Ohio State’s quarterback competition is real, as is Austin Siereveld’s surge on the offensive line.
Those two things were made clear by Ryan Day on Tuesday, when he revealed that Lincoln Kienholz led Ohio State’s quarterback competition entering the spring game – until Julian Sayin evened it up with his spring game performance – and that Siereveld has already earned a starting job this offseason even though Day doesn’t know where he’ll line up on Ohio State’s offensive line yet.
Day’s press conference Tuesday also included excitement for the Buckeyes’ recent transfer addition of North Carolina transfer defensive end Beau Atkinson, who we view as a high-quality addition that gives Ohio State the ability to deploy a deep rotation on the edge and get creative with its pass rush personnel this season.
Ohio State’s defensive tackle depth is a much bigger question mark, and that concern was only exacerbated by Day’s acknowledgement of the reality that the Buckeyes’ options to upgrade that position through the transfer portal are dwindling – though there is still one available defensive tackle, Oklahoma State’s Justin Kirkland, who would be exactly what the Buckeyes need at nose tackle.
Regardless of how that plays out, though, there are many reasons to feel good about the state of Day’s program after the Buckeyes retained their entire scholarship roster during the spring transfer window and had 14 players selected in the 2025 NFL draft.
We talked about all of those topics on the newest episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. Here are the timestamps for each chapter should you want to listen to a specific segment first:
- 0:00 A Great Week for Ohio State in the NFL Draft and the Transfer Portal
- 2:02 Ryan Day Makes It Clear Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz is A Real Competition
- 10:56 Austin Siereveld Has Earned A Starting Job, But Will It Be at Tackle or Guard?
- 19:21 Adding Beau Atkinson Should Allow For Creative Pass Rush Packages
- 23:19 Ohio State Still Needs A Transfer DT, But It Might Be Justin Kirkland or Bust
- 29:54 Buckeyes Could Still Add Another OT, Kicker to Well-Stocked Roster
- 36:05 Roster Retention, NFL Draft Class Show Strength of Ryan Day’s Program
Watch Real Pod Wednesdays in the video in the top of the page or listen to it in the audio player below. Real Pod Wednesdays is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Eleven Warriors’ YouTube channel.
