
It's five Ohio State football topics to preview the Buckeyes' Saturday spring game on Around the Shoe. Topics covered include backup quarterback Tavien St. Clair, whether there is more faith in the offense or defense, players on each side of the ball to watch on Saturday, and what to think of the disappearance of the spring portal.
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C
Welcome back to around the Shoe on the Bill and Doug Show. Douglas Maurice and Bill Landis joined by two outstanding media members every week previewing the Ohio State spring game. This time around, Saturday, April 18th at noon in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State spring game will happen and we're going to talk about what we're looking forward to seeing on Saturday. We are with a first time guest, Tom, or thanks for being here, man. We're excited to have you and just tell all the good folks where they can find you when you're not being on around the Shoe.
E
Sure. When I'm not on around the Shoe, I'm doing about 18 hours a day. I'm doing some other podcast. It's generally on the Buckeye Weekly podcast feed or the Buckeyes Tomorrow Morning podcast feed. Those are the, those are the surest places to find me at any given moment.
C
I think we're, we are almost out of names that begin with Buckeye and then end with something else. So it's like congratulations to you guys for locking down two of those Buckeye Weekly and. Yeah, another one. Okay, very good. Very well done. Well, Tom, you're a fantastic podcaster. Excited to have you. And back for multiple return trips. Cameron Teague Robinson of the Athletic Cam, it's great to see you. Why are you here again?
F
You know, you guys, you guys asked me to come on. I love talking to you guys. It makes, it's, it's an easy choice every time you ask me to come on.
C
Well, we, we appreciate having you. We're just always dumbfounded when people decide to come back. They've been through the ringer once or twice they're like, yeah, I'll do it again. What the heck? And then Bill Landis is here. Hey, Bill.
G
Hey, what's up? Yeah, happy to be here. Thanks. Thanks for inviting me on the show.
C
Yeah, you're the on your own show where of which you are the chief content officer. We have five topics about the Ohio State Buckeyes that we will talk about getting ready for the spring game. I don't know what you guys think of this first one, but, Tom, we will start with you. And I can't help it. I just have this guy on my brain a lot and I don't know if that's right or wrong. And the first question is about Tavian St. Clair, the backup quarterback, the second year quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tom Orr, what word would you use to describe Tavian Sinclair right now? And I'm asking this because, like, I'm, I'm kind of intrigued to see like what we see or don't see from him on Saturday. But where are you with, with TSC at the moment?
E
Well, you just use the word intrigue there. And I, I was thinking intriguing as my word. So I'm going to say that I was maybe copying off your paper a little bit there, but he's someone who we just, we haven't seen that much of him since basically this time last year when you could just watch him and you could just see everything was going a thousand miles an hour for him. And the little bits we've seen this spring, it certainly looks like everything has slowed down for him a lot. And just, there's just so much potential there. And you know, this is, this is not a year where they're even pretending there's a quarterback competition. So if Julian say and is healthy, Julian Saying is the starter. But I'm really intrigued to see how much better Tavian Sinclair looks going up against a real live defense with a real live, excuse me, offense on Saturday.
C
Yeah. Cam, Cam, are you, are you kind of fired up to see what we might see from taping, or is it like it's a backup quarterback? What's the big deal?
F
You know, I, I'm excited. I think my word was exciting. It's one of the things I'm looking forward to the most because, I mean, like you mentioned, things were just moving so fast to Tavian in that spring. I mean, they had a touchdown, but through two picks in that spring game last year, I just, but you can, you look at him and you can see the, the intangibles is big. He's got a strong arm. He moves well. Like, I. I just. I'm just interested to see what the progress was from this time last year to now, because, I mean, if everything lines up, you're looking like if Julian leaves for the pros next year, then you, Tabian, would be the guy to take over. So you just want to see that progress. And like Tom said, we haven't seen him because they had Lincoln as a backup. So I'm just. I just really want to see the progress and how he does against a lot of defensive. And then Ryan made it seem like they haven't decided if the quarterbacks are going to hit or hit or not, which would add another wrinkle to it, which I. Which I would love to see.
C
Sometimes when. When it feels like Ryan Day has not made a decision on quarterbacks, I just assume that means we're not hitting the starter, but we'll. We'll go after everybody else. Nobody touched Julian. But Tavian and Justin, they can handle their business. It's okay, Landis. Am I too obsessed with Tavian Sinclair?
G
My. Can I use two words? It's two words.
C
Yeah.
G
Third rail. Not touching it.
C
That you. Is this an official pass on around the shoe?
G
What if he's good on Saturday?
E
What?
C
I don't know.
G
Like, there's not. There's not. There's not. There's not a quarterback controversy at Ohio State unless we decide we want to make one, right? Like, I just. I don't know. Like, that's always the case. The backup quarterback. I'm. I'm not trying to say there actually is, but, like, when the backup quarterback is this. It's a little difference. And. And I. You know, there's. I don't think there's Julian saying fatigue. I think people are by and large happy with how he played last year. But, you know, there's a lot of people wishing he would have played better at the end of the last season, including Julian saying. So there's some questions about him is, like, what kind of steps is he going to take? And, of course, whatever happens on Saturday, people are going to make too much of it, because that's what we do with. With spring games. Remember Justin Fields completing, like, one pass in 2019, and everyone thought he stunk and he was a Heisman finalist. Right? So whatever happens on Saturday, I don't. I don't think actually matters all that much, but we are all human, and we will all watch it and. And really extrapolate it and try to figure out everything that it does mean. And I could just, like, see it getting, like, slightly complicated. Maybe. I don't know. Yeah, maybe I'm being too dramatic. But I think there are multiple factors here, combining that. That make this probably the most interesting backup quarterback situation that Ohio State has had since Dwayne Haskins was backing up J.T.
F
barrett.
C
Are you on alert, Tom, for slightly more complicated after Saturday?
E
Well, I don't. Maybe. I guess it's possible. I. Let me. Let me put a little spin on this, and I'm gonna make goosebumps appear on Bill Landis's arm. Ready? I'm going to use the phrase, the Tate Martel package.
F
Ready?
E
I get it. Like, I know he's not Kate Martel. I know he's not Devin Brown. I know he's not Lincoln Keenholes. Like, I get it. He's. He's ultimately going to be way more than those guys were. But he's also 3 inches taller and 22 inches heavier than the guy who was not great in fourth and one sneaks last year. Right. So is there a role for him? And I. I recognize that this is the, like, the Tobias Fungi thing where, you know, everyone thinks it's going to work out for them and. Did it ever work for these people?
