July 7, 2025 • 24 mins
Buckeye Weekly: Predicting Which Ohio State Freshmen Will Play or Redshirt in 2025
In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr dive into their annual tradition of speculating which Ohio State freshmen are likely to see the field this season versus those who will redshirt. From quarterback Tavian St. Clair to defensive players like Zion Grady and Faheem Delane, they analyze each position group and discuss potential contributions. Tune in for an in-depth look at the rookies and what fans can expect from them in the upcoming season.
00:00 Introduction and Season Mode Transition
01:27 Freshmen Quarterbacks: Redshirt Predictions
03:17 Running Backs: Who Will Play and Who Will Redshirt?
06:29 Wide Receivers: Freshmen Impact
10:23 Tight Ends: Depth and Development
12:05 Offensive Line: Redshirt Likelihood
14:08 Defensive Ends: Summer Enrollees and Depth
17:34 Defensive Tackles: Who Will Step Up?
20:05 Linebackers: Special Teams and Depth Chart
22:16 Cornerbacks: Freshmen Contributions
23:17 Safeties: Depth and Development
24:21 Conclusion and Call to Action
In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr dive into their annual tradition of speculating which Ohio State freshmen are likely to see the field this season versus those who will redshirt. From quarterback Tavian St. Clair to defensive players like Zion Grady and Faheem Delane, they analyze each position group and discuss potential contributions. Tune in for an in-depth look at the rookies and what fans can expect from them in the upcoming season.
00:00 Introduction and Season Mode Transition
01:27 Freshmen Quarterbacks: Redshirt Predictions
03:17 Running Backs: Who Will Play and Who Will Redshirt?
06:29 Wide Receivers: Freshmen Impact
10:23 Tight Ends: Depth and Development
12:05 Offensive Line: Redshirt Likelihood
14:08 Defensive Ends: Summer Enrollees and Depth
17:34 Defensive Tackles: Who Will Step Up?
20:05 Linebackers: Special Teams and Depth Chart
22:16 Cornerbacks: Freshmen Contributions
23:17 Safeties: Depth and Development
24:21 Conclusion and Call to Action
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
How's it going, Tony? We have the fourth of July
in the rearview mirror now, and as soon as that happens,
it feels like we're not in season mode. But we're
like limbering up to be in season mode because we
are now what two weeks from now, we're going to
be in Las Vegas for Big Ten Media Days. I
don't know where the off season went. We always talk
(00:29):
about this as being the longest off season in major
North American sports. It feels like it's getting shorter and
shorter every year it is.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
And I still want to take a few days off,
and I'm running out of days to take those because
once and the weekend before the media days does not count.
But yeah, I would like to get a couple of
days of just doing nothing, and I'm running out of opportunities.
But before we get to their, Tom, we need to
talk about we need to do some projecting and some speculating.
(00:58):
We do this every year we talk which freshmen are
going to see the field this year, in terms of
which freshmen are not going to write, share which freshmen
are going to red shirt, who's on the fence, that
sort of thing, and give people an idea of what
we're expecting and what they should expect from people. And
if those people then let everybody down, that's not our fault. Again,
that's always on the player.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I want.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Cannot stress this enough. That is on the player. That
is on the coaching. Blame the parents if you want
as well. It is not our fault. So Tom, I
want to get this started. We're going to go position
by position. We'll just group them all together and expedite
some things here. So quarterback tav In Saint Clair, I
think the only two quarterbacks who have not red shirted
(01:41):
in the last I don't know, twenty years and since
Terrelle pryor since him, since he was there, it was
Braxton Miller and cal McCord. Klu McCord should have red shirted,
played one extra game. It's a lot easier to play
now and not red shirt and red shirt. So I
think Tavian Saint Clair is redshirting, but as the number
(02:04):
three quarterback, he's still gonna have to get ready to
play the game. So I think they want to red
shirt him because they want to distanced himself. They don't
want him take and Julian saying, do you have the
same eligibility, But we'll see how the season goes.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah. I think the fact that he is the third
quarterback this year is the only thing that really gives
me pause. And he's also physically a lot more developed
than some of the other guys who've been in this
conversation in the past. But even with that said, I
think you're probably going to lean towards red shirting him
(02:41):
if you can. If you have a couple injuries and
he's the best guy, you're going to play him, and
it is what it is. But I would guess they
would prefer to play him just in four games and
get him as many meaningful reps as they can in
those four games, but not throw him in in the
closing minutes of a game and burn a year just
for that. I think they probably learned a lesson with
(03:04):
Kyle McCord on that in twenty twenty one. So I
will side with history, but say that this is probably
a little bit more of a conversation than it would
be in most years.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Running back Ohio State signed three running backs, Bo Jackson,
Turbo Rodgers, Isaiah West. Bo Jackson was here in the spring,
so is Isaiah West. Isaiah West was not what was
recovering from an injury. Turbo Rodgers has since arrived, but
wasn't here for the spring. Tom I'm gonna do it
this way. I think Bo Jackson plays, and I think
(03:38):
he plays as much more than James People's did last
year as a true freshman. I think Isaiah West red shirts,
but I think you better keep an eye on Turbo
Rodgers because Carlos Laughlin really likes him. They're still searching
free answers at running back. You know, whether they're confident
in James People's and CJ. Donaldson is a veteran. He's
not certainly not going to red shirt, but I wonder
(04:00):
if there's something they like, if there's a role for
Turbo Rodgers, whether it's a return game or what where
maybe he doesn't red shirt, and then you know, maybe
it becomes a situation where between Turber Rodgers and Isaia West,
you can get four games out of each of those guys,
and they could both read share. But I think the
easy answer here is Bo Jackson plays, and then I
(04:22):
sight unseen I might lean towards Turbo Rodgers playing as well.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
These shows are always way more fun when we disagree
and we can argue about something, but we're not gonna
do this ESPN style where we force it. And I
don't disagree with anything you've just said there, which is
