Each beat writer drafted 22 players – 11 on offense and 11 on defense – with the goal of building a lineup that would defeat the other writer’s team in a head-to-head game. Each player could only be drafted once. Each writer was required to draft one quarterback, five offensive linemen and five skill-position players (running backs, wide receivers or tight ends) on offense, and at least three defensive linemen, two linebackers and four defensive backs with two flexible positions on defense.

There was little suspense around who the first two picks would be, but things got interesting from there as Dan and Andy attempted to strategically outmaneuver each other to give their teams advantages at specific positions. Dan ultimately chose to go to mirror Ohio State’s base formations, drafting three wide receivers on offense and five defensive backs on defense, while Andy opted to go old-school by drafting two tight ends and three linebackers.

Dan won the coin toss for our snake draft and chose to take the No. 1 overall pick, after which Andy and Dan alternated selections two at a time until both teams had 22 players for a total of 44 selections.

You can read our full explanations for every pick and vote for whose team should win here: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2025/08/157238/2025-ohio-state-football-team-draft-picking-head-to-head-lineups-for-a-matchup-of-buckeyes-vs-buckeyes

As the Buckeyes prepare to start their 25-practice preseason slate on Thursday, we’re previewing all of Ohio State’s top position battles entering camp on a Real Pod Wednesdays-style episode of Press Coverage.

We start by sharing our thoughts on the headlining competition of camp, Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz for the starting quarterback job, before continuing with our pre-camp thoughts on the ongoing battle at strong safety, competition along the defensive and offensive lines and challenges for Ohio State’s incumbent starters at kicker and punter.

The full rundown for our Preseason Camp Preview show, which you can watch in the video at the top of the page:

• 0:00 Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz Headlines Ohio State’s Preseason Camp Competitions
• 11:51 Malik Hartford vs. Jaylen McClain is Buckeyes’ Top Defensive Position Battle
• 16:33 Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Leads Five-Man Battle for Playing Time at Defensive End
• 23:06 Backup Defensive Tackles, Led by Will Smith Jr., Must Step Up in Preseason Camp
• 30:36 We Can Pencil In Ohio State’s Starting Offensive Line, But Competition Remains
• 38:02 Incumbent Starters Face Competition at Kicker and Punter 

With how spectacular the atmosphere was for Ohio State’s home night College Football Playoff game against Tennessee, we want to see another primetime showcase for the Buckeyes’ season opener against the Longhorns. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards, however – unsurprisingly – with FOX set to broadcast the Cotton Bowl rematch, likely at noon.

As such, Ohio State finds itself facing the possibility of playing most of its big regular-season games at noon once again this year, though we do believe Ohio State vs. Penn State is a prime candidate for the marquee home night game Ohio State and its fans covet. But we’d love to see more transparency with the Big Ten television networks’ game selection process – which could be easily achieved by televising the networks’ game draft during a time on the calendar when sickos like us are starved for more college football content.

Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope, Chase Brown and Garrick Hodge share their thoughts on the season opener’s likely noon destiny, our kickoff time predictions for the rest of the season and how the networks could bring fans into the game selection process on a new episode of Press Coverage, which is also available on the Real Pod Wednesdays feed for this episode.

Right now, the most anticipated event of the summer for Buckeye fans might be Michigan’s Committee on Infractions hearing that’s set to take place in one month as the Wolverines could finally face punishment from the NCAA this summer for their impermissible scouting scheme orchestrated by former staffer Connor Stalions.

The height of recruiting season will also come soon as Ohio State prepares to host official visitors and camps in June, while we’re personally excited to make our way to Las Vegas in July for Big Ten Media Days, the unofficial kickoff to football season.

Ohio State’s season opener could be its most highly anticipated season opener ever as the Buckeyes host Texas in a Cotton Bowl rematch that could be a 1 vs. 2 game. Ohio State’s Nov. 1 home game against Penn State will be one of its most-anticipated games against the Nittany Lions ever as the Buckeyes look to spoil Jim Knowles’ return to Columbus. And of course, everyone in Columbus has Ohio State’s Nov. 29 trip to Ann Arbor circled on the calendar with hopes that Ryan Day’s Buckeyes will finally end their drought against Michigan.

Add in road trips to Washington, Illinois and Wisconsin and Nico Iamaleava’s return to Columbus with UCLA, and the Buckeyes’ regular-season schedule is loaded with games we can’t wait for. As fun as the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff was, we’re also excited for year two of the expanded playoff race.

Of course, we’ll be excited to watch Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs play every game as the Buckeyes’ superstars have the potential to be even better than they were last year. And there’s no shortage of players with the talent to emerge as stars around them, such as Max Klare, James Peoples and Jermaine Mathews Jr., just to name a few.

With Ohio State in the quietest part of its offseason and us preparing to take an early summer break on Real Pod Wednesdays, we highlight all the biggest things for Buckeye fans to look forward to this season.

The full rundown:

• 0:00 Why There Won’t Be Real Pod Wednesdays for the Next Few Weeks
• 4:52 Anticipation Builds for Potential Michigan Punishment
• 12:53 Big Summer Ahead for Ohio State Recruiting
• 18:45 Big Ten Media Days in Vegas Will Be Fun
• 21:46 Season Openers Don’t Get Any Bigger Than Ohio State vs. Texas
• 26:28 Jim Knowles’ Return Makes Ohio State vs. Penn State Extra Spicy
• 32:00 Beating Michigan Still the Big Hurdle Ryan Day Must Clear
• 38:07 Illibuck Game in Champaign, Trip to Camp Randall Among Other Exciting Matchups
• 43:35 Why Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs Should Be Even Better in 2025
• 48:11 Buckeyes Will Have Potential Breakout Stars All Over the Field

Those two things were made clear by Ryan Day on Tuesday, when he revealed that Lincoln Kienholz led Ohio State’s quarterback competition entering the spring game – until Julian Sayin evened it up with his spring game performance – and that Siereveld has already earned a starting job this offseason even though Day doesn’t know where he’ll line up on Ohio State’s offensive line yet.

Day’s press conference Tuesday also included excitement for the Buckeyes’ recent transfer addition of North Carolina transfer defensive end Beau Atkinson, who we view as a high-quality addition that gives Ohio State the ability to deploy a deep rotation on the edge and get creative with its pass rush personnel this season.

Ohio State’s defensive tackle depth is a much bigger question mark, and that concern was only exacerbated by Day’s acknowledgement of the reality that the Buckeyes’ options to upgrade that position through the transfer portal are dwindling – though there is still one available defensive tackle, Oklahoma State’s Justin Kirkland, who would be exactly what the Buckeyes need at nose tackle.

Regardless of how that plays out, though, there are many reasons to feel good about the state of Day’s program after the Buckeyes retained their entire scholarship roster during the spring transfer window and had 14 players selected in the 2025 NFL draft.

We talked about all of those topics on the newest episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. Here are the timestamps for each chapter should you want to listen to a specific segment first:

• 0:00 A Great Week for Ohio State in the NFL Draft and the Transfer Portal
• 2:02 Ryan Day Makes It Clear Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz is A Real Competition
• 10:56 Austin Siereveld Has Earned A Starting Job, But Will It Be at Tackle or Guard?
• 19:21 Adding Beau Atkinson Should Allow For Creative Pass Rush Packages
• 23:19 Ohio State Still Needs A Transfer DT, But It Might Be Justin Kirkland or Bust
• 29:54 Buckeyes Could Still Add Another OT, Kicker to Well-Stocked Roster
• 36:05 Roster Retention, NFL Draft Class Show Strength of Ryan Day’s Program

Ohio State is projected to have 15 players drafted, which would break its school record and tie Georgia’s record for the most players selected in a seven-round NFL draft. It’s not out of the question that Ohio State could have as many as 17 players drafted, and we talk about all 17 of the Buckeyes’ draft prospects on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays.

In the first half of our NFL draft preview episode, we build our own five-man Buckeye draft squads in which we draft Ohio State players from five different tiers based on their average mock draft position.

After that, we make our picks for the Eleven Warriors NFL Draft Contest, in which we predict which round each Buckeye will be drafted in. One of us has four Buckeyes going in Round 1 while the other has only two, but both of us expect at least seven Ohio State players to be drafted in the first two rounds and nine total Buckeyes to be drafted in the first three rounds. We’re both also expecting each of Ohio State’s 15 projected draftees to come off the board no later than the sixth round.

The full rundown for our NFL draft preview edition of RPW:

• 0:00 Ohio State’s 2025 NFL Draft Class Has Something for Everyone
• 5:54 Building Our Five-Man Buckeye Draft Squads
• 21:44 The Most Underrated Prospects in Ohio State’s 2025 NFL Draft Class
• 25:28 Who We Would Select If We Could Only Draft One Buckeye
• 28:10 Predicting Which Buckeyes Will Go In the First Round
• 35:29 Second-Round Predictions
• 41:31 Third-Round Predictions
• 47:00 Why We Both Think Four Buckeyes Will Go in Round 4
• 52:27 Fifth- and Sixth-Round Predictions

While only one of us would say we’re more confident in Ohio State’s championship chances coming out of spring than we were going in, Eleven Warriors‘ Dan Hope and Andy Anders both agree that there’s a lot to like about the Buckeyes based on what we saw this spring. Ohio State is loaded with offensive skill position talent and its defensive back seven looks like it should rank among the nation’s best once again. Ohio State’s offensive line also looks to be on a promising trajectory coming out of spring.

Strong showings by Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz in the spring game left us feeling better about Ohio State’s quarterbacks than we did just one day before, but the spring game exacerbated our concerns about Ohio State’s depth at defensive tackle, the position that stands out as the Buckeyes’ clear-cut top priority for adding to its roster in the post-spring transfer window.

On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we make our assessments for what we think the Buckeyes’ biggest strengths and biggest areas of concern are coming out of spring and make our early predictions for what Ohio State’s regular-season record will be in 2025.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Are You More, Less or Just As Confident in Ohio State’s Championship Chances After Spring?
• 6:56 Ohio State is Absolutely Loaded with Playmakers at the Offensive Skill Positions
• 12:29 Ohio State’s Defensive Back Seven Looks Ready to Be Elite Once Again
• 21:00 Buckeyes Building A Strong Core Along Offensive Line
• 26:44 Ohio State Quarterbacks Finish Up-and-Down Spring on High Note in Spring Game
• 33:55 Defensive Line Lacks Established Stars and Needs to Add Talent at Tackle
• 43:34 Replacing Departed Leaders, Coordinators Still A Big Question Exiting Spring
• 51:40 Why We’re Both Predicting A 10-2 Regular Season for Ohio State in 2025

After Ryan Day said Monday that Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz are “pretty much neck-and-neck” in their competition to be Ohio State’s No. 1 QB this season, the biggest storyline on Saturday will be the performance of the Buckeyes’ top two quarterbacks as each of them look to make their case that they’re best the choice to lead Ohio State’s offense when it opens the season against Texas on Aug. 30.

Aside from quarterback, other positions to watch on Saturday include right tackle, where Austin Siereveld appears to be making a move in the competition for a starting job, and the defensive line, where the Buckeyes are still assessing whether they have the depth they need ahead of the transfer portal reopening later this month.

We discuss all of those storylines on our spring game preview episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

We also conducted a fantasy draft in which we made our picks for which offensive skill-position players will have the biggest days in the spring game, keeping in mind that established stars like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate will likely see only brief action. In a snake draft format, each of us drafted five players – one quarterback, one running back, one wide receiver, one tight end and one flex player (a spot each of us elected to use on a second wide receiver) – based on who think will score the most fantasy points using standard fantasy football scoring (one point per 25 passing yards, four points per passing touchdown, one point per 10 rushing/receiving yards and six points per rushing/receiving touchdown).

Our picks, which are explained in more detail in the show:

1. Dan - Bo Jackson, RB
2. Andy - Max Klare, TE
3. Andy - James Peoples, RB
4. Dan - Mylan Graham, WR
5. Dan - Quincy Porter, WR
6. Andy - Lincoln Kienholz, QB
7. Andy - Brandon Inniss, WR
8. Dan - Tavien St. Clair, QB
9. Dan - Jelani Thurman, TE
10. Andy - Bryson Rodgers, WR
 
Finally, we wrap up the show by breaking down the two newest transfer additions for Ohio State men’s basketball – Christoph Tilly and Brandon Noel – and assessing what the Buckeyes should still be looking to do to round out their roster for 2025-26.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Playing A True Spring Game Completes Physical, Competitive Spring for Buckeyes
• 4:47 Competition Between Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz Looks Quite Real Entering Spring Game
• 16:28 Austin Siereveld Making A Push to Be Ohio State’s Starting Right Tackle This Season
• 24:08 Defensive Line, Emerging Linebackers In Focus for Ohio State Defense in Spring Game
• 31:55 Spring Game Fantasy Draft
• 42:54 Assessing Ohio State Basketball’s Roster Build with Christoph Tilly, Brandon Noel Additions

Day had lots of positive things to say on Monday about Ohio State’s running backs, tight ends, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties, but indicated the Buckeyes are still looking for more than what they’ve seen so far this spring at defensive tackle, quarterback, offensive tackle, backup wide receiver and defensive end.

With that, we also talk about all 10 Ohio State position groups on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays, in which we share our thoughts on what we heard from Day on Monday and what that could mean for the outlook of each of those position groups this season.

Following our position-by-position spring football updates, we also talk about the transfer portal movement thus far for both Ohio State basketball teams, the momentum Ohio State is building on the recruiting trail and the top standouts from last week’s Ohio State pro day. (Note: This episode of Real Pod Wednesdays was recorded before Ohio State basketball target Jonathan Powell’s commitment to North Carolina on Tuesday night.)

The full rundown for the show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:36 Defensive Tackle Remains Ohio State’s Biggest Position of Concern
• 4:21 Ohio State’s QB Competition Likely to Continue Into August
• 9:55 Transfer Offensive Tackles Still Acclimating to Ohio State, But That’s To Be Expected
• 15:06 Ryan Day Looking for More from Backup Wide Receivers
• 19:56 Could Ohio State Still Add Another Transfer Defensive End?
• 26:55 Trajectory Keeps Pointing Up for James Peoples, Ohio State Running Backs
• 29:11 Loaded Tight End Room Looking Like the Best in the Country
• 31:52 Arvell Reese, Payton Pierce Turning Heads As OSU’s Second and Third Linebackers
• 35:23 Jermaine Mathews Jr. Locking Up A Starting Job Despite Devin Sanchez Hype
• 39:31 Malik Hartford, Jaylen McClain Both Emerging As Starting-Caliber Safeties
• 43:46 Ohio State Men’s Basketball Still Must Add Multiple More Transfers
• 51:12 Ohio State Women’s Basketball Suffers Huge Loss with Cotie McMahon Transfer
• 53:41 Blaine Bradford, Chris Henry Jr. Continue Recruiting Momentum for OSU Football
• 58:55 Will Howard, Jordan Hancock Among Standouts at Loaded OSU Pro Day

Ryan Day said Monday that Ohio State will have a spring game after all this year, and that’s a decision that should be celebrated at a time when other colleges are canceling their spring games. The spring game can be a great opportunity both for fans to connect with the Buckeyes and for the team to get game-like reps ahead of the season, and it’s apparent Day recognized the value of both of those things in opting to move forward with a spring game.

After opening this week’s show by looking forward to the April 12 spring game, we talk about how Matt Patricia has continued to impress us in our early glimpses of Ohio State’s new defensive coordinator. Then, we share some of our early-spring thoughts on how Patricia’s defense could look this season, including the multiplicity he wants to be a hallmark of his scheme, Malik Hartford’s emergence at safety and Ohio State’s rebuild along the defensive line, where the Buckeyes’ defensive end two-deep looks promising but there’s still more questions than answers in terms of defensive tackle depth.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Ryan Day Makes the Right Decision By Moving Forward with A Spring Game
• 5:15 Matt Patricia Continuing to Make Great Impression in First Two Weeks of Spring
• 10:30 What the Multiplicity of Matt Patricia’s Defense Could Look Like
• 14:05 Malik Hartford Trending Toward Playing A Big Role in Ohio State’s Secondary
• 16:56 C.J. Hicks Seems to Be Finally Be Playing the Right Position
• 21:31 Ohio State Has the Pieces to Rotate More Frequently at Defensive End This Season
• 26:40 Defensive Tackle Depth Remains A Major Question Mark
• 33:42 Ohio State’s Defense Will Likely Go As Its Defensive Line Goes

The first two days at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center allowed us to watch the first hour of each of Ohio State’s initial two practices as well as talk to Ohio State coach Ryan Day, each of the Buckeyes’ scholarship quarterbacks and running backs and each of their respective position coaches, giving us plenty to see and hear.

While we haven’t yet seen any head-to-head 11-on-11 work between Ohio State’s offense and defense, numerous players have stood out physically while there have been some interesting developments with Ohio State’s initial lineups, such as Austin Siereveld practicing at left tackle and Malik Hartford taking the bulk of the first-team reps at safety.

