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Has Ohio State Found The Right Players To Step In At Safety? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Friday, February twentieth, I'm
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  Speaker 1: your host, tom Or the ball State game in one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and ninety seven days. The game gets Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty one days. Our friends of gratefuot Gretel,
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  Speaker 1: On yesterday's show, we were talking about the outside cornerbacks
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  Speaker 1: at Ohio State and where things stood on the two
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  Speaker 1: deep heading into spring ball. Well, now you're going to
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  Speaker 1: get a chance to hear about the rest of the
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  Speaker 1: secondary and of welcoming our buddy, Tony Gerdaman of Buckey
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  Speaker 1: Huddle dot com. Tony, We're going to talk about the
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  Speaker 1: nickel position, and I think there's going to be a
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  Speaker 1: decent amount of overlap in some of the names you're
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  Speaker 1: going to hear there, both between the outside corner positions
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  Speaker 1: and also maybe somewhat with the safety positions. This is
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  Speaker 1: all a little bit interchangeable. I think the surest thing
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  Speaker 1: I see at Nickel is the fact that they brought
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  Speaker 1: in Earl Little to play nickel. I would certainly assume
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  Speaker 1: he's going to enter spring as the first string guy
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  Speaker 1: they and probably leave Spring there as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's you said it, Tom, I have nothing
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  Speaker 2: further to add. I mean, that's what they went and
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  Speaker 2: got him for a ton of experience last year led
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  Speaker 2: the team in tackles with over seventy tackles four interceptions
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  Speaker 2: as safety, but has played nickel the year prior. And
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  Speaker 2: you know, as we see with Ohio State, when you're
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  Speaker 2: playing safety, you're moving around and you'll end up playing
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  Speaker 2: nickel as well. And we saw that both from you know,
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  Speaker 2: Caleb Downs did that quite a bit last year as well,
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  Speaker 2: So this won't be anything new for Earl Little. I
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  Speaker 2: mean it's it's a significant ask though, but it's one
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  Speaker 2: that gets them pretty close to the football, and I
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  Speaker 2: know a lot of safeties like that being that close
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  Speaker 2: to the box and him being a tackler like he is,
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  Speaker 2: I think that kind of suits what he does. And
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  Speaker 2: when you know, maybe maybe we can ask him if
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  Speaker 2: we ever get to talk to him, is there was
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  Speaker 2: anybody watching the Ohio States defense last year in Matt
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  Speaker 2: Patricia's defense, there was just something that you like in
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  Speaker 2: terms of players and wanting to be involved with that.
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  Speaker 2: Or is that something Probably once you get to the
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  Speaker 2: portal and you're looking around, you get a call from
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  Speaker 2: Ohio State. Then you start looking You're like, oh wow,
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  Speaker 2: this defense looks pretty fun. So yeah, I think the
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  Speaker 2: bigger question there is who's behind him? And that's kind
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  Speaker 2: of where we get repeat names from the Cornerback show.
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  Speaker 2: Where is it Jay Timmins? Is it the guy I
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  Speaker 2: keep throwing out there is reach your freshman safety to
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  Speaker 2: Shaun Stewart. We don't really know much there yet? Or
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  Speaker 2: is the true answer Jermaine Matthews if something were to
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  Speaker 2: happen to her a little?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, this could be one of those things where the
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  Speaker 1: third tackle is maybe starting right guard Philip Daniels on
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  Speaker 1: the offensive line, the second Nicol might be the first
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  Speaker 1: starting outside corner in Jermaine Matthews, and you might end
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  Speaker 1: up kicking Dominic Kelly to the outside corner position. But
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  Speaker 1: in terms of what it's going to look like on
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  Speaker 1: the depth chart, you mentioned some of the names there.
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  Speaker 1: Jay Timmins the true freshman, he's certainly possibility there. Miles
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  Speaker 1: Lockhart has been around a few years. This feels like
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  Speaker 1: a little bit of a make or break spring for him,
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  Speaker 1: and we'll probably do a whole show on the guys
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  Speaker 1: for whom it might be a make or break spring.
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  Speaker 1: That'll be, I'm sure coming up in the next couple weeks.