deeply disheartening to me. But Bo Jackson, Yeah, Bo Jackson's
not going to red shirt this year. If he's healthy,
he's gonna get plenty of snaps this year. I think
(04:48):
they would probably prefer to red shirt the other two guys. Again,
you're sort of separate. It's three running backs in one class,
and then you maybe create a little separation. And both
neither of those guys participating this spring, one because they
wasn't here, one because he was hurt. You also got
Sam Wlliams Dixon on the roster where if you lose
someone or you need to soak up some carries late
(05:08):
in games, you have a fourth healthy guy including Bo
Jackson and Donaldson and People's and Sam Williams Dixon. So
I think they will probably red shirt the other two
true freshmen. But you're right, it's you know, we have
this conversation with safeties and linebackers a lot where it's yeah,
(05:29):
they're gonna probably, they're probably gonna red shirt, except if
they're on a kickoff coverage team, or they're on a
punt coverage team, or they're returning kicks or you know,
one of those things. That's how you end up playing
the whole season. Then you had top taking more snaps
on offense because you're already gonna be out there. So
I think in order of likelihood, Bo Jackson almost certainly
(05:51):
not red shirting unless you know, he has a health
issue or something like that. Turbo Rogers second, just because
of the special teams element of it, and then Isaiah
West just because, yeah, he was in for the spring,
but he didn't actually participate, so he's, you know, in
a lot of ways, kind of a summer in roll Lee,
at least in terms of on field stuff. So that's
the order I would have them in as well.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And we've seen C. J. Hicks, r Vel Reese, not
Recher play almost every play special teams eight to fourteen
games or whatever and not ever see defense and also
not Recher, so there's certainly the possibility Carlos Lachlan once
his guy's involved on special teams, So we'll see how
that goes. Tom, I'll let you go with the receivers.
We're talking Quincy Porter, Bob Penn, Miller, Des Jones, Philip Bell.
(06:38):
How do you see that shaking out? And I'll let
you know that if you're right. I know you're tired
of agreeing with me. Let's see if I can agree
with you.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, I think the easy call here is Quincy Porter.
Quincy Porter is almost certainly not red shirt, and we
saw enough from him in the spring that he seems
like he's pushing his way into that kind of top
five conversation. Maybe he's top four. You know, you've got
you have enough snaps there. They're not gonna want to
(07:07):
play Jeremiah Smith sixty snaps a game especially. You know,
there's gonna be a lot of games where they're not
going to play him. They're gonna, you know, take him
off the field to kind of rest him and protect him.
And probably the same for Carnel Tait. So there are
gonna be snaps there. We saw enough from Quincy Porter.
I think he's he's an easy yes, he's gonna play
this year to me. The one who's an easy no
(07:28):
to me is Bod Miller, who everyone including Miller himself talked,
you know, recognizes he's coming in as a project. He
was a quarterback for his high school team up in Ontario, Ohio.
There's just there's no reason to rush him. It's gonna
take him probably a couple of years of development. They
love him just in terms of what he can do
(07:49):
physically and what they think he can be. Ultimately, he's
not there yet. Everyone is kind of in universal agreement there.
So I think he's probably almost a lock to red
shirt this year, just because you're kind of taking a
long term view. The other two guys there kind of
in the middle. To me, Des Jones and Philip Bell
were both in for the spring. We saw we saw
(08:11):
enough of them that it was like, Okay, you can
see what's you can see what's there, and you can
see what the Buckeye see in them. I think both
of them are probably a little more than fifty to
fifty to red shirt, just because you have a decent
enough wide receiver rotation that with Jeremiah Smith, with Carnel Tait,
(08:31):
with Brandon Innis, with Bryson Rodgers, with Milon Graham and
with Quincy Porter. Now you're at six, and how often
to the seventh and eighth wide receivers really get a
chance to play meaningful REPSI you're not probably gonna play,
you know, enough to make it worth it for them
(08:53):
to see the field in more than four games. Maybe
one of them's on special teams and you you get
it that way. But my sense is Quincy Porter absolutely,
bod Panilla almost certainly not, and the other two probably.
I'm leaning towards no, but you know, you could talk
(09:15):
me into it, but I'm leaning towards no, just based
on numbers and depth there.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And when you say no, you're you're talking yes, redshirt.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yes, no, no, no playing the full season, yes, red.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Shirt, And I'm with you. And one of the reasons
is Dez Jones and Philip Bell both are in the slot.
And so you've already got Brandon Innis there, You've already
got Bryson Rodgers there. And also they're gonna be playing
a ton of twelve personnel. So sometimes you're gonna have
Max Claire there. Sometimes you're gonna have Jolanni Thurman there.
Sometimes you're gonna have Max LeBlanc. Like this is gonna
be a situation where they've got enough guys that they
(09:50):
don't necessarily need to find a third slot receiver because
they've they've got that position covered. So I'm with you.
I think those two guys will they can get their
four games, and if they get beyond that, the special
teams is always the wild card in this, as you said,
But Quincy Porter is only one of the three freshmen
that I have in my two deep, and we'll get
(10:10):
to a couple of the others, but yeah, I think
he's playing for sure. And then the other three they
don't need them yet and there's not a lot of
room for a couple of them yet. So in that
similar vein, let's move a tight end, which you've got
Nate Roberts and Brody Lennon moving to perhaps the deepest
(10:31):
position room on the team, in one of the deepest
position rooms in America. I don't see either of these
guys playing more than four games in the regular season,
and I don't know that we need to go much
longer on that on tom but I'll let you.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, I'm with you on both of them. Brody Lennon
coming in in the summer. He's one of the easier
ones where there's you know, the tight end in general
is a very developmental position. They talk about that all
the time. You got to be able to run routes
like a big ten wide receiver, and you got to
be able to lock big ten defensive ends, and so
that's something that generally will take a year or two
(11:04):
of development. So if you're coming in in the summer,
that already kind of puts you behind the eight ball.