F
No.
E
But. But maybe it'll work for us. Like, I don't know, maybe this is the time that the backup quarterback can have some kind of. Because, you know, he can throw the ball, too. Right. So this is not just a purely. He's going in there, and it obviously is just going to be a tush push or whatever, but maybe. Maybe there's some kind of a niche for him in that kind of role.
C
Man, that my eyes. My eyes are opening because, Cam, it's like we were. I was obsessed with. With a Lincoln Keenholtz package last year. We had the Tate Martell package. A couple years ago, it was like, is Devin Brown gonna be an alternate to Kyle McCord? But I don't know that I had opened my brain to a Tavian Sinclair package. But as Tom Orr putting his arms around Buckeye Nation right here, we. He's figured it out for all of us. The Tavian Sinclair package in some form.
F
Yeah, I think it'd be interesting. I. I think the thing with that is that Ryan just has to commit to it. I. I mean, obviously they had the Devin Brown thing, and Devin got hurt, and then he tried to do the Lincoln thing, and I don't know that I think Lincoln messed up a couple times and rhyme was like, we're never doing that again. And I, I think it has to work. You have to try it early in the year, it has to work earlier in the year, and then you have to continue to sprinkle it in. I just, my fear is that like they, they run it out there in October, it works, we all talk about it, we all love it, and then we do not see it again. And for the rest of the year. I think there's upside to it, but I just, I would, I just, they just have to stay committed to it and you have to sprinkle it in throughout the year.
C
It, it is an opportunity, Bill. Like, is it, is it not? If, if your backup quarterback is either like a smaller, more wiggly guy than the starter or the backup quarterback is a bigger, more physical guy than the starter, it opens up these possibilities. Are these good possibilities or have we just. Now I'm gonna, now I'm gonna smooth out the, the goosebumps that Tom Orr sprang upon all of us is like, did any of that stuff ever actually work? Has there ever been a package that's ever worked for the second quarterback at Ohio State?
G
The only time it kind of worked was when J.T. barrett was doing it and then he just became the starting quarter. Other. Otherwise, no, not really. I, I think, I don't know. I would, I would wonder how, how Tavian is viewed sort of like obviously he's bigger than Julian in terms of athletic ability, like whatever. Speed, elusiveness. I don't know exactly the differences there, but yeah, he'd probably rather have a 200 and whatever Tavian is, 230 pound quarterback running a quarterback sneak than a guy who's 210 or 215 pounds, whatever Julian is. So there's, there's probably an opportunity to use me if you wanted to. I, I just feel like I've learned my lesson on, on getting excited about these things, so I, I probably won't. And, but I think you could be a little more thoughtful about making sure you get Tavian into games than they've been with, with backup quarterbacks in the past. But I don't know if that's a specialized running package for him.
C
Yeah, okay. I, I'll use two words too, and I'll just say fingers crossed because Bill and I have talked about this, I'm sure, like, it's just you would like it on behalf of everybody involved. And that starts with the fans, but includes both, you know, Julian sand and Tavian Sinclair. It includes the coaching staff and Billy Fessell. The quarterbacks coach and everybody, like, there's. We see how this can work out in a smooth, easy transition from a great performance from Julian saying this year to Tavian Sinclair takes over next year and then has a great year too at Ohio State. And it's been this perfect quarterback stepping stones, right? And it just. Wouldn't it be lovely? Wouldn't it be lovely if that's how it works? But I'm, I'm like wind up putting myself in a situation where I just like think about this a lot because. And it's, it's a problem of strength. It's like too many good quarterbacks. But it did catch my eye, I think. Alabama had its spring game last weekend. Keelan Russell, who's the number two quarterback in the recruiting class that the. Of the current sophomores. Bryce Underwood was the number one quarterback. He started at Michigan last year. Russell for Alabama, replacing Ty Simpson in a quarterback battle with a veteran in Austin. Mack was I guess reportedly 21 of 33 for 240 yards with four touchdowns. And there's a quote in the AP story I'm reading. It just feels like you're playing a video game when he's in is like what one of the Alabama receivers said about this guy. And it's just like, that doesn't mean Cam. Right? People can talk about. It's like, I don't want to throw away Ohio State's Heisman finalist to get to that. But also that stuff's kind of exciting and I can't help myself when I read stuff like that. And I think about year two in college. Justin Fields was a starter year two in college. C.J. stroud was a starter year 2 in college. Julian Sane was a starter year 2 in college. Tavian Sinclair is sitting behind the Heisman finalists. And it just, I get, I turn myself into a crazy person, Cam. And that's why I need to have a podcast where I could have a therapy session and tell myself that it's all okay.
F
It's, it's, it's like the shiny new toy. It's like, you want to see that shiny new toy. It's, it's. I mean, you see it every year, every time a new five star comes in. Like, and Brandon Ennis was that his freshman year. And now Brandon's Innis moves up. It's all. He moves on his sophomore year. Then somebody else is in love with somebody else. So like, then it's just kind of like it's, you want to see that shiny new toy get out there on the field. But I agree. Tavian does. The best thing for how State is that Julian goes out there, plays really well, and taping goes up there, plays really well, and there's not like this, like, overarching quarterback thing. If Julian goes out there and struggles and taping goes out there and plays well, there's not a quarterback battle. I think we should all, like, we're all specifying that, but, like, it's going to be a very, like, long couple months until camp starts.
C
Yeah.
F
For us as members who have to decipher all that type of stuff, I
G
think it'll be a very profitable few months.
F
That is also true.
C
If, if that happens, we're gonna, the two of you are invited back, like, three times a week for, for me to just talk this out with people. I'm like, it's right. It's gonna be okay. No, it's gonna be okay. It's all gonna be okay. We'll. We'll get off the backup quarterback. But I, I, I decided that I thought that was a good way to start, just to give my time my own stomach and knots. Question number two. Cameron Teague Robinson, we'll start with you, A defensive player that you are really looking forward to seeing on the field in Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Who is it?
F
Yeah, this is tough because I, I've been like, anytime I've written anything about the defensive guys on that, like, I've always been like, oh, my God, I love Terry Moore. Oh, my God, I love her a little. Like, I love that safety group. I'm actually really excited to see Leroker, but I think I just, like, I'm fascinated by the linebackers this year in this offseason. I'm really excited to see Christian Allegro. I got just what he can do, both inside and rushing the passer. I'm just really curious to see how they're going to use him. And I know we're not going to get every answer we want to see or every answer we want to know in the spring game, but to me, he just seems like such a guy that you can do so many things with. And then I think it'll also tell a little bit about what Patricia wants to do in terms of personnel packages. Comment with. I mean, because you look at Allegro, Peyton, Pierce, Riley, Peter, John, like, you got three linebackers that you really gotta find, find ways to get on the field. So I'm really excited to see what they do with those guys. And then Allegro specifically.