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  Speaker 1: He's a possibility, Deshaun Stewart. You mentioned him. He's such
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  Speaker 1: an intriguing possibility because we really haven't seen anything from
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  Speaker 1: him because he was banged up a bunch last year.
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  Speaker 1: They were very high on him coming in, but we
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  Speaker 1: we don't know what we don't know there. Really, all
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  Speaker 1: these guys were talking about are all people who you
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  Speaker 1: could you can sort of shrug and go, sure, okay, maybe,
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  Speaker 1: but we just we don't know because we don't have
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  Speaker 1: any real basis. You know, we haven't seen any of
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  Speaker 1: these guys really do it at the college level yet.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and our first basis is going to be the
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  Speaker 2: first practice that we see hopefully on March tenth, when
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  Speaker 2: camp opens. And then then you can finally be okay,
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  Speaker 2: now you have an idea. Now we can speak more
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  Speaker 2: confidently about what we see, and then when things change
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  Speaker 2: in a week, well, you know, then we can discuss that.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, I just want to see where everybody is.
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  Speaker 2: That way we can stop speculating and then start We'll
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  Speaker 2: keep speculating, but then speculate with more information.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, the first practice of spring is always very very
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  Speaker 1: useful in terms of figuring out where everyone is. And boy, okay,
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  Speaker 1: this is where the coaching staff sees things right now,
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  Speaker 1: and okay, now we really know. And then a week
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  Speaker 1: later a bunch of guys are in different positions because
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  Speaker 1: they're just they just try something for practice number one
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  Speaker 1: and then everything changes again a week later or two
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  Speaker 1: weeks later when they get back from spring spring break.
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  Speaker 1: So that'll be that'll be interesting. One thing I think
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  Speaker 1: we can say pretty confidently is Jalen McClain is going
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  Speaker 1: to be holding down one of those starting safety spots.
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  Speaker 1: He was a really really solid player first year starter
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  Speaker 1: last year next to Caleb Downs. Feels like he's pretty
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  Speaker 1: solidly in one of those spots. The question to me
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  Speaker 1: now is all right, who's behind him there?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? Well, and here's the thing. Are we expecting to
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  Speaker 2: see him more in the box or we expect him
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  Speaker 2: to see him more as a deep safety? I know
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  Speaker 2: Caleb Downs being in the box last year, that's where
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  Speaker 2: he needed to be. And yet when you look at
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  Speaker 2: what he does and what's being added, is Jalen McLain
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  Speaker 2: now better suited to being around near closer to the
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  Speaker 2: line of scrimmage or do they like what he did
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  Speaker 2: last year and he didn't have to do a whole
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  Speaker 2: bunch of breaking up as a center fielder last year.
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  Speaker 2: He had some tackles that saved touchdowns throughout the course
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  Speaker 2: of the season, and he's very good at that. So
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  Speaker 2: then there's maybe you don't want to change anything. But
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  Speaker 2: in terms of who's behind him, I guess it just
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  Speaker 2: depends on where he is. We know Lee Roy Roker
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  Speaker 2: is going to be one of those backup safeties and
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  Speaker 2: vying for more. In fact, Ryan Days radio show a
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  Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago, he mentioned Terry Moore being a
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  Speaker 2: good compliment to Lee Roy Roker. But I find I
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  Speaker 2: feel like when you look up and down this list
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  Speaker 2: of safeties and if Deshaun Stewart wherever he is, I
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  Speaker 2: think true freshman Blaine Bradford's going to have some something
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  Speaker 2: to say about the the too deep at safety. I
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  Speaker 2: think he's going to be somewhere in there, and it
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't shock me if he is the backup to the
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  Speaker 2: strong safety. And this because I think Leroy Roker will
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  Speaker 2: stay it, you know, as the backup to the free
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  Speaker 2: safety unless he can do more than that. But I
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  Speaker 2: feel like I feel like the backups Tom and Frankly
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  Speaker 2: we know they're starting three, but exactly where they're going
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  Speaker 2: to be and what suits them best, and of course
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  Speaker 2: it's all interchangeable. So now we're just nitpicking and trying
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  Speaker 2: to get into nuances in February where maybe we don't
