Real Pod Wednesdays: Ohio State Preseason Superlatives and Why Connor Stalions’ Story Doesn’t Add Up

Intro [Music] welcome into real pod Wednesdays Dan hope joined by Andy Anders as it is officially Ohio State football season game week is upon us we are just three days away from the Buckey's first game of the season as the Buckey prare to host akan at Ohio stadium at 3:30 PM CBS will be televising the game Andy we've talked so much about this team for the past eight months we finally get to see them in game action on Saturday what are you most excited to see with this team What We’re Most Eager to See in Ohio State’s Season Opener yeah for me I think it's just how this offensive line plays and and how they come out and attack the the season with all of the criticism that they've taken they're clearly motivated by it I mean I've written about it uh wrote about it last week about how you know they feel they feel the expectations on them they feel the criticism that's been levied their way and it's motivated them to work harder in preparation for this for this season and try to correct some of the mistakes that cost them down the stretch of last year um so for me it's that and it's just the general excitement of football being back you know and and being in the Horseshoe and and covering the game and and just being in that game day atmosphere it always gets me so excited to just you know it's a big part of why I love this job is just that game day experience and uh I'm just looking forward to being in the sights and sounds of Campus on a game day I'm just going to go with the obvious answer and say I'm excited to watch Jeremiah Smith like who isn't excited to watch Jeremiah Smith at this point I mean we've heard so much about this guy uh you know it almost feels like the expectations going into his first game for him are almost going to be unfair because it's almost like if he doesn't go out and have a 100 yards and two touchdowns in his first game based on all the hype it's like that's going to be the expectation but I'm just excited to see you know everything we've heard about him everything we've seen from him on the practice field will that translate to that first game in theoe you know I think because I think that hype train is already at full speed and it's just gonna keep taking off if if he can have a big debut in theu on Saturday and I think just in general not just Jeremiah but there's so many exciting newcomers on this team whether it's will Howard at quarterback Caleb DS at safety Quin Judkins at running back uh it it's going to be exciting to see those guys in action as Buckey for the first time you know can Caleb DS make a big play that reminds people why he's one of the best safeties in the country you know we'll see trayon Henderson and quinan Judkins splitting carries into backfield what will that look like in practice you know will Howard we we've had the questions with him we've had the ups and downs this will be our first opportunity to to get a look at will Howard and see you know how ready is he uh for uh that game Spotlight I mean realistically going against the akan defense should be a lot easier than going up against Ohio State's defense in practice and so you expect everybody to Everything Must Be Kept in Perspective in A Season Opener Against Akron look good in this game that and that's the thing that's hard is that you when you talk about a game where Ohio State is favored by 50 points or 49 and a half 48 and a half regardless what you look at it's a it's a huge number anything less than Perfection is almost going to be seen as a disappointment with all the hype going into the season with this team but you know it's still the season opener it's still the first game there's there's still a big difference between practicing and actually playing when it matters and so I don't expect everything to be perfect but you know we do expect to see a lot of good things you do expect to see Ohio State dominate this game on both sides of a ball Andy I'll pose that question to you like what do you need to see from this Ohio State football team on Saturday to Come Away really feeling impressed given who the competition is yeah I mean it's going to be hard to come away feeling impressed given who the competition is I think by by even even by group of five standards this wasn't a good team last year they're off back-to-back two in 10 seasons um I I think that it's just you want to see the holistic dominance of Ohio State position to position uh get up by you know 35 or so points by half time and uh come out and score in the third quarter and and get the starters out of there right I think if the what will impress me is if Ohio State can play one series into the second half and then not have it starter see the field again just rest everyone keep everyone healthy uh through week one here as your preparing for this long haul of a season I I I think that if you dominate to that extent where you can get the starters out of the game really early like not just fourth quarter early but early in the third quarter I think that's when I'll be impressed with the performance um against akan because it's I mean to me this is the worst team on the schedule and they they should walk over him um even uh even if I didn't expect Ohio State to be you know one of the best Ohio State teams I've seen covering this team um I would expect them to walk over all over this acon team so it will take a lot to impress me impress Ohio State fans at large I'm sure and maybe that's a really too high of an expectation for uh a team in week one we saw all four underdogs cover their point spreads in week zero which I thought was a pretty interesting stat that shows you know just how much teams are still ironing out the wrinkles here early in the season but um no no wrinkles expected from Ohio State on Saturday which is the pressure of having a roster like this yeah I was thinking about what I was going to send you for my score prediction for this game and and my initial prediction that came to my head was 59 to7 I still might go f but then I thought about it and go well that was the exact score of the AL State African game in 2021 that was with a true freshman Kyle McCord starting in place of CJ strad and a team that had a defense that was nowhere near as good as this year's defense so it's almost like okay like 59 to7 like like that be really good right like yeah it would be but it's also like oh like this team is supposed to be better than that team and that team beat akan 59 to7 so that kind of puts into perspective like what what should be expected here in terms of dominance I think to your point you know I think what I really want to see is you want to just see them come out on a gas pedal early and just dominate from the jum I mean you know with that being said I I I do think again it's the first game you have to keep everything in perspective in this game like if they look great like you have to you have to realize well okay this is akan like there's going to be much better teams to come they're supposed to look great but at the same time you know if they have you know one turnover or they give up one touchdown or something like that that also does not mean you should hit the panic button and oh Ohio State's going eight and four they're not any good and throw out all those expectations from before the season I think you have to keep everything in perspective in this game it's it's a season opener against a team that like