Is Ryan Day on the verge of naming Ohio State’s next starting quarterback? Buckeye Talk podcast (2024)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State could be one step closer to naming a starting quarterback following its seventh preseason practice.

Head coach Ryan Day spoke like someone close to making a decision, using some language similar to the last time he narrowed in on a guy during fall camp, back in 2021. As OSU heads into its first scrimmage on Saturday, what are the chances by this time next week the quarterback battle is over?

Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis discuss that, plus the health of the offensive line room

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk.

Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.

Stephen Means (00:13.712)

Welcome back to Buckeye Talk. I’m Stephen Means, that’s Andrew Gillis, and that’s Kreischnick. We watched practice number seven for the Buckeyes, a couple of days before they head into their first scrimmage. And I just want to play a game with you guys. And we’re going to do it with two different topics. That’s going to be the pod. It’s going to be, is this something, is it nothing, or is it everything? That’s the name of this pod. Something, nothing, or everything. And let’s start with the offensive line, Stefan.

Obviously you weren’t there, but you get the text 614 -350 -3315 two week retrial 399 after that. Listen, that’s a great time. You should get the debt. We send off a lot of texts during these projects, not during them. I actually got yelled at for sending them off during the text one day, but right after they’re flowing in, it’s just a lot of texts coming in talking with Ryan day as well. So, you know, even though you weren’t there because you got text that Josh Simmons, Carson Hensman and George Fitzpatrick.

were not at practice on Thursday. And there had been some rumblings with Carson Hinsman already as he had missed the practice last week that maybe there was a little bug going through the offensive line room and it seems to be making its way across different players, scholarship and non -scholarship, especially one non -scholarship player who’s here from Youngstown State who kind of tore it up in a porter potty in the middle of practice on Thursday afternoon. But that’s besides the point.

But when you’re trying to figure out right guard, and one of the people in the conversation to be your starting right guard is in and out of practice like this, because of something, again, it’s not a long -term issue, it’s a sickness, nobody’s hurt, they’re just sick. It happens. But when you’re in the middle of trying to evaluate and trying to figure out who your best five are, while also build continuity and you don’t have that, is that something? Is it nothing or is it everything?

for a team who still has three weeks before it has to play an actual football game.

Stefan Krajisnik (02:13.456)

think it’s something because it’s right there in the middle because I do think it’s important to get these reps in practice to try to figure out who the starting right guard is for that right guard to be comfortable with, you know, the tackle on the center next time and just for that unit as a whole to have some continuity. The reason I don’t say it’s everything though is because of the schedule. I think they have three, four games and a bye week in between two to kind of figure it out.

And I think if you were playing, you know, even just like if you were playing any big 10 team week one, like if you’re playing like Purdue or Indiana or like Michigan State, like week one, I would be a little bit more concerned that you don’t have, you know, this continuity because all it takes is one dude on the opposing defensive line to have a day and you’re like, shoot, like the right side of our offensive line does not know how to play together yet. Having those opportunities against Akron, Western Michigan, like I said, the bye week in there too, like

You have chances where if Carson ends up being the starting right guard and he’s missed a few practices, you have games and reps to dish out, you know, to to anyone who’s competing for that spot. But talk about him specifically, there’s going to be chances in games to prove that, you know, you’re starting right guard. So I think it’s something just because it’s tough to be a week in the camp and you’re still kind of like, hey, we don’t really know. I mean, Ryan Day straight up said today like he was asked any clarity at right guard and he was like, no, like

We can’t like that’s it’s just a spot that they’re in so I don’t think it’s nothing but I wouldn’t be like I wouldn’t be pressing a panic button yet when it comes to that.

Stephen Means (03:49.892)

Andrew, is that something, nothing, or everything?

Andrew (03:54.623)

It’s something and it’s on the minor end of something. You know, it’s on the, the something end that’s more towards nothing than it is towards everything. Right. I mean, we, for as much as we talk about Ohio state’s offensive line, you know, I sending some texts out about that, like just in the recruiting space, obviously, but on the field, there is obviously some questions that people have had, especially after last year. For as much as we talk about the unit.

