There have been obvious strides for Jelani Thurman to take since he arrived at Ohio State as a highly-touted freshman with the recruiting class of 2023.
He has not yet emerged as a star, but his blocking has improved. His game knowledge has developed. And more important than anything for tight ends coach Keenan Bailey, lately, his third-year pupil is carrying himself like a veteran.
“He's off the charts, night and day, more mature,” Bailey said during spring practice. “Been really impressed with his work ethic. He's in here every night getting extra work in. I challenged him to learn every position on offense. Don't just be a Y. Be a Y, be an H. Know what the Z's got. And then also be a leader. He's not a young guy anymore.”
There will be great competition for reps in Ohio State’s tight end room after the Buckeyes added the No. 1 TE in the portal, Max Klare, who is among the best receiving weapons at the position nationally. Will Kacmarek, who Bailey called the best blocking tight end in the country, returns as a co-star after serving in the same role with Gee Scott Jr. last year. Redshirt junior Bennett Christian will have his say.
It might be one of the deepest and best tight end rooms in Buckeye history, but Thurman believes he can emerge as a key piece in another national championship run.
“I feel like every year was my year, but hey, you're going to see this year, I'm ready to come out here and put on a show for the Buckeye Nation,” Thurman said in spring ball. “I feel like everybody on the field is ready to go put on a show. We're trying to go back-to-back.”
Thurman was ranked as the No. 70 overall prospect and No. 3 tight end in the 247Sports composite out of high school, but thus far, he has only six receptions for 60 yards and one touchdown in his career. Four receptions for 42 yards and the touchdown came last season, including a long catch for a fourth-down conversion at Penn State that he might have bobbled a few times.
The main lesson Thurman took from last year came from the turmoil Ohio State overcame after losing games to both Oregon and archrival Michigan before rising to the top of college football. It’s cliché, but he’s learned to have a next-play mentality.
“Win the next game,” Thurman said. “That was it. Win the next game. Go out there on Saturday, beat the man in front of you, and then came out with a national championship.”
Entering his redshirt sophomore season, Thurman is taking a holistic approach to his improvement. He feels his game has grown in all categories every year.
“Working on everything,” Thurman said. “I'm trying to get my game as well-rounded as possible. I'm not trying to come off the field at all.”
Thurman added that he’s made physical improvements this offseason, getting more toned and putting up more weight in the weight room. He’s going to need all the improvements he can make to earn playing time in a crowded tight end room. Bailey wants to see Thurman and Christian competing not only with Klare and Kacmarek, but also the other skill positions for reps in the Ohio State offense.
“I think everyone's different,” Bailey said. “Bennett's different than Jelani. But those guys, consistently – I said it last week, like, Coach Hart's going to put the best 11 on the field. It doesn't matter if they're all running backs or receivers or tight ends. So, every day I tell them, ‘Every day you're competing against the other tight ends in the room. But we're competing against the receivers and the running backs.’ When we put two or three or four tight ends on the field, if that package is better than none, we're going to live in that.”
To Thurman’s credit, he’s taken an “iron sharpens iron” mentality when it comes to the depth the Buckeyes have at tight end. He also loves the versatility it will provide the team’s attack, able to jump in and out of multi-tight end packages.
“I feel like I'm just happy in our room, period,” Thurman said. “I feel like we got depth, we can do anything we want in our room. We got blockers, we got catchers, we got people that do everything. I feel like our room is just going to bring a lot of power and a lot of energy this year. So me, I'm just happy to be in it.”
But regardless of exactly how many reps Thurman can grab this year, Bailey believes his leadership is lifting the entire room.
“He's coaching Nate and LeBlanc and those guys and Max even harder,” Bailey said. “He was yelling at Max Klare – not yelling at, he was encouraging him to finish. Like, ‘Hey, you're an Ohio State tight end, we're going to be going harder than everyone on the field.’ And I was like, ‘He gets it. That's awesome.’ He's being a leader. So, super impressed with him.”