With that in mind, we spend the majority of this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays discussing our takeaways from the first two days of spring practice. We wrap up the show with a brief conversation about the end of Ohio State’s basketball season and why we both believe it’s the right decision to give Jake Diebler a second year to turn things around.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Julian Sayin’s Release Stands Out, But He Has More to Prove to Win Starting QB Job
• 13:17 Early Signs Are Promising for Running Back Duo of James Peoples, CJ Donaldson
• 21:42 Jeremiah Smith, Mylan Graham Standing Out at Wide Receiver
• 26:18 Austin Siereveld Probably Won’t Be Starting Left Tackle, But He Might Be Next Man Up
• 31:27 Malik Hartford Getting First Shot at Safety as Secondary Rebuilds Around Caleb Downs
• 35:10 Devin Sanchez Among Numerous Freshmen Standing Out Physically Right Away
• 39:09 Building Depth Crucial for Ohio State’s Defensive Front Six
• 44:24 Jake Diebler Deserves A Second Year, But Ohio State Must Be Aggressive in Transfer Portal

Yes, the quarterback competition will draw plenty of attention too, but it’s the defense that we’ll be watching most closely this spring as we seek to get an idea of what Ohio State’s defense will look like in 2025 with eight new starters and a new defensive coordinator.

While we know the defense will be built around Caleb Downs and that Sonny Styles and Davison Igbinosun will play major roles as returning starters, there are otherwise more questions than answers about Ohio State’s new-look defense under Matt Patricia – even if the Buckeyes’ defensive talent and what we heard last week from Patricia offer plenty of reasons for optimism.

We spend more than half of this week’s show talking about our expectations for Ohio State’s defense entering spring before turning the conversation to what we’re looking to see from Julian Sayin and the Buckeyes’ offense over the next four weeks. We wrap up the show by discussing what Ohio State men’s basketball needs to do in this week’s Big Ten Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Why This Spring Feels Different Than Last Spring at Ohio State
• 5:57 Why Ohio State’s Defense is the Biggest Thing We’ll Be Watching This Spring
• 15:19 Ohio State’s Defensive Line is Its Biggest Question Mark, But There’s Plenty of Promising Talent
• 25:35 Lorenzo Styles Jr., Devin Sanchez, Safeties Could All Determine What Ohio State Does at Nickel
• 34:25 Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese and Payton Pierce Lead A Strong Core at Linebacker
• 38:23 What We Need to See From Julian Sayin This Spring to Feel Confident He’s Ready to Start
• 43:46 Offensive Line, Running Backs Among Other Offensive Positions to Watch This Spring
• 51:08 What Ohio State Basketball Must Do in the Big Ten Tournament to Make the NCAA Tournament

Garrick Hodge joined Dan Hope in Indianapolis to cover the combine last week, so Garrick joins us on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays as we talk about both the combine performances of Ohio State’s 2024 NFL draft prospects and our biggest takeaways from what they had to say about players who could be breakout stars for the 2025 Buckeyes.

Former Ohio State running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson and defensive tackles Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton helped themselves with their on-field workouts in Indianapolis. The combine raised some concerns for quarterback Will Howard and defensive end Jack Sawyer, but we‘re still believers in both Buckeyes as NFL prospects because of how well they played in leading Ohio State to a national championship.

As for what we heard about some of Ohio State’s returning players in Indianapolis, Denzel Burke added fuel to the Julian Sayin hype train while Henderson made an Andy-approved comparison for James Peoples. Jaylen McClain, Mylan Graham and Max Klare were among the other 2025 Buckeyes who received hype from OSU’s draft prospects at the combine.

We talk about all of that – plus the spectacular NHL Stadium Series game at Ohio Stadium last weekend and a couple of other Ohio State-related comments by combine participants that went viral – on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

The full rundown for the show:

• 0:00 The Stadium Series Game at the Shoe Was Awesome
• 5:46 Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson Were Ohio State’s Combine Stars
• 10:20 Why We Don’t Think Scouts Should Overreact to Will Howard’s Shaky Throwing Session
• 17:04 Jack Sawyer’s Proven Playmaking Ability Matters More Than His Arm Length
• 21:00 Tyleik Williams Proves He’s A Freak and Ty Hamilton Might Go Higher Than People Think
• 23:34 Denzel Burke’s Endorsement of Julian Sayin Carries Weight
• 28:04 Why Andy and TreVeyon Henderson See J.K. Dobbins in James Peoples
• 30:36 Jaylen McClain Carrying Momentum Into Spring as Potential Starting Safety
• 33:36 Mylan Graham Gets More Buzz, But How Much Playing Time Will He See in 2025?
• 36:55 Lathan Ransom Expects Big Things from Max Klare, and We Do, Too
• 40:30 Omarr Norman-Lott’s Jeremiah Smith Praise, Tez Johnson’s Rose Bowl Take Go Viral

15 members of Ohio State’s national championship team are in Indianapolis for the combine – the most players from any school – and all 15 of them are expected to be drafted, which would tie Georgia’s record for the most picks from one school in a seven-round NFL draft.

With media interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine starting today and on-field workouts commencing at Lucas Oil Stadium tomorrow, we take a look at Ohio State’s loaded NFL draft class on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

We start the show by sharing some overall thoughts on Ohio State’s draft class, which Buckeyes boosted their NFL draft stock the most during the College Football Playoff, which Buckeyes we expect to be combine stars and which Buckeyes would benefit most from a strong combine workout.

Then, we put our GM hats on and conduct our own draft of Ohio State’s draft prospects, with each of us making seven rounds’ worth of picks of which Buckeyes we’d draft if we were calling the shots for an NFL team.

The full results of our draft:
1. DE Jack Sawyer (Dan)
2. OT Josh Simmons (Andy)
3. WR Emeka Egbuka (Andy)
4. G/T Donovan Jackson (Dan)
5. RB TreVeyon Henderson (Dan)
6. DE JT Tuimoloau (Andy)
7. DT Tyleik Williams (Andy)
8. QB Will Howard (Dan)
9. CB Denzel Burke (Dan)
10. CB Jordan Hancock (Andy)
11. S Lathan Ransom (Andy)
12. RB Quinshon Judkins (Dan)
13. C Seth McLaughlin (Dan)
14. DT Ty Hamilton (Andy)

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Historically Deep Ohio State Draft Class Heads to the Combine
• 9:24 Donovan Jackson, Will Howard, Jordan Hancock Among Buckeyes Who Boosted Stock in CFP
• 15:29 Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson Among Potential Combine Stars (If They Work Out)
• 19:56 Denzel Burke, Cody Simon Among Buckeyes Who Could Benefit Most from Strong Combine
• 22:35 A Seven-Round Draft of Ohio State’s Top 2025 NFL Draft Prospects
• 37:23 Can Ohio State Men’s Basketball Bounce Back to Make the NCAA Tournament?

We aren’t expecting any drastic changes on the offensive side of the ball – Ohio State’s offense is still Ryan Day’s offense, and Brian Hartline’s promotion comes in part because of how well he knows Day’s offense – though the Buckeyes will have to make adjustments to fit their personnel as new starters take over at quarterback, running back, tight end and offensive tackle.

Defensively is where the bigger scheme questions lie. Patricia was never tied to one specific scheme as the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator, so there’s reason to believe his defense will be built to fit Ohio State’s personnel, but that will require changes too as the Buckeyes break in eight new starters on that side of the ball. And while the rest of Ohio State’s defensive coaching staff returns, there are questions about how Patricia’s ideas will mesh with defensive line coach Larry Johnson and whether Patricia’s success in New England will translate to the college level.

We discuss all of that on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays with Eleven Warriors scheme analyst Kyle Jones, who joins us to share his thoughts on what Ohio State’s offense and defense could look like in 2025 as well as what impressed him most about Ohio State’s national championship run this past season.

The full rundown for our conversation:

• 0:00 Why Ohio State’s Scheme, Play Calling Worked So Well in the College Football Playoff
• 4:28 Ohio State’s Evolution from Michigan Game to CFP Might Have Simply Been A Mindset Shift
• 6:49 What Matt Patricia Brings to Ohio State
• 10:17 Should We Be Concerned About Patricia’s Defenses Being Too Complicated?
• 16:07 What Ohio State Should Do Schematically to Fit Its Defensive Talent in 2025
• 19:50 Will Matt Patricia’s Defensive Line Philosophies Mesh with Larry Johnson?
• 23:21 Player Departures Could Drive Defensive Changes More Than Coordinator Change
• 26:08 Ryan Day Will Have Big Hand in Ohio State’s Offense, But That’s Nothing New
• 32:08 Why Offensive Line Development Matters More Than Run Game Scheme for Tyler Bowen
• 34:54 Less Quarterback Running Could Be Biggest Change for Ohio State’s Offensive Scheme

Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, co-offensive coordinator Keenan Bailey, run game coordinator and offensive line coach Tyler Bowen, running backs coach Carlos Locklyn and quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler have plenty of talent to work with as their preparations for spring practice begin. The Buckeyes’ receiving corps should be the best in the country once again, hopes are high for five-star redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin and Ohio State’s offensive line has the potential to be its best in a few years.

But there are also some significant questions surrounding Ohio State’s 2025 offense including its inexperience at quarterback, how effective its running game will be following the departures of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins and whether the Buckeyes’ returning offensive linemen will reach their potential with another year of development.

With all of that in mind, we spend this week‘s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays assessing the state of Ohio State’s offense for the 2025 season and discussing our expectations for how we think the offense will fare in both the passing and running games come fall.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Thoughts on Ohio State’s New Offensive Coaching Staff
• 15:16 Ohio State’s Receiving Corps Should Be The Best in the Country Again in 2025
• 23:32 Julian Sayin Has Five-Star Talent, But Inexperience Makes Quarterback A Question Mark
• 28:34 Offensive Line Has Upside to Be Better Than It’s Been The Last Two Years
• 40:19 Running Game Faces Questions at Both Running Back and Quarterback
• 51:59 Ohio State Should Build Offense Around Jeremiah Smith and Its Receiving Playmakers
• 53:46 Will Ohio State Have A Championship-Caliber Offense in 2025?

From Ohio State’s perspective, the real signing day happened two months ago, as the Buckeyes signed 26 high school players during the early signing period. Ohio State isn’t expected to add any more scholarship players to its high school recruiting class for 2025, making the traditional February signing day a non-event for the Buckeyes.

That said, we didn’t spend much time talking about Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class on Real Pod Wednesdays during the early signing period because the Buckeyes were preparing to play in the College Football Playoff at the time. So we felt the secondary signing day would be an appropriate time for us to take a more complete look at Ohio State’s new crop of freshmen.

Eleven Warriors recruiting reporter Garrick Hodge joins us on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays as we share our overall thoughts on the 2025 class and make our picks for who we think will be some of the class’ biggest stars and hidden gems.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:31 Overall Thoughts on Ohio State’s Fifth-Ranked 2025 Recruiting Class
• 7:43 Devin Sanchez, Tavien St. Clair Headline the 2025 Class
• 17:09 Projecting Some of the Other Future Stars from Ohio State’s 2025 Class
• 22:19 Freshmen with the Best Chance to Play Early
• 25:51 How Ohio State’s Transfer Class Supplements Its High School Recruiting Class
• 29:00 Nate Roberts, Bodpegn Miller, Trajen Odom Among Intriguing Developmental Prospects
• 34:18 Potential Commits and Priority Positions in the 2026 Recruiting Class

Ohio State’s 2025 roster is set for the spring now that the winter window for players to enter the transfer portal has closed. With that in mind, we spend the entirety of this week’s RPW taking a first look at Ohio State’s 2025 roster and sharing our initial thoughts on how the Buckeyes stack up at every position.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Ohio State Fends Off Efforts to Poach Its Players, Retains All of Its Projected Starters
• 5:22 Julian Sayin is the Projected Starting Quarterback, But He Still Has to Win A Competition
• 12:35 James Peoples, CJ Donaldson Lead Ohio State’s Running Back Room
• 16:56 Ohio State’s Wide Receivers Should Be the Best in the Country Again
• 21:04 Could Ohio State Have the Best Tight End Room in the Country, Too?
• 24:21 Offensive Line Looks Promising with Transfer Tackles, Interior Line Play in CFP
• 31:44 Rotational Defensive Linemen in 2024 Must Step Up As New Starters in 2025
• 37:18 Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese Backed Up by Plenty of Young Talent at Linebacker
• 40:38 Ohio State’s Cornerback Room Remains Loaded with Davison Igbinosun’s Return
• 44:34 Jaylen McClain, Malik Hartford Both Candidates to Start at Safety Alongside Caleb Downs
• 49:40 Ohio State Returns All Three Starting Specialists, But Nick McLarty Remains A Punter to Watch
• 54:01 There’s Still Too Many Unknowns for Us to Call Ohio State A 2025 Championship Favorite

The Buckeyes’ four-game run to the national title was one we won’t soon forget as Ohio State beat four of the nation’s best teams in the College Football Playoff – all by double digits – to turn what could have been one of Ohio State’s most disappointing seasons ever into one of its greatest success stories.

Ohio State’s national championship run featured too many great moments and top performers to highlight them all in just one hour, but we spent our post-championship episode of Real Pod Wednesdays recapping the best of the best from Ohio State’s spectacular four-game CFP and contextualizing the legacy of the 2024 Buckeyes.

The full rundown for this week’s episode:

• 0:00 The Most Memorable Moments from Covering Ohio State’s National Championship Victory
• 5:29 Ohio State’s Seniors Overcome Years of Disappointments to Go Out on Top
• 7:45 Who Ohio State Had to Beat and How It Won Made OSU’s Four-Game CFP Run Special
• 9:29 Ohio State Should Be Remembered More for Its Resiliency Than Its $20 Million Roster
• 15:46 Does Michigan Loss Dampen Championship Season or Make the Ending More Rewarding?
• 26:31 Ryan Day Wins Over His Haters and Establishes His Standing As An Elite Coach
• 35:03 Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith, Quinshon Judkins Among Offensive Stars of CFP Run
• 40:17 Offensive Line Growth Led by Donovan Jackson A Microcosm of Ohio State’s Season
• 47:40 Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Jordan Hancock Among Defensive Stars of CFP Run
• 52:07 Our Picks for College Football Playoff MVP

The Buckeyes didn’t always look like a national championship team during the regular season, but they sure have in the College Football Playoff. While they weren’t as dominant against Texas as they were in their first two CFP games against Tennessee and Oregon, the CFP semifinal win over the Longhorns may prove to be the defining game of a title run as the Buckeyes showed their resiliency in the fourth quarter and won the game in thrilling fashion.

That gives us plenty of confidence that the Buckeyes will finish the job on Monday night and win the first-ever 12-team CFP. If Ohio State plays as well as it has throughout the CFP, the Buckeyes should have a clear advantage over Notre Dame with the Fighting Irish’s limited passing offense, though Ohio State will have to contend with Notre Dame’s strong running game and defense.

We discuss what went well and what didn’t for Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and preview Monday’s national championship game on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

The full rundown for the show:

• 0:00 Ohio State is One Win Away from What Could Be Its Best National Championship Run Ever
• 5:18 Why Jack Sawyer Deserved His Heroic Moment in the Cotton Bowl
• 10:31 Wins over Tennessee and Oregon Were More Dominant, But Texas Win Feels More Memorable
• 14:38 Assessing OSU’s Offensive Line Play Against Texas and What It Needs to Do vs. Notre Dame
• 20:51 Many Standouts Against Texas Included TreVeyon Henderson, Will Howard, Jordan Hancock
• 27:57 Notre Dame’s Pass Defense is Really Good, But We Don’t Expect It to Shut Down Jeremiah Smith
• 33:42 Stopping the Run Will Be Easier Said Than Done, But Ohio State Should Win If It Does
• 39:52 Cody Simon, TreVeyon Henderson, Defensive Tackles Among Players to Watch vs. Notre Dame
• 43:42 Why We’re Both Confident Ohio State Will Beat Notre Dame
• 47:43 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

The Longhorns are in the CFP semifinals too for a reason, the biggest of which is its defense, which leads the nation in passing yards allowed per attempt. We’re not sure if anyone in college football can stop Jeremiah Smith right now, but the Longhorns might be the most well-equipped team in the country to at least slow Ohio State’s passing offense down.

On the other side of the ball, Ohio State faces a dangerous passing attack led by an old friend in Quinn Ewers. But we expect the Buckeyes’ defense to make life difficult for Ewers, especially considering the Longhorns’ recent struggles in the running game, and we think Ohio State might hold the quarterback advantage anyway with how well Will Howard has played in Ohio State’s first two CFP games.