It’s kind of set, right? Like Josh Simmons is your left tackle. Donovan Jackson’s your left guard. Josh Fryer is your right tackle. And then it’s basically center and right guard. And you feel pretty confident that Seth McLaughlin is going to be your center. And then it’s all about right guard. So you kind of feel, you feel great about three, like offensive line spots in terms of who’s going to play there. The fourth one center, you’re like,

Maybe not as 100 % because Just BZ didn’t play last year, but I think I’m ready to put Seth McLaughlin in that group. And then it’s just right guard. So how much are you losing by not having the full assortment of everybody at practice and having everybody healthy at practice? Something, but it’s not a ton because I think I said this in one of our post -game, post -game, post -practice videos with Steven. It seems as if Tegra Shabola has kind of been.

leading the charge on that right guard spot when everybody’s healthy. So if Tegra Shebold is your right guard, this whole thing could just be impacting an offensive line that you’re good. Like you’re, starting five is kind of set already. If that, if that’s really what you want to do now, you’re losing something with

You know, like Carson Hinsman, you know, who’s been out, not really being able to participate and not really being able to show kind of what he can do and that he should be a starter for a second straight year. So that stinks for him and that’s not good for him. And it does stink for the coaching staff in that, you know, you’re not going to get to see exactly what Carson Hinsman can do. And you put on the pads and things like that, but you might’ve already been set there anyway. So I think it’s something it’s not, you know,

Andrew (06:06.017)

be all and all the world’s falling everybody’s, know, know, cats and dogs living together. It’s it’s a terrible situation, right? Like this is a this if we’re talking about injuries, it’s everything, but we’re not talking about that. So it’s it’s something but I think especially with the way that this offensive line is shaping up more towards nothing than it is some.

Stephen Means (06:28.274)

I think it’s absolutely nothing because they’re sick. It’s not a long term problem. It’s a let’s get through this over the next 72 to 96 hours or so whatever and get these guys healthy. But also Stephon you mentioned it. They don’t play a power five school until the end of September. So it’s not like they’re going to play a team who’s going to make them pay.

for the offensive line not being able to be fully evaluated, know, whether fully get continuity in fall camp, they’re almost going to be able to spend the first four weeks doing exactly this kind of making up for it. And also getting real game application to it and not just going against, know, Jack Sawyer, JT Tui Malo, Ty Lee Williams, though lot of those guys weren’t really participants on Thursday. This was kind of a rest day for a lot of the starters and a lot of the veterans, which makes sense.

If you’re 48 hours away from your first scrimmage, you don’t need to know if JT Twin will allow when Tyler Williams and Cody Simon are good, right? We kind of know they’ve played a lot of football for you. So it was it was a heavy day in terms of how long practice was Andrew and in terms of some of the stuff they were doing. But it was a lighter day in terms of who was doing those things. I think it’s nothing because what it is doing is giving Austin Searbell and Zen Mahal ski and some of the young guys and some of the deaf pieces opportunity to get.

Work with groups that they typically wouldn’t work with though that can also backfire if it feels like they’re getting too many reps because as Ryan Day said some of those guys are pulling double duty right they might get a rep with the ones and then turn around and get a rep right with the twos because of that and so you have to taper that and make sure I Mean they got to a point at the end to practice there where I think they have like eight or nine Scholarship offensive lineman practicing because you’re already down three guys cuz they’re not there. I think

Deontay Armstrong at one point had to be taken out of practice for something it got a little iffy there right you’re having walk -ons playing some spots so you got to be careful with some of that stuff but I think when you’re talking about the big picture of is Ohio State’s offensive line going to be able to be quality against Oregon against Penn State against Michigan that’s all backseat half of the season schedule stuff to where you still got 20 practices left before you play a game but also you got three weeks three four weeks

Stephen Means (08:45.51)

to really figure out what you have. so I understand, it’s something because it’s the position we have the most questions about, right? Like if we were saying, Emeka Buka was sick and he missed practice and Bryson Rogers was sick and missed practice, I don’t think we’d be saying anything. In fact, we probably wouldn’t even be having the conversation on the spot. We just would have mentioned it. We would have kept it pushing. But we’re talking about a position that’s been outside of quarterback. It’s the biggest question mark. So I get why we say it. I think that’s the only...

Things that in terms of bodies were missing also Kenyatta Jackson like hello ankle thing going on But he didn’t necessarily leave the practice real but he was kind of done for the rest of day Andrew anything else that you thought was maybe something or Everything from anything that’s not quarterbacks is obviously we’re gonna have a full conversation about that after a break

Andrew (09:35.659)

Anything that else I thought was something, nothing. So just pick a topic is what you’re saying. Just pick a, Ooh, Ooh, that’s a good question. okay. I have a good one. The secondary and more specifically the defense as a whole shutting down the offense and routinely winning practice. I would say they won today’s practice. And I would say that they’ve won previous practices. So is the defense beating the offense in practice? Something, nothing.

Stephen Means (09:38.642)

So just pick. Yeah, can be anything you want it to be.

Stephen Means (09:58.374)

Yeah.

Stephen Means (10:07.078)

Hoo. Stefan, I’ll let you go first. I want to think about it.

Andrew (10:10.723)

I did a good job. There it is

Stefan Krajisnik (10:14.14)

so you, hang on Andrew, so you felt like this has been a consistent theme or you feel like it’s happened like the last couple times?