C
Yeah, it is a couple of these guys just, like, I just want to see like where they line up.
F
Yeah, yeah, right.
C
I was like, it's like, well, what they do is fine because it might be against backups, might be whatever, but just like where are they physically on the field of play when the ball is set? Snapped Bill Landis, who's your guy defensively?
G
Yeah, there are a lot. I, I think I'll go Quay Russo, especially now that we know that with the running back situation being what it is, there's going to be a lot of passing in this game. So that means there'll be a lot of pass rush opportunities, obviously. And Quay Russo is just like such a unique looking kind of athlete. Like, he's runs me a little of Reuben Bane a little bit, just on the shorter side for an edge guy. Doesn't have super long arms, but looks incredibly powerful. And when watching him when he was at Alabama, I, I think you can see rather quickly just like how stout he'll be on the edge and run defense and all that stuff. But I still don't know exactly what the upside is there as a pass rusher. And obviously we're not going to get all those answers in a spring game, especially when the offensive line is dealing with some injuries. But I, I just want to see, just get a nice, like kind of long look on exactly what that looks like for, for Quay Russell. And I'm hoping that he gets kind of a, a nice kind of Runway of, of pass rush opportunities. Maybe we can see some different moves and how he likes to attack past rushers and, or offensive tackles and stuff like that to get a better idea of what the upside is. Because I don't, I still don't know exactly who their best pass rusher is going to be. I think it could be him, but there's not a lot of production, you know, thus thus far in his career that tells you it will definitely be him. So I'm excited to see what that looks like.
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C
It. It is interesting with guys like that, with so many transfers in this year that you watch them in their previous stop and then you're just curious, well, do they look pretty much the same when they're wearing scarlet and gray, or is there something, you know, now you're surrounded by maybe a higher level of talent or Matt Patricia has done something with them or he's using them in a slightly different way. Even in a, in a brief look on Saturday, do they look different than what you saw on film? Like, Bill, you watched a lot of Quay Russo. So is it. Is it going to be like, oh, yeah, no, I. That's. That's what I saw. Or is it going to be like, holy smokes, something's happened here?
G
Yeah, but the thing with Rusol is if, if you watch him, like early last year at Alabama, I do think there are some holy smokes moments. Then he hurt his foot, missed time, and he came back and like he wasn't the same player. It's like that. The explosiveness, the first step that I think is apparent at times if you watch the Wisconsin game. For instance. For instance is not there if you picked one of the games in the latter end. And now he's whatever. Months removed from that and, and healthy. So I would hope that he looks a little bit more like the guy that. That was flashing some stuff when you watched him against Wisconsin. So we'll see.
C
Okay. All right, I'll go with Dominic Kelly at corner. And just the idea of, does this look like a guy who's got to play in the fall 62190 feels like he has the body that you want. It's not the same as Davis and Ig McNosium because Igb was a starter in the SEC before he came to Ohio State for three years. Kelly was not a starter, a starter at Georgia last year. But it just remains this thing to me of like, oh, no, Ohio State's losing all these young secondary guys. They're bringing in all these veteran secondary Guys. But, oh, by the way, they got this second year guy from Georgia who, like, whatever, decided to leave and might be Ohio State's third corner. And so we've talked about the idea of, like, could you wind up in a rotation with Jermaine Matthews and Devin Sanchez? And Dominic Kelly is part of that. And like, if he just looks the part running with receivers down the field and getting his hands on balls and just like, okay, like that, that looks like they've got to find a way to play that guy. Would he elevate to that level as a second year guy in his first spring at Ohio State? Like, he's. Yeah, that's not an unusual pick. Everybody I see the head nods, yeah, Dominic Kelly. Everyone's on Dominic. Tom, who's your guy?
E
I like, I like that one. That was actually a name that I had in mind because, you know, you mean all the stuff you mentioned where he could slot in outside, but he could also, you know, does that allow you, if he's good enough, do they potentially kick Jermaine Matthews inside to the nickel if, you know, in certain situations, if you feel like you can trust him outside? So, yeah, that's. That's a good one. I'm gonna take a lot of the same themes that Bill had with Quay Russo and go with Terry Moore, because again, a guy with a ton of potential, a guy who's done it at a high level of the sport before, but who is coming off an injury, and we just, we haven't seen a whole heck of a lot of him. He was coming in was the person who I think you heard the most excitement about. There was. You know, you talk to people about Earl Little and there was like, yeah, but maybe sort of. And then Little has exploded this spring. Morse been just like a step behind. He's lost his black stripe. He's fine, no cause for concern, but little lost at first. That's not what I necessarily would have expected. And we just, we haven't seen that much of him yet this spring. So I'm just really intrigued to see what he looks like. And, you know, we've seen quite a bit of Leroy Roker this spring, both, you know, on the field, but also just. He was the guy who got up and talked to the team at the start of the first practice, which was a little eye opening to me. So, you know, is Leroy Roker in the spot that he is because he's really taken that consequential a step forward, or is he in that spot because Terry Moore hasn't passed him yet. And I think we're probably going to find out a lot more about both of those guys on Saturday.
C
Yeah, yeah, it is like we got a lot to learn. Like this is, you know, they lost seven starters on defense, so there's a lot of interesting names that you can throw out here on the defensive side of the ball. Let's, let's do the same thing on the offensive side of the ball. We'll start with you, Bill Landis, who's an offensive guy that you are particularly excited and intrigued to see on Saturday.
G
Shall we all say Brock Boyd's name together? I, I don't. Who else would it be? No, I think I, I, the receivers generally are very interesting. I think we might end up talking about a few different receivers here. But, but I'll throw out boys name first because we've got that Student Appreciation Day practice and what felt going into like an opportunity for and it's whatever it's like it's one practice. I'm not saying he practiced poorly. He had a couple nice catches. The best play that he made. We just happened to not be in there, but it wasn't like oh, we watched Student Appreciation Day and brock Boyd had 14 catches. So like. And I don't think I'll have 14 catches in the spring game, but I'm just want to get a longer look at it again. Like that's kind of, that's kind of what this is for. I'm interested to see if he's outside all the time. Does he play in the slot at all? What exactly they have him doing route wise. If he looks like a guy who after the catch has some juice too. We know he's a really good route runner. But what's it look like once he has a ball in his hands, all that stuff. So I know I won't be the only one watching for Brock Boyd and what he does on Saturday.