And even Nate Roberts, as you mentioned, it is such
a deep room that there's no real reason to rush
him out there. Take your time. You've got Max Clare,
You've got Well kas Merik, You've got Jilanie Thurman, You've
(11:25):
got Benett Christian. Yeah, you've got Bennett Christian. You've got
all these guys who are proven veteran third year or
older kind of guys. To me, that's that's a pretty
easy decision. Let the if you're not, if you don't
have to rush those guys out there. There's no reason
to rush those guys out there. It feels like a
conversation will probably have about offensive line and some of
(11:48):
the defensive linemen as well. There's no real reason to
rush them. So I don't think they're gonna feel compelled
to rush them.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I did really like what I saw from Nate Roberts
in the spring. I think he's got the makings of
a very good tight end down the road. Just no
room or no need for him this year right now.
Offensive line, Carter Low, Jake Cook, Javon McFadden, I think
all three are certainly likely to red shirt I have.
I just want to say, keep an eye out for
(12:16):
Jake Cook, who was in the too deep in the
spring at left guard. I think there's a possibility there,
not that they want to take burn his red shirt,
but if something happens like things happen in fall camp
and things happened throughout the season, he might be one
to watch, just because it's been surprising the way he
has kind of emerged or the way he emerged in
(12:38):
the spring. I don't expect any of these three guys
to to burn their red shirts to play enough this season.
What do you what's your take to me?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
The two things I look at with black stripe is
were they here in the spring, which if all three
of these guys were, But also position groups and offensive
line is one where you're almost autumnally a red shirt
unless you are a Paris Johnson type, and you know
they do have They do have a five star Carter
(13:09):
Low offensive tackle in this class, so you know you're
you're Paris Johnson adjacent, let's say. But even so, you know,
think about how long it took Paris Johnson to get
on the field, and that took a bunch of injuries,
and it was mostly late in the season and he
was playing out a position at guard. I think that
the depth of offensive line is such now that there
may be not going to be compelled to throw a
(13:32):
true freshman out there. And you know, putting a Paris
Johnson comp on anyone is pretty dangerous and a little irresponsible.
And I don't think there's a Paris Johnson level player
in this class right now. I can remember Paris Johnson
was what number three overall pick in the NFL draft.
That's that is a pretty elite company to be in.
So I think the safe answer is Redchert, Rechert, Redhert
(13:53):
on all these guys. But as you know, as you said,
I think Jake Cook is someone who just keep an
eye on him. It might take a year or something,
but I think he might be someone who significantly outplays
his recruiting rankings in the college level.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Moved to a defensive end right now with two Zion Grady,
Epi Citinelli, Satan Lay who arrived in the summer, so
he did not get to take part in spring Zion
Grady did Oyo State has five fourth year defensive ends
right now, and that's not including Joshua Mickens and Dominic Kirks,
who are you know here a couple of years younger
(14:28):
than those guys. Not that any of not that either
of those guys are proven, So there's certainly room for
one of these or both of these guys to get
on the field and get into the rotation. I think
enrolling in the summer is always going to be the
thing that sticks out to me most when you're talking
about red shirting, especially on the defensive line. So I'm
(14:49):
gonna go here, Tom, I could see both of these
guys red shirting. I'm gonna side with Zion Grady not
but maybe playing like seven or eight games is like,
if you're gonna play him that many games, now, are
you doing it for the playoffs? Which is an acceptable
reason where you just want more guys to be ready
(15:09):
to go later in the season. So for that reason,
I could see Grady not red shirting. Honestly, I can
see both of these guys playing and not red shirting,
but it's just hard to justify where are you gonna
put him. So for that reason, I'm gonna go Satanala
with a red shirt. I things I'm Grady can get
enough games in the regular season to be part of
maybe not the rotation, but for somebody that they could
(15:30):
possibly call out in the playoffs if something goes wrong.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Well, I will agree with you that Grady is more
likely to play this year than satanal A. And again,
you're coming in in the summer, you missed the whole spring,
you miss the off season workouts, You're being asked to
play at a Big ten level having been on a
Big ten campus for just a couple of months. That
that's probably if you're If you are a summer in Rolye,
it's almost impossible to get on the field enough to
(15:56):
make it worth burning your year. So Satanala I will
definitely red shirt. Great. He's an interesting one because there's
enough depth there. They're high on him, they like him
a lot, but there's enough depth there, especially at the edge,
that you just I don't think they need to do it,
so it's really a do you want to And I
(16:17):
will say slightly more likely than not that they do
red shirt him, because remember, you can play four games
in the regular season and then this anything in the
postseason doesn't count, so they make the Big Ten championship
game that can be your fifty game. You play four
college football playoff games, you can play four more college
football playoff games, and you can play nine games and
(16:38):
you can still take a red shirt. So I think,
you know, he is kind of right on that line.