Andrew (10:21.283)

I feel like this has been a consistent theme. feel like when you map out individual position battles, I think that the defensive line has gotten the better of the offensive line in, you know, kind of what we’ve been able to see, you know, just when they’ve been able to put on pads. think some of these drills. Sure.

Stephen Means (10:39.484)

I don’t know if I agree with that one, but this is why this is a fun co I think the offensive line has held its own against the defensive line, but I - Yeah.

Andrew (10:45.665)

I think they’ve done better than I thought they would, but I don’t know if they’ve won necessarily. And I think that the secondary and the back seven, I guess, you will, versus Ohio State’s skill positions, I think that they’ve made it very, very difficult on the offense to.

Stefan Krajisnik (11:03.132)

Do you think it’s a direct result of bad quarterback play?

Andrew (11:04.04)

I think it’s been consistent, yes.

Stephen Means (11:08.74)

No, no, no, no. Okay, so I think this is where the conversation, I’m gonna actually go first. So I think it’s both. I think it depends on what perspective you’re coming from. I think if you are coming from the perspective, let’s start with the cornerbacks. I think that’s everything because it goes back to the spring game when I thought the cornerbacks won the spring game. And then I asked Denzel Burke about it. He’s like, yeah, damn right, we won the spring game. Are you crazy? We won this. Did you watch?

Andrew (11:09.879)

Well, that’s kind of the question. Yeah, like, yeah.

Stefan Krajisnik (11:10.222)

If it’s that, if

Andrew (11:16.396)

haha

Stephen Means (11:38.33)

Out there, right? There’s been this element of, look how cool our receivers are at Ohio State over the years. And it’s earned, right? When you’ve got four first round draft picks in three years, you’ve earned the right to go look how cool our wide receivers are. But someone’s on the butt end of that joke, right? And who’s on the butt end of that joke a lot of times are these cornerbacks. And it’s felt like the last nine months have been some get back to the point that

They were showing Jeremiah Smith highlights all spring. You want to know what Ohio State’s social media did on Wednesday night? They put out this thing of Jeremiah Smith beating Davis and Ibn Nosen. And guess what they paired it with? Davis and Ibn Nosen locking up Jeremiah Smith, which we also, Andrew, got to see play out in real time on Thursday. Go route in the end zone. Davis and Ibn Nosen gets a stop. And I think it’s the funniest thing in the world. First of all, all of these corners talk so much trash. It’s amazing.

Andrew (12:25.581)

That was so fun.

Stephen Means (12:34.254)

Jermaine Matthews is doing snow angels in the grass after it. There’s handshakes going on. It’s just a big party and Tim Walton’s corner back room and They’re talking trash to Jeremiah Smith, but Jeremiah Smith doesn’t say a word. It’s just okay. I lost I’ll get you back though, but doesn’t say anything he gets him back Was it like three or four plays later? Just Andrew or a go -ball the other way

Jeremiah still doesn’t say anything and you can still see Davidson Ibn Osin getting chippy with Jeremiah. It’s just funny to see two people who are awesome at what they do. Both of them maybe first round draft picks over the next two or three years here, right? At least that’s the trajectory both of them happen to be on and their personality shine when they both win a wrap or lose a wrap. Jeremiah doesn’t talk regardless. Davidson’s going to talk regardless, but so is everybody in the defensive backroom.

That was a long way to say for the defensive backs, if you’re talking from that perspective, it’s everything because it’s a reminder of how far that room has come over the past three or four years here. If it’s the wide receiver room perspective, it’s nothing. Listen, man, I’m Mecca, Buka, Carnell, Tate, they, Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Dennis. This is still at worst the second best room in the country, right? At worst. So it’s fine. I think what it is is they’re getting healthy competition that they haven’t gotten.

from the cornerbacks in really a long time. And I think I would feel that way about the offense in general. don’t think it’s, I think it’s not a quarterback play conversation. What this is, is this defense is so good that the quarterback play has to be NFL level. It has to be. And even then it might not be enough. There were throws that we’ve seen, Andrew, over these last five practices where it was like, man, that’s a really good throw. And it’s an incompletion or it’s a pick because this cornerbacks, these safeties,

These linebackers, defensive line, they’re so good that sometimes good is not good enough to beat it. So I think that’s my answer. Both. If we’re talking defensive perspective, it’s everything. If we’re talking offensive perspective, I don’t put much stock in it because I think the offense has been really good. They’re just going up against a defense that I mean, earlier this month, we were having conversations about, can this be a type of defense that allows less than four yards per play?