We share our full thoughts on Ohio State’s matchup with Texas and make our predictions for how the Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl battle with the Longhorns will play out on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, as outlined below:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:58 There’s Not Much to Nitpick From Ohio State’s Dominant Performance vs. Oregon
• 4:33 Texas Has One of the Nation’s Best Pass Defenses, But Can Anyone Stop Jeremiah Smith?
• 11:24 Making Texas’ Offense One-Dimensional Could Be the Key to Another Dominant Win
• 18:44 Which Quarterback Would You Rather Have: Will Howard or Quinn Ewers?
• 21:26 Colin Simmons is A Really Good Freshman, But We’ll Take Jeremiah Smith
• 23:31 Ohio State’s Offensive Line Faces Another Big Test, Will It Rise to the Occasion Again?
• 27:18 Donovan Jackson and Justin Frye Have Both Stepped Up in A Massive Way
• 30:00 Our Biggest Reasons for Confidence and Biggest Reasons for Concern in the Cotton Bowl
• 39:19 Lathan Ransom, Tyleik Williams Among Players to Watch vs. Longhorns
• 42:24 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Texas
• 45:28 Predictions for Notre Dame vs. Penn State

The full rundown for our Rose Bowl preview edition of RPW:

• 0:00 Setting the Stage for What Should Be A Classic Game
• 2:44 The Buckeyes Have Turned Doubters Into Believers, But There’s No Lack of Motivating Factors
• 5:05 Ohio State’s Defense Can Make the Difference in the Rematch
• 8:43 But Ohio State’s Offense Must Put Up Similar Numbers Without Key Offensive Linemen
• 13:17 Will Oregon Benefit from More Rest or Will Ohio State Benefit from Building Momentum?
• 17:39 Denzel Burke, OTs, DEs, RBs and Jeremiah Smith Among Players to Watch
• 24:50 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Oregon
• 29:57 Our Predictions for the Other Three College Football Playoff Quarterfinals

In front of a raucous Ohio Stadium crowd that gave the Buckeyes plenty of energy despite a Tennessee takeover attempt, Ohio State gave its fans everything they could have asked for in a 42-17 dismantling of the Volunteers that reestablished the Buckeyes as a national championship contender and punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.

The next round could be the biggest hurdle in the Buckeyes’ path to actually winning a national championship, as they face the CFP’s No. 1 seed in a New Year’s Day battle with Oregon at the Rose Bowl, but our belief in Ohio State’s ability to beat the Ducks is much higher than it was a week ago based on its performance against the Volunteers.

We recap what made Ohio State’s showing against Tennessee so impressive and look ahead to the Buckeyes’ rematch with Oregon on our Christmas episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, which you can watch in the video at the top of the page or listen to in the audio player below.

The full rundown for the show:

• 0:00 Improved Offensive Line Play, Offensive Game Plan Leads to Tour De Force Performance
• 4:37 Will Howard Demonstrates NFL-Caliber Passing Ability in His Best Game As A Buckeye Yet
• 6:45 Did Ohio State Learn Lessons from The Game or Just Not Take Michigan Seriously Enough?
• 16:10 Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau Lead Elite Defensive Effort vs. Tennessee
• 20:32 Buckeye Fans Show Out, CFP Gives OSU Blueprint to Continue Improving Game Environment
• 26:51 Whoever Wins Ohio State vs. Oregon Will Be Our Pick to Win the National Championship
• 31:19 Three Options for Fixing the Unbalanced Seeding in the College Football Playoff Bracket
• 34:47 Pass Defense, Offensive Line Must Prove Their Improvement is Real vs. Oregon
• 43:55 Why We’re Both Taking the Over in Ohio State vs. Oregon
• 45:13 Why We’re Leaning Ever-So-Slightly Toward Picking the Buckeyes to Beat the Ducks

Ohio State’s interior offensive line remains a major concern as the Buckeyes have opted not to commit to a set trio of starters inside, and we think Tennessee is a well-rounded team capable of challenging Ohio State in all phases of the game. But Ohio State’s dominant defense and its elite receiving playmakers still make us think the Buckeyes should beat the Volunteers, though we’re both expecting a tight game at the Shoe on Saturday night.

In our pre-CFP episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we discuss what concerns us most about the matchup with Tennessee and what gives us confidence in Ohio State, then make our official predictions for not only Ohio State vs. Tennessee but the entire College Football Playoff.

The full rundown for our game-week show:

• 0:00 We’re Three Days Away from A Historic Night at Ohio Stadium
• 2:10 Why Our Confidence Level in An Ohio State Win is at 60%
• 7:48 Why We’re Taking the Points and the Under
• 10:19 Ohio State’s Interior Offensive Line Remains A Major Concern Amid Talk of Guard Rotation
• 20:39 Jayden Fielding Will Likely Remain the Kicker Even Though OSU Hasn’t Committed to Him Yet
• 23:44 Saturday Night’s Forecast Keeps Getting Colder; How Much Will That Impact the Game?
• 30:19 Ohio State’s Elite Defense, Receivers Are Reasons to Be Confident in Buckeyes
• 33:56 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Tennessee
• 35:50 Ohio State Usually Plays Its Best When It’s Being Doubted, It Needs to Feed Off That Again
• 39:38 Predicting Who Will Win Every Game in Every Round of the College Football Playoff

While there have historically been more than three weeks between Selection Sunday and the marquee bowl games, the wait for games that matter is much shorter this year as the College Football Playoff begins on Dec. 20 and 21. Ohio State will host the last of four first-round games as it welcomes Tennessee to Columbus for an 8 p.m. game in the Shoe on the 21st.

With that in mind, we start this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays with our initial breakdown of Ohio State’s matchup with Tennessee and the challenges the Volunteers will present to the Buckeyes. Ohio State’s offensive line will be put to the test again – potentially with a new starting lineup – and the Volunteers’ running game is one of the best in the country. But the Buckeyes should still have the edge if they do what they failed to do against Michigan by playing to their strengths in the passing game.

We also take a look at Ohio State’s College Football Playoff draw as a whole and the challenges that could lie ahead for the Buckeyes if they advance – and whether the draw should affect the requisites for Ryan Day to keep his job. 

To wrap up this week’s show, we discuss what Ohio State needs to accomplish in the transfer portal – starting with beefing up the offensive line – now that it is officially open for players to change teams for the 2025 season.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Adjusting to A New Postseason Schedule
• 1:56 Tennessee’s Defensive Front Will Pose Major Test for Ohio State’s Offensive Line
• 4:21 Joshua Padilla at Center, Carson Hinzman Back to Guard Among Possible Changes Up Front
• 10:13 Dylan Sampson, Tennessee Rushing Attack Will Challenge Ohio State’s Defense
• 12:42 Ohio State Needs to Exploit Advantages in Passing Game, Not Focus Solely on Rushing Battle
• 17:01 Home Field Will Be An Advantage for Ohio State, But Cold Weather Might Not Be
• 20:34 Our Confidence Level Ohio State Will Beat Tennessee: 60-65%
• 23:33 Ohio State is A 7.5-Point Favorite: Too High or Just Right?
• 24:44 Buckeyes Face Daunting Four-Game Path to A National Championship
• 31:08 Why Andy Still Thinks Ryan Day Should Need To Win At Least Two CFP Games to Keep His Job
• 34:18 Ohio State Must Juggle College Football Playoff Preparation with Working the Transfer Portal
• 36:20 No. 2 QB Job for CFP Should Be Open for Competition with Devin Brown’s Impending Exit
• 39:34 Ohio State Must Upgrade Offensive Line with Multiple High-Level Transfer Additions
• 48:40 Buckeyes Also Need to Add Kicker, Defensive Linemen in Transfer Portal

After losing to Michigan for the fourth year in a row, Day must win in the College Football Playoff to show he should still be the Buckeyes’ coach. How many games he must win in the CFP remains up for debate, but the pressure is on for Day to deliver results in the postseason, especially now that Ohio State is safely positioned to host a first-round playoff game.

On a late-Wednesday episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we share our thoughts on Day’s signing day press conference and what he needs to do to salvage his job before looking ahead at the seeding scenarios for the Buckeyes that remain in play this weekend ahead of Selection Sunday. We finish up the show by sharing our initial thoughts on Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class after 25 players signed with the Buckeyes on Wednesday.

The full rundown for our signing day show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:02 Ryan Day Shows Accountability in Press Conference, But He’s Ultimately Judged on Results
• 6:04 Ohio State Must Be Able to Sustain Confidence in CFP After Failing to Do So vs. Michigan
• 15:40 How Many Games Does Ryan Day Need to Win in the CFP to Keep His Job?
• 26:36 Ohio State Will Be No. 8 Seed in CFP At Worst; Will It Move Up if Penn State and Georgia Lose?
• 39:47 Ranking the Difficulty of Potential Matchups with Tennessee, Alabama and Indiana
• 44:35 Ohio State’s 2025 Signing Class Full of Quality Players, But Buckeyes Need More in the Trenches

The LL Cool J song wasn’t playing at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Tuesday as it used to during the Urban Meyer years, but the message could still be heard loud and clear as Ryan Day and four of Ohio State’s top leaders met with the media four days ahead of The Game. The Buckeyes’ confidence entering this year’s rivalry game appears very real, but Ohio State isn’t overlooking the Wolverines despite their 6-5 record.

We share their confidence and believe Ohio State will end its three-game losing streak against the team up north on Saturday, but we also aren’t taking the Wolverines lightly. While Ohio State holds most of the advantages in the matchup on paper, Michigan will test the Buckeyes in the trenches – at least with its defensive line vs. Ohio State’s offensive line – and that’s usually where this game is decided.

We share our thoughts on where we see Ohio State having the advantage and where we see the Buckeyes being challenged in this matchup and make our predictions for how The Game will play out on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays. We also have some Thanksgiving week fun at the end of the show by building our ideal Thanksgiving plates (with plenty of football analogies from Dan).

The full rundown for this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays:

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:07 Andy’s Personal Thoughts on What Makes the Ohio State/Michigan Rivalry So Special
• 4:38 This Game Means Everything to Ohio State, and Ryan Day Clearly Understands That Now
• 8:42 Buckeyes Are Approaching This Game As A War
• 10:50 Ohio State Seemingly Views Michigan As A Bigger Threat Than Indiana Was Last Week
• 13:20 Controlling the Line of Scrimmage is Michigan’s Road Map to Victory
• 15:55 Both Defensive Lines Have the Edge Over Each Other’s Offensive Lines
• 23:02 Ohio State’s Defense Should Dominate If It Can Take Away Michigan’s Offensive Strengths
• 27:43 Will Howard Proving He’s One of Nation’s Best QBs and He Understands The Rivalry
• 34:37 Jack Sawyer, Jeremiah Smith, Arvell Reese Among Players to Watch in The Game
• 38:06 Score Predictions for The Game
• 39:56 Building Our Ideal Thanksgiving Plates

Former Eleven Warriors recruiting reporter Taylor Lehman, who now produces the Indiana football newsletter Bite-Sized Bison, joins us on this week’s show to discuss the rise of Indiana football in Curt Cignetti’s first season as head coach and what’s enabled the Hoosiers to go 10-0 entering their biggest game of the season at Ohio State.

Lehman tells us this year’s Indiana football team is different even from the good Indiana teams that have challenged Ohio State in the past and says the program under Cignetti reminds him more of the program he covered at Ohio State than past Indiana teams. On the field, Lehman is confident in Indiana’s defensive front and passing offense entering the matchup with Ohio State, though establishing a run game and covering the Buckeyes’ elite trio of wide receivers will also be crucial to the Hoosiers’ success.

From start to finish, this week’s episode is all about Ohio State vs. Indiana as we focus entirely on the Buckeyes’ top-five matchup with the Hoosiers, even after Seth McLaughlin’s season-ending injury. (For a more in-depth conversation about McLaughlin’s injury and how Ohio State could replace him, watch our most recent episode of Press Coverage).

The rundown for this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays:

• 0:00 Welcome Back, Taylor
• 1:14 What It’s Been Like to Cover Indiana’s Rise to 10-0
• 3:32 We Know Indiana is Good, But Is It Good Enough to Beat An Elite Opponent?
• 7:33 How Indiana’s Offense Has Become One of the Nation’s Best
• 13:25 Mikail Kamara, D’Angelo Ponds Among Stars of Indiana’s Top-10 Defense
• 16:54 Defensive Line, Passing Offense Among Strengths That Should Translate vs. Ohio State
• 19:35 Rushing Defense, Establishing Run Among Keys to the Game for Indiana
• 21:11 This Might Not Be Indiana’s Biggest Game Ever, But It‘s the Biggest Game in a Long Time
• 23:08 Indiana Should Still Be A College Football Playoff Team Even If It Loses to Ohio State
• 26:52 Taylor’s Game Prediction
• 29:11 Seth McLaughlin’s Injury Makes Offensive Line the Biggest Concern for Ohio State Again
• 31:34 Passing Defense, Specifically Cornerback Play, the Other Big Question for Ohio State
• 34:41 Josh Fryar, Donovan Jackson, Jack Sawyer Among X-Factors for OSU vs. Indiana
• 38:14 Andy and Dan’s Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Indiana

Ohio State is expected to win big for the second week in a row as it plays another one of the Big Ten’s worst teams in Northwestern one week after blowing out Purdue. This week’s game offers a layer of excitement that last week’s game didn’t, however, because it will be played at Wrigley Field, offering a unique backdrop for an Ohio State football game at one of America’s most storied sports venues.

That said, the biggest talking point of the week among Buckeye fans has been kickoff times after the Big Ten announced Monday that Ohio State’s top-five showdown with Indiana next week will be yet another noon game, which means the Buckeyes will play six noon games in a row to conclude their 2024 regular season. Many Buckeye fans want to see Ohio State play in more night games, but OSU doesn’t seem overly eager to push back against early afternoon kickoffs.

We begin this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays by sharing our top takeaways from the Buckeyes’ 45-point win over the Boilermakers, then look ahead to this week‘s trip to Wrigley before sharing our thoughts on the noon game debate. We wrap up the show by discussing the latest developments in Ohio State basketball as the men’s team races out to a 2-0 start while the women’s team (also 2-0) makes two home run additions to its coaching staff in Katie Smith and Jacy Sheldon.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 We’re Excited to Watch Football at Wrigley
• 2:20 Ohio State’s 45-0 Win Over Purdue Was the Uneventful Game It Needed Against A Bad Team
• 4:18 Ohio State’s Pass Rush Built Momentum As Defense Had Another Dominant Game vs. Purdue
• 7:20 The Jack Experiment Didn’t Work vs. Purdue, But That Didn’t Make the Experiment A Bad Idea
• 12:51 Ohio State Makes A Long-Awaited Big Play on Special Teams
• 16:50 Other Standouts vs. Purdue: TreVeyon Henderson, Jeremiah Smith, Eddrick Houston, Sonny Styles
• 26:57 Ohio State Could Have A Home-Field Advantage at Unique Venue vs. Subpar Northwestern Team
• 34:22 Will Ohio State Be Quicker to Take Starters Out in Likely Final Opportunity for Backups to Play?
• 38:07 Both of Our Score Predictions Have the Buckeyes Covering Comfortably
• 40:40 We Like Noon Games and Ohio State Does Too, But Fans Miss Big Home Night Games
• 47:02 Why Ohio State Probably Isn’t Inclined to Push Back Against So Many Noon Games
• 52:34 Defensive Intensity, 3-Point Shooting Stand Out in First Two OSU Men’s Basketball Games
• 57:14 Katie Smith, Jacy Sheldon Are Home Run Hires for Ohio State Women’s Basketball
• 1:01:15 OSU Men’s Soccer Competes for A Big Ten Title and Sammy Sasso Returns to the Mat

After three weeks of negativity that followed Ohio State’s loss to Oregon and uncomfortably close win over Nebraska, the Buckeyes gave their fans reason to be excited once again as they went on the road and earned a marquee win over Penn State, the No. 3 team in the country at the time. Making the win particularly special for the Buckeyes was how they won the game, as their defense held Penn State without a touchdown while the offensive line carried Ohio State to victory as it ran out the clock in the fourth quarter.

Ohio State’s improvements in both of those areas from its previous two games restored confidence that the Buckeyes remain a national championship contender, and the College Football Playoff selection committee agreed as it ranked Ohio State second in its initial rankings of 2024 on Tuesday night.

With what should be an easy win over Purdue on tap this week, we spend this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays discussing what impressed us most in Happy Valley, where our confidence stands now that Ohio State will achieve its three major goals and how the initial rankings put the Buckeyes in excellent position for the CFP.

The rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 The Vibes Are Good Again for Ohio State Football
• 3:03 Ohio State Finds the Right Lineup Up Front with Donovan Jackson at LT, Carson Hinzman at LG
• 9:48 What’s Your Level of Confidence in the Offensive Line Now?
• 12:51 Ohio State’s Defense Looks Like the Elite Unit It’s Supposed to Be Again
• 16:00 Ohio State’s Goal-Line Stand Was Emblematic of What’s Made Its Defense Successful
• 19:18 What Ryan Day and Jim Knowles Mean By Getting “Back to Basics” on Defense
• 24:46 What‘s Your Level of Confidence in the Defense Now?
• 28:38 Cody Simon, TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins and Jayden Fielding Deserve Shoutouts
• 33:05 Assessing Our Confidence That OSU Will Beat Michigan, Win Big Ten, Win National Championship
• 39:55 The Buckeyes Deserve to Be Ranked Second, And They’re In Great Position for the CFP Now
• 44:15 Other Takeaways from the Initial College Football Playoff Rankings
• 49:14 Forgive Us, Ryan Day, But We’re Overlooking Purdue
• 54:03 Why Andy Thinks Ohio State Will Cover and Why Dan Thinks OSU Won’t Cover vs. Purdue
• 56:00 The Vibes Are Good for Ohio State Basketball and Men’s Soccer, Too

We celebrate both of those momentous occasions on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

Nearly our entire hour of conversation this week is centered around the Buckeyes’ trip to Happy Valley for a game with massive Big Ten championship implications for both teams, mixing in our takeaways from Ohio State’s closer-than-expected battle with Nebraska and how that shapes our perception of the Buckeyes entering their second major test of the season.