C
Tom, are you very open to the idea of like, yeah, this true freshman who's, you know, recruiting rating was pretty low, could come in and play meaningful snaps for Ohio State in 2026. Does that seem very plausible to you?
E
It certainly seems possible. And it's going to be more challenging to get meaningful snaps in the wide receiver room this year than it probably was last year, especially when you had those injuries. It's not going to be quite so easy. But he's just such a weird case study where he. It's not like he was playing in some small school in Wyoming. He was playing at South Lake Carroll. This is a The recruiting people know their way to South Lake Carroll and they're playing good competition and he's putting up big numbers and the recruiting rankings are still just kind of like, eh. So you wonder, okay, is this just somehow he hacked high school football and, and, but the athleticism is there, but he's doing what he needed to do to lose his black stripe in the spring at Ohio State. So obviously there is something there. I, I am definitely intrigued by him. I think probably, I would guess all four of us probably would have had him, had him on this list. But yeah, I'm definitely interested to see what he looks like on Saturday.
C
Any trepidation for you, Cam? Are you buying Brock Boyd Contributor 20:26
F
oh, I'm buying all of it. 100 I I I I He was, he was the first name I put down. And I go, no, someone's gonna say Brock Boyd. But I I I just the receiver I wrote down Kyle Parker, just because I think the receiver room in general is just like so exciting. It's kind of like about defense, like to talk about like, you just want to see where these guys line up, how, who they line up with. I so many of these guys seem interchangeable about whether they can play inside or outside. I'm really excited to see where Brandon Ennis is at. I think it's a big spring game for him, but there's so many receivers who can impact the game. There's so many who could line up different ways. It's just such a different receiver room than a year ago where, like, you knew you were gonna get Jeremiah, you're gonna get Carnell, you're gonna get Brandon. And now it's like, you know, you're getting Jeremiah. Where does everyone else fit and how do you see it? And that's kind of what I'm really excited to see. But it does feel like one of those spring games where one of these receivers can, like, establish themselves as like one of like the number two guy going into the summer.
C
So I'll, I'll reference what was some of the most important reporting that I did last year in the Ohio State beat that a lot of us did on the Ohio State beat. And that was taking a video of what Jeremiah Smith looked like when he stood up off the bench at the end of the UCLA game and analyzing his limp. And so I might give myself Legend Bay limp analysis duty on Saturday. If it sounds like Ryan Day said he has a hamstring, he's probably not going to take part in the spring game, but he'll be there. And. And maybe I'm just interested to, like, make sure that it seems like his legs are functional and we'll be ready for preseason camp in August. Because, like, right. I mean, if we're you guys, we talk about these magic headline, and just like, it's Brock Boyd and Legend Bay. Legend Bay and Brock Boyd. It's like a buddy cop duo. It's like these two young freshmen. What's next? They're solving crimes. Like, they're, you know, everybody's on alert. Watch out for these guys. Then Legend Bay got hurt. So, like, Brock Boyd's a great first pick by Landis, but, like, I would have been sitting here, second pick for Legend Bay. So I don't know, like, what's he look like?
G
To be clear, what guy you're most eager to watch in the spring game.
C
Yeah, yeah, but I wanna. And then I can put the name in the headline of the video and It'll get, like 70, 000 views, but it remains, like, even in warm ups. Like, it. Does he, like, is he out, out, out? Or is he, like. I can move around a little bit, but they just don't want to push it and have him play in the actual. Tell me. All right, Solandis, you're not going to be looking for Legend Bay and warm ups. You're not what? You're like, oh, no, I don't care.
G
I guess. But I do think if Legend were healthy and playing, I think he would have been the unanimous number one pick. Yeah, but he's not playing. So, like, what's getting. What's there?
C
I'm getting great value here at number two. He would have been the number one pick, but he's still one of those. And this is like, which I talk about all the time. Like, take your family, take your kids, go with your friends, hang out in Ohio Stadium, cross your fingers for the good weather, pay your 13 bucks instead of what the regular season prices are, and then go down, walk down to the rail during warm ups and tap your kid on the shoulder and say, that's Legend Bay. And then, like, try to do one of those selfie things where he's in the background. So, like, yeah, I'm on duty for that and I'm proud of it. Limps matter, right? So it's just like, is he, like, Is it. Is his left hamstring? Is it his right hamstring? How much is he favoring it? Is there a wrap on it? We're all gonna be. We're gonna be, like, tweeting and sending that to our subscribers. There's a wrap on Legend Bay's left thigh. It's the first thing that we're gonna send out informationally on Saturday. Great pick by me, Tom.
F
This is honestly the only beat in America where a spring game rap on a hamstring would actually generate views and
C
subscribers like Stefan Kreischnik, when he got here after covering Ole Miss was like this beat. Like the things that people on this beat worry about, like the third string tight end, like nobody else cares about that. This is like I. If we play. Yeah. We could get this trending on Twitter. I think if we play this right. Let's try to get Legend Bay Hamstring trending on Twitter on Saturday morning. We can do it,
E
Cam. Yeah, you can. I'm pretty sure I've seen you standing outside that hotel for hotel check in day. So you know what this means.
F
You have not called me there. I called me there, but I, the first time I heard about that on the beat, I was like, people do this. This is why. Oh yeah, it's crazy.
C
No, the biggest, the biggest story of 2008 was Terrell Pryor brought his own TV to hotel check in.
F
Yeah.
C
It was like if the president had resigned. It was a news flashes on, on TV stations in Columbus. Terrell Pryor and it's like I gotta play my video games and I need a big screen tv. You love it here, Cam. You love it.
F
But it is, it is funny. It's just, it's so, it's so, so funny.
G
Yeah.
C
When, when Legend Bay is just like walking around like minding his own business and we're all like elbowing each other before the game, like pointing at his hamstring. He'll, he'll wonder why he chose to come here. Tom Orr, who's your you guy you're looking at Saturday?