you said was really bad last year I think the thing I wonder with this team is there's been so much hype and it's clear it's clear that this team believes in itself the same way that so many of us believe in them you just get that Vibe if this team really believes it's got something special this year that this this team has the potential to be that team that that gets over the hump and and and and gets back to winning a national championship for the first time in 10 years I think this Ohio State team really believes it can be that team but you also can't let that hype get to your head like I think if you see maybe some disciplined stuff you know you know sloppy penalties sloppy turnovers uh not seeming totally locked in then maybe you're going to come out of it wondering okay like did this team maybe you know read its press clippings a little too much like this team you know you know do they need to kind of get back to business I think one thing I know for sure is no matter how many points Ohio State wins this game by but coaches are going to find those things and they're going to Har on those things next week because they know tougher Challengers are to come no matter how good this team looks so you know I want to sit here and say well just because Ohio State if they dominate this game that doesn't mean Ohio State's gonna win a National Championship but we've both picked Ohio State to win the national championship so I'm not going to sit here and say oh no they don't get excited excited because like you know we're excited about this team like we think there's very good reason to be excited about this team so do be excited by the good things you see but uh certainly we we have to keep everything in in perspective in this game I think to your point as well about you know ideally getting the starters out early in the How Early Should The Backups Come In If The Game Becomes A Blowout? second half when we talk about things we're excited to see like I'm just eager to see too we talk about the newcomers it's not just those guys who are in a starting lineup it's a lot of other guys who are going to get a chance to play in this game that you know maybe won't get the chance to play in every game but they'll get a chance to play in this game you know do we get to see Julian saan make his debut of M Shu we know Devin Brown gonna be that second quarterback in but will Julian Saiyan be the third quarterback in will we get to see you know he did not have a very good spring game will will we get to see more of the real Julian saying why people are so excited about him if he gets in this game for his debut of a shoe I mean there's so many other freshmen that they're really excited about whether it's James peoples or milin Graham or edric Houston Aaron Scott Payton Pierce Jaylen mlan you know I could go on H there's a lot of young Talent on this team and it's actually very important to get those guys reps because you know it's it's not the most important thing right now but but you do think about a year from now this team is GNA look very different from the one that's going to be taking the field on Saturday so now is the time these first three games in particular you want want to be able to get those young players as many reps as you can uh to get them in the game and I am going to be interested to see too how Ryan Day approaches it in terms of how quick a trigger he has to pull starters out of a game because we've seen in the past Ohio State tends to be pretty conservative like they usually want to be up like 35 points or something like that before they really pull those starters out of the game but when you're forecasting ahead to a potential 16 17 Game season it becomes all the more important to keep those starters fresh and to get those backups reps in case you need them later in the season I I did make the point when we were talking a few days ago I do think there's an argument to be made for one of these first free games that maybe you keep the starters in a little longer than you need to because you don't necessarily want to go into Big 10 play with a team that hasn't played four quarters yet you know you don't want to get to you know Eugene Oregon you've been dominating all season and all of a sudden you've got a win in the fourth quarter and you're gassed because your players haven't played four quarters all season long so I think there's maybe an argument for that somewhere in these first three games but maybe you keep the starters in a little longer than you need to and again who knows I mean you know maybe one of these games is more competitive than we think and then they have to play anyway but I think I do think ideally for this first game especially with what we think akran is the goal is to dominate the first half get as much of a lead as possible and then it's a short day if any day I mean if you you know you have a big enough lead at halftime maybe the starters don't play at all in the second half I think ideally you want to take care of business as early as you can in this game get those young guys some reps and come out of a shoe one and0 and have that season opener under your belt yeah um I think Ryan day and and the coaching staff would agree with everything you just said there about you know this is as far as wanting to play a four quarter game and and and having people in game shape I do think there's something to that to your point but you know this isn't I don't think this is the game for that either because you you want to do that a little closer to the actual Big 10 play for one kind of treat it as a ramp right and like do it against Marshall do it a little later you know after you've already given enough rest to your starters in some of these other blowouts some maybe these first couple blowouts I almost wonder if you do it against Western Michigan because you have that five a week after that's true too that that can also be a factor in this so I'll be interested it's just going to be interesting to see how they manage reps and it's also like you know again just a a a measure of how soft this schedule is early on that this is you know this is what we're talking about is how much are the starters actually going to play in these games because yeah and and I'm excited to see these backups too and and Balancing Rotation and Experimentation with Building Rhythm and Chemistry also get a sense of what the rotations might look like at some of the key positions now when you're playing the big games when you're playing at Oregon when you're playing at Pinn State later in the year when you're playing Michigan these types of games the rotations at certain positions are probably going to look different they usually shorten up in those kinds of environments but do we we heard Jim N say on Tuesday that Sunny Styles CJ Hicks and Cody Simon are going to split rep pretty equally at linebacker even though Cody and sunny will be the starters there we T heard talk in the past about rolling linebackers and it really didn't happen that much last year Cody Simon did work into the rotations a little more as the year progressed but really it wasn't it wasn't like an equal share Tommy at at its best you know Cody might mix in like 20 snaps or so um with in in those big games and then Tommy and steel were mostly there to to he to pay is sort of an equal share and to say that sunny and CJ are might be the two linebackers on the field in some scenarios it's like I'll be interested to see if that actually plays out