In the spirit of Halloween, our Ohio State vs. Penn State preview show also features a guest appearance from the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot – who you may recognize as one of Eleven Warriors’ own if you listen closely – who serves as our guest picker as we close the show by making our predictions for Saturday’s game, where our toaster pastry friend serves as the tiebreaking vote in who will win the nationally anticipated contest.

An overview of what we’re talking about and when on this week’s show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:47 More Nerves Than Excitement in Columbus After Near-Disaster vs. Nebraska
• 5:39 Ohio State’s Offensive Line Has Re-Emerged As Its Biggest Weakness
• 10:47 Donovan Jackson Moving to Left Tackle in One Week Will Be Tough Transition for Entire OL
• 18:02 Ohio State Might Need to Lean On Passing Game with Will Howard Playing at Elite Level
• 24:09 Pass Rush Improved vs. Nebraska, But Containment Will Be Priority if Beau Pribula is PSU’s QB
• 29:14 Both Teams Could Have DE vs. OT Advantage as JT Tuimoloau Returns to Site of His Best Game
• 32:03 Ohio State Should Force Penn State to Beat It With Wide Receivers, Not Tyler Warren
• 37:17 Ryan Day Has Owned James Franklin, But Must Win This Game to Change Big-Game Narrative
• 43:16 Play of Donovan Jackson, Offensive Line Will Likely Determine Outcome of the Game
• 44:49 Jeremiah Smith, Sonny Styles Among Other X-Factors for Ohio State vs. Penn State
• 48:47 Conversation with the Pop-Tarts Bowl Mascot
• 55:39 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Penn State

Three areas in particular will be under the microscope as Ohio State returns from its bye week against Nebraska on Saturday: New starting left tackle Zen Michalski, the Buckeyes’ safety depth and their pass rush.

Michalski is the player we’ll be watching most closely on Saturday as he makes his first career start in place of Josh Simmons, who is out for the rest of the season due to the knee injury he suffered against Oregon. With a massive test looming next week against Penn State and Abdul Carter, can Michalski prove he’s up to the task of protecting Will Howard’s blind side? If not, how quickly will Ohio State turn to a plan B – and will that plan B be moving Donovan Jackson or Tegra Tshabola outside?

Offensive tackle and safety were the positions where we most concerned about Ohio State’s depth entering the season, and it appears both will be tested this week after Lathan Ransom was injured last week in practice. While Ryan Day offered no clarity on Ransom’s status Tuesday, his non-answer is enough to suggest Ohio State will likely be without him for at least one week. If so, it remains uncertain whether Ohio State will replace him in the lineup with Malik Hartford, Jaylen McClain, Jordan Hancock or Lorenzo Styles Jr. – or some combination of both.

The pass rush, meanwhile, has been a major talking point for the past 10 days after Ohio State failed to notch a single sack against Oregon. After Day agreed with Nick Saban’s assessment that Ohio State’s pass rush scheme isn’t working, will we see more creativity from the Buckeyes’ pass rush against Nebraska, or will Ohio State save that for next week’s trip to Happy Valley? Either way, the Buckeyes need to prove that they can put more pressure on the quarterback this week as they go against another passer who’s capable of testing their defense in former Ohio State commit Dylan Raiola.

We discuss all of that and more, including our predictions for Ohio State vs. Nebraska and what we saw this past weekend from the likes of Indiana, Michigan, Georgia and Texas, on a new episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

The rundown for this week’s episode:

• 0:00 Andy Celebrates His Turkey Bowl Win
• 4:43 Time to Turn the Page from Oregon Loss As Second Half of Ohio State’s Regular Season Begins
• 6:56 Dylan Raiola Has Been Inconsistent As A Freshman, But He’s Giving Nebraska Hope
• 10:32 Solid Left Tackle Play Without Josh Simmons is the Biggest Thing We Need to See This Week
• 22:35 Ohio State Will Likely Need to Test Depth at Safety This Week With Lathan Ransom Injured
• 31:07 Ohio State Must Get Pass Rush Going vs. Nebraska Even If It Saves Some Tricks for Penn State
• 39:49 OSU Should Look to Help Denzel Burke, Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau with Scheme Adjustments
• 44:41 Score Predictions for An Expected Ohio State Cover vs. Nebraska
• 47:48 Indiana Looks Like A Real Threat While Michigan Might Need to Win This Week for Bowl Eligibility
• 57:13 Texas’ Loss to Georgia Further Evidence That Everyone is Beatable in College Football This Year

Ohio State’s defense was bad against Oregon, especially when considering what this year’s defense is supposed to be with all of the talent the Buckeyes have on that side of the ball. The Buckeyes’ defense gave up way too many big plays without making big plays themselves, allowing eight plays of 25 yards or more while recording zero sacks and zero takeaways.

We still believe Ohio State’s defense can be the best in the country, but the Buckeyes must take full advantage of their bye week to figure out why they haven’t played up to their talent and improve accordingly.

Ohio State was much better on the other side of the ball against Oregon, with Will Howard having a great game aside from his mistake on the final play, but Josh Simmons’ likely season-ending injury looms large as the Buckeyes must figure out a way to replace arguably their most irreplaceable player at left tackle.

All of that said, Ohio State still effectively controls its own destiny in the Big Ten and College Football Playoff races, and we still expect the Buckeyes to prevail as Big Ten and possibly national champions – though they no longer have a mulligan to work with as they enter the second half of the regular season, which includes four challenging games even though we think Oregon is the toughest opponent Ohio State will face until the CFP.

We discuss all of that and more, including our thoughts on the controversial pass interference penalty against Jeremiah Smith, Dan Lanning’s clever gamesmanship and Ryan Day’s late-game clock management, on our Oregon post-mortem/midseason bye week episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:28 Andy’s Prevailing Thoughts on the Oregon Loss: Defense Disappoints, Will Howard Impresses
• 5:28 Josh Simmons’ Injury Hurts Ohio State’s Outlook More Than the Oregon Loss
• 8:27 No Sacks, No Takeaways and Eight 25+ Yard Plays Allowed: A Bad Combination
• 11:25 We Weren’t Confident OSU’s Defense Would Make A Late Stop, Which Sums Up How It Played
• 14:10 Ohio State’s Defense Still Has the Talent to Be the Nation’s Best, But Must Figure Out Fixes
• 17:09 One Game Shouldn’t Define Denzel Burke, But Jermaine Mathews Jr. Should Get More Reps
• 22:06 Pass Interference Call Was Questionable, But We Tip Our Hats to Dan Lanning’s Gamesmanship
• 31:22 Was Throwing in Field Goal Range A Mistake or Should Ryan Day’s Aggressiveness Be Lauded?
• 34:37 Why Andy Thinks the Narrative About Ohio State’s Final Drive in 2022 Peach Bowl is Unfair
• 36:46 Ryan Day’s Late-Game Clock Management Needs to Be Better, But Everything’s Easier in Hindsight
• 39:35 Ohio State Has Used Its Mulligan, But Still Controls Its Destiny in Big Ten and CFP Races
• 44:13 Options to Replace Josh Simmons: Zen Michalski, Austin Siereveld and Donovan Jackson?
• 49:30 National Championship Confidence Has Decreased, But We’re Still Picking OSU to Achieve Its Goals
• 55:35 Andy Will Spend His Bye-Week Saturday Playing Football

The first half of the season has all built up to this week’s road trip to Oregon, where the second-ranked Buckeyes will face the third-ranked Ducks in what’s not only one of the biggest games of Ohio State’s regular season but one of the biggest games of the entire year in all of college football. While Ohio State was heavily favored to win all of its first five games, this week brings a true matchup game for the Buckeyes in which they’ll be tested in all phases.

Ohio State has some potential advantages over Oregon, with its defensive line and running game looking like two of its biggest strengths. But the Buckeyes will have to break the trend of the past three weeks in which teams throughout the Big Ten have lost after long road trips. Will Howard faces his first major test as Ohio State’s quarterback, the offensive line faces its first major test in pass protection and the Buckeyes’ pass defense must prove it’s up to the task against an Oregon offense full of weapons.

We spend more than an hour previewing the game from all angles on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. The rundown below highlights some of the main topics we covered in our breakdown of the Buckeyes vs. the Ducks.

• 0:00 The First Marquee Game for Ohio State Has Arrived
• 4:30 OSU Offensive Line Passed A Test vs. Iowa, But Oregon Presents Bigger Test in Pass Protection
• 12:05 Defensive Front Has Momentum Off Iowa Dominance, But Oregon Brings Different Challenges
• 18:36 Ohio State’s Pass Defense Has Something to Prove Against Best Offense It’s Faced So Far
• 24:39 A Massive Measuring-Stick Game for Will Howard
• 33:38 Running the Ball Effectively to Take Pressure Off of Howard Will Be Crucial
• 39:04 Continuing to Excel in Red Zone, Situational Football Could Make the Difference
• 43:22 Why the Challenge of A Long Road Trip Shouldn’t Be Overlooked
• 50:44 Keys to the Game: Winning the Battle in the Trenches and the Running Game
• 55:48 The Importance of Avoiding Mistakes on Special Teams
• 56:54 Why Carnell Tate, Caleb Downs Are Our X-Factors for the Game
• 59:10 Our Score Predictions and Levels of Confidence in an Ohio State Win

There’s still a couple of lingering question marks, though it’s not necessarily what we thought the biggest concerns would be going into the season, as Ohio State’s linebacker play has been shaky while its offensive line has exceeded expectations. And there are certainly bigger tests to come than what the Buckeyes have faced so far, including this Saturday’s game against Iowa at Ohio Stadium (3:30 p.m., CBS).

With that being said, we both agree that we’re feeling just as if not more confident that Ohio State can achieve its goals of beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten and winning the national championship one month into the season as we did before it began.

On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we evaluate what we saw from Ohio State in the first month of the season before looking ahead to this week’s matchup against the Hawkeyes and the challenges they’ll present to the Buckeyes in the ground game on both sides of the ball.

The rundown for this week’s conversation:

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:27 Run Game, Jeremiah Smith, Safety Play Among Most Impressive Aspects of First Month
• 17:10 Linebacker Play Among Areas Where Defense Can Grow
• 30:40 Will Howard and Offensive Line Have Played Well, Still Have More to Prove vs. Better Defenses
• 38:45 Why Our Confidence That OSU Can Win the National Championship Has Only Grown
• 42:49 Iowa Will Test Ohio State in Run Game, But Buckeyes Should Have Advantage in Pass Game
• 51:24 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Iowa

While we agree with the widespread consensus that Ohio State is the class of the conference, that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes will easily run the table to a Big Ten title. Their conference schedule includes three of the conference’s other marquee teams – Oregon, Penn State and Michigan – while Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska have all established themselves firmly in the middle of the conference’s pack with the potential to surge higher.

Ohio State’s first Big Ten opponent can’t be overlooked either. Michigan State enters this week’s matchup against the Buckeyes with a 3-1 record, having already earned one conference win over Maryland, and the Spartans will be the toughest competition Ohio State has faced so far this season on both sides of the ball after the Buckeyes started their year with a trio of tuneup games against overmatched Group of 5 opponents.

That said, we spend most of this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays taking a big-picture look at the Big Ten and assessing which teams have impressed us most through the first four weeks of the season before turning our attention to the matchup with Michigan State and making our predictions for how the Buckeyes’ battle with the Spartans will play out.

The full rundown for this week’s episode:

• 0:00 Intro – The Tests Start Getting Tougher This Week at Michigan State
• 5:52 Oregon is Still Ohio State’s Top Competition in the Big Ten
• 10:08 Penn State is Probably the Big Ten’s Third-Best Team, But Big Tests Await vs. Illinois and USC
• 14:17 Illinois and Even Nebraska Look Improved, But Both Still Have to Prove Themselves
• 16:28 Michigan Shows It Can’t Be Written Off With Win over USC
• 23:05 Indiana Looks Like An 8+ Win Team
• 27:45 Rutgers is Off to An Impressive Start, Too
• 31:14 Iowa’s Resurgent Running Game Makes It Dangerous
• 35:24 Ranking Ohio State’s Big Ten Games From Most Difficult (Oregon) to Least Difficult (Purdue)
• 45:25 Aidan Chiles’ Ability to Throw Deep and Run Makes Michigan State A Test for OSU Defense
• 54:22 MSU’s Balanced Defense Will Be Toughest Competition So Far for Ohio State Offense
• 56:19 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Michigan State
• 59:03 As Big Ten Play Begins, The Focus Should Be On One Week At A Time

The Buckeyes haven’t faced any real tests yet, and they won’t this week either – at least we don’t think so – as Ohio State hosts Marshall in its final non-conference game of the regular season, a game the Buckeyes are favored to win by 40 points.

That said, the Buckeyes have looked the part of an elite team so far, dominating their first two opponents with a 52-6 win over Akron and a 56-0 rout of Western Michigan. Ohio State’s starting lineup is full of stars on both sides of the ball, and the first two games have demonstrated that the Buckeyes have a lot of talented backups, too.

On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we take a look at how Ohio State’s depth chart stacks up at every position so far this season and evaluate where the Buckeyes are the deepest and where question marks still linger.

Following a nearly hourlong discussion on the Buckeyes’ depth chart spanning their offense, defense and special teams, we conclude the show by making our predictions for how the Buckeyes will fare against the Thundering Herd and whether Michigan is headed for its second loss of September when it hosts USC this weekend.

The full rundown for this week’s episode:

• 0:00 Intro
• 4:46 Will Howard Solidified as Starting Quarterback; Could Julian Sayin Become No. 2 QB?
• 10:47 James Peoples Proving Himself as RB3 Behind TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins
• 13:46 Ohio State’s Receiving Corps Looks Better Than Last Year Even Without Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 19:40 Tight End Group Showing Depth But No Go-To Guy Yet
• 24:07 Ohio State’s Interior Offensive Line Two-Deep Looking Strong
• 29:27 Offensive Tackle Depth Remains the Biggest Concern on Ohio State’s Depth Chart
• 31:46 Defensive End is Ohio State’s Deepest Position
• 33:46 OSU Still Looking for More Defensive Tackle Depth Behind Strong Top Three
• 38:30 Arvell Reese’s Outstanding Start Bolsters Ohio State’s Linebacker Depth
• 41:38 Jermaine Mathews Jr., Lorenzo Styles Jr., Aaron Scott Jr. Giving OSU Great Cornerback Depth
• 46:36 Safety Depth Remains Question Even with Malik Hartford, Jaylen McClain Surging
• 49:32 With Joe McGuire’s Emergence at Punter, Kick Returner is Biggest Special Teams Question
• 53:39 Why We Both Expect Another Blowout Win from Ohio State vs. Marshall
• 57:06 Is Michigan Destined for Its Second Loss of September vs. USC?
• 1:02:26 Nebraska/Illinois, Michigan State/BC Among Other Big Ten Games to Watch This Weekend

For those who haven’t, Premierdrum is one of several Eleven Warriors site members – along with Brohio and 22buck, among others – who have taken it upon themselves to dig into the Michigan sign-stealing scandal and share what they’ve learned from their investigative reporting in the 11W forum. Premierdrum, who formerly worked for multiple Columbus TV stations, has used his background as a media member to uncover information about the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan and potential punishments the Wolverines could face as the NCAA awaits Michigan’s response to its Notice of Allegations.

Premierdrum’s posts have drawn thousands of daily visitors to Eleven Warriors as his reporting has garnered attention from Ohio State fans and others following the scandal, so we invited him onto this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays to share how and why he started reporting on the scandal, what he’s uncovered through his reporting and why he believes major sanctions and a possible coaching change could be coming for the Wolverines.

(Disclaimer: Premierdrum is not an employee of Eleven Warriors and his reports have not been confirmed by Eleven Warriors staff unless otherwise stated.)

Following our conversation with Premierdrum, Dan and Andy delve into the trouble Michigan is facing on the field after suffering a 31-12 loss to Texas this past weekend. Ohio State, on the other hand, looked like a championship-caliber team in its 56-0 win over Western Michigan, and we wrap up the show by talking about what impressed us most from the Buckeyes’ dominant performance against the Broncos.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:11 How Premierdrum Became An Investigative Reporter on the Michigan Scandal
• 4:45 Why Reality Could Be About to Catch Up with the Wolverines
• 6:56 The Evidence Against Michigan
• 11:05 Why “Three Goofballs on a Message Board” Are Worth Listening To
• 13:46 Potential Punishments (And A Coaching Change?) for Michigan
• 18:04 Why the NCAA Wants to Make An Example of Michigan
• 22:36 Could Michigan Self-Impose A Postseason Ban?
• 27:06 Premierdrum’s Thoughts on “Untold: Sign Stealer” and Connor Stalions
• 29:02 Premierdrum’s Excitement to Be in the “Find Out” Phase of the Scandal
• 31:38 Premierdrum’s Closing Thought: Support the Ohio State Marching Band
• 32:18 Dan and Andy React to What They Heard from Premierdrum
• 38:45 Michigan Doesn’t Look Like A Team That Will Be in the CFP This Season Either Way
• 46:31 Ohio State Looked Like A Championship-Caliber Team Against Western Michigan
• 49:57 Offensive Line, Chip Kelly’s Playcalling Among Ohio State’s Week 2 Standouts
• 51:58 Ryan Day Making Bigger Impact on Other Units With Chip Calling Offensive Plays
• 54:22 Is Oregon Still the Second-Best Team in the Big Ten After Slow Start?

