Spring football is over, and the transfer portal is open once again. It’s the perfect time for another mailbag.
So far, Ohio State lost just two players to the portal, running back Dallan Hayden and safety Cedrick Hawkins, but there’s plenty of other topics to discuss.
Let’s get started.
(Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.)
🔴⚫️@dbrownqb33 x @whoward_ x @LincolnKienholz pic.twitter.com/vLjZTuLZ7m
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 13, 2024
Will OSU’s offensive line prevent a national championship? Why or why not? — Marc H.
If I had to pick a position group to hold the Buckeyes back, yes it would be the offensive line, the obvious weakness of the team that arguably has one of the most talented rosters in the country.
But, coming out of the spring, the concern is not as strong as it was last year at this time or even leaving the Cotton Bowl.
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A full year at Ohio State is doing wonders for Josh Simmons. Simmons’ improvement will help Donovan Jackson reach his potential, as will having an experienced center like Seth McLaughlin.
Last year, I wasn’t sure Ohio State had more than two qualified offensive linemen, and sometimes one based on the days Matt Jones struggled. This year, the Buckeyes have four capable starters, so it’s more of a matter of finding the right configuration and filling the last gap in the transfer portal. I want to see what this group looks like in preseason camp, and it’s too early to panic.
Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly calling plays is the second reason I’m not as worried about the line. Sure, it has to hold up in pass protection and open holes in the run game, but Kelly knows how to scheme around a weakness. The fact that it’s now not the entire line will give Kelly flexibility in his play calling.
What is the floor and ceiling for Sonny Styles’ role in the defense? — Larry
This is a good question. Despite being a first-year linebacker, the ceiling is a first-team All-Big Ten player and NFL Draft pick next year. His athleticism can be game-changing, and he already has a nose for run gaps.
The floor is a solid contributor who returns for another year of experience at linebacker, like Steele Chambers did. Now, I’m not comparing him to Chambers, although they’re both athletic. Styles is in a class of his own, though, and will be better than Chambers because of his physical build helping him in the run game and blitzing.
What is the special teams depth situation? — Ursula D.
Jayden Fielding will be the kicker, unless Ohio State gets a kicker in the transfer portal. The Buckeyes still have Casey Magyar and Austin Snyder on the roster, as well. Punter is a question. Joe McGuire handled some of the work in the spring, but 2024 punter Nick McLarty is joining the team in the summer. He committed this spring.
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Is it national championship or bust for Ryan Day? I know there are many layers to how the team performs in a season, but if they underachieve and lose to Michigan, I’m not sure Day can weather that storm. — Andrew L.
It’s not national championship or bust, that’s just unrealistic. Only one team wins it all, and sometimes it’s not the best team that wins it. Unlucky things happen. But, Day can’t lose to Michigan at home. And if he does and that loss were to keep Ohio State out of the expanded College Football Playoff, new athletic director Ross Bjork would have a major decision to make.
I don’t think that’s going to be the case though. I’d predict at least a semifinal appearance.
Are you surprised we haven’t seen a quarterback enter the portal (yet)? Who do/did you expect to leave? I assume that is part of why a starter hasn’t been named? — Brent W.
Not completely surprised. Before the spring game I thought one quarterback would leave. It could still happen, as any of the quarterbacks could enter the portal before it closes on April 30. While it seems unlikely that Ohio State would enter the season with five quarterbacks, the Buckeyes are currently under the 85 scholarship limit.
Here’s my main thought on the quarterbacks, though. If Will Howard wins the job, as expected, that leaves Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz, Julian Sayin and Air Noland fighting for backup reps. In the grand scheme of things, a year learning under Kelly and Day, even while on the bench, wouldn’t be a bad thing for young players like Noland and Kienholz.
Stay a year, jump into a completely open quarterback battle next offseason, and if it doesn’t work, go into the portal then.
Do the players agree? Would they go into the portal without a destination in mind? That’s what they have to think about.
What happens with Howard if Brown beats him out? — Joshua F.
Howard is a graduate student so he can enter the transfer portal again at any time if he wants, though doing it before the season would make for a tough transition.
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Why wasn’t Hayden given more of a chance to play? How does a player go from clutch performer versus Maryland to forgotten man? — Robert G.
It’s not an indictment on Hayden, to be fair. Ohio State is just loaded at running back.
Ohio State did the right thing last year by redshirting Hayden with plans to make him one of the running backs of the future. The problem is, when TreVeyon Henderson says he wants to come back and Quinshon Judkins is already being recruited, you don’t just say no to either of them.
This is a fair, yet unfortunate, situation on both sides. Hayden wants playing time, he deserves it, and Ohio State has the best running back duo in the country ahead of him.