against akan to see if then I can believe it'll play out at Oregon um and then this Right Guard too Ryan said there they want to roll some guys through although tagra chabola will be starting um and that's another one I always push back whenever I hear they're going to roll offensive lineman and it's something day has said in the past too like that you know the the guys who deserve to play will play but offensive line chemistry is too important to roll guys there you need to keep that front five as cohesive as possible so if tagra shol is playing up to the standard we expect of him that Ohio State expects of him and you know we talked about this a lot on press coverage already but if he's playing up to that standard I'd expect him to lock down that job and not see much rotation at that position uh going forward in this game in the future so um that that's the other thing and also Germaine Matthews Jr right is another I think guy you've got to get involved at corner so does he how much does he roll in does he play any nickel is the next nickel Off the Bench himmer lenzo Styles junr there's little depth things like that too that I think we'll also have our eye on yeah I think it's a fine line to walk because you certainly can't afford to experiment in this game you can afford to rotate more if you want to but it's that balance of do we want to experiment a lot do we want to rotate a lot or do we want to focus on building Rhythm building chemistry with our first team units while they in the game because you know we we've talked about it before with last year where it felt like the offense was kind of behind the eightball because they didn't have a firm starting quarterback they weren't in a good Rhythm early in the season and it was almost like they just never caught up and we did hear Ryan desay on Tuesday I asked him I said do you feel like you're in a better R of them offensively because you've had a starting quarterback for a couple weeks and his answer was basically we'll see uh we'll see over the next couple weeks he said they're not close to where he expected they would be and and and to that end he said I wouldn't expect them to be there right now because their expectation their standard is to be the best in the country and will Howard hasn't played a game yet quinon Judkins hasn't played a game yet you you mentioned you know Tegra Shola has not started a game for Ohio State wide receivers well very talented mechuka is the only one of who's really played a lot for Ohio State so you expect there to be some Growing Pains at least on that offensive side of a ball in the first few games of the year maybe not as much on defensive side of a ball because literally with sunny Styles being a will linebacker every single player on that defense has been a starter at the Collegiate level so you kind of expect them to just be dominant from the beginning I think you probably expect the offense it's maybe going to take a little more time uh to get to where they need to be but uh you know when you start off of akan Western Michigan and Marshall that's a nice ramp to have uh to really kind of build that Rhythm and and try to get some momentum going and so I certainly think you know that's going to be priority a and then you know ideally if you do get that momentum early you can build a big lead early in the game then you know particularly in the second half uh because we did hear Ryan Day say that he did talk to Chip Kelly like they did have conversations about do we get Devin Brown in early in the game just to give him some reps with the first team offense he said they decided not to do that so that suggests they they want to focus first and foremost on building Rhythm offensively early in the game and then ideally as the game progresses get more and more of those backups in the game to get as many guys reps as possible while also keeping those starters fresh in a game where they shouldn't need those starters to play for uh four quarters so with that Why We Think Ohio State Will Cover the Spread in mind when we think about game predictions and and what a score might look like uh it's it's it always complicates that when we're talking about the possibility of backup seeing extended action and particularly complicates that when we're talking about a spread of seven scores uh as we sit here right now recording on Tuesday evening the spread I'm seeing on multiple sites is 48 a half points and so Andy will Ohio State cover of a spread I'm going to go yes uh my official score prediction is 56-3 uh I think that it's gonna again I think Ohio State's probably going to score at least 35 of those 56 in the first half and then game will kind of slow down as the starters come out and uh they they they just take the foot off the gas pedal a little bit in the second half but I think this defense is deep enough that it's going to be dominant throughout this game regardless of it's the first second or even third unit playing out there because they just this defense can run so deep especially on the defensive line um I frankly think Ohio State's second defensive line is would is still overwhelming for award's first team offensive line uh they're just that deep and that good up front so I I think that this game will be dominant throughout for Ohio State and I see them covering that spread uh even though as I pointed out earlier it's been rare for the big favorites to cover the spreads uh so far this college football season and this brief college football season thus fall uh but for me I have Ohio State covering the spread and and winning this game 50 plus points with that 563 final yeah I do as well I'll just go that 597 score that feels right but I I do I think Ohio State wins this game by 50 plus points I I think H you know said akan is probably going to be one of the worst teams in the mac and so uh there's uh a massive Talent gap between these two teams and as long long as Ohio State comes out and just does what it should do uh it should be a very lopsided score at the end of the day so even with a big spread I mean as you know as a better I'm not usually going to be looking to touch a whole lot of 48 and a half point spreads but I would feel pretty good about picking Ohio State to to cover in this game I I really will again there's there's a lot of variables when when you're talking about that kind of spread and you're talking about a game where almost certainly the starters are not going to play the whole game uh but I still think like to your point I mean the the the third stringers at Ohio State would be starting at Akon So you expect that even when those backups are in there in the second half you expect that Ohio state is still going to be able to continue to extend that lead and put up a big number on the scoreboard and so that's why we both have the Buckey covering the spread don't think there's really anything else to say about auran at this point and so I want to kind of do some uh big picture preseason talk and uh do some superlatives for the season uh we've already both predicted publicly that Ohio state will win the national The Unanimous 11W Pick: Ohio State over Georgia in the National Championship Game championship actually we and literally everybody else on our staff has picked Ohio State to meet Georgia in the national championship game and and Ohio State uh to win that game so uh not a whole lot of variety in those National Championship picks from the 11 Warriors staff this year uh but you know it just goes to