Stefan Krajisnik (14:57.756)

think I agree with you, Stephen. If Andrew, if you were saying that, if you came out and you were like, hey, like Will Howard is just throwing terrible balls and this offense is getting torn up, then I’d be like, okay, I’m a little bit worried in that sense. But it goes back a little bit to what Ryan Day was saying in his press conference that I found interesting. Toward the end, he was talking about...

you know, would Chip Kelly be an offensive coordinator day has a chance to, you know, sit in on some more of these defensive meetings and it’s kind of seen how Jim Knowles kind of operates things and how a lot of the players, especially the veteran players that we talk about a ton are very comfortable with the system, understanding of the system, especially, you know, a lot of them that are in their third year of being with Knowles. And the reason I find that interesting is it’s easy to forget that as, as better as

As good as this offense looks for you guys here in August compared to spring, that’s still an offense that’s got a new coordinator, new quarterback, some new pieces, learning a lot. The defense is a lot more comparable to last year’s defense than the offense is to last year’s offense. I think this offense, like I would be more concerned if the offense was destroying the defense. I’d be like, wait, what is the defense doing? So I think that there’s still, it’s easy to forget in fall camp that like there is still a learning curve that comes with this.

Stephen Means (16:05.232)

That’s fair.

Stefan Krajisnik (16:18.106)

And think that’s why I wouldn’t look into it too much. Now, if it starts being the case where you get to game week and it’s like, hey, this offense still is doing nothing, then you’d be a little bit concerned. But it doesn’t sound like the offense isn’t doing nothing. It just sounds like the defense is maybe getting the upper hand. And I think that’s honestly kind of where I would expect this team to be at this point.

Stephen Means (16:36.646)

It can be a sign of things to come, which I think in the past when the wide receivers have dominated the corners or the defensive line has dominated the offensive line, it’s been a sign of things to come. And we just kind of chalked it up in that time that, this defensive line is just really talented. these wide receivers are just really good. Nobody else is going to do this to you in the country. And we chalked it up to that. And then it finds out, no, everybody’s going to do this to you in the country, right? I think we can chalk up.

The cornerbacks are beating the wide receivers to nobody else is going to do this to them in the country and vice versa There’s not a lot of wide receiver rooms who are going to give the type of work They’re giving them these cornerbacks what the cornerbacks are going to get on the regular season schedule Which is why if you talk to some of these corners off the record, they wouldn’t say this publicly but they’re looking forward to that organ game a little bit because there is a sense that Maybe there’s some not complete eye for eye when you go player by player

But from a room perspective, there’s a level of quality in that room that might give these corners a test during the regular season that will make Saturdays a little bit more interesting, right? And feeling like Tuesdays aren’t the only day you can get real action. Oregon’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be a fun week to have conversations when you’re breaking down from a football perspective. But I thought that was a good thing to bring up, Andrew, because it is an interesting place to be at this point where I don’t know if two years ago.

We’d have been having this conversation, but right now this defense is so talented, so experienced to Stephane’s point that we can walk away from a practice that has a Mecca, Bucca, Jeremiah Smith, Cardinal, Tate, Trevion Henderson, Quincheon, Judkins, some Titans that are coming along, Josh Simmons. There’s some NFL buzz around him, right? There’s some quality options at quarterback and go, y ‘all haven’t been better through seven practices.

Andrew (18:26.275)

So, and that’s the other thing too, cause Steven has mentioned this on this pod. He’s mentioned this just in, talking with myself and Nathan way back when, when we were watching spring practices, this is what Steven was talking about. Steven, how many times in your career covering Ohio state, which obviously began in 2018 for people that don’t know. You started covering this team in 2018. How many practices or how many years would you say?

that Ohio State would have a dude like Jeremiah Smith, which maybe they’ve never had, but you get my point, like a really, really talented receiver that can just go toe to toe with a corner like Davis and Ibn Osin. And you’re looking at that like it’s the heavyweight fight of the year. You’re looking at that going, this is a battle. I don’t know who’s going to win. And it’s not because they’re throwing out a bunch of nobodies, you know, they’re throwing out a corner.

who shouldn’t be starting right now or a receiver who’s not ready. Like how many years would you say that that’s been the case where you can just look at both of the, cause you can do this with, with everybody. You can do this with Denzel Burke and Jeremiah Smith. You can do this with J Denzel Burke and Emeka Buker, Davis and Nick Binoza and Cardinal Tate. Like you could do this with everybody. How many years would you say that you’ve covered this team? 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, seven Ohio state has had a secondary that’s akin to its receiving core. Now I know the receiving core has

taken off a few years into that, but still.

Stephen Means (20:01.286)

growth right I mean

Andrew (20:04.328)

So how many years though? How many years would you say that that’s been the case?

Stephen Means (20:08.635)

last year.

Andrew (20:09.793)

And that’s it.

