Happy Monday!
Let’s start this holiday week off right, shall we?
Grab a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or even wassail. Let’s talk Ohio State.
Here’s what I’m thinking about this week.
The Early Signing Period is officially complete.
From Dec. 15-17, Ohio State brought in 18 players for its 2022 class: one quarterback, one running back, four wide receivers, three offensive linemen, one tight end, two defensive ends, two linebackers, one athlete — projected at bullet/safety/wherever the hell Ohio State wants him — one safety and two cornerbacks.
Throughout last week, we met a few of them, getting to know how each made the jump from high school to Ohio State:
Caden Curry
Alex "Sonny" Styles
Gabe Powers
Heading into 2022, Ohio State has the No. 4 recruiting class in the country, 48 points ahead of Texas and 497 points behind Georgia. However, the Buckeyes are averaging four stars per player in its 18-prospect class, something only 12 teams have done since 2012.
Long story short: this is an Ohio State-level class.
So where do the Buckeyes stand in terms of roster management?
It was something on the mind of head coach Ryan Day as he reflected on his 2022 class on Early Signing Day, going position by position, sharing his ideal numbers for each position in terms of scholarship athletes.
Let’s start with the offense.
Quarterback
What Ohio State wants: Four
What Ohio State has: Three — C.J. Stroud, Kyle McCord, Devin Brown
What’s next: Ohio State seems to be set here. It’s not ideal to have only three scholarship quarterbacks, but it’s happened with the Buckeyes before, as recently as the 2019 season with Justin Fields, Chris Chugunov and Gunnar Hoak. Obviously, this is a different situation where Kyle McCord and Devin Brown serve as the likely succession plan for C.J. Stroud instead of just filler graduate transfers like Chugunov and Hoak were.
Running back
What Ohio State wants: Five
What Ohio State has: Six — TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams, Evan Pryor, Marcus Crowley, Master Teague III, Dallan Hayden
What’s next: This room seems a bit full. While cornerback Cameron Brown kind of botched the trend with him announcing he was coming back, Master Teague III did participate in Senior Day before the Michigan State game, leaving it easy to think that he’s on his way out.
Wide receivers
What Ohio State wants: 11
What Ohio State has: 11 — Garrett Wilson, Julian Fleming, Kamryn Babb, Jayden Ballard, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Caleb Burton, Kyion Grayes, Kaleb Brown, Kojo Antwi
What’s next: Yes, Garrett Wilson is still here, so Ohio State will likely be one short of its 11 heading into the 2022 season when the junior likely announces he’s off to the NFL. But with four new receivers coming in from the 2022 recruiting class, Brian Hartline is doing a very good job at keeping this room fresh and home-grown.
Tight ends
What Ohio State wants: Five
What Ohio State has: Five — Cade Stover, Gee Scott Jr., Sam Hart, Joe Royer, Bennett Christian
What’s next: Bennett Christian rounded out a full, yet very inexperienced room. Ohio State did seem to be in the hunt for an experienced tight end in the transfer portal early on — hosting former Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner before he eventually chose South Carolina — but it doesn’t seem to be a priority, especially with the role tight end plays in the offense.
Offensive line
What Ohio State wants: 16
What Ohio State has: 17 — Nicholas Petit-Frere, Luke Wypler, Matthew Jones, Zen Michalski, Enokk Vimahi, Jakob James, Trey Leroux, Josh Fryar, Ben Christman, Grant Toutant, Donovan Jackson, Harry Miller, Paris Johnson Jr., Dawand Jones, Tegra Tshabola, George Fitzpatrick, Avery Henry
What’s next: Like Wilson, Nicholas Petit-Frere seems to be on his way out, coming into 2022 projected as a late first-round, early second-round draft choice. However, it seems like Ohio State is eager to keep the offensive line room a bit more full than usual in 2022. After the likely starting-five next season up front: Luke Wypler, Matthew Jones, Harry Miller, Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones — who is also eligible to leave, but is likely staying at Ohio State for another season — there’s little to no experience at its disposal.
Where’s Ohio State’s defense at numbers wise?
One thing first:
One of the things Day was clear about was how volatile these numbers are, and how they may change from year to year. With Ohio State’s mid-season transition, fully embracing a 4-2-5 look, these numbers may change a bit in the coming years.
Anyway, let’s do the same thing with the defense.
Defensive tackle
What Ohio State wants: Eight
What Ohio State has: Seven — Taron Vincent, Michael Hall Jr., Ty Hamilton, Jerron Cage, Jaden McKenzie, Tyleik Williams, Darrion Henry-Young
What’s next: In an ideal world, Ohio State would add another piece here from high school, either Hero Kanu or Christen Miller for depth and development in an already inexperienced room.
Defensive end
What Ohio State wants: Eight
What Ohio State has: 10 — Cormontae Hamilton, Jacolbe Cowan, Noah Potter, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Zach Harrison, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Tyler Friday, Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Caden Curry
What’s next: This seems a little bit too, but there doesn't seem to be much change happening here. If anything, Ohio State adds one more if it can secure a commitment out of Omari Abor. But other than that, there isn’t much movement necessary, especially with a 4-2-5 scheme.
