Skull Session: Ryan Day's "Redemption Tour" On Schedule After Recruiting Wins, Kourt Williams II Headlines OSU's Late-Career Breakout Candidates and C.J. Stroud Parties With Celebs

By Chase Brown on July 6, 2023 at 5:00 am
Kourt Williams
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Ohio State has had many Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year winners in recent years. Will another Buckeye win the award in 2023?

 "THIS IS HOW RYAN DAY REDEEMS HIMSELF." When the Buckeyes lost The Game for the second consecutive season in 2022, many people called for Ohio State head coach Ryan Day to be fired.

He wasn't.

Instead, Ohio State was handed a College Football Playoff opportunity thanks to Kyle Whittingham and the Utah Utes, who pounded Lincoln Riley and USC, 47-24, in the Pac-12 Championship Game and allowed the Buckeyes to secure the CFP's No. 4 seed. Ohio State then took Georgia down to the wire in the Peach Bowl but lost in a shootout, 42-41.

It wasn't the outcome Ohio State wanted, but the team's CFP performance, even in defeat, helped Day receive favor from his detractors. While the fanbase clearly remains divided on Day – and probably will be until the Buckeyes win or lose in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Nov. 25 –  he has carried the momentum from the Georgia performance into the offseason and worked to earn back the approval of the Ohio State faithful.

In his latest article for The Athletic (titled “Ohio State football recruiting win puts Ryan Day’s redemption tour right on schedule”), Ari Wasserman wrote that Day's recruiting efforts could make a difference in his public perception, as the Buckeyes landed now five-star quarterback Air Noland, four-star Cleveland-Glenville products Bryce West and Damarion Witten and five-star defensive tackle Justin Scott in a matter of weeks.

Wasserman then asked his readers to consider that, in addition to those commitments, the Buckeyes are in the mix for five-star defensive ends Dylan Stewart and Eddrick Houston, four-star Ohio cornerback Aaron Scott and four-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.

"This is how Ryan Day redeems himself," Wasserman wrote. "This is how he wins."

From his article:

This is Alabama and Georgia stuff. This is on defense. This is, simply put, exactly what Day needed to accomplish to instill some confidence that things aren’t permanently going in the wrong direction.

...

This is the way to silence the negative voices. This is how college football juggernauts respond to negative results — by bringing in a recruiting class that will be too good to lose big games in the future. It is a bonus when recruiting five-star prospects also stomps on the dreams of your rival, one that has recently had the upper hand in the series.

There is nothing Day can do to save himself from the wrath of Ohio State fans if he can’t beat Michigan in 2023. Three losses in a row to a rival that was all but buried four years ago would be a tough pill to swallow, especially in a world in which the Buckeyes had a stark talent advantage in the previous two matchups. This year, Michigan has arguably its best team of the Harbaugh era, and The Game is in Ann Arbor. Day and his staff are going to have their hands full.

Right now, though, things are coming through clearly. If Ohio State can hold on to its commitments, add some of the names listed above and finish the cycle with 12 top-100 players and five or six five-star prospects, that is a monumental step in Day’s redemption tour. Step two, of course, is to beat Michigan and remove the negative vibes that still exist among a considerable portion of the fan base.

If those two things happen, Ohio State will start to feel like, well, Ohio State again. And that’s how Day wins the entire fan base back.

It'd be nice for Ohio State to feel like Ohio State again. I'd like that.

Remember, folks – all the Buckeyes need to do next season is beat Michigan. Yes, the team needs to win its first 11 matchups for The Game to "matter," but if the season plays out as expected, the Wolverines will stand between Ohio State and a Big Ten championship and a guaranteed trip to the CFP.

That said... Just Beat Michigan.

 LATE-CAREER BREAKOUT CANDIDATES? To continue with recruiting #stuff, Ohio State hauls in top-five classes year in and year out, which has created a talented roster composition in Columbus. That can make it hard for some players – even those ranked in the top 100 of their respective classes – to receive snaps as Buckeyes. 

Just ask Kourt Williams II, Mitchell Melton and Reid Carrico.

Whether surgeries or depth chart pile-ups, Williams, Melton and Carrico have seldom seen the field at Ohio State. However, with their noticeable talent and incredible potential, all three can be late-career breakout candidates for the Buckeyes in 2023. Let me explain.

Kourt Williams II, Safety

The No. 12 outside linebacker and No. 166 outside linebacker in the class of 2020, Williams was a coveted recruit from St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, and committed to Ohio State over Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

As a freshman, Williams tore his ACL in a preseason practice and didn't complete rehab until the following summer. Already behind the 8-ball, Williams battled for reps in former defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs' scheme in 2021. He collected 31 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and one pass breakup across 182 snaps, including a career-high 47 snaps in Ohio State's Rose Bowl win over Utah.

Williams hoped to build upon his bowl performance in 2022, and it seemed like he would after being named a team captain in fall camp. Unfortunately, his opportunities were scarce early in the season, and a shoulder ailment ended his season after Ohio State defeated Michigan State in Week 6.