Stephen Means (20:11.442)

I would say last year, since Ryan Day took over, I would say last year in 2019, but then in 2019 it was flipped where the corners were just better than the wide receivers in terms of like NFL level talent, right? Because Garrett Wilson was a true freshman, Chris Olave is a sophom*ore we didn’t know much about. And I think KJ Hill was the only other guy in that room who was draftable. There are no less than five guys in each room who are bare minimum draftable.

by the time they’re draft eligible, right? when I say draftable, we’re probably thinking Thursday, Friday draftable and not like Saturday, day three, six round draft picks, draftable. There’s what? Mecca, Jeremiah, Carnell, Brandon Ennis, Mylon Graham, guys who have first round potential in the wide receiver room. And then in the corner back room, you got what? Denzel Burke, Davidson Nekomonosun, Jordan Hanco*ck, Jermaine Matthews. Jermaine Matthews has been awesome, man.

through these practices. Aaron Scott, when you’re talking about first, second round draft potential, Ohio State’s never had this. They’ve never had it, never. During the Urban Meyer era, it was a lot of cornerbacks who were first round draft pick level players. During most of the Ryan Day era, it’s been a lot of wide receivers. now, you got both. For the first time, you’ve got both of those things colliding. And what it’s creating is...

Really fun team periods for us who got the chance to watch it live, right? And it’s going to create some interesting matchups Once the season starts when you’re doing good on to good on Tuesdays Okay, let’s take our quick break here and then we’re going to continue our game with something nothing or everything But it’s gonna be all about quarterbacks here on pocket. So

Stephen Means (21:54.204)

And we’re back in a Buckeye talk. I’m Stephen Means. That’s Andrew Gillis. That’s Stefan Kresnik. Andrew coming with the heat man. Great question. Great question. That’s spurred a conversation there. Pat yourself on the back. Okay. Not really though. Don’t actually pat yourself in the back because we’re not done yet. Job’s not finished. out to Kobe Bryant. Job’s not finished. Shout out to Team USA. Job’s not finished. Stefan knows why I’m bringing that up. Okay.

So we all listen to the way Ryan Day talked about where the quarterback battle is heading into their first scrimmage on Saturday. I’m gonna read it so our listeners can hear it as well. But it had some similar language to something I heard Ryan Day say three years ago, almost to this date, we’re eight days off of it because that was August 16th and this is August 8th. But similar language.

when being asked about the status of what the battle is. And here’s what Ryan Day had to say. We’ve been mixing it up a little bit, but you’re starting to see Will Howard and Devon Brown start. You’re starting to see Will Howard and Devon start to get more of the lion’s share of the reps with the ones. I will say he’s taking command of the huddle at the line of scrimmage. He’s much more confident out there. No decisions have been made. We’ll scrimmage on Saturday. By then we’ll take an evaluation and see where we’re at from there.

Will has really taken some strides here in the last couple of practices. He’s taken control of the offense and making plays on third down. Again, he hasn’t won the job, but we have seen some positive play there. That’s what he said about Will Howard on Thursday, August 8th after practice seven before the first scrimmage. Here’s what he said about another guy who eventually won the starting job on August 16th, 2021.

going into the second scrimmage for Ohio State. We’re not going to name a starter today, but I do think there has been a little bit of separation. I think CJ has separated a little bit here over the last couple of weeks. We’ll see what this brings. Certainly not making any decisions right now, but we have seen a little separation. How much separation? I’m not sure, but I’ll say that every day he’s been competing. He’s been taking care of the football, making good decisions. He’s been a leader.

Stephen Means (24:13.616)

And those are some of the traits that we’re looking for. And certainly moving the team down the field to score touchdowns is something that we’re looking for. Stefan to me, that sounds like the exact same thing. And let me tell you something. When he said that about CJ Stroud, I think it was less than a week later that CJ Stroud was named the starting quarterback. And I think we’re on a similar trajectory here with Will Howard where you say it and what it is is a, hey leader, you’re in the lead.

Let’s see if you can hold on to it and what does it say to the guys who are trailing? Hey, he’s in the lead what you’re do about it. You got a week and then you go into a scrimmage and what has happened the last time that happened the guy he said was creating separation the guy he said he was taking command of the offense that guy went to that scrimmage and he came out the starting quarterback and I think the same thing is about to happen with Will Howard.

Stefan Krajisnik (25:03.824)

Yeah, I think you’re definitely on the right track with that. just, you know, even without knowing that quote about CJ, like just listening today talk about Will Howard, you got the sense of like, unless something goes catastrophically wrong in this scrimmage, Will Howard is the guy to beat. And I think it goes back to, I’m pretty sure we’ve talked about this on the pod in the past of like,

It feels like Ohio State knows or has a pretty good idea of who’s going to be a starting quarterback. And it’s just a matter of when they feel like they want to announce that publicly because of, you know, all the stuff that comes with officially naming someone to starting quarterback, which is probably overblown more than it needs to be usually. But it just feels like at this point and honestly from listening to Ryan too, I’d be pretty surprised if Devon Brown was in the backup quarterback when game week shows up. So.