With all the hype Ohio State entered the season with, much of the focus in the days following the Buckeyes’ first game of the year has been on what could have gone better – namely, an underwhelming start for the offense and specifically the offensive line, particularly in run blocking. But Ohio State still won its season opener by 46 points, which means there were far more positives than negatives.

There was no bigger positive than the play of Will Howard, who exhibited none of the accuracy issues that were present in the earlier stages of the offseason as he impressed as a passer while also proving to be a clear upgrade for the Buckeyes in terms of athleticism and pocket presence at the quarterback position. Other promising developments from the Buckeyes’ 52-6 victory included the immediate impact of Jeremiah Smith, the depth that stepped up in the defensive front six and the explosive punt returns of Brandon Inniss.

We spend more than half of this week’s show discussing our takeaways from the season opener before looking ahead to the Buckeyes’ second game this weekend against Western Michigan, who they’ll host in Ohio Stadium at night on Saturday. In the final segment of the show, we share our biggest takeaways from what we saw from the rest of college football in Week 1 as Oregon and Michigan struggled to beat lesser opponents, USC made a statement in its season opener and Florida State and Clemson stumbled out of the gates.

The rundown for Real Pod Wednesdays post-Week 1:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:57 Ohio State’s Season Opener Wasn’t Perfect, But the Buckeyes Still Won By 46
• 7:37 The Offensive Line Needs to Improve, But There’s Plenty of Time For It to Grow
• 9:33 Will Howard Looks Like A Quarterback Upgrade in Impressive Debut
• 14:28 Jeremiah Smith is Special
• 18:07 A Great Start for Ohio State’s Defense, Especially Its Defensive End Depth
• 22:36 Has Arvell Reese Already Surpassed C.J. Hicks at Linebacker?
• 28:51 Sonny Styles, Gabe Powers Also Impress at Linebacker
• 30:52 Brandon Inniss Looks Ready to End Ohio State’s Punt Return Touchdown Drought
• 35:21 OSU Still Wants Nick McLarty to Emerge, But Joe McGuire Had A Good Showing at Punter
• 37:12 Western Michigan Can’t Be Overlooked After Playing Wisconsin Tough, But OSU Should Still Win Big
• 42:41 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Western Michigan
• 45:27 Oregon is Still Ohio State’s Top Competition in Big Ten, But Must Play Better vs. Boise State
• 48:09 Michigan’s Opener Shows Major Concerns on Offense
• 51:20 Penn State, USC Highlight A Very Good All-Around Week 1 for the Big Ten
• 54:11 Miami Looks Like Early ACC Favorite As Florida State, Clemson Stumble Out of Gates

On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we preview Ohio State’s season opener against Akron and share our thoughts on Netflix’s Connor Stalions documentary while also making some big-picture predictions for the Buckeyes’ 2024 season.

In the first 20 minutes of the show, we discuss what we’re most eager to see from the Buckeyes in their first game of the year after eight months of hype and make our predictions for whether Ohio State will cover the 48.5-point spread.

In the middle segment of the show, we hand out some preseason superlatives by making our predictions for who will be the Buckeyes’ team MVP, All-Americans, breakout stars (other than Jeremiah Smith) and unsung heroes this season.

In the final third of the show, we give our opinions on what Stalions had to say about his role leading Michigan’s sign-stealing operation and why his story doesn’t add up, with a shoutout to Eleven Warriors’ own Brohio for his role in “Untold: Sign Stealer.”

The full rundown for our opening-week edition of RPW:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:38 What We’re Most Eager to See in Ohio State’s Season Opener
• 3:16 Everything Must Be Kept in Perspective in A Season Opener Against Akron
• 9:16 How Early Should The Backups Come In If The Game Becomes A Blowout?
• 13:30 Balancing Rotation and Experimentation with Building Rhythm and Chemistry
• 18:29 Why We Think Ohio State Will Cover the Spread
• 21:32 The Unanimous 11W Pick: Ohio State over Georgia in the National Championship Game
• 24:03 Team MVP Picks: Caleb Downs and Denzel Burke
• 27:12 How Many First-Team All-Americans Will Ohio State Have This Season?
• 32:30 Breakout Stars: Sonny Styles and Josh Simmons
• 37:04 Unsung Heroes: Lathan Ransom and Ty Hamilton
• 42:14 Why Connor Stalions’ Story Doesn‘t Add Up
• 51:41 Recognition for Brohio and Other Investigators in the Eleven Warriors Community
• 54:38 Now We Await Michigan’s Sanctions (Which Likely Won’t Come Until 2025)

While there’s no question that the likes of Denzel Burke, Jack Sawyer and Emeka Egbuka rank among Ohio State’s best players entering the 2024 season, the Buckeyes have enough depth at each of their positions to be OK if someone misses time. Losing a starting offensive tackle, safety or Will Howard, on the other hand, could be more concerning.

On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we discuss which Ohio State players most need to stay healthy and perform well for the Buckeyes to achieve their goals of beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten and winning the national championship this season.

Later in the show, we also discuss the ongoing backup quarterback competition between Devin Brown and Julian Sayin, why Justin Frye should be on the hot seat and why we think the Buckeyes got it right with their captain selections.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 4:12 As Ohio State’s New Starting QB, Will Howard Stands Out As Important Player
• 11:03 Why Josh Simmons, Josh Fryar Might Actually Be OSU’s Most Indispensable Players
• 17:12 Ohio State’s Most Important Defensive Player: Caleb Downs or Lathan Ransom?
• 20:33 Jordan Hancock’s Unique Skill Set at Nickel Makes Him One of Most Vital Defenders
• 23:45 Cody Simon, Ty Hamilton Are Important Defenders Who Shouldn‘t Be Overlooked
• 28:20 Donovan Jackson Being Dominant is Crucial to Offensive Line’s Success
• 30:25 Why Will Kacmarek Might Be the Most Important Non-QB or Lineman on Offense
• 33:09 Both Top Running Backs Are Needed, But We’re Confident in James Peoples
• 35:57 Who is More Likely to Start A Game This Season: Devin Brown or Julian Sayin?
• 41:25 Only A National Championship-Caliber Offensive Line Should Save Justin Frye’s Job
• 50:08 Sawyer, Simon, Egbuka and Henderson Were The Captains We Expected

First, we look at the just-released AP Top 25 and discuss whether the voters got it right by slotting Ohio State as the No. 2 team in college football behind Georgia entering the 2024 season.

After that, we break down the initial projected field for the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff and make our own predictions for which dozen teams will play in the four-round national championship tournament this December and January. We both agree that Ohio State, Georgia and Florida State will earn first-round byes as conference champions, but we have some different thoughts on who else will make the 12-team cut.

From there, we focus more specifically on Ohio State and evaluate the Buckeyes’ regular-season schedule with an eye toward which games will be the toughest tests for OSU.

Finally, we share our biggest takeaways from the past week of preseason camp and interview sessions as Will Howard closes in on Ohio State’s starting quarterback job and the Buckeyes project confidence about what they’ll accomplish this year.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:26 Buckeyes Are Ranked “Right Where They Should Be” (Even Though They Have the Best Roster)
• 6:07 A Look at the Top 15, Where No. 11 Missouri Might Be Underrated
• 9:43 Should ACC, Big 12 Champions Get CFP Byes When SEC, Big Ten Are Clear Top Two Conferences?
• 16:18 Which 12 Teams We Think Will Make the First 12-Team CFP
• 24:25 The 12-Team Playoff is Gonna Be A Lot of Fun, And Andy Has Fully Embraced It
• 32:29 How Ohio State’s 2024 Schedule Splits Up Into Four Tiers of Difficulty
• 34:22 Why Dan Thinks Michigan State Could Be the “Trap Game” on Ohio State’s Schedule
• 37:18 Why Iowa and Nebraska Are Opponents That Can’t Be Overlooked
• 42:37 Which Game Will Be Tougher: Michigan or Penn State?
• 45:54 It’s Only A Matter of Time (Thursday?) Before Will Howard is Named Ohio State’s Starting QB
• 49:32 Jeremiah Smith Remains Humble as His Hype Continue to Build
• 52:45 Buckeyes Showing Their Confidence, Building Competitiveness Through Trash Talk
• 57:28 Hero Kanu, Eddrick Houston, Carnell Tate Among Players Impressing in Camp
• 1:01:02 Ohio State’s Receiving Corps Could Be Better This Season Even Without Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 1:03:01 Arvell Reese, Gabe Powers, Jaylen McClain, Payton Pierce Boosting Defensive Depth

Howard was just one of many standouts during Ohio State’s first four practices. Linebackers Sonny Styles, Gabe Powers and Arvell Reese, offensive tackles Josh Simmons and Josh Fryar, cornerbacks Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Calvin Simpson-Hunt, freshman running backs James Peoples and Sam Wiliams-Dixon and the wide receiver trio of Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss were just some of the Buckeyes who caught our eye in the first week of camp.

We share all of our biggest takeaways from the first five days of camp on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

The rundown for the first RPW of camp:

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:09 Will Howard Showing He Can Be Good Enough as Ohio State’s Starting Quarterback
• 11:22 Sonny Styles Looking Like An Elite Linebacker; What Does That Mean for C.J. Hicks?
• 17:32 Tegra Tshabola Making Move at Right Guard as Rest of Offensive Line Solidifies
• 25:37 Ohio State’s Punter This Season: Nick McLarty or Anthony Venneri (Or Both)?
• 29:36 Will Kacmarek, Jelani Thurman Pushing Gee Scott Jr. at Tight End
• 33:35 Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss All Look Ready for Stardom
• 36:41 Sam Williams-Dixon, James Peoples Looking Ready to Play as Freshmen
• 39:26 Jermaine Mathews Jr., Calvin Simpson-Hunt Showing OSU Has Elite CB Depth
• 41:26 Jaylen McClain Looking Like Potential Answer to Safety Depth Concerns
• 42:12 Mitchell Melton, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Among Defensive Line Depth Standouts
• 44:21 Arvell Reese, Gabe Powers Making Case for Playing Time at Linebacker
• 45:57 There’s A Lot to Be Optimistic About with Ohio State Right Now

Thirty days before the Buckeyes begin their much-anticipated 2024 campaign against Akron on Aug. 31 at Ohio Stadium, Ohio State will take the field for its first of 25 preseason practices at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Thursday.

The good news for the Buckeyes entering preseason camp is that most of their starting lineup is already set. Everyone expects the defense to be one of if not the best in the country, and there’s no doubt the Buckeyes will be explosive at the offensive skill positions with the likes of TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith in their arsenal of weapons.

That said, there is still plenty that the Buckeyes need to accomplish over the next four weeks before the games begin. On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we preview preseason camp by discussing the most important things Ohio State needs to accomplish over the next month.

At the end of the show, we also spend some time discussing Ohio State men’s basketball’s additions of Ques Glover and Ivan Njegovan to round out the Buckeyes’ 2024-25 roster.

The full rundown for our final RPW of July:

• 0:00 Intro
• 3:07 Ohio State Must Try to Avoid Allowing Quarterback Competition to Bleed Into Season Again
• 10:41 Firming Up the Starting Offensive Line Might Be Even More Important
• 20:04 Sonny Styles vs. C.J. Hicks is the Only Real Position Battle on Defense (And Both Should Play)
• 26:53 Ryan Day Says Ohio State Needs to Find Its Offensive Identity; What Will That Look Like?
• 34:22 Buckeyes Must Balance Building Physicality, Toughness with Keeping Team Healthy
• 38:17 Offensive Tackle, Safety, Running Back Among Positions Where OSU Must Build Depth
• 45:00 Why Ques Glover, Ivan Njegovan Are Strong Late-Summer Additions for OSU Basketball

After Ohio State coach Ryan Day, cornerback Denzel Burke, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and defensive end Jack Sawyer participated in their media sessions at Lucas Oil Stadium on Tuesday, we sat down inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday morning to share our biggest takeaways from what we heard from the Buckeyes. (Note: This episode of Real Pod Wednesdays was recorded before Wednesday’s Big Ten Media Days interview sessions.)

Among those takeaways: Carson Hinzman sounds like a strong candidate to start on the offensive line even with the addition of former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin, the hype around freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith just keeps growing and Will Howard still has work to do to prove he should be Ohio State’s starting quarterback this season.

The full rundown of what we’re talking about on our Indianapolis edition of RPW:

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:24 Carson Hinzman, Seth McLaughlin could both start at either center or right guard
• 6:11 Denzel Burke, Ryan Day not ready to fully endorse Will Howard yet
• 8:37 Burke not backing down from “natty or bust” declaration
• 9:56 Jeremiah Smith draws more praise from Burke, Jack Sawyer
• 12:56 Brandon Inniss also remains a major player to watch at wide receiver
• 14:02 Caleb Downs could see action on offense, but not a true RB depth piece
• 18:31 Ryan Day trusting Chip Kelly to establish offensive identity
• 21:36 Nick McLarty seems like the frontrunner to be Ohio State’s punter
• 24:15 Sawyer makes it clear that players stand behind Ryan Day
• 27:12 Everyone’s talking about expectations and Michigan, but Day’s focused on preseason camp

Ohio State’s star-studded lineup for the 2024 season gave us plenty of options to choose from as we conducted our annual Real Pod Wednesdays draft to build head-to-head lineups for a hypothetical game of Buckeyes vs. Buckeyes between our two hosts.

Eleven Warriors beat writers Dan Hope and Andy Anders conducted a snake-format draft to build 22-man teams consisting of players on Ohio State’s 2024 football roster. Dan won the coin toss for the No. 1 overall pick, after which Andy and Dan alternated selections two at a time until both teams had drafted 11 offensive players and 11 defensive players for a total of 44 selections.

The ground rules for the draft required each of us to draft one quarterback, five offensive linemen and five skill-position players (wide receivers, running backs or tight ends) on offense and at least three defensive linemen, two linebackers and four defensive backs with two flexible selections on defense. Ultimately, Dan and Andy both chose to draft three wide receivers with one running back and one tight end on offense and to draft four defensive linemen, two linebackers, three cornerbacks and two safeties on defense, mirroring Ohio State’s actual base offensive and defensive personnel alignments.

We made each of our selections in real time on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. The full list of selections and where you can hear us talk about each of them is below.

0:00 Intro
6:35 1. Dan – Caleb Downs
7:36 2/3. Andy – Donovan Jackson and Emeka Egbuka
8:53 4/5. Dan – Denzel Burke and Josh Simmons
9:53 6/7. Andy – Jordan Hancock and Jack Sawyer
11:25 8/9. Dan – Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith
11:59 10/11. Andy – Lathan Ransom and Seth McLaughlin
13:09 12/13. Dan – Josh Fryar and Tyleik Williams
13:56 14/15. Andy – Tegra Tshabola and Sonny Styles
15:13 16/17. Dan – JT Tuimoloau and TreVeyon Henderson
15:44 18/19. Andy – Quinshon Judkins and Davison Igbinosun
17:06 20/21. Dan – Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Cody Simon
17:56 22/23. Andy – Brandon Inniss and Ty Hamilton
19:38 24/25. Dan – C.J. Hicks and Carson Hinzman
20:35 26/27. Andy – Luke Montgomery and Malik Hartford
21:38 28/29. Dan – Carnell Tate and Gee Scott Jr.
22:41 30/31. Andy – Caden Curry and Gabe Powers
25:00 32/33. Dan – Kayden McDonald and Lorenzo Styles Jr.
25:25 34/35. Andy – Bryson Rodgers and Jelani Thurman
26:31 36/37. Dan – Austin Siereveld and Joshua Padilla
27:26 38/39. Andy – Jason Moore and George Fitzpatrick
29:58 40/41. Dan – Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Mylan Graham
31:09 42/43. Andy – Devin Brown and Calvin Simpson-Hunt
33:55 44. Dan – Keenan Nelson Jr.
35:12 How our teams compare with each other

Visit elevenwarriors.com for more analysis of each pick and to vote for whose team you think would win.

The Buckeyes have strengthened their position at the top of the team composite recruiting rankings, currently leading No. 2 Alabama by nearly 20 points, by landing commitments from 11 prospects since the start of June: running backs Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, wide receivers Quincy Porter and Bodpegn Miller, tight end Brody Lennon, center Jake Cook, defensive end Zion Grady, defensive tackles Maxwell Roy and Trajen Odom, linebacker Riley Pettijohn and safety Faheem Delane.

Ohio State is now up to 23 commits in the 2025 recruiting class, including four five-star commitments from Pettijohn, quarterback Tavien St. Clair and cornerbacks Devin Sanchez and Na’eem Offord.

That said, the Buckeyes still have some work to do to round out the class. Landing five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. remains THE top priority for the Buckeyes, while Ohio State also remains in the market for another interior offensive lineman, another defensive tackle, another wide receiver or two and ideally one more running back, one more cornerback and one more safety.