For me, I would guess that they wouldn't mind having
him red shirt, and just you know, the depth in
that room is going to be is a little bit
of a question you know, looking at the twenty twenty
six recruiting class, that's sort of where the questions are
at the edge position, and they have really been trying
(17:00):
to bring in numbers and they've done a great job,
and the injury of the defensive line, the edge position
is still a little bit of a question mark. So
you know that on one hand means you need him
to be ready in twenty twenty six, but on the
other hand, it you know, means boy, you wouldn't mind
saving a year of eligibility. So again, this is this
maybe is the toughest question we've had so far. I'll
(17:23):
say he red shirts, but it's it's really as close
to fifty to fifty as you can get.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, I agree, it's a tough one. And maybe the
answer is for all of the people like where are
the twenty twenty six defensive ends And it's like, I
give you Zion Grady and Episitanola as you're twenty twenty
six defensive ends. Defensive tackle. Jack west Carter was in
in the spring. So is Maxwell Roy, but he was
dealing with an injury, and or the trade note was
(17:48):
dealing with an injury and Maxwell Roy was the summer
in roly correct.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Like Maxwell Roy I think was the one who had
a wrestling injury.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yes, and he was in the summer, and trading note was, yeah,
he was fine in the spring. He's here for the spring.
But there's some thought that he's more of a developmental guy.
So for me, they need guys, They need somebody to
play this year, and so somebody is going to play.
I think it's gonna be Jarck west Carter. He's not
the biggest guy though he looks pretty small compared to
(18:18):
the guys that he's working next to, but that's never
stopped Larry Johnson before. And if the guy can play,
they'll play him. So I think for me, I'm going
Carter will play royan otible red shirt and continue their development.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I would agree with that, I think. I think that's
exactly what I would have said as well. Carter feels
like he's just, you know, a little step ahead of
those other guys. He still has some development to do.
But you don't have the luxury of the depth and
the interior the defensive line like you do at the
edge spots where you know if you can, you know,
if you have a choice, you certainly have the luxury
(18:55):
of red shirting all of your ends. I don't think
you have the luxury of red shirting all of your
tax They're gonna have to have just bodies on the
interior or that defensive line this year. I think Carter's
gonna have to get thrown into the fire a little bit.
I'm sure they would like to red shirt the other guys.
That's a spot where you sort of assume they would
like to red shirt the guys because it's another spot
(19:16):
where there's just so much physical growth and development that
required to play at the high level, you know, high
Big ten level, national championship, college football playoff kind of level.
On the interior, those those defensive lines. If you're eighteen
and you're going up against a grown ass twenty three
year old man, that is a tough tough spot unless
you are a real, real physical freak. And you know,
(19:38):
these guys all have the opportunity to grow into those players,
but boy, it is that that's a tough ask for
a lot of these true freshmen. So yeah, I will
say Jarques Carter, yes, Roy and Odom know. But again,
maybe one of those guys gross into something later in
the season and you can red shirt them, but then
take advantage of the postseason loophole there.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, and you'll see how they move up the depth chart,
because if they start moving ahead of the older guys,
you got to play them. You can't, well, we want
a red shirt them. You need the best defensive tackles
you've got, whether they're freshman or fourth year juniors. Linebackers,
Tom Riley, Petty, John tj Alford, Eli Lee, how do
you see it? Shaken out?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
These are the guys who you could see all three
of these guys playing. I'm sure they would prefer to
not have all three of them play and create a
little bit of separation there. But these are guys who
sort of fit the special team's assassin kind of role.
We saw Peyton Pierce, for example, playing a bunch on
special teams last year and kick coverage units and that
kind of stuff. I think you're gonna see at least
(20:39):
one to two of these guys. I'll say Petty John
and Alfred both play, and Eli Lee red shirts. I
don't have a strong strong feeling there. It's not you know,
I don't think Eli Lee is way behind those other
guys or anything like that. It just feels like we
maybe saw a little bit more of Petty John and
(20:59):
Alfred this spring than Lee, So maybe they're a little
bit ahead maybe, And you probably don't want to play
all three of them. So you know, this is almost
a thing where what's the most likely outcome? Two of
these guys play, one of these guys plays, three of
these guys plays, none of these guys play. I mean,
that's probably the order. I would put it in. Two
(21:21):
and then one and then three and then zero. But
what do you think.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I'm with you on all of those numbers. I think
Lee being the Ohio kid, you can feel better about
red shirting him and not upsetting him. Whereas you're talking
to Texas and Florida kid. You might just want to
keep that in mind. But yeah, I see them on
special teams. But Riley Petty John as the number three
middle linebacker, like, that's not an easy path towards playing time. TJ.
(21:49):
Alford competing with Garrett Stover to be the number two
will But if you're playing either one of those positions,
you basically have to be able to play the other position.
So when you look at it, like there's not a
lot of there's they're top heavy at linebackers, so there's
an opportunity to get into that too deep and play.
But I'm with you, I think Petty John and Alford
(22:11):
are going to play. I think Lee red shirts. I
think we'll move to a corner. This one's pretty easy
for me. Devin Sanchez, Jordan Woods, Jordan Woods not here
in the spring they're doing. They're not super deep at corner,
but Devin Sanchez makes them deeper, So I think we
all expect Devin Sanchez to play, he'd be a guy
where you think he plays every game and maybe not
(22:35):
every game on defense, depending on Like Jermaine Matthews didn't
play on defense against Oregon last year, So to give
you an idea, sometimes they just they're just stuck on.
We're keeping the guys that we trust most in the game.
So I think Devin Sanchez will play every game. I
think Jordan Woods red shirts this year.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah, I think though this is probably one of the
easier conversations. Devin Sanchez went first overall in our Black
Striped draft. Woods went twenty fifth overall. He's coming in
in the summer. You're way behind the eight ball there.
Devin Sanchez is pretty clearly in the top four already
at corner. There's gonna be plenty of opportunity for him
to play, even if everyone's healthy. So yeah, I think
(23:14):
I think this is a pretty clear yes and no there.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
And then safety Forahim Delayne to shun Stewart. Cody hadad.