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  Speaker 2: need to. But what was the question?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that is a good question, because it is
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  Speaker 1: It does feel a little nitpicky, because this is you're
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  Speaker 1: writing it down on you know, on paper that Okay,
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  Speaker 1: this guy's the strong safety and this guy's the free safety,
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  Speaker 1: and this guy's the nickel. It's like, well, yeah, except
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  Speaker 1: for when the free safety is the strong safety or
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  Speaker 1: the nickel is the free safety, and this free safety
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  Speaker 1: is the is the nickel, and it's it's this is
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  Speaker 1: a little bit more of an on paper exercise than
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  Speaker 1: a true on field, written in stone kind of exercise,
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  Speaker 1: especially in February. You mentioned a bunch of the other
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  Speaker 1: names there. I think the one that is sort of
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  Speaker 1: the name to know there is Terry Moore. They lost
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  Speaker 1: a couple of safeties to the portal. Cody Hadad went
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  Speaker 1: to Iowa Bleek, Hartford also entered the portal. Those guys
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  Speaker 1: both were gone. Those are people that I you know,
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  Speaker 1: I think we were thinking maybe maybe these guys are
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  Speaker 1: guys in the mix. This time last year we were
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  Speaker 1: talking about Malie Hartford and boy Malie Hartford Jalen McLain,
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  Speaker 1: who's going to win that battle? That was decided pretty
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  Speaker 1: early and pretty pretty decisively in Jalen McLain's favor. The
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  Speaker 1: other safety spot, whatever you want to call that other
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  Speaker 1: safety spot, does feel like it's a that's a that's
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  Speaker 1: pretty clearly a Terry Moore spot. They brought him in.
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  Speaker 1: I think the expectation is that's the starter and if
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  Speaker 1: they're feeling pretty good about the guys behind them as
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  Speaker 1: people who could step in and fill those roles, great,
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  Speaker 1: But I keep looking at Terry Moore and thinking that
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  Speaker 1: might be one of the most impactful transfer portal editions
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  Speaker 1: they brought in all season.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm sure he's raring to get back on
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  Speaker 2: the football field after missing last year. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: second team All acc guys second team All American by
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  Speaker 2: at least one. I would let in twenty twenty four,
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  Speaker 2: four or five interceptions around the football, can play deep,
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  Speaker 2: can place strong, safety, can do a lot of the
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  Speaker 2: things that we're talking about that are missing now with
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  Speaker 2: Caleb Downs. So he's got that kind of experience in athleticism,
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  Speaker 2: good size, Yeah, he's they brought him into start. Ryan
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  Speaker 2: Dave when you hear him talk about him, he's he's
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  Speaker 2: very excited about him. Matt Greary, safety's coach, knew him prior.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a lot to like about all of this
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  Speaker 2: this mix and yeah, so more McLain little and then
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  Speaker 2: you know, you'll see what happens behind them. But I
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  Speaker 2: feel like WHI State feels pretty good. I think they
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  Speaker 2: should feel pretty good about what they have there in
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  Speaker 2: those three safety spots.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So there you go. That wraps up the
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  Speaker 1: defense as we head into springball. Is that it now? Friends?
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  Speaker 1: Come on, Come on, it's twenty twenty six. O High
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  Speaker 1: State's paying attention to special teams. We got a whole
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  Speaker 1: special team show coming up next. This is a really
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  Speaker 1: really interesting group and when where there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: new faces, including on the coaching staff, we're gonna be
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  Speaker 1: talking about that on tomorrow's show, uh and then. But
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  Speaker 1: between now and then, if you want to talk to us,
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  Speaker 1: you can do that in the comments at YouTube dot
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  Speaker 1: com slash Buckta Huddle, or you can do that at
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: bucketa huddle dot com because we've got our whole crew
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  Speaker 1: there answering questions about football. We're talking a little basketball,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: we're talking a little men's tennis this week, a little
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: bit of Winter Olympics. When the Blue Jackets are back,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: they will be talking a little Blue Jackets. You can
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: find that all at bucket huddle dot com. That'll do
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  Speaker 1: it for today. Thank you guys all for joining us.
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  Speaker 1: Have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
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  Speaker 2: Assass