E
Yeah. I'm gonna go from the injury tent to actually someone out on the field and I'm gonna go with Ian Moore. He's someone who I'm, I'm fully expecting. Like just go into this game, Ohio State fans expecting the offensive line to look rough because the defensive line, they're all there. The offensive line, you're missing Austin Se. You're missing Philip Daniels, you're missing Josh Padilla. I think the offensive line is going to look rough. I think everyone's going to be freaking out. But bear in mind, you're missing both, you know, potentially of your starting tackles or you're starting right guard and your right tackle. Whatever it is, you're Missing those guys. But it has seemed increasingly clear over the course of the spring that Ian Moore is part of the best five offensive linemen at Ohio State. It certainly seems like it's trending that way anyway, but. And he looked at a time when not a lot of other offensive linemen look great against Miami. He played reasonably well in that Cotton Bowl. So I think this is another opportunity to see what does he look like against some pretty good pass rushers. And, you know, is. Is Kenyatta Jackson lined up over him or is it Quay Russo or is it Christian Allegro? Whoever it is, it's going to be someone who Ohio State is expecting to be a real contributor this year. So how does Ian Moore hold up against that?
C
Yeah, we did like, 45 minutes on Ian Moore last week, and we, we. We can't help. Like, it's, it's just how everything else fits together and like, Ian Moore just helps do that. So that is a, that is a very good pick and it's always helpful. His. What's his number? 60. Is he 69? 69. So keep number 69. Keep your eyes peeled. Like, where is he lining up? How does he look? And that's the thing that, like, yeah, as you said, Tom, like Ryan Day has been saying, this is an opportunity for Ian Moore and Carter Low to get snaps against the first team guys while they're being the first team tackles with this opportunity. So he, he is absolutely a guy that all of us might come out of Saturday writing and talking about an awful lot if it looks like he looks very comfortable doing his job. So, Cam, is your official guy? Kyle Parker? You got somebody else?
F
Yeah, no, I'm going to go. Kyle Parker. Yeah. I just remember watching, going out there the first day of split practice and thinking like, man, he's like, bigger, like, more built than I thought he would be. And I remember seeing pictures of him at lsu and I was like, that happened very fast. Like, he's put on some muscle. So, again, I'm just excited to see where he lines up, what he does with the ball in his hands. I mean, like, Cortez just continues to talk about how much he wants people to make plays after the catch. I'm excited to see how he, both he and Devin McCune kind of do and how they fit there with that.
A
And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual, even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
B
Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this Your first date?
C
Oh, no.
A
We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.
B
Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.
A
Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty.
B
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
C
So, Bill, you had said you thought we'd be talking about some other receivers, and we have. I was curious if we would hear the name of somebody who has somehow wound up in the shadow of Brock.
F
Yeah, right.
G
Literally, is it physically possible for a guy who's 6 foot 8 to be in the shadow of someone who's 5 foot 11?
C
It's like, yeah, it's like, I can't tell who is that standing behind that guy from Texas? Chris Henry Jr. And this is one of those, this is the, this is the long history of spring game moments that everybody kind of talks about and jokes about and who are the spring game heroes that, that maybe it doesn't translate, but I, I will say, Bill, I, I kind of am anticipating Chris Henry Jr. Maybe doing one thing on Saturday, making one catch that makes the whole stadium go, oh man. And then trying to figure out for the next five months, like what that means or doesn't mean because he made a catch that we can't believe a freshman made.
G
Yeah, I think he will. I don't, I don't know whether it's like a contested catch on the sideline or something like that, or if he, if he catches a ball in the move and can really open it up and get that kind of like long, striding speed going, people are going to be like, oh, oh, I get it now. This is why he was a five star prospect. So, yes, it is remarkable that he has operated so much in the shadows this spring because like that never happens here for a guy of his caliber. But, and maybe it's good for him that it has happened that way. But I do think there's a strong possibility that he will be on the field on Saturday and remind everybody why it was so important for Ohio to try to keep him in the off season.
C
And I do wonder, Tom, like, if maybe Jeremiah Smith doesn't play a ton on Saturday because he's Jeremiah Smith and Chris Henry Jr. Just takes a gazillion snaps at X receiver and has 14 targets in the spring game.
E
Yeah, he does, definitely. I mean, Ryan said what the guys with a thousand reps or something like that weren't going to get a lot of, get a lot of run on Saturday. And Jeremiah Smith is certainly in that Group. So you know who's the next man up at X? Well, that's, that's Chris Henry, which means not only is Chris Henry going to play a lot, but Chris Henry's probably going to play a lot with Julian saying. And if he's not playing with Julian saying, he's gonna be playing with Tavian Sinclair. So you're assuming he's going to get some pretty well thrown balls and be put in a spot where he can maybe do something with it in space. And that's, that's one of those things I'm really interested to see whether it's Brock Boyd or Chris Henry Jr. Or whoever else who can, who can make the guys miss, who can do all the stuff they've been talking about all spring, turn those short passes into a long one. Can Brandon Ennis do that? Can. You know, I don't know how much we're going to see him on Saturday, but that, that's just one of the big, you know, overall storylines. I think that's going to be worth watching. Yeah.
F
Chris Henry takes a slant, 50 yards. He's going to be the number two starter. Like, it's just. And it's going to be all you talk about all summer, all you hear about all summer. It's going to be the highlight played if he takes a slant, makes money, miss, and it's gone. It's, it's. I mean, it's a wrap.
C
Yeah.
G
What, what if him and Brock Boyd both do that?
E
Listen, I'm just calling dibs right now on the headline. Is Chris Henry the next legend Bay of Brock Boyd's?
G
I'm calling.
F
Yeah, Brian, exactly.
E
Right now. Trademark. Trademark. Right now.
C
We, we dabbled. We dabbled in benching Julian sand for Tavian Sinclair. I don't think we're quite at benching Jeremiah Smith for Chris Henry Jr. But, but get back to us on Saturday, like, anything is possible. It's spring. We all have spring fever. We're losing our minds. Question number four. We'll start with me, and I'm a part of what I'm curious about this question is whether, like, our minds might change after Saturday. Right now, which side of the ball do you have the most faith in? Offense or defense? My answer is offense, but to the point that others have made. If the offensive line, knowing that two starters are out, but like, it's like, well, they're two starters out, but still, oh, my God, the defensive line tore their arms off all day. I would be curious how I. We would all sort of manage that reality. If that happens, just because that can happen in spring sometimes. So I'll say offense for now because of Jeremiah Smith and Julian saying and the experience back on that offensive line. But I'm, I'm very curious if we're all going to agree here or if we're not and then also how much we think. Like, I think my mind could be changed on Saturday, potentially. Tom, where are you?