With summer official visits and a big wave of commitments now complete, Eleven Warriors recruiting reporter Garrick Hodge joins us on this week’s show to help us break down why the 2025 recruiting class could be Ohio State’s best ever and the boxes Ohio State still needs to check to actually get there and secure its first-ever composite No. 1 recruiting class.

The rundown of what we talked about and when:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:41 Ohio State in Great Position for No. 1 Recruiting Class
• 1:58 Out-of-State Wins Help Make Up for A Few In-State Misses
• 8:07 Defense Leading the Way for Ohio State’s 2025 Class
• 9:05 Tavien St. Clair’s Drama-Free Recruitment A Huge Win for Buckeyes
• 12:48 Anthony Rogers Flip Would Complete Excellent RB Class
• 16:42 Quincy Porter Leads WR Class, Where A Few Targets Remain
• 21:38 Keenan Bailey Gets Exactly What He Wants at Tight End
• 22:55 David Sanders Jr. Remains A Must-Get for Ohio State
• 29:47 Ohio State Has Loaded DE Class, Still Needs A Premier DT
• 35:44 James Laurinaitis Hits Home Run in Year One Even Without Justin Hill
• 39:40 Dorian Brew’s Oregon Pledge Leaves Third CB Options Thin
• 43:50 Ohio State in Good Shape at Safety Even If It Loses Trey McNutt

Just before the halfway point of his year as the leader of The Ohio State University, Carter sat down with us for a 30-minute conversation last week to talk about his first six months on the job, what sports mean to him as a former Navy hockey player, the athletic director transition from Gene Smith to Ross Bjork, how Ohio State is preparing for a new era of college sports and more.

We bring you that conversation in its entirety on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

The rundown of what we talked about with Carter:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:27 What Sports Mean to Ted Carter
• 1:49 Carter’s First Six Months as President Have Been “Awesome”
• 2:40 How Sports Have Helped Shape Carter’s Approach as President
• 4:12 Working with Gene Smith A “Privilege” for Carter
• 6:06 Why Carter Hired Ross Bjork as Athletic Director
• 7:11 OSU Expects Athletics to Remain Self-Sufficient, But Won’t Cut Sports
• 9:22 Carter Wants Athletes to Remain Students, Not Employees, in Revenue Sharing Era
• 12:51 How Carter Balances His Many Duties as OSU President
• 16:54 What West Coast Expansion Will Add to Big Ten
• 18:29 How Naval Career Prepared Carter to Embrace Change
• 19:59 Carter Learning Just How Much People Care About OSU
• 21:16 Carter “Very Impressed” with Ryan Day
• 21:58 Miracle on Ice Jersey, Blue Angels Helmet Among Carter’s Prized Possessions
• 24:58 Women’s Hockey National Title An Early Highlight of Carter’s Presidency
• 25:21 Carter Expects Ohio State Football to “Be Really Good This Year”
• 25:46 Carter Already A Columbus Blue Jackets Fan
• 26:46 Carter’s Favorite Moment from His Own Hockey Career
• 29:12 Becoming OSU President Beyond Carter’s “Wildest Imagination”

Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA will officially become members of the conference on Monday, bringing in a new era for what’s traditionally been a Midwest-based conference. From a football standpoint, the Big Ten’s newest round of expansion should immediately make the conference more competitive as Oregon enters 2024 as a major College Football Playoff contender while Washington is the defending national runner-up and USC has a history of competing for championships.

With that in mind, we thought this week would be a good time to take a look at how the Big Ten stacks up entering the 2024 season with a focus on the conference’s new teams and the teams that we expect to be Ohio State’s toughest competition for the conference title this year.

Both of us agree that Oregon will be Ohio State’s biggest challenger for the Big Ten championship this year while Penn State and Michigan round out the conference’s top tier of teams entering the 2024 season. Iowa, USC, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Rutgers – yes, Rutgers – are among the teams to watch in the second tier of the conference while Washington and Indiana are other teams we’ll be keeping an eye on in the Big Ten this year.

We spent the first 42-minutes of the show breaking down Ohio State’s competition in the Big Ten before concluding this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesday with some discussion about what’s been a very successful month of June for Ohio State on the recruiting trail.

The rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:25 Expansion Sacrifices Regionality But Makes Big Ten More Competitive
• 12:36 Oregon Will Be A Major Big Ten Contender in Year One
• 15:57 Penn State Has the Third-Best Roster in the Big Ten
• 18:38 Michigan Should Take A Step Back But Can’t Be Overlooked
• 22:55 USC Unlikely to Be Big Ten Championship Contender Right Away
• 25:49 Iowa, Nebraska Among Second-Tier Teams That Could Make Noise
• 29:11 Thanks to Schedules, Rutgers Could Finish Ahead of Wisconsin
• 33:32 Washington Lost A Lot of Talent But Shouldn’t Be Written Off
• 35:36 Indiana Has Potential to Make A Jump Under Curt Cignetti
• 36:39 Our Big Ten Championship Game Prediction
• 39:09 Our Big Ten Picks to Make the CFP
• 41:21 Why Ohio State vs. Michigan Could Have Very High Stakes on Both Sides
• 42:38 Ohio State is “Cooking” on the Recruiting Trail
• 43:59 Ryan Day Building His Best Defensive Recruiting Class
• 46:46 David Sanders Jr. is the Recruit Ohio State Must Land
• 51:26 Justin Hill, Dorian Brew, Defensive Tackles Among Ohio State’s Other Priorities
• 55:39 Taking More Chances on In-State Prospects Can Pay Off for Ohio State

Less than two weeks away from his retirement, Ohio State’s athletic director says he isn’t having any second thoughts about his decision to move on at the end of the month. After 19 years leading OSU’s athletic department, Smith feels ready to move to Arizona, play more golf and spend more time with his grandchildren.

Before leaving Columbus, however, Smith joined us for nearly 30 minutes on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays to talk about how he’s helped Ohio State prepare for the future and reflect on his career in Columbus.

Following our conversation with the athletic director, we shared our thoughts on what Smith had to say about the changes that could be required for Ohio State to continue funding 36 sports in the revenue-sharing era, how OSU is prioritizing the success of its football program and what we believe Smith should be most remembered for.

The rundown of our conversation:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:07 Gene Smith is Ready for Retirement
• 3:54 Why and How Smith Went All In on Ohio State Football in His Final Offseason on the Job
• 7:31 Gene Smith Expects First-Year Challenges But Long-Term Success for Jake Diebler
• 10:24 Gene’s Advice for Ross Bjork: “Pause and Don’t Press”
• 13:06 How Ohio State is Preparing for Revenue Sharing in College Sports
• 17:03 Ohio State Committed to Keeping 36 Sports, But Funding for Some Sports Will Change
• 18:22 How Ohio State Teaches Financial Literacy to Its Athletes
• 21:36 Smith Concerned About Academic Ramifications of Transfers
• 23:37 Why Helping Athletes Off the Field Was So Important to Gene
• 26:34 Football and Wrestling National Championships Among Gene’s Proudest Accomplishments
• 29:52 Reaction to Gene’s Comments About Football Investment, Funding for Other Sports
• 37:56 How We’ll Remember Gene Smith’s Tenure as Athletic Director

With high school football camps and official visits ongoing at Ohio State this month, the Buckeyes are in the heart of their efforts to build their 2025 recruiting class. Those efforts have gone quite well so far as Ohio State currently has the top-ranked recruiting class in the country, receiving another boost to that No. 1 ranking on Sunday when No. 2 safety Faheem Delane committed to the Buckeyes.

Those efforts may be bolstered by the fact that Ohio State projects to have plenty of opportunities available for new players to compete for playing time next year. While the Buckeyes are set to have a veteran-heavy starting lineup this year, most of their 2024 starters will be on their way to the NFL in 2025, leaving many doors open for new starters and contributors to emerge a year from now.

While that makes this year a “natty or bust” season for the Buckeyes, Ohio State still projects to have a roster loaded with talent next year. The long-term outlook is certainly stronger at some positions than it is at others, though.

With that in mind, we take a position-by-position look at how Ohio State’s roster could stack up at each position in 2025 – not to look past what could be a special season in 2024, but to put into perspective the combination of player development, recruiting and potential transfer additions Ohio State will be relying on to build another championship-caliber roster a year from now.

Following that conversation, we also spend a few minutes at the end of the show discussing Andy’s top takeaways from Jake Diebler’s first press conference of the summer, starting with how Diebler’s upfront approach to championship expectations differs from his predecessor Chris Holtmann.

The rundown of where you can hear us talk about what in this week’s show:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:17 Ohio State’s 2025 class is the best in the country right now
• 2:31 Ohio State will likely have to replace most of its starters after this year
• 9:22 Long-term QB outlook looks great on paper, but roster retention questions will remain
• 12:43 Ohio State will likely need to add another transfer RB next year
• 16:46 Wide receiver might have the best long-term outlook of any position on OSU’s roster
• 20:56 Multiple tight ends playing big roles this year would benefit 2025 Buckeyes
• 23:39 Offensive line could be an even bigger question mark entering next year than this year
• 32:29 Defensive line set up for success in 2025 despite four senior starters
• 37:39 OSU well-stocked at linebacker if C.J. Hicks, Sonny Styles stay for senior seasons
• 43:21 Cornerback future looks very bright despite possibly losing three starters after this year
• 45:38 Strong safety a question mark for 2025, but it’s nice to know Caleb Downs will be back
• 48:02 Jake Diebler’s embrace of championship expectations is important
• 52:29 Diebler is turning the page from Chris Holtmann, which he needed to
• 55:36 Devin Royal, Juni Mobley could be keys to OSU’s 3-point shooting
• 58:48 OSU still expected to add frontcourt depth with final scholarship

Ohio State has already hosted its first 10 official visitors of June, netting the Buckeyes their first commitment of the month from running back Bo Jackson. Camp season begins at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Wednesday as the Buckeyes will host seven high school football camps – five skill camps and two 7-on-7 tournaments – over the next 14 days, and the Buckeyes will host many more of their top targets in the 2025 recruiting class for official visits over the next three weekends.

With so much happening on the recruiting front, Eleven Warriors recruiting reporter Garrick Hodge joins us on Real Pod Wednesdays this week to break down where the Buckeyes stand in their pursuits for their top targets in the 2025 class and what we’ll be watching for during camp season.

A rundown of what we’re talking about this week:

• 0:00: Intro
• 0:53: Why Bo Jackson is a Big Recruiting Win for Carlos Locklyn
• 4:51: Jordon Davison, Isaiah West Could Still Join Jackson in Ohio State’s 2025 RB Class
• 7:19: Landing Premier Offensive Tackle David Sanders Jr. is Ohio State’s Top Recruiting Priority
• 10:05: Landing Faheem Delane or Trey McNutt is Ohio State’s No. 2 Priority
• 11:52: Ohio State Still in Good Position for Dorian Brew
• 13:26: Ohio State Well-Positioned with Several Interior Offensive Linemen
• 16:27: Justin Hill Could Bring the “Jack” Back to Ohio State
• 19:12: Trajen Odom, Malik Autry Among Defensive Line Targets to Watch
• 23:03: Cautious Optimism Ohio State Will Land Another Top Linebacker
• 24:48: On-Field Defensive Results Leading to Better Defensive Recruiting
• 26:50: Ohio State in the Race for Dakorien Moore
• 28:35: Why Jamie Ffrench Might Be Trending Away from Ohio State
• 30:38: OSU Has Plenty of Candidate for Another Great Receiver Class
• 32:47: Tavien St. Clair Has Grown Into Elite Quarterback Prospect
• 36:22: De’Zie Jones, Eli Lee Are OSU’s Most Underrated Commits
• 38:16: Jahkeem Stewart, Nate Roberts Headline This Week’s Campers
• 43:08: Dia Bell, Brady Palmer Among 2026 Quarterbacks to Watch
• 45:00: Lots of Tight End Talent Coming to Campus This Week

As part of a settlement of three antitrust lawsuits last week, the NCAA committed to allowing schools to share revenue with their athletes beginning in 2025, ending the NCAA’s longstanding ban on schools paying athletes.

We spend this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays discussing why it was time for the NCAA to embrace revenue sharing, how the change could impact Ohio State, the lingering questions that remain unanswered and why the model created by the settlement is more likely to be a temporary fix than a permanent solution.

The full rundown for this week’s conversation:

• 1:57: We didn’t necessarily expect it to come this quickly, but revenue sharing was inevitable
• 5:45: It’s both a huge change for the NCAA and a natural evolution of what was happening with NIL
• 9:43: Players’ “salaries” should be coming from school revenues, not fan donations
• 12:26: Bringing collectives in-house could give the NCAA another chance to regulate NIL
• 15:58: Like it or not, college sports are gradually becoming more and more like professional sports
• 19:10: Ohio State will have to share a far smaller piece of its pie than most other schools
• 21:37: From a roster-building standpoint, Ohio State would benefit if there was no sharing cap
• 23:29: Revenue cap could increase gap between OSU basketball and basketball-first schools
• 30:28: Should OSU keep all 36 sports if it can’t fund all 36 at a championship-contending level?
• 33:37: OSU will need donors to fund smaller sports, but football can’t subsidize 34 sports anymore
• 35:43: Should Title IX apply to revenue sharing when football, men’s basketball make most of the money?
• 40:12: Ohio State should look for ways to generate more revenue from other sports
• 42:12: Will the NCAA’s efforts to regulate revenue sharing be more successful than it’s been with NIL?
• 45:10: The new revenue-sharing model isn’t likely to be a permanent solution
• 46:14: Collective bargaining is necessary to create a long-term system that works for everyone

The Buckeyes added some key depth at safety in the form of South Carolina’s Keenan Nelson Jr., but no players that will make an immediate impact have been or appear likely to be added to the team in the second portal window.

With Dan Hope on vacation, Eleven Warriors producer Chase Brown joined Real Pod Wednesdays this week to discuss why Ohio State’s portal inactivity speaks to the confidence Ryan Day has in the roster he’s already built.

Marvin Harrison Jr. is being sued by Fanatics for a breach of contract but the details of the suit still seem murky at this stage, while elsewhere the Big Ten is raking in big bucks – with more money to come on the horizon.

A full rundown of what we discussed on this week’s episode:

• 0:49: Safety Keenan Nelson Jr. is the only transfer Ohio State has added so far, but that mainly shows satisfaction with its current roster
• 5:38: Our level of confidence in the offensive line as constructed
• 12:36: The Buckeyes’ starting running back tandem and scheme under Chip Kelly should help matters on the ground
• 15:25: Fanatics is suing Marvin Harrison Jr. and the situation is convoluted
• 23:28: Blake Woodby has decommitted from Ohio State but the Tim Walton train isn’t slowing down
• 27:21: The Buckeyes will get to play at Wrigley Field this year, which is neat
• 30:24: College football is more of a business than ever and business is booming in the Big Ten, to the tune of $880 million
• 41:38: Women’s hockey coach Nadine Muzerall landed a well-earned contract extension this week
• 44:27: Men’s tennis falls short on another attempted national championship run

With the eventual national championship game participants facing the possibility of playing as many as 16 or 17 games this season, Ohio State coach Ryan Day said this spring the Buckeyes need to have depth they can rely on at every position as they set their sights on winning it all.

“We're trying to build three-deep at each position,” Day said. “We used to say a pair and a spare, now we need three at each position. So we need to build depth at all positions.”

With that in mind, we assess Ohio State’s depth at every position on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. While Ohio State’s depth chart is loaded from top to bottom at some positions, such as cornerback and defensive end, there are lingering depth concerns at some other positions, particularly on the offensive line and at safety.

If you’re more interested in what we have to say about specific positions than others, here are the timestamps for where you can listen to our conversations about each position group:

• 1:03: Ohio State may have found its new punter by adding Buffalo transfer Anthony Venneri
• 4:32: Ohio State has the deepest quarterback unit among college football’s top 25 teams
• 11:37: Running backs behind TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins promising but unproven
• 18:01: Wide receiver two-deep should be loaded despite lower than ideal scholarship numbers
• 25:31: Ohio State lacks proven starter at tight end but has no shortage of options
• 31:25: Tackle depth among multiple offensive line concerns with no post-spring transfer addition
• 38:49: Kayden McDonald, Jason Moore, Hero Kanu among promising defensive tackle depth
• 43:17: Ohio State should have elite three-deep at defensive end
• 45:18: For a 4-2-5 defense, Ohio State has plenty of depth at linebacker
• 49:09: Cornerback is Ohio State’s strongest position group from top to bottom
• 53:20: Safety depth will be major question mark if Ohio State doesn’t land a veteran transfer
• 1:00:11: Overall, Ohio State’s defensive depth should be the best in the country

Six players from Ohio State entered the portal during the spring window, but none of them – running back Dallan Hayden, wide receiver Kyion Grayes, guard Enokk Vimahi, linebacker Nigel Glover and safeties Ja’Had Carter and Cedrick Hawkins – were in line to play major roles for the Buckeyes in 2024.

As a result, Ohio State has secured one of college football’s best and deepest rosters for the upcoming season even though it hasn’t made any post-spring transfer additions yet.

There aren’t a ton of obvious targets available in the portal for the Buckeyes to upgrade their roster, leaving one major question mark at right guard, but the Buckeyes will have healthy competitions both along the offensive line and at quarterback going into preseason camp since they were able to keep their rosters intact at those positions.