Stewart's kind of banged up in the spring for him,
Delaane was in the too deep, didn't really see much
from Codyadad. So I think this one Tom go ahead
and fill out this one for me, because I think
you already know what it's going to be for me.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, I think you've just did it yourself there. For him, Delayne, yeah,
we saw him with the twos a bunch in the spring.
He's probably He's another guy who if you're close enough
to the top of the depth chart on defense and
you're a get someone who's a hitter and who can run,
you're gonna play on special teams. He's going to be
someone who you see out on the field. The other
(23:52):
two guys, as you said, Deshaun Stewart banged up, Cody
Hadad probably a little a little more development time needed.
So yeah, I think I think yes on Behem, Delayne
and red shirt for the other two guys there.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
I think we pretty much agreed on most of this,
but there are some where it's like you like defense fan,
you're like, you know where it just depends on how
the thing shakes out. So that's the fun of college football.
We'll all find out together. Even though we did just
tell you how all of this is gonna go, So
remember where you heard it first. Of course, as always,
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(24:25):
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Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
How's it going, Tony? We have the fourth of July
in the rearview mirror now, and as soon as that happens,
it feels like we're not in season mode. But we're
like limbering up to be in season mode because we
are now what two weeks from now, we're going to
be in Las Vegas for Big Ten Media Days. I
don't know where the off season went. We always talk
(00:29):
about this as being the longest off season in major
North American sports. It feels like it's getting shorter and
shorter every year it is.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
And I still want to take a few days off,
and I'm running out of days to take those because
once and the weekend before the media days does not count.
But yeah, I would like to get a couple of
days of just doing nothing, and I'm running out of opportunities.
But before we get to their, Tom, we need to
talk about we need to do some projecting and some speculating.
(00:58):
We do this every year we talk which freshmen are
going to see the field this year, in terms of
which freshmen are not going to write, share which freshmen
are going to red shirt, who's on the fence, that
sort of thing, and give people an idea of what
we're expecting and what they should expect from people. And
if those people then let everybody down, that's not our fault. Again,
that's always on the player.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I want.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Cannot stress this enough. That is on the player. That
is on the coaching. Blame the parents if you want
as well. It is not our fault. So Tom, I
want to get this started. We're going to go position
by position. We'll just group them all together and expedite
some things here. So quarterback tav In Saint Clair, I
think the only two quarterbacks who have not red shirted
(01:41):
in the last I don't know, twenty years and since
Terrelle pryor since him, since he was there, it was
Braxton Miller and cal McCord. Klu McCord should have red shirted,
played one extra game. It's a lot easier to play
now and not red shirt and red shirt. So I
think Tavian Saint Clair is redshirting, but as the number
(02:04):
three quarterback, he's still gonna have to get ready to
play the game. So I think they want to red
shirt him because they want to distanced himself. They don't
want him take and Julian saying, do you have the
same eligibility, But we'll see how the season goes.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah. I think the fact that he is the third
quarterback this year is the only thing that really gives
me pause. And he's also physically a lot more developed
than some of the other guys who've been in this
conversation in the past. But even with that said, I
think you're probably going to lean towards red shirting him
(02:41):
if you can. If you have a couple injuries and
he's the best guy, you're going to play him, and
it is what it is. But I would guess they
would prefer to play him just in four games and
get him as many meaningful reps as they can in
those four games, but not throw him in in the
closing minutes of a game and burn a year just
for that. I think they probably learned a lesson with
(03:04):
Kyle McCord on that in twenty twenty one. So I
will side with history, but say that this is probably
a little bit more of a conversation than it would
be in most years.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Running back Ohio State signed three running backs, Bo Jackson,
Turbo Rodgers, Isaiah West. Bo Jackson was here in the spring,
so is Isaiah West. Isaiah West was not what was
recovering from an injury. Turbo Rodgers has since arrived, but
wasn't here for the spring. Tom I'm gonna do it
this way. I think Bo Jackson plays, and I think
(03:38):
he plays as much more than James People's did last
year as a true freshman. I think Isaiah West red shirts,
but I think you better keep an eye on Turbo
Rodgers because Carlos Laughlin really likes him. They're still searching
free answers at running back. You know, whether they're confident
in James People's and CJ. Donaldson is a veteran. He's
not certainly not going to red shirt, but I wonder
(04:00):
if there's something they like, if there's a role for
Turbo Rodgers, whether it's a return game or what where
maybe he doesn't red shirt, and then you know, maybe
it becomes a situation where between Turber Rodgers and Isaia West,
you can get four games out of each of those guys,
and they could both read share. But I think the
easy answer here is Bo Jackson plays, and then I
(04:22):
sight unseen I might lean towards Turbo Rodgers playing as well.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
These shows are always way more fun when we disagree
and we can argue about something, but we're not gonna
do this ESPN style where we force it. And I
don't disagree with anything you've just said there, which is
deeply disheartening to me. But Bo Jackson, Yeah, Bo Jackson's
not going to red shirt this year. If he's healthy,
he's gonna get plenty of snaps this year. I think
(04:48):
they would probably prefer to red shirt the other two guys. Again,
you're sort of separate. It's three running backs in one class,
and then you maybe create a little separation. And both
neither of those guys participating this spring, one because they
wasn't here, one because he was hurt. You also got
Sam Wlliams Dixon on the roster where if you lose
someone or you need to soak up some carries late
(05:08):
in games, you have a fourth healthy guy including Bo
Jackson and Donaldson and People's and Sam Williams Dixon. So
I think they will probably red shirt the other two
true freshmen. But you're right, it's you know, we have
this conversation with safeties and linebackers a lot where it's yeah,
(05:29):
they're gonna probably, they're probably gonna red shirt, except if
they're on a kickoff coverage team, or they're on a
punt coverage team, or they're returning kicks or you know,
one of those things. That's how you end up playing
the whole season. Then you had top taking more snaps
on offense because you're already gonna be out there. So
I think in order of likelihood, Bo Jackson almost certainly
(05:51):
not red shirting unless you know, he has a health
issue or something like that. Turbo Rogers second, just because
of the special teams element of it, and then Isaiah
West just because, yeah, he was in for the spring,
but he didn't actually participate, so he's, you know, in
a lot of ways, kind of a summer in roll Lee,
at least in terms of on field stuff. So that's
the order I would have them in as well.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And we've seen C. J. Hicks, r Vel Reese, not
Recher play almost every play special teams eight to fourteen
games or whatever and not ever see defense and also
not Recher, so there's certainly the possibility Carlos Lachlan once
his guy's involved on special teams, So we'll see how
that goes. Tom, I'll let you go with the receivers.