show uh you know how good we think this team could be I mean I am not the guy honestly who usually picks Ohio State to win uh when we do that EXT to win at all when we do that exercise but you know I I think this is uh the best team Ohio state has had in some time I think at least since 2019 and I think that was a national championship caliber team I think it's certainly the best team the Buckeyes have had since then and so I do like this team's chances of winning it all that doesn't mean it's going to be easy uh there's a you know you're going to have to win free college football playoff games at least this year to do that and I think we actually both have the same exact prediction for the season because at least for me I have Ohio State losing to Oregon in the regular season that road game at oddson stadium but I think that will be the only loss of the year for the Buckey I think they will win the Oregon rematch in Indianapolis Big 10 championship game to get that first round by in the cfp I don't know who they'll play in the first two games of a cfp but I think the Buckeyes will take care of business in those games and then I think uh if we do end up getting that Ohio State Georgia rematch of a few years ago in Mercedes Benz stadium in the national championship game I think that's GNA be one hell of a game I mean I think uh Georgia's really really good I mean they they've been really really good uh pretty consistently in the Kirby Smart era uh they they may have the best quarterback in the country uh they have one of the best offensive lines in the country and they're pretty strong everywhere else too and so uh that's going to be one heck of a game if it happens between Ohio State and Georgia but I I think if it gets to that point I I I do believe that these bucke guys can get it done I I agree I mean that's how I projected it to play out as well obviously uh you know I was one of the rest of the 11 Warriors staff who also chose Ohio State Over Georgia in the national championship game and I again like you said I also have them losing at Oregon and then I have them beating Oregon in the Big 10 title game because I think Oregon and Ohio State are clearly the two best teams in the Big 10 um so all instead of rehashing all of that I think it best to move on to our Team MVP Picks: Caleb Downs and Denzel Burke next superlative here and that's who we expect our team MVP to be this season um our picks for Team MVP I should say and uh for me I I'm going to go with Caleb DS here um I think offensively there's going to be too much distribution for any one weapon to be that Team MVP guy for me I think AA abuka will be the leader of the receiving Corp but Maya Smith Brandon and as Carnell Tate will get enough production mixed in that I don't think he's going to rise above head and shoulders the rest of the crowd there they just we've said it in the past even though they lost Marvin Harrison Jr it feels like they're deeper and perhaps better overall at receiver than they were last year especially if abuka is healthy all year unlike he was last season um and Caleb DS I mean it's there's a lot of stars you could pick from this defense if you're going to pick a Defender as Team MVP but I really think the way that Caleb DS can be used across the entire defense the way that they can deploy him in a variety of scenarios and his production at Alabama speaks to you know usually you take a big step from year one to year two as a colge football player so do I expect him to have 100 tackles again I'm not sure but I I think he's going to actually take steps forward and just be making plays all over the field in the pass game in the Run game uh and and just yeah embody what you expect a Team MVP to be and that's just just a big contributor that's um going to be I think a focal point for the best defense in college football yeah it's such a tough choice this year because there's so many good players on this team like I think we just this last year like we probably both picked Marvin Harrison Jr like this year there's so many good players on this team there's so many different ways you could go but you know I do think you know this is going to be another defensive driven team I think you know the the key to a national championship type season for his team is having the best defense in the country and what I think it can be so I got to go with somebody on defense I feel like there's literally like Five Guys I could go with on defense Caleb DS is a good choice uh I could certainly Go Jack Sawyer I you know Ty Williams is another guy who's gonna have a big year but I've been on the Denzel Burke train for a long time I'm gonna go Denzel Burke I mean I think that Ohio state is GNA have the best pass defense in the country again this year and I think being that shut down cornerback on one side of the field is so valuable to a defense I think give you he can really lead a a dominant effort in the secondary it's going to make it tough for teams to pass the ball downfield it's going to lead to more pressure uh from the defensive lineman more big plays uh up front for the defense and it's gonna you know Force teams to you know run the ball into a really good defensive line and so I'm gonna go with Denzel Burke as my team MVP because I just think that you know what he can do as that corner back on the outside of a defense brings so much value to that defense and is one of the biggest reasons why I'm very confident this is going to be an elite Ohio State Defense this year the next How Many First-Team All-Americans Will Ohio State Have This Season? question here on our preseason superlatives how many first team all-americans will Ohio State have this year and who will they be it's a uh it's this was a tough one for me to count up but I think on the offensive side and I I guess the answer is going to be a lot here which is you know uh I think this usually gets an overestimate for me when you ask me these qu types of questions for the season because it's easy like you know first team All-American is a pretty hard thing to get you got to be you know if if it's basically if you assembled a all 130 some football teams in the country would you start on the ultimate roster of all college football so um but I do have two on offense I'm going a Mecca abuka and I'm going Donovan Jackson um I think trayon Henderson and quinon Judkins are going to split too many carries to be first team all-americans although I think both of them could make second third team kind of in that range they'll have both have that potential and if one emerges as the guy um whether that's through injury or other means over the course of the Season then I think that guy will have a legitimate shot to be a first team allamerican but I think Donovan Jackson has always had that potential and he's come close to performing at that level in stretches in his past it just feels like to me this is the year not only he's going to put it together and the offensive line is going to take steps from last year I don't know if they're going to be a Joe Moore award candidate or anything but I do expect the offensive line to be better and part of that will be because Donovan Jackson plays at the All-American level he's capable of so on offense those are my two picks defensively I have Jack Sawyer as a first team All-American I have Denzel Burke as a first team allamerican I have Caleb DS as a first team All-American um and I I come really close on Ty Le Williams but I think that he kind of