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  Speaker 1: game stretch right in the middle of the season where
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  Speaker 1: he was just kind of gone, and you look at
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  Speaker 1: his snapcounts during the course of the year, and I
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  Speaker 1: don't know that people really think about this. You think
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  Speaker 1: about G. Scott and G Scott had these big plays,
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  Speaker 1: and you know, the first play of the Rose Bowl, GJ.
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  Speaker 1: Scott has this big long reception and G. Scott had
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  Speaker 1: a couple of really crucial receptions in the Cotton Bowl
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  Speaker 1: against Texas Tony. Which tight end played moreno or snaps
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  Speaker 1: in the last three games of the season. Was it
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  Speaker 1: she Scott or Will cast Perrick.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to assume, and actually, as I'm looking
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  Speaker 2: at the numbers right now, yes it is. It is
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  Speaker 2: Will coasmeric And I'm with you, like he was one
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  Speaker 2: of the five names that came to my mind. But
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  Speaker 2: then also as you're saying, I don't know if it
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  Speaker 2: should be Will co asmerica Benet christianm like, well, it's
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  Speaker 2: probably Benett Christian because nobody talks about him. We talk
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  Speaker 2: about the last year, you know, G Scott, obviously, Will
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  Speaker 2: chasm Merrick, Jeelannie Thurman, and now it's max player, Will
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  Speaker 2: cos Merik, Jolannie Thurman. No, don't forget Bennett Christian, who
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  Speaker 2: became that third tight end last year when the Buckeyes
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  Speaker 2: needed him, and so I think either one of those
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  Speaker 2: guys is perfect for this list. Though to throw in
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  Speaker 2: your like your number three tight end is maybe a
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  Speaker 2: little inside baseball. But you know, Tom, I don't know
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  Speaker 2: if you've heard, but if you've checked your calendar lately,
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  Speaker 2: it is the year of the tight end.
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  Speaker 1: I have heard that. Now. My calendar is still says Smarch.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, I'm sure it's I'm sure it. Once
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  Speaker 1: they correct correctly printed one comes in. You know what,
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna take those two guys, and those two guys
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  Speaker 1: are both gonna be on there. So there you go.
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  Speaker 1: We're through. We're through four of them. Then, because you
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  Speaker 1: know what year the tight end, we're gonna count two
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  Speaker 1: tight ends there. So Lorenzo Styles, Carnel Tait, Will Kasmerrik
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  Speaker 1: and Bennett Christian. How about number five, Tony And this
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  Speaker 1: is a guy who is another person who was a
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  Speaker 1: starter last year. We're gonna look at the offensive line.
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  Speaker 1: Austin Siraveld, Like Austin Siriveld made some really big, you know,
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  Speaker 1: really big starts for them, moved around a decent amount
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  Speaker 1: probably you know, probably gonna he played both guard positions
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  Speaker 1: at different times last year. Now he's going to be
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  Speaker 1: moving out to tackle. Was one of three guys named
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  Speaker 1: an Iron Buckeye this spring. All that, and then if
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  Speaker 1: you ask people which offensive linemen are they really excited
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  Speaker 1: about this year, I don't know. I think Austin Siriveld
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  Speaker 1: might be like third or fourth on that list, because everyone,
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  Speaker 1: you know, you're gonna be excited about Ethan oneawall you're
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  Speaker 1: gonna be excited about you know, hey, Luke Montgomery and
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  Speaker 1: State guy boy, he's really and Arson Hinsman, Boy, did
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  Speaker 1: he have a great And then you know, Taker Shabola
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  Speaker 1: was honorable mentioned All Big Ten last year. And then
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  Speaker 1: it's like you might have Austin Seiravill be the last
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  Speaker 1: guy people name. But it feels like if he's going
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  Speaker 1: to you know, it feels like he's in a decent
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  Speaker 1: spot at that right tackle spot and that's going to
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  Speaker 1: be a really really crucial position on the offensive line,
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  Speaker 1: and just the flexibility he brings. I know he gets
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  Speaker 1: talked about, but I don't think it's nearly enough.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and and I think we would agree, and we
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  Speaker 2: know that, and we know that Carson Hinsman is going
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  Speaker 2: to be a starter on this offensive line. But the
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  Speaker 2: only guy that Ryan Day has said he's going to
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  Speaker 2: be starting is Austin Siravel. Like, when talking about this
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  Speaker 2: offensive line, I mean, we assume that it'll be. We've
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  Speaker 2: already talked about what we assume it'll be. But when
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  Speaker 2: Ryan Day talked about Austin Siravel, it's like, I'm not
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  Speaker 2: sure exactly what position he'll be at, but he's going
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  Speaker 2: to be one of the five. And I don't know
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  Speaker 2: that he's said that for anybody else, even though we
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  Speaker 2: know there are some. But when Ryan Day is like, no,
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  Speaker 2: he's going to be out there, and nobody really talks
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  Speaker 2: about him like that because it's like, well he's still
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  Speaker 2: searching for a home. Well, I think he's probably found it.