And whether they, I doubt they’re going to announce that, like you’re, you’re getting to a point where it feels like you’re starting to separate the number one and the number two. unless something goes way different than we expect, whether it be the scrimmage or practices or something along those lines, I’d be pretty surprised if next week they didn’t name a starting quarterback.

Stephen Means (26:14.918)

Andrew I think we saw that in the rep distribution today as well right where I think over the last couple of practices It’s been kind of guys are rolling but also you’re seeing situations were like hey look true freshmen Julian Sands getting a chance to work with the ones What’s Aaron Nolan doing Lincoln King holes who I think had a really good practice on Thursday? He’s getting a chance to work with ones. There’s a lot of rolling That wasn’t what was on display on Thursday’s practice. I know you were watching a lot of everything else, but

I mean it’s quarterbacks man, you’re paying a little bit of attention what the quarterbacks are doing. By my account, because I tried to try it out every single throw they threw on Thursday. Devon Brown was 11 for 20. Will Howard was nine for 19. Lincoln Key and host seven for 12. Julian Sand three for seven. Aaron Nolan three for four. So that in itself, you’re seeing the distribution of just throw, and that’s not even all their snaps. You don’t even continue to add in the, when they just handed the ball off, right? Those types, that’s just when they got to throw the ball. But you’re seeing,

Okay. For all of you who were really excited that maybe Julian saying can Trevor Lawrence or two of this thing, that’s probably not a thing anymore. We can move past that and have a real conversation about what’s going to happen in 2024. And what this is to Stefan’s point, think we’ll, how are we going to get named a starter at some point in the next seven days publicly, but also Devin Brown, your backup quarterback while Lincoln, Keenholz and Julian saying, and Aaron Nolan continue to develop in the background.

And maybe we can check in on, is Julian Sand pushing Devon Brown for QB2 at some point after the first month and a half of the season?

Andrew (27:50.721)

Yeah, that sounds about right. I think we’re going to have a very interesting conversation in about two weeks, which is, mean, it’s freaking crazy that we’re here. right. Like we hard knocks is out. Like we’re, we’re, right at the edge of football. So it’s very, very soon that we’re going to be having this conversation, but I think we’re going to be doing this about, this will probably be one of our videos that we do, which everybody should go check us out on YouTube because we do, you know, videos for post.

practice posts, conference, post everything. And I think one of the things that we’re going to talk about is when and if Ohio state gets up by enough against Akron, when and if Ohio state gets up by enough against Western Michigan and Marshall, who’s the first quarterback that comes in the game? Probably Devin Brown at this point, right? Like Devin Brown is probably the guy that you see. Are we having that same conversation in November when you play Northwestern at Wrigley fields?

Or when you play Indiana or when you play Purdue, maybe I don’t, I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that question. That might be a Julian saying question, but you’re right. I think we are barreling towards. We talked to Ryan Day next Thursday, the 15th. I think we are barreling towards. Will Howard is named the starting quarterback on the 15th. I think we are barreling towards Devin Brown is the clear number two and.

It’s going to be a three, four battle between Julian Sand and Lincoln Kienholtz. And we’ll see how that shakes out. We’ll see how they want to divvy those reps up. We’ll see what they want to do. I don’t know how concerned you have to be about like red shirts and things like that with Julian. So for me, for my money, I think we are pretty close to kind of having this thing finalized. And I think it’s exactly what you just said.

Stephen Means (29:44.782)

August 16th, Ryan Day says CJ Stroud is starting to separate in the quarterback battle. August 21st, Ryan Day named CJ Stroud the starting quarterback. And if I remember that correctly, we were supposed to talk to Ryan Day on Monday. That August 21st was a Saturday. You guys can double check if that’s correct. I’m pretty sure it was a Saturday when Ryan Day named him because we were originally supposed to get him on Monday.

And I remember this because I was out of town and Nathan was out of town. So Doug was the only one here. So he was the only one at the press conference. Ryan Day called an emergency press conference and he named the captain’s and he named the starting quarterback that Saturday. So like five days later, that’s when he did it. It’s Thursday. We’re supposed to talk to Ryan Day next Thursday. You’re hearing this on a Friday. We’re supposed to talk to Ryan Day next Thursday, August the 15th. If this scrimmage goes in a way where he’s just like, you know what?