got slept on a little bit nationally last year I think that's going to happen again to where he's not maybe a first team allamerican and even like you look at in the Big 10 you got defensive tackles like Kenneth Graham and and others that are around the conference and uh might it might be tough just with the competition that's around to submit himself as the as one of the two best defensive tackles in college football essentially but um I I think Jack Sawyer Denzel Berke Caleb DS would be my three first team All-American picks there in Ohio State's defense um yeah to to ride with going into the year so five tote Michigan's defensive tackles are so good you you combine them into Kenneth Grant and Mason grah they're both really good they're both potential all Americans so you're not wrong there I'm going to go the other way on you you you're you're saying you're going to over estimate I'm I'm going to go a little more conservative and and maybe underestimate a little bit I think I could when I was going through it in my head I I thought of all six of those same guys like I think those are Ohio State's top six All-American candidates uh like you said I think at running back I mean there's a lot of really good running backs in college football this year so for one of those guys when they're in a time share position to emerge as a you know top two running back in the country to earn those first team All-American honors I I don't see that so so it really was those six that I strongly considered but I'm going to go with just two I'm going to go with Caleb DS and Jack Sawyer I think Caleb DS is uh maybe the best safety probably the best safety in the country and so I think if he plays at the same level he did last year as a freshman when he was a second team All-American at Alabama I think he will be a first team All-American safety and then with Jack Sawyer I've said it before I mean if he plays all year the way he did down the stretch of last season he will be first team allamerican and I really do believe that he can do that and so I I'm going with Jack Sawyer and Caleb DS being the two Buckeyes who will get trees and Buckeye Grove this year you know tough to leave Denzel Burke off that list but I think it's really loaded at corner this year with Will Johnson Travis Hunter benjam Mor Benjamin Morrison and I just feel like like will Johnson and Travis Hunter if they have the years that they're supposed to have like those are going to be the two guys who are going to get most of a national so that's why I left Denzel Burke off AA bua strongly considered but it it it again goes back to the fact fit there's also Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate and Brandon inis I just don't know with that much talent on offense I'm not saying I think it will happen I'm not ruling out the possibility that Jeremiah Smith could be All-American as a true freshman I think I think it's within the realm a possibility of everything we've heard about him and I know that sounds crazy but I think it's a v realm of possibility but you know I think when you have three four guys who are really good at that position I just don't know if I see a Mecca putting up the raw numbers that are going to be required to be an all-americans I think he's an All-American caliber player but that's why I'm going against him there Donovan Jackson certainly one I could see but I do think you know there's a jump that needs to happen in his play that I maybe thought would happen last year but I don't feel like it did so you know for that reason I'm going to go more conservative there and not go of him but I I wouldn't be shocked if it happens if it all comes together for him the next Breakout Stars: Sonny Styles and Josh Simmons question on here was going to be who will be the breakout star for Ohio State this year but I think if I just left it that simple we'd both just say Jeremiah Smith so which player not named Jeremiah Smith will be the breakout star for Ohio State season I think Sunny Styles is my choice here and not that obviously Sunny played a meaningful role last year uh rotating at nickel at the start of the Season then sliding back to start at Deep safe fre fulltime deep safety fulltime he was at strong safety um start starting there fulltime after lean Ransom got hurt but really had a lot of issues pop up I think especially when he slid back deep covering space in the open field taking good angles in in open space and tackling from that deep safety spot where it's a little different I think linebacker fits all the best qualities of his skill set and we've talked about this all offseason um talking about how his best plays last year were made in the box and in the few opportunities he got to Blitz he made a huge impact I think crashing the line of scrimmage had a couple sacks and he'll get to do a lot more of that at linebacker Jim NS has said they want to Blitz more this year I think he's part of the reason why he and CJ are both very very ferocious blitzers I think CJ's probably the best at that on the team uh as the coaching staff as he said but Sunny that type of size and athleticism at the linebacker position you know listeners might be familiar with Jack Lambert the fame Steelers linebacker um who was a very tall human uh I I he and Sonny I believe were are similar Heights um and it was interesting you know I used to love watching the NFL 100 as a kid and and seeing the documentaries these short documentaries about these players that have shaped the game and when they talked about Jack Lambert they talked about how you know short running backs have an advantage sometimes because you can kind of hide behind offensive lineman and change the angles for Defenders when you have a tall linebacker can work in the opposite sense where you can kind of see over the action and and look at what's happening in the opposing backfield I think that's going to play into Honey's favor it's clear that he's acclimated to the linebacker position very quickly that's been talk just how quickly he you know he was out there as the first team will at the start of preseason camp it really didn't take that long for him to transition and having the experience at safety allows him to have knowledge of the whole defense too he's got the athletic skill set to run sideline to sideline from will linebacker I think where covering slot receivers was a weakness for him last year it'll be a strength for him to match up on tight ends and running backs all told Sunny styles could become a real star in this Ohio State Defense where last year he was just sort of a contributor that had some flaws so for me I think Sunny Styles is my kind of slept on breakout candidate in a defense that's just so loaded with star power well Sunny Styles was going to be my pick too but I'll go I think another player who I I think has this kind of potential that I think can fit this category would be Josh Simmons because I think Josh Simmons was a guy who kind of quietly improved over the course of his first year as Ohio State's left tackle and I think was quietly a strength of a weak offensive line line by the end of last season but he's a guy that I think has the potential to be so much better than what we've seen from him and I think you've seen that in the practices we've been able to go to this preseason I mean this is a guy he's got you know really prototype kind of physical ability in terms of his athleticism for that position and I've also been impressed when we've had