We're talking Quincy Porter, Bob Penn, Miller, Des Jones, Philip Bell.
(06:38):
How do you see that shaking out? And I'll let
you know that if you're right. I know you're tired
of agreeing with me. Let's see if I can agree
with you.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, I think the easy call here is Quincy Porter.
Quincy Porter is almost certainly not red shirt, and we
saw enough from him in the spring that he seems
like he's pushing his way into that kind of top
five conversation. Maybe he's top four. You know, you've got
you have enough snaps there. They're not gonna want to
(07:07):
play Jeremiah Smith sixty snaps a game especially. You know,
there's gonna be a lot of games where they're not
going to play him. They're gonna, you know, take him
off the field to kind of rest him and protect him.
And probably the same for Carnel Tait. So there are
gonna be snaps there. We saw enough from Quincy Porter.
I think he's he's an easy yes, he's gonna play
this year to me. The one who's an easy no
(07:28):
to me is Bod Miller, who everyone including Miller himself talked,
you know, recognizes he's coming in as a project. He
was a quarterback for his high school team up in Ontario, Ohio.
There's just there's no reason to rush him. It's gonna
take him probably a couple of years of development. They
love him just in terms of what he can do
(07:49):
physically and what they think he can be. Ultimately, he's
not there yet. Everyone is kind of in universal agreement there.
So I think he's probably almost a lock to red
shirt this year, just because you're kind of taking a
long term view. The other two guys there kind of
in the middle. To me, Des Jones and Philip Bell
were both in for the spring. We saw we saw
(08:11):
enough of them that it was like, Okay, you can
see what's you can see what's there, and you can
see what the Buckeye see in them. I think both
of them are probably a little more than fifty to
fifty to red shirt, just because you have a decent
enough wide receiver rotation that with Jeremiah Smith, with Carnel Tait,
(08:31):
with Brandon Innis, with Bryson Rodgers, with Milon Graham and
with Quincy Porter. Now you're at six, and how often
to the seventh and eighth wide receivers really get a
chance to play meaningful REPSI you're not probably gonna play,
you know, enough to make it worth it for them
(08:53):
to see the field in more than four games. Maybe
one of them's on special teams and you you get
it that way. But my sense is Quincy Porter absolutely,
bod Panilla almost certainly not, and the other two probably.
I'm leaning towards no, but you know, you could talk
(09:15):
me into it, but I'm leaning towards no, just based
on numbers and depth there.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
And when you say no, you're you're talking yes, redshirt.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yes, no, no, no playing the full season, yes, red.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Shirt, And I'm with you. And one of the reasons
is Dez Jones and Philip Bell both are in the slot.
And so you've already got Brandon Innis there, You've already
got Bryson Rodgers there. And also they're gonna be playing
a ton of twelve personnel. So sometimes you're gonna have
Max Claire there. Sometimes you're gonna have Jolanni Thurman there.
Sometimes you're gonna have Max LeBlanc. Like this is gonna
be a situation where they've got enough guys that they
(09:50):
don't necessarily need to find a third slot receiver because
they've they've got that position covered. So I'm with you.
I think those two guys will they can get their
four games, and if they get beyond that, the special
teams is always the wild card in this, as you said,
But Quincy Porter is only one of the three freshmen
that I have in my two deep, and we'll get
(10:10):
to a couple of the others, but yeah, I think
he's playing for sure. And then the other three they
don't need them yet and there's not a lot of
room for a couple of them yet. So in that
similar vein, let's move a tight end, which you've got
Nate Roberts and Brody Lennon moving to perhaps the deepest
(10:31):
position room on the team, in one of the deepest
position rooms in America. I don't see either of these
guys playing more than four games in the regular season,
and I don't know that we need to go much
longer on that on tom but I'll let you.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, I'm with you on both of them. Brody Lennon
coming in in the summer. He's one of the easier
ones where there's you know, the tight end in general
is a very developmental position. They talk about that all
the time. You got to be able to run routes
like a big ten wide receiver, and you got to
be able to lock big ten defensive ends, and so
that's something that generally will take a year or two
(11:04):
of development. So if you're coming in in the summer,
that already kind of puts you behind the eight ball.
And even Nate Roberts, as you mentioned, it is such
a deep room that there's no real reason to rush
him out there. Take your time. You've got Max Clare,
You've got Well kas Merik, You've got Jilanie Thurman, You've
(11:25):
got Benett Christian. Yeah, you've got Bennett Christian. You've got
all these guys who are proven veteran third year or
older kind of guys. To me, that's that's a pretty
easy decision. Let the if you're not, if you don't
have to rush those guys out there. There's no reason
to rush those guys out there. It feels like a
conversation will probably have about offensive line and some of
(11:48):
the defensive linemen as well. There's no real reason to
rush them. So I don't think they're gonna feel compelled
to rush them.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I did really like what I saw from Nate Roberts
in the spring. I think he's got the makings of
a very good tight end down the road. Just no
room or no need for him this year right now.