I’ve seen enough we could get the Monday and Jerry Emig is like yeah We’re talking with Ryan Day on Monday, and we’re all and we all know what that’s gonna be right we all know that’s not gonna be a hey We just wanted to give you a quick update the battle is still going on great We’re not ready to name a starter just more you know taking command and what no no no no if we get an emergency press conference on Monday

Similar to what they got back in 2021 when CJ Stroud got named the quarterback. We know what that’s gonna be about, Stephon. But in the meantime, I think Andrew is right. We’re gonna talk with Ryan Day. We’re gonna talk with Chip Kelly. We’re gonna talk with Jim Knowles next Thursday. In fact, that’ll be the first time you get to talk to the coordinators, man. That’s great. In fact, that’s gonna be your first press conference. That’s all. Who else that was like, Andrew? That was how Nathan got on the beat.

His first day on the beat was the press conference when Ryan Day named Justin Fields the starting quarterback in 2019. So I guess. Yeah, I was gonna say.

Andrew (31:38.615)

Yeah.

Andrew (31:42.465)

Well, so yeah, I was gonna say, feel like it’s kind of everybody’s just right of initiation because my first press conference, I’m sitting there and I’m like, huh, what’s Gene Smith doing here? And Gene Smith walked to the front and retired. And I was like, huh. And I looked at you guys and I was like, did you guys know this was coming? And no, everybody, you guys and none of the other, and all the other writers were like, nope, we didn’t. And I was like, great.

Stephen Means (31:56.433)

yeah.

yes!

Stephen Means (32:07.634)

Okay, so that’s what happens we hire a new guy every time we hire a new guy big news happens All right. Well, maybe we should stop hiring new guys so we can stop with the big news. Okay I think we’re marking it down. I think all three of us are marking it down August 15th Stephans first day Inside of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Hope you this parking pass. You’ll officially be a beat member at that point

We’re going to be writing stories about how Ryan Day just named Will Howard the starting quarterback and what that means for the 2024 season, what that means for Devin Brown, what it means for Julian Sand, Lincoln Kienos and Aaron Nolan and everything else under the planet. I think to get back to the game we were playing, the way Ryan Day talked about where the quarterback battle is 48 hours before their first scrimmage, Stefan, is everything. And it’s because I’ve been down this road before and I’ve heard this song.

And I know the lyrics and I know it’s a hit. Well, I don’t know if it’s a hit. knew CJ was a hit. I don’t know if Will Howard the song is going to be, but I know this song when I’m out and I hear it at the grocery store and I know the lyrics and I know when the ending is and at the end of that row, when that bridge hits, it’s going to be Ryan Day telling us who a starting quarterback is.

Stefan Krajisnik (33:25.148)

Yeah, that’s Ryan Day doing a cover of Ryan Day. So that’s sort of be a hit in the grocery stores. Yeah, I agree. I think it’s everything. I think what he said was pretty clear and basically said everything except for naming Will Howard as a starting quarterback. So we’ll see August 15th. I’ll be in town on Saturday, August 10th. So if there’s an emergency presser, I’ll be there for that as well.

Stephen Means (33:29.104)

Yes!

Stephen Means (33:51.122)

There you go,

Stefan Krajisnik (33:51.836)

So we’ve got that locked down. If he calls an emergency presser and he’s like, hey, Carson Hensman is feeling better. He’s right there, you know, in that competition for right guard. We’re glad to have him back at practice. I will be, let’s just say I’ll be pretty stunned if that’s the case.

Andrew (34:04.747)

I hope Stefan gets the first question next Thursday if that is indeed when they do it so he could ask about the right guard competition. And he could say, Ryan, hi Ryan, I’m Stefan Kreisnick, I’m new to the beat, thanks for having me. Have you determined a right guard yet?

Stephen Means (34:13.435)

I think he should do that.

Stefan Krajisnik (34:22.921)

Okay then beg for the microphone back be like, by the way, I meant to ask about quarterback too, I forgot about that.

Stephen Means (34:24.048)

You should do what -

Andrew (34:28.449)

Yeah, who’s your third string? Who’s who’s one? Is it Lincoln or is it Julian?

Stephen Means (34:32.594)

You should do what Tim May did at Big Ten Media Days in 2023 when he got on the television part and he went, hey Ryan, have you figured out who your backup quarterback is yet?

Stefan Krajisnik (34:32.756)

Ha

Stefan Krajisnik (34:43.298)

Didn’t Chip face a similar question to that? Someone asked something similar and Chip was laughing the other day.

Andrew (34:47.235)

Tim, it was Tim May, Tim did the same bit and he asked, he asked Chip Kelly, who’s your backup quarterback? Cause somebody asked him a question before that and Chip goes, I know what you’re trying to get at. That’s a great question by you. I’m not going to answer that. And then Tim said, who’s your backup quarterback? That’s another great question. I’m not going to answer that.

Stephen Means (34:49.061)

Yeah.

Stefan Krajisnik (35:01.19)

Yeah.

Stefan Krajisnik (35:05.826)

Yeah, that was good. From the press conferences I watched from afar, that was like maybe 1A, 1B was, Steve, in your interaction today with Ryan Day about Jeremiah Smith of being like, being like, dude, like you can’t keep going out with this act.