opportunities to watch him in the Run game like I think you think of him kind of being like that quick guy should be really good in pass Pro but he you know we we've seen him moov guys in a run game looking really good in that area and so uh it would certainly be a huge Boon for this Ohio State team if they can have a stud left tackle um that's something that we don't know about I mean like you know there's some projection here with Josh Simmons but I think the potentials there he's on that trajectory where I think potential is there for him to potentially make a big jump and become an elite left tackle this season and if he could do that that that could go really long way toward Ohio State's uh aspirations of achieving all its goals this season last question here kind of Unsung Heroes: Lathan Ransom and Ty Hamilton wrapping up our superlatives uh Dan who who will be the Buckey's unsung hero that is you know someone that isn't going to get a lot of attention but will play an important role to the success to the success of the team um and make a big impact even if it's quiet yeah there's I feel like there's a few different guys that I could go with here but I'm going to go with Le and Ransom because I think he's been kind of overshadowed now in the secondary because you have Caleb DS next to him at safety you have Denzel Burke I mean Jordan Hancock has become a stud I mean Davis and osan's a really good corner I think lean's kind of the overlooked guy in that secondary now but this is a guy who's now a fifth-year senior in that secondary I mean he's played a lot of football uh for this defense and I think he's a really good player I think he's a guy who uh you know is has improved a ton in coverage over the course of his career and he's also a guy that you know can come downhill in the box and make some big hits and I think with having a safety of Caleb DS's caliber P trolling the back end that increases the kind of things you can do with lean Ransom it can allow you to be a little more aggressive with Le and Ransom and really kind of take uh advantage of his ability as a downhill attacker and so he's a guy I mean Caleb DS talked about it when he met with the media last week he was asked about uh you know Le and Ransom being you know maybe a little overlooked by uh you know the preseason award watch list and stuff I mean this is a guy who was a Jim for award semi finalist two years ago he wasn't even on the Jim forp award watch list last year but Caleb basically said no lean's an elite safety he should be getting just as much recognition as I am and so I don't know if it's gonna happen just because of who's next to him at F position and Caleb DS but I think lean ransom's a really important player for his defense this year and I think he's going to be one of those guys that you know I don't don't know if we're ever going to be talking about him this year as like the star of his defense but I think he's going to be one of those quietly very important Lynch pins who uh can play a big part in this Ohio State Defense uh potentially being the best in the country yeah um when I first was first pondering that this question I think you know my mind went to Seth mcclin but I do think there's actually a lot of attention on the the on the offensive line this year and if he does perform well and fix some of the snapping issues he last year at Alabama then I I think it'll actually get some recognition maybe more than the offensive line normally would just because there's so much attention on it heading into the season so for me Tai Hamilton um is the guy that I I think on this defensive line is talked about the least but one technique is such an important position that nose guard ability to eat a double team uh and ston wall and do certain things against the running game but also I think he's gonna he's got the strength and kind of like his brother Devon in entering his senior year he's got the strength and things to get after the passer and and make an impact in that sense and uh I think that's something he's really worked on this off season Larry Johnson's called him a sleeping giant on uh on occasion and he talked about that too of how he's he's a more quiet guy but he lets his play speak for himself that's how Tai translated that but I I really think he took a lot of steps especially at the end of last season he was pretty good in that Missouri game as well as good as Jack Sawyer was Tai Hamilton was right there in that mix of Defenders who had a great game in the Cotton Bowl I I really expect big things from Tai at that one Tech position this year as I do the entire defensive line uh but he he'll he'll he'll probably get the least recognition for it because you know those nose guards are in there banging around and eating blocks and doing the dirty work so that other guys could make tackles I'm glad you said Tai because I was sitting there going do I say lean or do I say like I was kind of between those two guys I so I I think you know Tai is definitely a guy who you know can fit that criteria I think Cody Simon's another guy you can fit back criteria but I think he's become a little bit less unsung over the last couple weeks because he got the blco because he's named the captain because he's been talked up so much as a leader but I do think from a national perspective he's another guy as well that I think he's gonna play a really important role for this defense this year but I don't know if he'll necessarily get the national attention I mean I think he might get overshadowed by Sunny Styles I think if Sunny Styles be becomes what we think he can be sunny might end up being the linebacker who gets most of the attention because I think he might be the guy who makes more of a flashy plays but I think Cody especially you know with his move to helmet communication and him being the guy who's going to be the defensive signal caller wearing that Green Dot helmet I I think he's another guy who's going to be really important for his defense this year is probably going to be overshadowed by some of the talent around him but uh that should not lessen uh his importance to the defense because I think uh him becoming what he's expected to be at that Mike linebacker spot is going to be very important for this defense especially in the Run game one more thing to talk about this week uh even though uh Ohio Why Connor Stalions’ Story Doesn‘t Add Up State football season is starting up this week it still feels like the biggest story permeating around this fan base uh is is the Conor stallions Michigan Scandal I mean you just have to look at you know we we have the metrics every day that show us you know what our most R stories are and anytime we write about Conor stallions or Michigan it's it's always at the top of the list and so as excited as uh fans are for the start of this season I think there's probably plenty of you out there who are even more eagerly anticipating uh the day that Michigan finally gets uh penalized for uh this sign stealing Scandal that broke in the middle of last season and certainly a uh development invat on Tuesday as Netflix uh released its much anticipated Connor stallions documentary and so of course even on a busy Tuesday where we had a Ryan Day press conference and uh podcast to record and all that we both had to watch the Conor stallion's documentary uh because of you know all the all the attention that it's been that it's been getting and you know I don't know it uh I I would say that we were surprised