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  Speaker 2: But the other thing is he's I don't like, he's
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  Speaker 2: like a hermit crab Tom. He can live in any home.
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  Speaker 2: He can make anything a home and make it feel
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  Speaker 2: lived in, And I like that one. I think he's
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  Speaker 2: such a luxury for an offensive line, and a comfortable luxury,
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  Speaker 2: not one of those fancy rooms that you're not allowed
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  Speaker 2: to sit in. You know, this is like a you
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  Speaker 2: can live in. Like I said, he can live in it,
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  Speaker 2: and it's a luxury, and it's one that I honestly
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  Speaker 2: would love to know if they knew he would be
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  Speaker 2: as trustworthy as early as he was in his career.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that he has been a pleasant surprise
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  Speaker 1: for them. I think he has Baseball scouts talk about makeup,
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  Speaker 1: which is just basically, how hard of a worker are
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  Speaker 1: you and how disciplined are you? And you know, you
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  Speaker 1: win the Iron Buckeye and people talk about you as
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  Speaker 1: one of the strongest players on the team so early
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  Speaker 1: in your career. That tells you were putting in the
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  Speaker 1: work and that's how you that's how you get further
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  Speaker 1: faster than people probably would have expected. And I certainly
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  Speaker 1: think he got He was certainly further faster than I
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  Speaker 1: expected in his Ohio State career. So those were those
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  Speaker 1: were my five. Did you have any that you thought,
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  Speaker 1: I bet he's gonna say this and I have disappointed
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  Speaker 1: you once again.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I still think I don't think people give Sonny
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  Speaker 2: Styles enough credit. And when I say people, I mean
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  Speaker 2: a segment of the Ohio State fan base. I think
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  Speaker 2: they don't give him his due. Really, I'd love to
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  Speaker 2: see what happens on the defensive line to figure out
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  Speaker 2: what's going on there is like, oh, did we not
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  Speaker 2: talk about him enough? But no, I think you did
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  Speaker 2: it pretty well. You had basically the same names that
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  Speaker 2: I did. I wish I could complain more. I'd say
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: maybe David Snigbinosen because again, but this is you know,
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  Speaker 2: is it they get criticized too much or they've earned
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: their criticism, but maybe this year they won't earn as much.
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  Speaker 2: So it's like, hey, no, no, honest, I think he's
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  Speaker 2: going to be prett good this year. Like when people
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: were you know, some some Buckeye fans were like disappointed
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  Speaker 2: at Damon Arnette came back for his final year, it's like, well,
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  Speaker 2: actually this is a good thing, and it was so
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  Speaker 2: let him live. I sight Tom.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I had Caden McDonald written down at one point,
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  Speaker 1: thought about you. He feels like he's going to play
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  Speaker 1: a bigger role and we talk about him, but he's
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  Speaker 1: going to take I think, a pretty significant step forward.
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  Speaker 1: I had Jalen McLean and Malik Hartford both written down
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  Speaker 1: at one point because it feels like one or both
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  Speaker 1: of them is going to take a major step forward,
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  Speaker 1: and quite possibly both. I think you're going to see
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  Speaker 1: a decent rotation at safety. Malie Hartford in particular, he
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  Speaker 1: was starter adjacent as a true freshman at points in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three and then just kind of got lost
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  Speaker 1: for a little bit last year behind Lathan Ransom and
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  Speaker 1: Caleb Downs.
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  Speaker 2: Can I throw one last thing, I'll just the most
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  Speaker 2: underrated player in the nation, Tom arch Manning.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you did just list sunny styles as you know,
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  Speaker 1: an underrated player, So listen, this is not the first
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  Speaker 1: time you have It was not the not the boldest
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  Speaker 1: thing you've ever said, but you know that's okay. He's
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  Speaker 1: a both both very good players. So yeah, and we
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  Speaker 1: will see them both together on the field in ninety
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  Speaker 1: nine days as the Buckeyes take on Texas to open
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  Speaker 1: the season. We will be there for that. We will
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  Speaker 1: be there for all the fun stuff happening between now
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: and then as well. Busy busy summer official visit season
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  Speaker 1: kicking off now, so it's gonna be a very busy
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  Speaker 1: month in recruiting. Got summer camps coming up at Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State all through June. Of course, in July we got
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: big ten media days out in Vegas, and then fall
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  Speaker 1: camp starts in early August and the season is just
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  Speaker 1: around the corner. So we hope to spend the next
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  Speaker 1: ninety nine days and much beyond that with you at
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Buckeyehuddle dot com. That's where Tony, Kevin and I cover
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: the team, got Mark and Berm covering recruiting. We got
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: our whole team of ex's and those gurus there as well.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: All to Mickey with a smarter football fan. That is
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: all at Buckeye Huddle dot com. That'll do it for today.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. We will talk Jean
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: next week.