E
So for the fall, My answer is the offense for Saturday. The defense is going to whoop. The offense's butt, is missing a couple offensive linemen. They don't have four running backs. Like, you're gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna look a little bit gross at times. That's. Congratulations. That's literally every spring game ever. You know, you were talking about Alabama earlier. I was like, oh, boy, sounds like Alabama has a defense problem if they've got a quarterback doing that in the spring game. But true, this is, this is a team where there's, it feels like you've got pretty much everyone back on offense. You, yeah, you lost your tight ends, you lost Carnell Tate, but you've got pretty much everyone back. The offensive line, you get the sense that they're going to figure it out this fall. It's not gonna, it's not gonna be figured out on Saturday, but I think it's going to be figured out in the fall. So if you're talking about which you have more confidence in for September, I'm saying the offense. If you're saying which one is going to win on Saturday, I'm going to say the defense. Offense.
C
Okay, that's a very interesting and probably, maybe correct answer. Cam, where are you on this?
F
Yeah, I'm probably in the same spot. I feel more confident in the offense right now. I, I, the off the line injuries are a little scary. And like Ryan mentioned, with no spring quarter, you can't just go out and get somebody to fill a hole there. But I mean, if those guys are healthy and like we talked about, I think a big thing for me with the offense is going to be how Ian Moore looks on Saturday. Like we talked about, if he looks good, I feel very confident in the offense. You got Julian saying Jeremiah, Bo Jackson, and if Ian Moore's good, you can bump Sir Bill inside the right guard. And I think you have a pretty good off the line there. So, yeah, I, it's, it's hard, especially when you lose so much on defense, to, to say the defense. But like you said, if they have a good day on Saturday, especially the secondary like if Dominic Kelly's really good, if Terry Moore and Earl Little and, and Leroy Roken look really good, I might change my tune a little bit. But right now I'm leaning heavy on the offense.
C
Okay, Bill, where are you?
G
Same spot, I think, as most, most you guys. I, I would say offense, I, but I would say throughout the spring, I do feel like I have been growing increasingly confident in how good the defense is going to be. I think the back seven of the defense is going to be excellent. Yeah, I have more questions about the front seven. And more specifically, I think that the defensive line and exactly what, what the ceiling is of, of that collective group, I think the floor is probably pretty high, but. But I don't exactly know sort of how elite and disruptive that that group might be, but I just think the offense kind of has everything it needs, especially if this offensive line puzzle is coming together the way we think it might. And the insertion of Arthur Smith into all of that and bringing new ideas and just having someone at the top who's got it together and, and is not learning on the job and has done this for a long time and will freshen some things up, I just think puts the offense in a really good, good spot. So. And I don't even know, you know, I, I don't think there's anything that can happen on Saturday would, that would change my mind because I would hope, as Tom sort of said, like, we all arrive on Saturday understanding that the, the offensive line specifically is not exactly what it's going to be in the fall, nor are we going to see kind of the, the full breadth of, of what Arthur Smith wants to do with the run game either. So there, I think there'll be some missing components offensively that won't give us the, the complete picture of what it's going to be in the fall.
C
I wonder, like Bill, do you how much Arthur Smithiness should we expect on Saturday or is that just not gonna show up until September?
G
I don't know. Probably. I, I'm interested to see how much they go under center because I think they'll be under center a lot in the fall. So I could see that showing up some of the play action stuff like if they're not, you know, if they're not going to run it, maybe they can still fake run it and then throw it. So probably a decent amount, like, you know, not, not everything, not the whole kitchen sink, not the Texas game plan. But I think you'll, you'll notice some things. I don't know Maybe things that look outright different, but maybe things that we have seen before but done more often, if that makes sense under Arthur Smith. Maybe they were done under Ryan Day, such as under center stuff and play action passes, things like that.
C
I will say, as much as, like, we're kind of joking about, like, oh, Tavian Sinclair and what might that mean? Is there not also a possibility, Cam, that Julian saying comes out and is throwing darts and Landis likes it when he gets out of the pocket and throws on the move and does, like, the little hop step and, like, shoots fake guns in the air and puts them in his holsters or whatever? Like. But, like, we see both because what Ryan Day, when he was talking about the quarterbacks this week, was saying Julian has a command at the line of scrimmage and, like, off the field. Like, he. He knows what's up. What if we see just like, whoa, Julian Saenz got this. Like, I think that would make. Would that affect how we view the offense and would that affect how we view this team?
F
I think so, because I think you look at the last two times you saw Julian and just felt like there just wasn't much movement in the pocket. It also didn't feel like they, like, there's a lot of scripted stuff for him to get moving, play action and roll out. So, like, I think if he came out here and was just, like, kind of moving in and out of the pocket, scrambling at times, I think he'd be like, okay, if you were really good, because you just want to see the progress from Julian, right? You don't want to go out there and see the same Julian that you saw against Miami, like, albeit very, very good, you still want to see the progress of, like, okay, this is. You could see the things he worked on all offseason, all spring. So. But if he comes out there and he's rolling out and he's throwing. He's throwing darts all over the place. I think you feel very, very good about where this offense is going to be, whether the offensive line is hurt or not. I mean, it's. It's. With him, Bo and. And Jeremiah, if Julian's in rhythm and on point, it's. They're going to be hard to stop.
C
And like, Tom, I. I read the Alabama quarterback stats from their spring game like it matters. There's a chance if Julian, whatever, puts up a stat line that national college football shows for the next couple months are gonna be like, oh, yeah, who's the best quarterback in the country? It might be Julian saying, like, I Think he has a chance mostly in the perception conversation for the off season, but maybe like, in a real way for Ohio State fans and the Ohio State staff to plant a flag a little bit on Saturday and be like, hey, like, yeah, I was good in my first year as a starter, but wait till you see what's coming.
E
Well, I wonder if it's the top line. Stats like that might get the attention nationally. Locally, I would assume it's going to be. Is there someone running open that he doesn't see? Because I know that's been sort of the thing that, you know, and a lot of times that wasn't even on him. That was, you know, hey, he was not at that point of the progression, so he's looking another direction. But that's certainly been something that you've heard from a lot of Ohio State fans. So, you know, how is he seeing the field? That's probably what's going to move the needle locally with at least a segment of the fan base. If, you know, if he puts up huge stats, that that's, you know, I'm sure that's great and that will be good for his preseason Heisman odds or whatever else. But, you know, realistically, locally, if he puts up huge numbers, there's going to be all sorts of concerns about the secondary.
F
You.
E
You've been here before. You know what. You know what it's like here. One. One way or the other. Everything that's good can also be bad.
G
Yeah. Doug, you. You kind of touched on something there. There are not a lot of spring games on television. So whatever happens on Saturday, you're gonna hear a lot about it on national shows because there's just.
F
They don't.