Stephen Means (35:15.855)

I am.

My favorite thing about it is he gets it. And so I respect it. I was telling Andrew this when we were just sitting in the Woody after we talked with Ryan Day and I wrote this, all of us are turning in the kids because of Jeremiah Smith, everybody, right? Media, fans, coaches, somebody’s gotta be the adult in the room and allow it to actually happen before we crown him wide receiver Jesus. Right. And so

Ryan Day is the head coach and he’s probably the perfect person to do that. Now as he had his moments for sure the dude almost fainted when he found out that Jeremiah Smith had signed and that’s what made it fun. The interaction was great because it’s like we all know what you’re doing. We get it. But just know on August 31st we’re asking you about Jeremiah Smith. But in the meantime, we’re good. We’re good. It’s pretty good. A lot of covers of Ryan Day’s today.

Stefan Krajisnik (36:10.108)

His reenactment of the fading was actually pretty spot on.

Andrew (36:16.407)

Well, so everybody talks about the fainting and I’m a truther about this. Everybody talks about the fainting because he was like pretending to faint. Yeah, okay, look, he pretended to faint. It’s a great... Well, here’s the thing. It’s a great...

Stephen Means (36:27.45)

I think he was pretending the thing. think he tried to make it seem like he was pretending. I think if he was sitting in his office and Mark Bantoni had came in there and told him that, I think he would have actually framed it.

Andrew (36:37.143)

So he’s like, I get it. makes a great GIF and everything like that, but go back and watch it. The real part of that was when he goes, really? Like that wasn’t part of like, wasn’t, he looked at us and like did the bit, like there was like a real exhale of like, I’m hanging on by my.

Stephen Means (36:51.238)

Yeah, and then... No, listen!

Stephen Means (37:00.508)

Yeah!

Andrew (37:02.037)

you know what to try to get this kid in the program. Like that I think is the part that everybody needs to talk about. That was the exhale that could have put out a wildfire by Ryan Day. And that was great. Like it feels like nobody talks about that. I’m like, that was the crazier part that it sounded like that man was about to puke when he was doing that press conference because in the back of his mind, he’s going, my God, is Jeremiah going to sign because remember, Steven, we’re doing this press conference and Jeremiah has a bag sitting underneath his chair. And I’m like, my God.

Stephen Means (37:27.271)

Yeah.

Andrew (37:32.065)

God, my god, my god, what’s gonna happen? I’ve got a story ready to go. I’m texting off Orion Day to our tech subscribers and I didn’t know what’s gonna happen. And then Ryan just just the the amount of pressure that left that man’s body as soon as that happened was insane.

Stephen Means (37:49.04)

It was a reminder of how stressful recruiting can be. That’s how it was. And we’re going to potentially get a chance to talk with Jeremiah today as you’re listening to this pod. talk with Brian Hartline, Tim Walton, a bunch of the wide receivers in the cornerbacks. So far, we’ve talked to quarterbacks and we got the two freshmen. We talked to running backs and we got the two freshmen. We didn’t talk to the true freshmen linebackers, but that’s because they’re not really expected to play as much. Right. And the same thing can be said for Aaron Nolan and Julian Sam, but quarterback is obviously always.

Handled a little bit differently Jeremiah Smith the starter so I have a hard time thinking we wouldn’t get him but you never know right? Maybe the kid just doesn’t want to talk and it’s understandable He wasn’t the most talkative person during his recruiting process either unless you were right there in his face But we’re expected to talk with him. We’ll talk with Brian Hartline and Mecca Bucca Carnell Tate Brandon is Bryson Rogers Denzel Burke Davis and Nick Binoza Jordan Hanco*ck Jermaine Matthew Calvin Simpson hunt I mean the list goes on and on today’s gonna be a really really

Hectic day with the two best position groups on this roster in terms of what the talent level is in the wide receiver and cornerback room, which I think is everything. It’s everything that we’re getting a chance to talk with these guys. So get the text 614 -350 -3315 two week free trial 399 after that. That was a fun game of something, nothing or everything. And I think I agree with where we landed with some stuff. Maybe something, maybe nothing with the sick offensive line, but it’s not something necessarily in the long term. It’s more just about the right now.

while with the quarterback, the way Ryan Day talked about where things are heading into their first scrimmage. I think that is everything. It’s because we’ve seen what that is before and what the end result was. And that was the last time he said someone he was taking command or separating in the battle. A week later, the battle was over. So get the text 614 -350 -3315. We’ll continue to follow that for Stefan Kreischnick. Excuse me, for Stefan Kreischnick and for Andrew Gillis. I’m Stephen Means. And that was f*ck I Talk.

That is the first time

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