We begin this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays by recapping a largely uneventful spring transfer window in college football and why that’s a good thing for the Buckeyes.

Later, we talk about the lingering needs for Ohio State men’s basketball and what options remain to fill them; a smaller-than-expected 2024 NFL draft class for Ohio State that still led to good fits for each of the four Buckeyes who were selected; and why it’s a long shot for Ohio State’s 2025 NFL draft class to break the all-time record for total selections even though it should be a prolific draft class.

The full rundown:

• 0:11: Post-spring roster retention went as well as Ohio State could have hoped
• 1:55: An uneventful portal cycle was good news for OSU, even if it limits OSU’s upgrade options
• 4:23: There doesn’t appear to be a plug-and-play, sure-fire upgrade available at right guard
• 6:21: Ohio State’s quarterback depth will be the envy of college football
• 8:46: Across the board, there’s far less talent in the portal now than there was in January
• 10:43: Safety, running back are positions where Ohio State could another depth piece
• 12:22: Defensive line, cornerback among positions where OSU’s depth really stands out
• 14:27: OSU should consider giving Inky Jones, TC Caffey scholarships if some remain open
• 19:11: Basketball transfer options dwindling after OSU misses out on Trey Townsend, others
• 21:51: Sean Stewart is the top remaining target for OSU, who must beat out competition for him
• 23:23: Kris Parker, Elijah Saunders, Langdon Hatton among other possible forward targets
• 25:41: OSU could use another center to back up Aaron Bradshaw, but there’s no clear target
• 28:47: OSU’s 2024 NFL draft smaller than expected, but Buckeyes’ picks set up to succeed
• 36:16: Josh Proctor, Xavier Johnson most likely to make teams among undrafted Buckeyes
• 40:10: Ohio State has as many as 20 prospects on NFL scouts’ radars for 2025 draft
• 44:56: A lot would have to go right for Ohio State to break the single-year draft pick record
• 47:16: Ohio State should have a lot more picks in the first two days of next year’s draft alone
• 49:49: Will players with NFL draft decisions be as motivated to stay next year as this year?
• 54:11: It shouldn’t be forgotten how hard it is to get drafted when forecasting to next year
• 54:52: Denzel Burke, Jack Sawyer, Emeka Egbuka among potential first-round picks in 2025
• 59:39: OSU won’t have a lot of junior starters this year, leaving fewer early departure candidates

Programming note: There will be no episode of Real Pod Wednesdays next week. RPW will return for its next episode on May 15.

While there’s still one week to go in the post-spring transfer window for college football, Ohio State has seen just two players leave the program since the end of spring practice. That goes hand in hand with what’s been a much quieter-than-expected post-spring transfer window across the nation.

The basketball transfer portal, on the other hand, remains busy more than two weeks after the final game of the season. It’s been a back-and-forth cycle of roster movement for the Buckeyes, who landed their third transfer commitment of the offseason Saturday from former San Diego State wing Micah Parrish but saw that followed by Felix Okpara leaving the program one day later and Roddy Gayle Jr. transferring to their archrival two days later.

On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we discuss Ohio State’s transfer portal activity in both sports – or lack thereof on the football side – plus look ahead to this week’s NFL draft by making some predictions on where the Buckeyes’ top prospects will end up and identifying which less heralded Ohio State prospects we’d “bang the table” for.

The full rundown:

• 0:25: Lack of post-spring transfer attrition has gone as well as OSU could have hoped so far
• 6:12: Ohio State still wants a transfer offensive lineman, but it needs the right guy to enter the portal
• 8:40: College basketball’s portal craziness epitomized by Roddy Gayle Jr. going to Michigan
• 11:04: Roster retention hasn’t gone as planned, putting more pressure to perform on Jake Diebler​
• 15:08: Aaron Bradshaw can replace Felix Okpara, but Okpara is the more proven player
• 16:18: Ohio State needs to find two complementary players to fill out its frontcourt
• 23:09: Diebler needs to add the best players possible, then build his system around them
• 25:39: Ohio State’s draft class is smaller than usual, but it should still have at least five picks again
• 27:52: Mike Hall’s upside makes him a potential second-round steal
• 30:06: Marvin Harrison Jr. should be the first receiver and non-quarterback off the board
• 33:00: Why Cade Stover would be a good third-round fit for the Cincinnati Bengals
• 34:10: Tommy Eichenberg, Josh Proctor likely to be fourth and fifth Buckeyes drafted
• 35:38: The case for Xavier Johnson and Matt Jones to be late-round draft picks
• 38:39: Jesse Mendez and Kyle Snyder continue to shine at Olympic wrestling trials

Quarterback and offensive line have been the biggest positions of concern for Ohio State dating back to this time last season, and that didn’t change this spring. While Will Howard still looks like the frontrunner to start at quarterback for the Buckeyes, our opportunities to watch him throw this spring left us wanting more. And it’s clear Ohio State still doesn’t have five offensive linemen that it fully trusts.

All of that said, we remain confident about Ohio State beating Michigan, getting back to the top of the Big Ten and making the College Football Playoff. We believe OSU’s chances of winning the national championship are as good as just about anyone else, too, though there are plenty of hurdles the Buckeyes will have to clear first to get there.

With spring practices now complete, we share our biggest takeaways from the spring game, what we expect from the Buckeyes in the post-spring transfer window and our post-spring outlook for Ohio State’s 2024 season on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

The rundown:

• 0:07: The spring game showed OSU’s talent, but didn’t answer our QB and OL questions
• 4:51: Will Howard is still Ohio State’s likely starter; is he good enough to win a championship?
• 13:28: It seems the quarterbacks will have much more freedom to run the ball with Chip Kelly
• 17:19: Right guard is top transfer portal priority as offensive line isn’t where it needs to be yet
• 26:24: Aside from offensive line, OSU doesn’t need any other starters from the transfer portal
• 29:21: The offense “won” the spring game, but the defense was what stood out
• 31:09: Secondary allows OSU to be more aggressive with C.J. Hicks, Sonny Styles as blitzers
• 33:48: Post-spring transfer window will likely be busier this year, but Tuesday was a quiet first day
• 36:50: Jaylen McClain, Sam Williams-Dixon, Eddrick Houston among spring game freshman stars
• 38:41: Inky Jones, TC Caffey, Brennen Schramm among walk-ons who showed talent in spring game
• 40:39: It was fun to actually see some schematic wrinkles in the spring game for a change
• 43:29: Dan was “The Peoples Champ” of our spring game fantasy draft
• 47:42: Confidence percentages for OSU beating Michigan, winning Big Ten, making CFP, winning natty

While Will Howard entered the spring as the frontrunner to start at quarterback, the competition has heated up over the past five weeks. Not only is Devin Brown pushing Howard for the starting job, but true freshman Julian Sayin is becoming a real factor in the competition, adding intrigue to Saturday’s spring game as each of them looks to make their case that they should be Ohio State’s starter this season.

Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs and Ohio State’s offensive line will also be in the spotlight on Saturday as Smith and Downs look to keep their hype trains rolling while the Buckeyes continue to evaluate whether they have the pieces they need on the right side of the offensive line. We discuss all of the top storylines entering the spring game on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays.

To add a layer of fun to our spring game viewing experience, we also conducted a fantasy draft to pick the offensive skill-position players who we think will have the biggest spring games on Saturday. Each of us drafted one quarterback, one running back, one wide receiver, one tight end and one flex player – which both of us used on a second wide receiver – to build teams that will be scored using standard fantasy football scoring (one point per 25 passing yards, four points per passing touchdown, one point per 10 rushing/receiving yards and six points per rushing/receiving touchdown).

Spring Game Fantasy Draft Picks:
1. Dan – Jeremiah Smith, WR
2. Andy – Quinshon Judkins, RB
3. Andy – Carnell Tate, WR
4. Dan – Julian Sayin, QB
5. Dan – Jelani Thurman, TE
6. Andy – Devin Brown, QB
7. Andy – Brandon Inniss, WR (Flex)
8. Dan – James Peoples, RB
9. Dan – Bryson Rodgers, WR (Flex)
10. Andy – Gee Scott Jr., TE

In the second half of the show, we discuss the state of Ohio State’s running backs room following Monday’s news that Dallan Hayden will enter the transfer portal. We wrap up the show by discussing all of the latest news on the Ohio State men’s basketball front including the hirings of Joel Justus and Jamall Walker, John Calipari’s reported interest in the job that ultimately went to Jake Diebler and the commitment of five-star point guard Marcus Johnson.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:07: Quarterback competition is the big spring game storyline, especially with Julian Sayin’s progress
• 9:25: We’re all excited to watch Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs play in the Shoe for the first time
• 14:06: Ryan Day leaving the door open for a transfer addition on right side of offensive line
• 19:54: C.J. Hicks, Sonny Styles, Bryson Rodgers among others to watch in spring game
• 22:10: Drafting our spring game fantasy teams
• 29:35: Ohio State still has the depth it needs at running back even with Dallan Hayden’s exit
• 35:43: Expect more transfers next week because that’s just the way college football is now
• 39:22: Carlos Locklyn won the introductory press conference
• 42:49: Jake Diebler makes two strong assistant coach hires in Joel Justus, Jamall Walker
• 48:30: Money, timing, long-term upside among factors in OSU hiring Diebler over John Calipari
• 55:12: Ohio State lands a huge piece for the future with commitment of Marcus Johnson

On the gridiron, Ohio State has now completed 10 of its 15 spring practices, highlighted by its Student Appreciation Day scrimmage on Saturday. Jeremiah Smith and C.J. Hicks are among the Buckeyes turning heads on the practice field while quarterback and offensive line remain Ohio State’s biggest question marks with a week-and-a-half of spring ball to go. Who will coach the running backs is no longer a question, though, with the hiring of Carlos Locklyn to replace Tony Alford.

On the hardcourt, postseason roster movement is in full swing for Ohio State men’s basketball as the Buckeyes made a big splash in the transfer portal by adding Meechie Johnson but subsequently lost one of their top players with the departure of Roddy Gayle Jr., who joined Scotty Middleton and Bowen Hardman as Buckeyes who have gone portaling since the season ended last week.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:58: It’s no longer a question of whether Jeremiah Smith will start but how good he’ll be right away
• 5:27: Will Howard leaving the door open for Devin Brown, maybe even Julian Sayin to be starting QB
• 12:43: C.J. Hicks seems to be making a move toward a breakout season
• 16:21: Ohio State’s defensive tackle depth looks promising with emergence of second-year players
• 18:54: Bryson Rodgers doesn’t have a clear path to the field yet, but he’s making a case for himself
• 21:05: Luke Montgomery, Josh Fryar looking likely to be starting right side of offensive line
• 26:28: Ohio State’s offensive line doesn’t look great yet, but it at least looks better than last year
• 28:47: Carlos Locklyn looks like a good running back coach hire despite his limited experience
• 35:03: Tim Drevno should be valuable asset for offensive line, adds pressure for Justin Frye
• 39:00: Meechie Johnson is a great addition, but transfer portal has been a net loss for OSU so far
• 42:15: Ohio State still in the market for another transfer guard (Matt Allocco? Bronny James?) 
• 45:28: Is Meechie an upgrade over Roddy Gayle? That depends on how you look at it
• 46:50: Adding a wing becomes an even bigger portal priority with Scotty Middleton gone
• 47:51: Ohio State needs to add another player in the frontcourt, too
• 49:40: OSU could put together a quality lineup with its current players, but proven depth is lacking
• 51:35: Bowen Hardman’s departure comes as no surprise
• 52:32: Jake Diebler must now prove he can land impact transfers without clear Ohio State ties

Ohio State’s men’s basketball season ended Tuesday with the Buckeyes’ loss to Georgia in the NIT quarterfinals while the women’s basketball season concluded with an upset defeat to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. While both teams had hopes of continuing their seasons further, the focus for both teams now turns to the offseason – particularly what they will do in the transfer portal to bolster their rosters for 2024-25.

After starting this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays with some shoutouts for Ohio State’s newly crowned national champions, we dive into what next year’s rosters could look like for both Buckeye basketball teams and what they both need to add in the portal. Later in the show, we talk about the latest developments for Ohio State football including Jeremiah Smith’s historically fast black stripe removal, the emergence of Jason Moore as a defensive tackle to watch and the ongoing search for a new running backs coach.

The full rundown of where you can hear us talk about a variety of topics in this week’s show:

• 0:07: Ohio State women’s hockey and pistol teams are elite
• 5:14: Ohio State wrestling’s future looks bright with national champion Jesse Mendez leading the way
• 9:20: The end of Ohio State’s men’s basketball season felt like a success despite Tuesday’s loss
• 15:11: Ohio State has a good core to build around if it can retain key juniors and sophomores
• 19:57: Adding a forward to replace Jamison Battle is Ohio State’s biggest transfer portal need
• 22:18: Meechie Johnson, Jalen Sullinger, Matt Allocco among potential transfer guard targets
• 29:12: The start of the offseason will be telling of Jake Diebler’s readiness to be a head coach
• 30:43: Jake Diebler’s hiring will be judged by if his Buckeyes outperform Dusty May’s Wolverines
• 34:34: Rebounding, lack of depth among flaws that cost Ohio State women’s basketball
• 40:05: Ohio State women need to add transfer center, guard who can make immediate impact
• 46:11: Jeremiah Smith’s black stripe removal adds more fuel to the hype train
• 49:24: Brandon Inniss, Caleb Downs and Quinshon Judkins hype also continues to grow
• 52:11: Sonny Styles and C.J. Hicks expect to be on the field together in some situations
• 53:44: Jason Moore emerges as a player to watch in defensive tackle rotation
• 55:23: Ohio State should be able to rotate more on defensive line this year, but how much should it?
• 57:18: The running back coach search continues, but Ohio State doesn’t need to make a panic hire
• 1:01:00: C.J. Stroud’s pro day appearance shows why he’s an ideal ambassador for Ohio State

The Ohio State basketball coaching search ended over the weekend when Jake Diebler was promoted from interim coach to head coach. While Diebler has never been a full-time head coach before, making it anyone’s guess how he will ultimately fare as a long-term head coach, Ohio State is projecting nothing but confidence in Diebler, making it clear they believe he can build the Buckeyes back into a championship contender.

Ohio State football, meanwhile, had a surprise staff vacancy pop up last Wednesday when Tony Alford left the Buckeyes to become the running backs coach at Michigan. Ryan Day didn’t seem too concerned about Alford’s exit during his press conference on Tuesday, though, stating that Ohio State has already identified an “excellent” group of candidates and that he believes the Buckeyes can have “the best offensive staff in the country.”

Day also showed confidence on Tuesday in several players who are currently competing for starting jobs in spring practice, namely right tackle Josh Fryar, tight end Gee Scott Jr. and wide receiver Brandon Inniss, who all drew considerable praise from Ohio State’s head man after the Buckeyes’ third spring practice.

With spring practice back in full swing for Ohio State football, Ohio State men’s basketball looking to make an NIT run with its head coach, Ohio State women’s basketball hoping to make a deep NCAA Tournament run and three other Ohio State sports teams having a chance to win national championships this weekend, it’s an extremely busy week in Ohio State sports, giving us lots to talk about on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

The full rundown:

• 1:08: Jake Diebler’s hire came a bit sooner than expected, but it had good reason to make a move now
• 5:37: Ross Bjork makes it clear the expectation for Diebler is to win championships
• 7:08: Jake Diebler’s authentic passion for Ohio State can help him succeed as OSU’s head coach
• 15:12: Rebuilding the coaching staff, adding transfers among Diebler’s first tests as head coach
• 25:09: Getting back to the Sweet 16 should be the goal for Diebler’s first season
• 26:04: Tony Alford’s departure was a surprise, but Ryan Day expects an “excellent” replacement
• 27:25: Ohio State could be trying to pry DeMarco Murray away from his alma mater
• 29:33: It seems like both Day and Alford were ready for a change
• 30:35: Ohio State can afford to take its time with RB coach search because of who it has at RB
• 33:54: Robert Gillespie, Deland McCullough, Stan Drayton also among logical RB coach candidates
• 35:03: Ryan Day is smart to involve the current running backs in the RB coach search
• 37:15: Ohio State’s Jim Tressel-inspired special teams coaching plan appears to be a sound one
• 41:21: Buckeyes getting used to helmet communication, which could lead to more creative play calls
• 44:09: Josh Fryar solidifying his status as Ohio State’s starting right tackle so far this offseason
• 47:17: Gee Scott Jr. is putting himself in position to be Ohio State’s starting tight end
• 50:28: Brandon Inniss showing Ryan Day and us that he can be an impact player this year
• 55:12: Pro Day will give us our first real glimpse at Will Howard vs. Devin Brown
• 56:25: Ohio State women’s basketball can beat anyone at its best but faces tough road to Final Four
• 1:01:08: Women’s hockey, pistol and synchronized swimming are all on natty watch this weekend
• 1:03:02: Houston and UConn are our NCAA Tournament picks (plus a bonus NIT pick from Andy)

The Buckeyes are headed to the Big Ten Tournament with a chance to earn their way into the NCAA Tournament, but they’ll need to win at least two games in Minneapolis – which means beating an equally desperate Iowa team and a top-15-ranked Illinois team – to have a real shot of landing a spot in the bracket on Selection Sunday.