by what we saw on there because uh you know I think a lot of it was stuff we already knew or already seen or heard um and I think we kind of anticipated going in you know based on some of the other Netflix documentaries they had done on similar topics that you know this was going to be a little bit of a puff piece for Connor stallion it was going to be uh told mostly from his perspective and nothing wrong with that because this is you know this is the first time that Conor stallion has spoken publicly about this so that was kind of a whole big draw it that's why it was so anticipated is because we had heard from Conor stallions yet we've heard so much about Connor stallions for the last 10 months but this was the first time we actually got to hear what Conor stallions had to say so uh it was very interesting to hear him talk interesting to hear his perspective of being someone who uh has loved Michigan since he was a little kid and uh really wanted to do anything he could to help Michigan win a National Championship and he in fact did that but the big question that continues to linger over this whole situation is whether things he did uh were in fact a violation of rules and if they were how should Michigan be punished for it and I think we both agree that Connor stallion's story in this documentary uh did not add up uh there were certainly holes in in in what he had to say I think uh particularly in regards to uh his explanation for uh why he was forwarding tickets to people and why they were sending him film from a games they attended I was the first of our staff to watch it because you know I'm I'm a pretty restless sleeper I got up in the middle of the night last night and you know I'd already volunteered for this assignment to kind of write about you were just so excited to watch it you couldn't sleep Christmas Christmas morning it was just the presents under the tree I was so excited hooray sign stealer um documentary is out finally um but yeah no I I I got up in the middle of the night I was like okay well I'm up I might as well go ahead watch this thing take notes you know get my thoughts on it to have ready for the morning and and and crank out this story and it was it was so funny to me I because what I felt happened is yes they un the people that have made this documentary series Untold in the past have again it's from the people it's from the perspective of you know whoever is involved in the Scandal and it's been puff pieces in the past etc etc and they really tried to do that I feel like there were parts of this where they even tried to make him a martyr like oh he fell on a grenade for the University and and Connor's side of the story in the first half of the documentary was you get this whole lore about him being a lifelong Michigan fan that always wanted to coach and then he um learns how to steal signs really well while at the Naval Academy and coaching for Kenya monolo um and and and works his way up and kind of gets introduced to the Michigan staff at a coaches Clint all these things you know we we knew a lot of this already but in the second half of this story it was just an unraveling of a Web of Lies that's all it felt like because um I I think there were there was multiple really telling scenes in this I think the the funniest part of that the funniest pattern to follow in this was how he explained the fact that there were tickets purchased to over 30 different Big 10 games for future Michigan opponents that uh you know he he coordinated for people to go to that were in his name right and that sent him practice footage because you know at first it's like he says oh I guess I'm just in trouble for sending my mom to a Michigan State game and then oh we have vinmo transactions of you playing other Michigan staff other coaches to to go to this and or or least other coaches are claiming that you paid them to send send him the Des and there was this public vinbo transaction history and then the backpedal was oh I've made so much money by and selling tickets why I I if if a guy wants a ticket for $100 I I just give it to him it's no big deal to me okay well then there is and huge shout out to BR Ohio 11 Warrior SW poster who was who did a lot of good investigative work as the story was unfolding originally and was the Ohio State voice in this documentary frankly my favorite character I know I cover Ohio State but he he he comes on in a in a full black outfit with orange mirrored sunglasses is hiding his identity you know it was it was fantastic dude looked like a CIA operative like he said um but then the backpedal was you know you keep going and in the investigation to NCAA the NCAA they then end up asking him if he got footage of opposing Sidelines during games from the people he sent and he admits to it and then the excuse is oh I didn't use it for scouting though I already had the signals from TV broadcast cast so I had possession of opposing Sidelines but I didn't use it for advanced scouting come on it's like a Christmas present that you already have I'm like all right sure Connor whatever this it was just like they they really tried to prop him up but they just couldn't because he lied his way through a lot of it and there were some truths in there too and it was interesting to hear about the underbelly of sign stealing in college football but it was come on man do you really expect us to believe this I don't know about you but when someone gives me tickets to a game I go and I just hold my phone up for the entire game and then send them a video like you know that's that's very normal behavior when you know somebody gives you tickets to go to go to a football game and then you know I I think the other part of it for me that that really stuck out to me was you know the big defense kind of is oh I don't need film to watch this I just I'm just so good at memorizing all of a signals like I you know he's like did showing how he you know made his whole database he filmed every signal and like he's just like I'm just so good at pick and like and and and then we'll give him some credit like he's obviously is good at this like like there's no there's no denying that he is good at like deciphering signals like that's why he was in this position in first place like there's no question he's good at it the question is did what he did go fall outside vnca rule book and and certainly one of the more egregious things that he seemingly did was dressing up in Disguise and going to the central Michigan game and for all the talk about how great his memor is and that he could remember the signals when he was asked about it by the NCAA he could not remember whether he went to a central Michigan gang I mean that's that that's pretty dubious that uh uh after looking at his attorney for 10 seconds and pausing that he could not recall whether he went to the central Michigan game and then after being pressed on that answer immediately his lawyer deflects to well Ohio State hacked his computer we're done with this interview so you know that's that's typically how people behave when you know they're they're innocent right so um you know I think those two things you know in particular the the dubious explanation of why people were sending him film from games and uh the uh not being able to recall that he was on the sideline at the central Michigan game even though Dave pornoy of all people uh who uh as as was shown in the documentary uh has a legitimate connection with Connor stallions because Connor