Offensive line, Carter Low, Jake Cook, Javon McFadden, I think
all three are certainly likely to red shirt I have.
I just want to say, keep an eye out for
(12:16):
Jake Cook, who was in the too deep in the
spring at left guard. I think there's a possibility there,
not that they want to take burn his red shirt,
but if something happens like things happen in fall camp
and things happened throughout the season, he might be one
to watch, just because it's been surprising the way he
has kind of emerged or the way he emerged in
(12:38):
the spring. I don't expect any of these three guys
to to burn their red shirts to play enough this season.
What do you what's your take to me?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
The two things I look at with black stripe is
were they here in the spring, which if all three
of these guys were, But also position groups and offensive
line is one where you're almost autumnally a red shirt
unless you are a Paris Johnson type, and you know
they do have They do have a five star Carter
(13:09):
Low offensive tackle in this class, so you know you're
you're Paris Johnson adjacent, let's say. But even so, you know,
think about how long it took Paris Johnson to get
on the field, and that took a bunch of injuries,
and it was mostly late in the season and he
was playing out a position at guard. I think that
the depth of offensive line is such now that there
may be not going to be compelled to throw a
(13:32):
true freshman out there. And you know, putting a Paris
Johnson comp on anyone is pretty dangerous and a little irresponsible.
And I don't think there's a Paris Johnson level player
in this class right now. I can remember Paris Johnson
was what number three overall pick in the NFL draft.
That's that is a pretty elite company to be in.
So I think the safe answer is Redchert, Rechert, Redhert
(13:53):
on all these guys. But as you know, as you said,
I think Jake Cook is someone who just keep an
eye on him. It might take a year or something,
but I think he might be someone who significantly outplays
his recruiting rankings in the college level.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Moved to a defensive end right now with two Zion Grady,
Epi Citinelli, Satan Lay who arrived in the summer, so
he did not get to take part in spring Zion
Grady did Oyo State has five fourth year defensive ends
right now, and that's not including Joshua Mickens and Dominic Kirks,
who are you know here a couple of years younger
(14:28):
than those guys. Not that any of not that either
of those guys are proven, So there's certainly room for
one of these or both of these guys to get
on the field and get into the rotation. I think
enrolling in the summer is always going to be the
thing that sticks out to me most when you're talking
about red shirting, especially on the defensive line. So I'm
(14:49):
gonna go here, Tom, I could see both of these
guys red shirting. I'm gonna side with Zion Grady not
but maybe playing like seven or eight games is like,
if you're gonna play him that many games, now, are
you doing it for the playoffs? Which is an acceptable
reason where you just want more guys to be ready
(15:09):
to go later in the season. So for that reason,
I could see Grady not red shirting. Honestly, I can
see both of these guys playing and not red shirting,
but it's just hard to justify where are you gonna
put him. So for that reason, I'm gonna go Satanala
with a red shirt. I things I'm Grady can get
enough games in the regular season to be part of
maybe not the rotation, but for somebody that they could
(15:30):
possibly call out in the playoffs if something goes wrong.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Well, I will agree with you that Grady is more
likely to play this year than satanal A. And again,
you're coming in in the summer, you missed the whole spring,
you miss the off season workouts, You're being asked to
play at a Big ten level having been on a
Big ten campus for just a couple of months. That
that's probably if you're If you are a summer in Rolye,
it's almost impossible to get on the field enough to
(15:56):
make it worth burning your year. So Satanala I will
definitely red shirt. Great. He's an interesting one because there's
enough depth there. They're high on him, they like him
a lot, but there's enough depth there, especially at the edge,
that you just I don't think they need to do it,
so it's really a do you want to And I
(16:17):
will say slightly more likely than not that they do
red shirt him, because remember, you can play four games
in the regular season and then this anything in the
postseason doesn't count, so they make the Big Ten championship
game that can be your fifty game. You play four
college football playoff games, you can play four more college
football playoff games, and you can play nine games and
(16:38):
you can still take a red shirt. So I think,
you know, he is kind of right on that line.
For me, I would guess that they wouldn't mind having
him red shirt, and just you know, the depth in
that room is going to be is a little bit
of a question you know, looking at the twenty twenty
six recruiting class, that's sort of where the questions are
at the edge position, and they have really been trying
(17:00):
to bring in numbers and they've done a great job,
and the injury of the defensive line, the edge position
is still a little bit of a question mark. So
you know that on one hand means you need him
to be ready in twenty twenty six, but on the
other hand, it you know, means boy, you wouldn't mind
saving a year of eligibility. So again, this is this
maybe is the toughest question we've had so far. I'll
(17:23):
say he red shirts, but it's it's really as close
to fifty to fifty as you can get.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, I agree, it's a tough one. And maybe the
answer is for all of the people like where are
the twenty twenty six defensive ends And it's like, I
give you Zion Grady and Episitanola as you're twenty twenty
six defensive ends. Defensive tackle. Jack west Carter was in
in the spring. So is Maxwell Roy, but he was
dealing with an injury, and or the trade note was
(17:48):
dealing with an injury and Maxwell Roy was the summer
in roly correct.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Like Maxwell Roy I think was the one who had
a wrestling injury.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yes, and he was in the summer, and trading note was, yeah,
he was fine in the spring. He's here for the spring.
But there's some thought that he's more of a developmental guy.
So for me, they need guys, They need somebody to
play this year, and so somebody is going to play.