Arguably, the two best freshman players in Ohio State history were Orlando Pace and Maurice Clarett. At the end of the season, are we putting five-star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith in the discussion? — Stacey Y.
This is a great question. I’m not sure, but I want to say yes. Wholeheartedly, yes.
But Clarett ran for 1,237 yards and 12 touchdowns as a freshman in 2002, and Pace was the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NFL Draft as an offensive tackle.
I’m not sure I’m ready to say Smith is going to be a 1,000-yard receiver as a freshman or put No. 1 pick on his expectation list, but he can be in that discussion when it comes to impact.
By the end of the season, he’ll be a focal point for opposing defenses to game plan against.
Emeka Egbuka has been around a lot of next-level WRs during his @OhioStateFB career.
The latest one: Freshman Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 overall recruit in last year's class.@EgbukaEmeka x @Jermiah_Smith1 pic.twitter.com/1YKLCQ6NAS
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) April 13, 2024
What is your impression of how the new pieces of the coaching staff are fitting together? — Julie W.
I was pretty critical of Day at the end of the season. I thought he had to nail this offseason if this program was going to have any hope of living up to expectations.
It’s only fair to acknowledge that he knocked it out of the park. And in this case, it has nothing to do with the transfer portal.
Special teams coordinator Parker Fleming had to go, Day made that decision. Quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis had to go, and Day made the right choice there, too. But that’s just half the job, he had to make the right hires, too.
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Day made the right choice by promoting James Laurinaitis to linebackers coach. On one hand, it allows Laurinaitis to be a full-time recruiter, where he dominates. And it also allows coordinator Jim Knowles to focus completely on the defense, which will help take the group to another level.
Then there’s the Kelly hire. I didn’t mind the Bill O’Brien hire, but when he left for Boston College so quickly, Day did a good job in locking down his mentor. Kelly not only knows Day’s offense, but he has experience with offensive line coach Justin Frye.
I love those two hires.
Running backs coach Carlos Locklyn is so new, he’s still an unknown, but bringing back safety coach Matt Guerrieri is a fantastic hire, as well. He helped install the defense when Knowles came to Ohio State, so if you were going to replace a guy like Perry Eliano, it had to be somebody with knowledge of the defense already. He won’t be on an island recruiting, either, because Tim Walton has been killing it in the secondary.
Will we get an offensive tackle or guard in the portal? — Terry G.
I understand the urge to get this done, but I assure you Ohio State is looking at all of its options. The Buckeyes just aren’t in a major rush.
Ohio State got a commitment from Simmons on April 30 last year. Give it some time — the portal window hasn’t even closed yet. There will be some movement, at some point.
Is there a scenario where Day uses both Brown and Howard without naming a starter throughout the season? Think TTUN (Michigan) 2021 with (Cade) McNamara and (J.J.) McCarthy except Howard is gone after the season, so it produces a little less drama. Even there though, McCarthy was eventually named starter. — Caleb O.
No, I don’t think they’ll share the starter role. It’ll be one or the other, there’s no need for the added drama.
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Start, Bench, Cut these former Buckeye QBs: C.J. Stroud, Justin Fields, Troy Smith. — Braeden R.
This was tough. … But I’ll go with starting Fields, benching Stroud and cutting Smith.
I think about it from the aspect of this year’s team specifically. Imagining Fields in the Kelly offense is like a dream.
He threw for 63 touchdowns and just nine interceptions in his two years at Ohio State, with 867 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. As an impartial college football fan, I loved watching Fields play.
Stroud is obviously the better passer and the most talented pure quarterback of the three. He’s already having a better NFL career, so it’s really hard to pass on him as the starter. I think about the Georgia game often, when Stroud had his best game, throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. I don’t think you can hold the losses in big games against him, but Fields’ running ability makes him hard to pass on as the starter.
It’s hard to imagine cutting a Heisman Trophy winner, but as good as Smith was, I think the other two are better in this era. I also may be biased, because aside from Lamar Jackson and Reggie Bush, Fields is on my shortlist for favorite college football players I’ve ever watched.
Looking into 2025 and beyond, every position looks to have some potential, except OL. Is Frye gaining some ground on that front? — Sam E.
He is. Ohio State has the best recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, and among the 13 commitments is four-star offensive tackle Carter Lowe from Toledo. Lowe is a big addition to the class, a top-50 prospect and a position of major need.
As an in-state player, that doesn’t completely open your eyes to a ground-changing commitment. But, Frye has a chance to pair Lowe with five-star and No. 1 tackle Devin Sanders, who is considering Ohio State among his finalists.
This is a big class for Frye. He can’t miss in this cycle, so the Lowe addition was big, but adding Sanders would be a dream scenario.
(Photo of Lincoln Kienholz: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