stallion has appeared in multiple bar School sports videos since this whole thing uh broke out kind of trolling people yeah and you know you know it's so funny Andy because like I remember like when we first saw those videos like U and people were like was that Connor Stallions in the background of Dave's Pizza review and I'm like there's no way right like there's no way this guy uh is is actually doing this uh and it turned out he was you know Nicole hour back from NBC Sports made that point in the documentary of how you know Recognition for Brohio and Other Investigators in the Eleven Warriors Community and and we see it I there's so many examples of stories that we've had to cover where you see the rumors on the message board and and so many times you know they're just so out I'm not talking about you know our board specifically just message boards in general there's so much outlandish stuff out there on message boards that you always take anything you see just coming from an anonymous user on a message board of a grain of salt like you might kind of go that's interesting like is that if that's true that's really interesting but you never know like how credible any of it is but to Nicole's Point like most of the stuff that has been like leaked out there like hey was F Conor stall in Disguise it it actually was and again shout out to our own broo because he's been I think probably um along with a couple of our other commenters uh some some of the uh best investigators out there on the web in in in terms of this in terms of uh unearthing uh details about this sign stealing Scandal that have proven to be true and you know if you go to 11w warriors.com right now I don't not sure most likely between the time we've recorded this and and the time you're listening to this there's already been multiple new Freds about the Michigan Scandal because they restart every time they get to 300 comments but uh we're up to some obscene Roman numeral at this point of of all the Freds uh that have uh uh been uh had by our uh commenters about the Michigan Scandal and uh you know uh I I'd be lying if I said I read all of them because there's just so many comments but if you dig through those threads there are lots of interesting nuggets there from uh some of our readers who uh have proven based on their their track record of stuff that they've unveiled in this science dealing investigation but they know what's going on like they're not just making stuff up so again shout out to broh and the others in our 11 Warriors Community who have been investigating this and you know pretty cool that brohio got the opportunity uh to be a part of his documentary and I know uh he's got a AMA going on in the Forum right now that definitely worth checking out he he talks a lot about what it was like for him to be a part of that documentary and he wasn't just somebody that they had on for an interview and that was it like he was somebody who actually was like integrally involved in this documentary like they were exchanging information and he said that he even helped them devise questions to ask Connor stallion so uh very cool that you know one of our own in the community uh was able to play such a big part in this uh documentary that that's getting so so much attention and uh you know certainly uh you know encourage everybody to go uh you know check out you know what he's saying in the Forum right now if you're looking for uh more more perspective on this Conor stallion story a after this documentary you know it's just going to be interesting to see exactly what Now We Await Michigan’s Sanctions (Which Likely Won’t Come Until 2025) sanctions are levied at Michigan now that the official notice of allegations has been given uh to Michigan this past week timed up pretty uh I I would say it wasn't a coincidence that the NCAA timed this up a little bit with releas of the documentary um and Michigan has 90 days to respond less than that now uh to those notice of allegations so you know this time in in several months we'll know exactly what Michigan's punishment is but um for me it was I went into the documentary expecting a puff piece expecting them to go to Every length to try and stretch what Connor was saying but uh to me it just it anytime you talk to whether was broh or whether it was H Hopson the um sorry will Hopson will Hopson will Hopson I was blinking on his first name for a second there The Washington Post reporter whenever he was talking about the evidence he'd obtained and um and he said it best too you know that the whole deflection about well Connor's team thinks Ohio State hacked um his computer or hired an investigative firm to hack his computer and get that info we still don't know the exact details of how the NCAA was first leaked this information we still don't know the the full details of how the NCAA found out that this was going on with Connor stallion's computer right but we know it was given to them a third party told them to look into this essentially um there's really only been very loose circumstantial evidence it seems to link um Ryan day to anything related to Connor stallion's data being leaked or whatever um and there's not even uh anything more than loose circumstantial evidence it seems that any there was anything nefarious in obtaining the information from his computer necessarily it might have just been the result of an investigation from a third party and Michigan had computer crimes that their co-offensive coordinator was involved in earlier in in 2023 so that could have also had something to do with it but the um the deflection I thought will Hopson summed it up well is that that it doesn't matter you know how the information got out there the information is what it is and it clearly shows evidence that Advance scouting happened there was footage from opposing Sidelines to decipher signals and uh to to hear Connor backpedal throughout the documentary I thought was really revealing and more revealing than I thought this documentary would be so um I I guess that part of it was very entertaining uh to watch and um and also again just great to see our site be involved in the storytelling of this one of our posters be so uh integral to how this documentary kind of came forth well we'll certainly continue to follow V Connor stallion's Michigan story as it unfolds since it is a a big point of Interest among Ohio State fans but you know most likely we're not going to get any uh word really on penalties until 2025 because of the fact that you know Michigan has 90 days to respond you figure they're going to take those 90 days they're probably not going to agree on some joint resolution which means it's probably going to go to a hearing and so it's unlikely that any penalties are going to actually come out here until 2025 at least not final agreed upon uh you know determined penalties for Michigan and so uh you know most likely you know this is a story that's going to continue to linger in the background uh for some time yet but a college football season is here Ohio State football season begins Saturday when Buckeyes play acuron and so uh we will be focusing a lot on that and how uh this year's Buckeyes this year's Wolverines everything in college football uh unfolds over the next five months uh before uh that that extended college football playoff wraps up in mid January so an exciting season ahead we'll be here with you on real pod Wednesdays to cover it all and we hope that you'll continue to join us all season long