G
The national shows aren't going to have a lot much else to talk about because they're not seeing everybody. So, like, there's two spring games on TV on Saturday, Ohio State and Michigan, I think there was, and Notre Dame is on Peacock the following week. And, like, that's kind of it. So what? Yeah, so if Julian saying plays really well, they're gonna start the Julian Saying Heisman campaign. If he doesn't, maybe they're having a Davian Sinclair conversation. But there's going to be a lot of noise, I think, out of this game, no matter what happens, because everyone, I think, will be, if not watching it live, at least be able to watch the highlights of it, unlike a lot of other spring games.
F
Yeah, on that. On that point, though, I'm curious how, like we talked about, Jeremiah's not gonna play. Play a lot. I'm curious what they do in the first couple drives that Jeremiah does play because I, I feel like I wore a lot of a sorry assumption. Ohio State is going to push the Jeremiah Smith Heisman campaign very early this year. And if Ohio State is one of the few spring games on TV right now, this is a good time for them to get him, get his early odds up as much as possible. I, I'm not saying you go out there and you play him for a half a spring game. I think you play in two drives, you sit him down. But what he does in those two drives, I'm curious if Ohio State forces a couple red zone stuff to him thanks to him or, or what they do with him to, to continue to build that momentum.
C
That's really interesting because you can hear right, oh, it doesn't matter. Yeah, but Jeremiah Smith had two touchdown catches in the spring game, but it doesn't matter. But he had two touchdown catches. And let's go to a highlight clip of him making a touchdown catch over a second string guy. That doesn't matter. But man, is that a great catch. Like it's, it all, it all permeates the discussion. And the Heisman campaign for the next season starts like in bowl season the year before, like we're already off and running on this thing. Yeah, it's. They have like two of the most high profile guys in, in college football are playing offense for Ohio State this year. And this would be, if they want to, a chance to remind people of that. Last question, Tom, or we'll, we'll start with you again. You know there, over the last year too, there's been a lot of discussion about like our spring games gonna die. Bill's talking about how fewer are on tv, but one of the things that has happened is with no spring portal window, the idea of like we're just putting our backups on display for other teams to come poach them once spring football is over, that's kind of done. What do you think, Tom, of the death of the spring spring portal window? Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Do you miss it? What would you do differently? But. And how much do you think it affects what's going on in spring ball for everybody this year?
E
Well, I think in general, the current setup where you're doing it at the same time, the playoffs are going on at the same time, that all these code, these programs are changing coaches or they're changing coaches earlier in the cycle because they have to have it done before the portal window that's really screwed everything up pretty badly. I'm perfectly fine with them having one portal window. It shouldn't be in January. It probably ultimately needs to be sometime around now or even in March. And then you do go to more of like an OTA kind of thing rather than a traditional spring football and do it in May. That. No one's doing anything in May. Do it in May. That's fine. But it just feels like something where everyone needs to kind of all be the adults in the room and go, okay, let's. We can. We can just be rush. Don't tell anyone. The academics don't really matter that much. We don't need to pretend anymore. We. We're not really calling them student athletes anymore. It's okay if they transfer at the end of the quarter. Like, they'll figure it out. They'll figure out the academic piece of that they're still kind of hung up on. Well, what about. You know, they must be enrolled by the enrollment date in January. Like, that's screwing everything up. So ultimately, I think the answer is, you got to push it back. I'm fine with one portal window. That's. That's totally fine. And to your point, I think it probably lets people be a little more free with playing their guys in the spring. And you really are, you know what you got, and you're not shopping around. You just. You're trying to maximize what you got at that point because you got what you got. But ultimately, this is not the calendar they're probably going to end up on.
A
And, Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual, even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
B
Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?
C
Oh, no.
A
We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.
B
Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.
A
Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty.
B
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
C
Cam, what do you think?
F
Yeah, I. I think I'm with Tom. I think this. The schedule is just completely out of whack for what college football is now. I think they need to change it. But if you're telling me this is the schedule, that you have a student portal or donut spring portal window. I'm good with the metric. Getting rid of it. I just. I don't think you need to. I. To me, I think of it as I go like, you have your team, you're able to do more stuff in the spring because, you know, this is your team. You can scheme things up a little differently. You compare better for. For camp, so and just kind of get rid of all the chaos right after the spring. So I'm all for it. If this is the calendar, I do think that the calendar needs to change and that if you're going to have one portal window, it should be around now. And like Tom said, just get rid of spring and have OTAs and just kind of move it that way because everything's moving towards like, an NFL feel anyway. Right. So. Yeah, but if this is the calendar you're going to have, I'm fine with them having the winter window and getting rid of the spring window. I, I It just these kids want to be on campus to spring for sprinkle ball anyway, so then it's just transferring after spring. You're behind the eight ball when you get to preseason camping.
C
Yeah. Okay. Landis, what do you think of it?
G
I'm happy that there's not two opportunities for teams rosters to blow up, that there's only one. I guess is. Is better than it used to be. I. Yeah, I, I'm with Tom and Cam. I think having having the current window where it is doesn't really make any sense. Having one window, I think does make sense. I would just do it around now, too, and then put spring football on the other side of whenever that or whatever you end up calling it, on the other side of whatever that portal window is. But the idea that teams recently were, like, reshaping their entire roster, going through winter workouts, going through spring football, and then in some cases, reshaping their rosters again was ridiculous. So I'm glad we're not. I'm glad we're not doing that. From a content standpoint, we're probably good. I'm willing to sacrifice that because it's one less piece of chaos in the sport, as Cam said. So I'm happy that it doesn't exist right now.
C
So if everybody thinks it makes more sense to have one window. Right. That's part of what we're saying. Like, one window for transfers is better than two. So just to be clear, Tom, if there's gonna be one, you would have it where it is, or you would have it after spring if it was one?
E
Well, I would have it. I would move it to sometime around now. I'd move it to later in the calendar once you've got all the coaching stuff settled and you Know, it could be March, it could be April, whatever. And then you just push back spring football a little bit.
F
So you.
E
You still have your people in for spring ball, but you also are spacing it out from the end of the regular season, the end of the playoff.
C
But it's not after spring football.
E
No, I think. I think you got to give them the benefit of going through spring and working and developing. I mean, that's 15 valuable practices.