Meanwhile, Ohio State’s search for its next head coach continues to unfold behind the scenes. Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May seems to be emerging as the frontrunner while Alabama’s Nate Oats has entered the conversation and Xavier’s Sean Miller remains in the mix. Jake Diebler could continue to build his case for the job, too, if he leads Ohio State on a Big Ten Tournament run that gets the Buckeyes into the Big Dance.

We discuss all of that on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays. We also talk about the most interesting things we learned from last Thursday’s Ohio State football interviews with Jim Knowles and eight of his defensive veterans, including the revelation that Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau could play some snaps at outside linebacker, Denzel Burke’s high praise for Jeremiah Smith and his less positive assessment of Will Howard’s first two days of spring practice.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00: Ohio State must win at least two games in Minneapolis to have an NCAA Tournament shot
• 4:33: It’s good to see Jake Diebler publicly vouching for his team to make the NCAA Tournament
• 6:54: Recent results might not carry as much weight with selection committee as OSU would like
• 9:24: Defensive improvement has keyed OSU’s recent success, and that must continue this week
• 10:19: Bench production, aggressive play will also be important factors for OSU in Minneapolis
• 14:12: Yes, a first-round bye is good for OSU; a win over 8-23 Michigan wouldn‘t have helped
• 18:24: Weighing Dusty May vs. Sean Miller vs. Nate Oats vs. Jake Diebler as coaching candidates
• 27:38: Ohio State must firmly commit to new coach rather than giving Diebler a one-year tryout
• 38:56: Does it make sense to use Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau as OLBs in “double eagle” package?
• 47:20: How Ohio State could utilize Sonny Styles and C.J. Hicks on the field together
• 51:22: Denzel Burke is unafraid to set huge expectations for Ohio State and himself
• 54:50: Burke’s uncertainty on Will Howard serves as early reality check for transfer quarterback
• 59:55: As Jeremiah Smith hype keeps growing, what should we expect from him as a freshman?
• 1:04:54: OSU women’s basketball has a lot to work on after Big Ten Tournament loss to Maryland
• 1:09:44: OSU women’s hockey still favored to win it all, but path could go through Wisconsin again

The biggest headlines from the first day of spring practice included Sonny Styles’ move to linebacker, Luke Montgomery starting the spring as the first-team right guard and Devin Brown getting his shot to compete for the starting quarterback job.

Tuesday also brought Chip Kelly’s first press conference as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, which came after a weeklong stretch in which Eleven Warriors spoke with nearly 30 current or recent Ohio State football players between last week’s NFL Scouting Combine, Saturday’s Open House at the Woody hosted by The 1870 Society and Monday’s pre-spring interviews with three Ohio State quarterbacks and three returning seniors on offense.

All of that gave us plenty to talk about on our first Real Pod Wednesdays of the spring football season, which we also capped off with some basketball talk as the Ohio State men look to continue their end-of-season surge and earn their way back into the NCAA Tournament bubble while the Ohio State women head to Minneapolis this week in search of a Big Ten Tournament title.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00: Attending practice drives home just how much talent Ohio State has on its 2024 roster
• 1:02: There aren’t many major lineup questions except Will linebacker, right side of offensive line
• 5:06: Sonny Styles vs. C.J. Hicks is now officially a competition, and it will be a fun one to watch
• 8:12: Luke Montgomery at right guard is an intriguing option if OSU sticks with Josh Fryar at RT
• 10:16: There’s a whole lot of fan excitement to see this team in action
• 11:57: Ohio State is slow-playing other transfers into the starting lineup, but not Caleb Downs
• 12:37: Devin Brown isn‘t going to back down from competing with Will Howard at quarterback
• 20:35: It’s striking to see how deep with talent Ohio State’s quarterback room is right now
• 21:55: Lincoln Kienholz is in his first spring at OSU, so this isn’t a make-or-break year for him
• 23:48: First practice serves as reminder that Julian Sayin, Air Noland are just freshmen
• 25:00: Last year showed why it’s best if a clear starting quarterback emerges this spring
• 27:42: Jeremiah Smith is already turning heads
• 31:15: Brandon Inniss could be top punt returner option if Caleb Downs isn’t used there
• 34:31: Caleb Downs draws huge praise from former Alabama teammates at NFL Combine
• 38:28: Chip Kelly, Ryan Day both seem very comfortable in new roles working together
• 47:15: Combine features introspective Tommy Eichenberg, Cade Stover defending his blocking
• 55:21: Ohio State will have a real NCAA Tournament shot if it can win its next three games
• 57:51: Ohio State’s new identity under Jake Diebler has led to its improved performance
• 1:03:24: Diebler will be a head coach somewhere next year if he wants to be
• 1:04:38: Dusty May gaining traction as candidate to be Ohio State’s next head coach
• 1:07:53: No. 1 seed could be on the line as OSU women play for Big Ten Tournament title
• 1:12:52: Don’t forget about women’s hockey when discussing OSU’s most exciting teams

That gives us a lot of ground to cover on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, and we discussed it all in a little more than 80 minutes.

With Ohio State football set to begin spring practices Tuesday, we start this week’s RPW by previewing the spring ahead, focusing primarily on the five biggest position battles that will take place in Columbus this spring. We also preview this year’s first edition of The Buckeye 20, which will be updated later this week, with a look at Ohio State’s top five players on the current roster entering spring practices.

Ohio State men’s basketball gave us something positive to talk about for the second week in a row with its buzzer-beating win over Michigan State, and we take a look at Ohio State’s potential path to the NCAA Tournament – which starts with winning its final three regular-season games, beginning Thursday against Nebraska at home (6:30 p.m., FS1). We also dive into Sean Miller’s emergence as a potential frontrunner to be Ohio State’s new coach and why he could be a fit to lead the Buckeyes.

We wrap up the show by talking about which Buckeyes could be the top candidates to boost their NFL draft stock this week and which ones have the most riding on their combine performance.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:45: Transfers will garner plenty of attention this spring
• 1:59: Five scholarship quarterbacks will force Ohio State to be smart about how it splits up reps
• 4:47: Ohio State’s most important position battles will take place on right side of offensive line
• 16:25: Sonny Styles, C.J. Hicks give Ohio State two intriguing candidates for one starting spot
• 27:00: Jeremiah Smith will be tough to keep out of starting lineup, but Brandon Inniss will be, too
• 32:59: Will Kacmarek will face competition from Gee Scott Jr., Jelani Thurman at tight end
• 36:59: Ty Hamilton, Kayden McDonald, Jermaine Mathews Jr. among others to watch this spring
• 43:40: Denzel Burke, TreVeyon Henderson and Caleb Downs enter 2024 as OSU’s top players
• 49:27: OSU men’s basketball gives us something positive to discuss for a second straight week
• 52:32: Three winnable games to end regular season keep OSU’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive
• 59:41: Eleven Warriors readers are split down the middle on Jake Diebler as OSU’s next coach
• 1:01:53: Sean Miller looks like the frontrunner to be Ohio State’s next coach
• 1:09:55: This is a good week to start watching OSU women’s basketball if you aren’t already
• 1:13:51: Marvin Harrison Jr. would have had nothing to gain by working out at NFL Combine
• 1:16:07: Mike Hall, Josh Proctor, Steele Chambers among candidates to boost draft stock

After struggling through most of January and February in Chris Holtmann’s final weeks as head coach, the Buckeyes started Jake Diebler’s interim coaching tenure off with a bang by upsetting No. 2 Purdue, 73-69, to earn their biggest win of the season in their first game following Holtmann’s firing.

Could that win spark a late run back into NCAA Tournament contention for the Buckeyes? We assess what would need to happen for Ohio State to have a realistic shot at getting into the Big Dance, which certainly starts with snapping its 16-game road losing streak as it hits the road twice this week to play Minnesota and Michigan State.

As for the future of the program, could Diebler’s hot start make him a candidate to get the head coaching job permanently? We discuss why that’s probably still a long shot and what would need to happen for Diebler to make a real run at the job before evaluating some of the other potential candidates for the job including Doug McDermott, Chris Jent, Dusty May, Sean Miller and Jay Wright.

In the second half of the show, we turn our attention to Ohio State football and share our thoughts on why promoting James Laurinaitis was the right move to round out this year’s coaching staff and what stood out to us from Tuesday’s interview sessions with Laurinaitis and Matt Guerrieri.

The full rundown for this week’s episode:

• 1:00: Gene Smith thought Jake Diebler would provide a spark, and he was proven right
• 7:56: Ohio State’s path to the NCAA Tournament remains uphill, but it’s not impossible
• 16:21: What would need to happen the rest of this season for Diebler to be the new head coach?
• 21:07: A look at some potential candidates for OSU’s coaching search, which has no clear frontrunner
• 29:46: Ohio State likely won’t have its new coach until late March or early April
• 32:07: James Laurinaitis, Matt Guerrieri both seem like coaches recruits will want to play for
• 35:58: Hiring a different assistant wouldn’t have been worth the risk of losing Laurinaitis
• 39:24: Adding a full-time linebackers coach will allow Jim Knowles to work with all position groups
• 40:20: Ohio State’s now-completed coaching staff is well-balanced on both sides of the ball
• 43:01: Guerrieri’s schematic expertise, ability to teach it explain move to replace Perry Eliano
• 51:16: Will Sonny Styles be a safety or a linebacker this year? The answer could be both
• 54:23: Laurinaitis seems optimistic about what C.J. Hicks can become this offseason
• 58:17: Gabe Powers and Arvell Reese also in the mix for playing time at LB this year

Eleven Warriors football scheme analyst Kyle Jones joins us on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays for an in-depth conversation on what Ohio State’s offense could look like with Kelly calling the plays as the Buckeyes’ new offensive coordinator.

Our conversation with Jones touches on a variety of topics related to Kelly’s hiring including how he has built consistently elite rushing offenses, how he won’t be afraid to run the same play repeatedly if an opponent can’t stop it, why Kelly’s pairing with Ryan Day should be a good fit for new quarterback Will Howard and why Jones expects Ohio State’s offensive line to improve significantly in 2024 with Kelly’s help.

In the second half of the show, Dan and Andy share some additional thoughts on Kelly’s hiring and also talk briefly about Ohio State women’s basketball’s emergence as the second-best team in the country and Joey Velazquez’s transfer from Michigan to Ohio State.

The full rundown for our conversation:

• 1:00: Kyle’s favorite moment of the Bill O’Brien era was Penn State thinking it’s Ohio State’s rival
• 1:39: Chip Kelly can continue what Ryan Day already does well while allowing Day to be CEO
• 4:33: Is Kelly an upgrade over O’Brien? That depends on what you’re looking for
• 6:35: Day will likely still be spending a lot of his time with the quarterbacks
• 9:17: What Kelly does schematically to build elite rushing offenses
• 12:04: Kelly is more willing than Day to hammer the same concept if it’s working
• 13:28: Day has been the better passing coach, Kelly has been the better short-yardage coach
• 15:39: Why an NFL background was a priority for Ohio State’s offensive coordinator hire
• 18:43: Kansas State does a lot schematically, preparing Will Howard well for OSU
• 21:32: Ohio State’s offense will still be Ryan Day’s offense
• 23:43: Kelly will adapt to what his opponent is doing rather than trying to prove a specific point
• 26:32: Ohio State’s offensive line could be “much, much better” with Kelly’s coaching
• 34:14: Kelly can bring many of the same qualities Ohio State missed without Kevin Wilson last year
• 35:07: Day believes Ohio State has the pieces for a championship-caliber offensive line
• 37:31: O’Brien’s QB expertise would have been valuable, but OSU needs run game help most
• 43:43: Todd Fitch can help make up for what Kelly lacks in quarterback coaching experience
• 44:48: Day adapted impressively by replacing O’Brien with a coach who checked the same boxes
• 46:23: Kelly seems ready to just be an offensive coordinator, so dynamic with Day should work
• 49:32: Kelly can help instill the killer instinct in Ohio State’s offense that it needs in big games
• 52:44: Ohio State women’s basketball keeps getting better
• 57:41: Cross-rivalry transfers like Joey Velazquez will increase with portal proliferation

Ohio State reporters had their first chance to ask Day about everything that’s happened as he held his first press conference since the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday, giving us a lot to talk about on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

We start, however, by talking about the one answer we didn’t get on Wednesday: Whether or not Bill O’Brien will still be Ohio State’s offensive coordinator this season. While Day spoke as though O’Brien will lead Ohio State’s offensive coaching staff in 2024, reports emerged later in the day that O’Brien is one of two finalists for Boston College’s head coaching job, setting up the distinct possibility that Ohio State will have to hire another offensive coordinator just weeks after hiring O’Brien.

Either way, Day won’t be the one calling Ohio State’s offensive plays in 2024, and we dissected why that’s the right decision for the sixth-year head coach.

Ohio State also still has another opening to fill on its coaching staff, and we talked about the possibility that OSU could either promote James Laurinaitis or hire another special teams coordinator to fill that vacancy. Wednesday’s press conference also gave us interesting insight on numerous Ohio State players, including potential position changes for Sonny Styles and Josh Fryar, Ohio State’s plans of using Will Howard in the running game and the Buckeyes’ high level of excitement for the addition of Caleb Downs.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:00: Dominic Kirks was the only actual signing news on National Signing Day
• 1:32: Bill O’Brien hasn’t left Ohio State yet, but it certainly looks like he could soon
• 4:02: Ohio State should be well-positioned to land a new OC (Chip Kelly?) if O’Brien leaves
• 11:02: Giving up play calling was necessary for Ryan Day in new college football landscape
• 13:41: Ohio State could fill out staff with James Laurinaitis or a special teams coordinator
• 18:02: If Day chooses to hire a special teams coordinator, the special teams must be much better
• 21:10: Laurinaitis becoming a full-time Ohio State coach is likely a matter of when, not if
• 23:58: Sonny Styles’ move to linebacker isn’t confirmed yet, but it still seems likely
• 27:55: Josh Fryar’s position could depend on who else steps up on right side of offensive line
• 32:55: Seth McLaughlin can set example for rest of offensive line with experience from Alabama
• 34:00: Caleb Downs’ talent and work ethic should make him an Ohio State star right away
• 39:10: Will Howard’s running ability is a big reason why Ryan Day wanted him at quarterback
• 43:18: TreVeyon Henderson impressing Day with leadership, selflessness this offseason
• 48:56: Day didn’t plan on adding Julian Sayin, but he was too good to pass up
• 49:52: OSU can’t let “competition” get in the way of Will Howard getting into a rhythm
• 53:48: Tim Walton’s recruiting heater continues with Na’eem Offord’s commitment
• 56:26: Chris Holtmann, Ohio State men’s basketball hit new low with Indiana collapse
• 1:01:57: Women are the Ohio State basketball team you should be watching

In Columbus, meanwhile, expectations are only growing for the 2024 Ohio State football team after a January full of key additions and retentions. Ohio State’s five veteran transfer additions all met with the media on Tuesday, and all of them are starting their Buckeye careers with national championship hopes. We share our biggest takeaways from conversing with all five of them.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ohio State men’s basketball had a miserable January as it won just two of its eight games during the month, knocking the Buckeyes from solidly in the NCAA Tournament field to well outside the bubble. As a result, Chris Holtmann’s seat is scorching hot with the Buckeyes needing a big finish to the regular season to avoid missing the Big Dance for the second year in a row.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 4:26: Ohio State has had much more momentum than Michigan since the 2023 season ended
• 5:28: Sherrone Moore was the obvious choice to replace Jim Harbaugh, but he has a lot of work to do
• 9:38: Predicting Michigan’s 2024 record and whether that will be enough to make the CFP
• 12:11: Ohio State is now a 6.5-point favorite over Michigan, but it can’t take the Wolverines lightly
• 18:33: Caleb Downs is a better man than us returning 80 phone calls
• 19:48: Downs excited to be a Buckeye, expects Ohio State defense to be one of nation’s best
• 21:48: Will Howard’s challenges at Kansas State prepared him well for challenges at Ohio State
• 24:05: Howard excited to play in Ohio State offense, likely won’t run as much as he did at KSU
• 31:10: Seth McLaughlin’s experience, football IQ at center can be vital asset for offensive line
• 37:51: Downs set to play free safety and could also be Ohio State’s punt returner
• 38:59: Quinshon Judkins isn’t at OSU because he wanted to split carries, but it didn’t deter him
• 41:32: Will Kacmarek an underrated addition who can bolster Ohio State’s tight end blocking
• 45:20: Time is running out for Chris Holtmann to save his job after a miserable January
• 47:40: Keeping Holtmann after another NCAA Tournament miss would be harder to justify this year
• 52:13: Decisive losses to teams with clearly less talented rosters can’t be excused
• 53:49: Ohio State likely needs seven wins in its last 10 regular-season games, starting Friday at Iowa
• 54:50: Reading between the lines, Gene Smith and Ross Bjork sound prepared to make a change
• 56:49: Whatever the standard is for OSU basketball, it hasn’t been reached for the past decade
• 57:54: It wasn’t that long ago that OSU basketball was a big deal, but excitement has plummeted
• 1:01:32: Holtmann and his team need to show urgency with season on the brink