Ohio State doesn’t have as many holes to fill this spring as it usually does, but there’s still plenty to talk about after the Buckeyes’ first spring practice.
The biggest headlines from the first day of spring practice included Sonny Styles’ move to linebacker, Luke Montgomery starting the spring as the first-team right guard and Devin Brown getting his shot to compete for the starting quarterback job.
Tuesday also brought Chip Kelly’s first press conference as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, which came after a weeklong stretch in which Eleven Warriors spoke with nearly 30 current or recent Ohio State football players between last week’s NFL Scouting Combine, Saturday’s Open House at the Woody hosted by The 1870 Society and Monday’s pre-spring interviews with three Ohio State quarterbacks and three returning seniors on offense.
All of that gave us plenty to talk about on our first Real Pod Wednesdays of the spring football season, which we also capped off with some basketball talk as the Ohio State men look to continue their end-of-season surge and earn their way back into the NCAA Tournament bubble while the Ohio State women head to Minneapolis this week in search of a Big Ten Tournament title.
The full rundown for this week’s show:
- 0:00: Attending practice drives home just how much talent Ohio State has on its 2024 roster
- 1:02: There aren’t many major lineup questions except Will linebacker, right side of offensive line
- 5:06: Sonny Styles vs. C.J. Hicks is now officially a competition, and it will be a fun one to watch
- 8:12: Luke Montgomery at right guard is an intriguing option if OSU sticks with Josh Fryar at RT
- 10:16: There’s a whole lot of fan excitement to see this team in action
- 11:57: Ohio State is slow-playing other transfers into the starting lineup, but not Caleb Downs
- 12:37: Devin Brown isn‘t going to back down from competing with Will Howard at quarterback
- 20:35: It’s striking to see how deep with talent Ohio State’s quarterback room is right now
- 21:55: Lincoln Kienholz is in his first spring at OSU, so this isn’t a make-or-break year for him
- 23:48: First practice serves as reminder that Julian Sayin, Air Noland are just freshmen
- 25:00: Last year showed why it’s best if a clear starting quarterback emerges this spring
- 27:42: Jeremiah Smith is already turning heads
- 31:15: Brandon Inniss could be top punt returner option if Caleb Downs isn’t used there
- 34:31: Caleb Downs draws huge praise from former Alabama teammates at NFL Combine
- 38:28: Chip Kelly, Ryan Day both seem very comfortable in new roles working together
- 47:15: Combine features introspective Tommy Eichenberg, Cade Stover defending his blocking
- 55:21: Ohio State will have a real NCAA Tournament shot if it can win its next three games
- 57:51: Ohio State’s new identity under Jake Diebler has led to its improved performance
- 1:03:24: Diebler will be a head coach somewhere next year if he wants to be
- 1:04:38: Dusty May gaining traction as candidate to be Ohio State’s next head coach
- 1:07:53: No. 1 seed could be on the line as OSU women play for Big Ten Tournament title
- 1:12:52: Don’t forget about women’s hockey when discussing OSU’s most exciting teams
You can watch this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays in the video at the top of the page, listen to it in the audio player below or subscribe to Real Pod Wednesdays on podcast streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