C
Yeah. Okay. Because I. I have been open to the idea of, like, if spring football provides both the team and the player, a real true assessment of where everybody stands. This is where, as a team, where we need to fill in some spots in the roster because we figured out in spring football, we're short here. This is where a player figured out, hey, I didn't know if I was maybe gonna have a chance to play a lot or not, but I went through spring football, and it feels like it's not going to happen here. Maybe I should move. And I thought maybe that one window being after spring could actually make sense, that, like, you have. You don't have the immediacy of, like, oh, my gosh, it's December, January. We got to hurry up and make a decision. Right on both sides. You have more time to think. What's your plan? Tom is like I was saying, if you just move everything back, you eliminate that. But is. Would spring football be more of not building for the season, but a final assessment of what. What are our true roster needs? What are my needs as a player? And I've thought about that. Would that be better? But then I've thought about this. What if we had the spring football game on Saturday and Tavian Sinclair could transfer afterward, and I can't take it.
G
Yeah. You'd also be killed. You'd be killing spring games if you did that. Did it that way, they would go away officially. And you love spring games.
C
I do. So that would be the end. Nobody would show anything.
F
Right.
C
Because it. That would be back to where we were, where it's like, why would I showcase my depth for other teams to come pluck it away? So. So it can't. For teams, for programs for my health and wellness. It can't be after actual spring football. It has to be somewhere in the calendar where you set your roster and then you all practice together and begin. Begin your preparation, but you're not getting picked apart after this part of the preparation so that, like, everybody agrees with that. That's just. Where is that? What. And do we think that's where the Sport is that, like, that's that. That just because I've talked to people who are like, you know what? After the spring, you'd have more information. Maybe it wouldn't be terrible. But also it feels too. Like Bill said, you said you think it would kill spring altogether. Like, you can't have it this late.
G
It's always very funny to me, too. Like, now we're like, oh, boy, this season's really long. These players are being asked to do a lot. And, like, they don't give them any time off. They go right in the winter workouts. What if it was built into the calendar? They're like, you can't do anything. January, February, you're not doing anything with your players. And then you can reshape your roster, and then you do your whatever, 15 practices you want to call it, spring practice, summer practice, OTAs, whatever you want to do it. But, like, bake some common sense into the calendar. Because now there's none. There's absolutely no. Like, the. Eliminating the second window was maybe like, the first common sense move that has happened in college football in the last five years, but it was a very small step in getting things going back in the right direction or in a direction. Okay.
C
Because Ryan Day is like, I'm so accustomed to players having no time off. Didn't Ryan Day this week say, like, oh, so like, after spring, then the guys will have a couple weeks off and then we'll come back. And I was like, they get a couple weeks off. You're 19. You should be playing football 365 days a year. What do you mean, two weeks off? They're going to be behind. But, like, why? We're like, I don't know. We're kind of conditioned that way by now, which is crazy. Again, this is 100 years ago now, but, like, once upon a time, college kids had jobs in the summer, then showed up in August and decided to play football again. So that bold. Solving the issues of this sport is exhausting. But. But we don't have to worry about that because we're just going to go watch football on Saturday. Guys, thank you for your time here.
F
Tom.
C
Or when people are getting excited for the spring game and they say, man, Tom Orr really knows what he's talking about. Where can people find your content this week? And then after the spring game?
E
You can find me on twitter @tom.
G
Or 4.
E
You can find me on the Buckeye Weekly podcast feed. You can find me on the Buckeyes tomorrow morning podcast feed. And it's tomorrow morning because my name is Tom Orr. And then ow makes tomorrow. I was a superstar of second grade when everyone figured out they couldn't ace that one on the spelling test. So that's why it's Buckeyes tomorrow morning, but also the Buckeye weekly podcast feed.
C
Very cool, Cam. Where can the folks find your coverage when they're saying, I need some more Cameron Teague Robinson in my life?
F
Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I don't know that you want to say that, but. Yeah. On Twitter @cj_teague. And then on the athletics website, which was kind of slowed down during the spring. I was doing a lot of women's basketball stuff, but we're back on spring football all around, so we're good to go.
C
All right, and then Bill Landis over on our substack, Bill and Doug. Osu.substack.com we'll have even more spring coverage with the substack show on Wednesday over there.
G
We're doing a draft, right? Me and you picking some of the players we talked about here, but. But then some others, obviously. Yeah.
F
Doug is taking Tammy Sinclair number one.
G
Look, this is taking Legend Bay number one.
F
Yeah.
C
It's gonna tear me apart. The injured guy and the backup quarterback. What do I do? Yeah. We still have an 18 off special over there, Landis.
F
Right.
G
We do through Saturday. 18 off an annual subscription because the spring game is on the 18th.
C
Yeah. Thank goodness it's not on the 47th of the month, or we'd really be losing money, so. Well, guys, thank you so much for your time and expertise. Ohio State fans, if you're wanting to know more about the Buckeyes, these are two of the very best to go listen to, to go read with their coverage of Ohio State. We're always grateful that you guys make the Bill and Doug show part of your Ohio experience. So we will see everybody on Saturday. Go out to the game, go with your friends and family, watch it on tv. It's a practice, but that means that it's all guys that you care about because it's all Buckeyes on the field. So it should be a final good celebration of Ohio State football this spring. For now, we'll thank Tom Orr. We'll thank Cameron Teague Robinson. For Bill Landis, I'm Doug Lay Maurice. And that was around the shoe on the Bill and Doug Show.
Episode Date: April 14, 2026
Guests: Tom Orr (Buckeye Weekly & Buckeyes Tomorrow Morning), Cameron Teague Robinson (The Athletic)
Hosts: Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis
Theme: Deep preview of Ohio State’s 2026 spring game—debating intriguing storylines, must-watch players, quarterback scenarios, position battles, and big-picture program topics heading into the defending champions' season.
This episode dives deep into Ohio State football’s most compelling storylines ahead of the spring game. Doug, Bill, Cam, and Tom break down which Buckeye players and position groups demand attention, the always-juicy backup quarterback conversation (Tavian St. Clair hype included), and how changes to transfer window rules are subtly reshaping spring practices. As always, they combine insight, humor, honest skepticism, and a “fan-first” approach that makes their coverage so much fun.
Segment Start: [03:15]
Key Insights
Memorable Quote
Segment Start: [14:28]
Most Mentioned Names:
Key Insights
Segment Start: [22:11]
Receivers! Receivers!
Offensive Line
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Memorable Moment
Segment Start: [36:02]
General Consensus:
Segment Start: [47:44]
Key Takeaways
The discussion is lively, fun, self-aware, and peppered with inside jokes and media meta-commentary ("Limps matter", "benching the Heisman finalist", "spring game heroes", "obsessing over backup QBs"). All panelists combine solid analysis with big picture thinking and a little bit of Columbus media/fan culture satire. They care about what the spring game means, but constantly warn listeners not to overreact, while acknowledging that everyone always will.
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