In 2023, the 6-foot-1, 228-pound safety will look to remain healthy. He will also look to steal snaps from Lathan Ransom and Sonny Styles, among others, who are currently ahead of him on the depth chart. If he accomplishes both of those feats, I expect Williams will prove himself worthy of a spot in the rotation of Knowles' "safety-driven defense."

Mitchell Melton, Defensive End

Melton was the No. 24 outside linebacker and No. 350 overall prospect in the class of 2020 out of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Maryland. And, like Williams, Melton has endured a couple of setbacks at Ohio State, including torn ACLs in back-to-back seasons.

A non-factor as a freshman, Melton suffered his first ACL tear before his sophomore season and missed all 13 of Ohio State's matchups in 2021. He was primed to step into the Jack position in Jim Knowles' first season as defensive coordinator last fall. However, the 6-foot-3, 253-pound edge rusher suffered his second ACL tear in the 2022 Ohio State spring game, leaving him off the depth chart for the second consecutive year.

As Melton returned to full strength in January, February and March, Day told reporters that Ohio State would – and prepare yourselves for this traumatic phrase – "have an abundance of caution" toward Melton's recovery to ensure that he is healthy for the 2023 season.

“We’re hoping he can make an impact for us this year,” Day said on March 8. “Before the injury (last spring), we were excited about him and what he was doing. He has really good pass-rush ability – really good strength and play speed. We’ve just got to be smart and make sure we’re bringing him back the right way.”

Melton undoubtedly has the talent to impact as a pass rusher for the Buckeyes. Again, like Williams, his first priority will be to remain healthy, and his second will be to secure a spot in the two-deep behind JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer. Or, in the instance that Knowles uses the Jack position in 2023, to be ready and able when the Mad Scientist calls for his services.

Reid Carrico, Linebacker

The No. 9 linebacker and No. 87 overall prospect in the class of 2021, Carrico was a massive recruiting win for Coombs and former linebackers coach Al Washington in 2020, as the Buckeyes successfully fended off Alabama, Clemson and Cincinnati and secured a commitment from the Ironton, Ohio, product.

Despite his exciting recruitment process, Carrico's career has been far from it, as the 6-foot-2, 235-pound linebacker has collected only four tackles in his first two seasons in Columbus and contributed mainly on special teams.

Unlike Williams and Melton, Carrico has been healthy in back-to-back years. However, he has found himself buried on the depth chart because of Knowles' two-linebacker scheme and the emergence of Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers in 2022. As Carrico looks ahead to 2023, he could find himself in a similar spot – perhaps an even tougher spot – with C.J. Hicks and Gabe Powers also competing for reps.

But if Carrico sees the field in 2023, it would stand to reason that a former top-10 linebacker prospect can consistently make plays, especially when he has learned from one of Ohio State's greatest linebackers ever in James Laurinaitis.

 PARTY LIKE AN OHIO STATE QB? Billionaire entrepreneur and Fanatics founder Michael Rubin hosted an extravagant, star-studded party at his million-dollar estate in Bridgehampton to celebrate the Fourth of July on Tuesday.

Here is a small number of people who attended the party: Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Emily Ratajkowski, Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Usher Jack Harlow, Dixie D’Amelio, Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, James Harden, Joe Burrow, Donovan Mitchell, Odell Beckham Jr., Kylian Mbappe and...

C.J. Stroud?

The former Ohio State quarterback appears at the 0:23 mark of the video included below:

This is quite the step up from the Residence on 10th and Worthington Building on Ohio State's campus. But that can be the lifestyle change for a quarterback selected No. 2 overall in the NFL draft who makes millions of dollars annually.

The party looked like fun. Stroud looked like he had fun. All is well. But when the Houston Texans' training camp starts on July 21, it's time for Stroud to lock in. Buckeye Nation needs another NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year winner in 2023-24. Make it back-to-back.

 MIC'D UP MALAKI. Ohio State men's basketball fans didn't see much of Malaki Branham in a scarlet and gray uniform. The Akron, Ohio, native only appeared in 32 games in his lone season with the Buckeyes and collected 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest before the San Antonio Spurs drafted him No. 20 overall in 2022.

Still, many Ohio State fans love the Akron, Ohio, native because of his performance on the court and his character off of it. A recent tweet from the Spurs showed Branham "Mic'd Up" and offered another look at the latter as the 6-foot-4, 180-pound forward cheered on his teammates from the sidelines.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Sunglasses At Night" by Corey Hart.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. Iowa man wins Fourth of July Key Lime Pie Eating Championship in Florida Keys... Bear Grylls goes into the wild with a new batch of celebrities, from Bradley Cooper to Rita Ora... Shaun White documentary spells out the tough choices the snowboarder made for his sport and himself... Stalled ride strands passengers upside down for more than four hours... Having an out-of-body experience? Blame this sausage-shaped piece of your brain.

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