I think it's gonna be Jarck west Carter. He's not
the biggest guy though he looks pretty small compared to
(18:18):
the guys that he's working next to, but that's never
stopped Larry Johnson before. And if the guy can play,
they'll play him. So I think for me, I'm going
Carter will play royan otible red shirt and continue their development.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
I would agree with that, I think. I think that's
exactly what I would have said as well. Carter feels
like he's just, you know, a little step ahead of
those other guys. He still has some development to do.
But you don't have the luxury of the depth and
the interior the defensive line like you do at the
edge spots where you know if you can, you know,
if you have a choice, you certainly have the luxury
(18:55):
of red shirting all of your ends. I don't think
you have the luxury of red shirting all of your
tax They're gonna have to have just bodies on the
interior or that defensive line this year. I think Carter's
gonna have to get thrown into the fire a little bit.
I'm sure they would like to red shirt the other guys.
That's a spot where you sort of assume they would
like to red shirt the guys because it's another spot
(19:16):
where there's just so much physical growth and development that
required to play at the high level, you know, high
Big ten level, national championship, college football playoff kind of level.
On the interior, those those defensive lines. If you're eighteen
and you're going up against a grown ass twenty three
year old man, that is a tough tough spot unless
you are a real, real physical freak. And you know,
(19:38):
these guys all have the opportunity to grow into those players,
but boy, it is that that's a tough ask for
a lot of these true freshmen. So yeah, I will
say Jarques Carter, yes, Roy and Odom know. But again,
maybe one of those guys gross into something later in
the season and you can red shirt them, but then
take advantage of the postseason loophole there.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, and you'll see how they move up the depth chart,
because if they start moving ahead of the older guys,
you got to play them. You can't, well, we want
a red shirt them. You need the best defensive tackles
you've got, whether they're freshman or fourth year juniors. Linebackers,
Tom Riley, Petty, John tj Alford, Eli Lee, how do
you see it? Shaken out?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
These are the guys who you could see all three
of these guys playing. I'm sure they would prefer to
not have all three of them play and create a
little bit of separation there. But these are guys who
sort of fit the special team's assassin kind of role.
We saw Peyton Pierce, for example, playing a bunch on
special teams last year and kick coverage units and that
kind of stuff. I think you're gonna see at least
(20:39):
one to two of these guys. I'll say Petty John
and Alfred both play, and Eli Lee red shirts. I
don't have a strong strong feeling there. It's not you know,
I don't think Eli Lee is way behind those other
guys or anything like that. It just feels like we
maybe saw a little bit more of Petty John and
(20:59):
Alfred this spring than Lee, So maybe they're a little
bit ahead maybe, And you probably don't want to play
all three of them. So you know, this is almost
a thing where what's the most likely outcome? Two of
these guys play, one of these guys plays, three of
these guys plays, none of these guys play. I mean,
that's probably the order. I would put it in. Two
(21:21):
and then one and then three and then zero. But
what do you think.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I'm with you on all of those numbers. I think
Lee being the Ohio kid, you can feel better about
red shirting him and not upsetting him. Whereas you're talking
to Texas and Florida kid. You might just want to
keep that in mind. But yeah, I see them on
special teams. But Riley Petty John as the number three
middle linebacker, like, that's not an easy path towards playing time. TJ.
(21:49):
Alford competing with Garrett Stover to be the number two
will But if you're playing either one of those positions,
you basically have to be able to play the other position.
So when you look at it, like there's not a
lot of there's they're top heavy at linebackers, so there's
an opportunity to get into that too deep and play.
But I'm with you, I think Petty John and Alford
(22:11):
are going to play. I think Lee red shirts. I
think we'll move to a corner. This one's pretty easy
for me. Devin Sanchez, Jordan Woods, Jordan Woods not here
in the spring they're doing. They're not super deep at corner,
but Devin Sanchez makes them deeper, So I think we
all expect Devin Sanchez to play, he'd be a guy
where you think he plays every game and maybe not
(22:35):
every game on defense, depending on Like Jermaine Matthews didn't
play on defense against Oregon last year, So to give
you an idea, sometimes they just they're just stuck on.
We're keeping the guys that we trust most in the game.
So I think Devin Sanchez will play every game. I
think Jordan Woods red shirts this year.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah, I think though this is probably one of the
easier conversations. Devin Sanchez went first overall in our Black
Striped draft. Woods went twenty fifth overall. He's coming in
in the summer. You're way behind the eight ball there.
Devin Sanchez is pretty clearly in the top four already
at corner. There's gonna be plenty of opportunity for him
to play, even if everyone's healthy. So yeah, I think
(23:14):
I think this is a pretty clear yes and no there.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
And then safety Forahim Delayne to shun Stewart. Cody hadad.
Stewart's kind of banged up in the spring for him,
Delaane was in the too deep, didn't really see much
from Codyadad. So I think this one Tom go ahead
and fill out this one for me, because I think
you already know what it's going to be for me.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, I think you've just did it yourself there. For him, Delayne, yeah,
we saw him with the twos a bunch in the spring.
He's probably He's another guy who if you're close enough
to the top of the depth chart on defense and
you're a get someone who's a hitter and who can run,
you're gonna play on special teams. He's going to be
someone who you see out on the field. The other
(23:52):
two guys, as you said, Deshaun Stewart banged up, Cody
Hadad probably a little a little more development time needed.
So yeah, I think I think yes on Behem, Delayne
and red shirt for the other two guys there.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
I think we pretty much agreed on most of this,
but there are some where it's like you like defense fan,
you're like, you know where it just depends on how
the thing shakes out. So that's the fun of college football.
We'll all find out together. Even though we did just
tell you how all of this is gonna go, So
remember where you heard it first. Of course, as always,
thank you for tuning in it. Thumbs up before you
go if you're watching on YouTube and a five star
(24:25):
writing interview on whatever podcast platform you use would be appreciated.
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