Linebacker
What Ohio State wants: Seven or eight
What Ohio State has: Nine — Teradja Mitchell, Mitchell Melton, Palaie Gaoteote IV, Steele Chambers, Reid Carrico, Cody Simon, Tommy Eichenberg, Gabe Powers, CJ Hicks
What’s next: Even though it may be more full than it usually is, Ohio State needed some fresh blood in the linebacker room, something that both Gabe Powers and CJ Hicks provide.
Bullet
What Ohio State wants: Four
What Ohio State has: Three — Kourt Williams II, Ronnie Hickman, Alex ‘Sonny’ Styles
What’s next: This is not really a real position room, but it seems like Ohio State is set, especially until we see what new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles does with the defensive back/linebacker hybrid position.
Safety
What Ohio State wants: Seven
What Ohio State has: Eight — Cameron Martinez, Lathan Ransom, Bryson Shaw, Marcus Hooker, Jantzen Dunn, Andre Turrentine, Josh Proctor, Kye Stokes
What’s next: In a 4-2-5 defense, this is exactly where Ohio State needs to be, adding depth with a few members from the bullet room too. With Proctor back, there’s a lot more depth here.
Cornerback
What Ohio State wants: Eight
What Ohio State has: Eight — Lejond Cavazos, Jordan Hancock, Sevyn Banks, Cameron Brown, Denzel Burke, Jakailin Johnson, Jyaire Brown, Ryan Turner
What’s next: Cameron Brown brings the experience Ohio State wanted out of someone like Elias Ricks. With securing two starting cornerbacks back for 2022, the Buckeyes should be done here. Ohio State may be down one spot depending on what Sevyn Banks does, but that depth is made up elsewhere in the secondary.
What do these numbers mean?
Right now, Ohio State has 87 on scholarship. It needs to be at 85.
However, when it’s all said and done, Ohio State should have a couple of roster spots to work with as the calendar year flips.
If you take Nicholas Petit-Frere and Garrett Wilson out of the picture, the Buckeyes would sit at 85 exactly. Even with Zach Harrison and Dawand Jones expected back in 2022, the Buckeyes could add two more spots if Sevyn Banks and Master Teague III both exit the program.
Heading into 2022, expect for Ohio State to have anywhere from one to three roster spots to work with.
Who will fill it? And why?
Day made it clear that he would much rather have a high school recruit than a transfer: someone that he can develop from the ground up, molding them into the culture that the Buckeyes have instead of just patching a hole that will need fixing later with a recruit.
The head coach was clear that transfers have worked in major ways in the past: QB Justin Fields, RB Trey Sermon, OG Jonah Jackson, etc.
But he would much rather recruit.
These names are not anyone new: Carson Hinzman, Hero Kanu, Christen Miller and Omari Abor.
Both the offensive and defensive lines — especially the middle of both — have a distinct lack of inexperienced, something that Hinzman, either at guard or center, along with Kanu and Miller at defensive tackle, would provide.
Would Ohio State make do without them? Sure. It was targeting former FIU transfer Miles Frazier for a tackle spot, who eventually picked LSU. But it seems as though the Buckeyes will start from the high school ranks and look into the portal if it needs to.
Alright, what’s up with this basketball team?
Ohio State was on a run.
The Buckeyes were as hot as they had been all season long, winning four straight, including three-straight double-digit wins against Penn State, Towson and Wisconsin. Add in a win against No. 1-ranked Duke and you have quite a development period.
Sure, the Buckeyes weren’t perfect. Junior forward E.J. Liddell was turning it over seemingly every possession and the team was allowing way too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points. But they were finding a way somehow.
Then a’la 2020, COVID-19 hit, canceling Ohio State’s CBS Sports Classic game against Kentucky — another chance for Ohio State to see where it stood on the national stage before it went to compete in probably the toughest league in the country. The cancellations now continue into Tuesday’s game against Tennessee Martin, leaving the Buckeyes one chance to see where it’s at before Big Ten play starts.
Yes, there are bigger questions to be answered. COVID-19 is continuing to hit the college basketball world hard, leaving teams scrambling to find opponents after other teams canceled games. How will this go once conference play starts? Will it affect Tournament play once again?
Those are the most important aspects of this, no doubt about it. But in terms of gameplay — far less important than the overall safety of the players — there are still questions to be had:
Will Ohio State have the same momentum it had prior to the stoppage?
Will there be a rust period that only Big Ten play could magnify, especially if the Buckeyes are forced to drop into conference play?
We will have to wait and see. And that’s all that head coach Chris Holtmann and his team can do right now: wait and see what the test results say.
Let’s take a look at that Team Up North: Basketball edition
Michigan has been unable to live up to its expectations.
Coming in as the No. 6 team in the country, the Wolverines have lost four of its first 11 games — a two-point loss to Seton Hall, an eight-point loss to Arizona, a 21-point loss to North Carolina and a 10-point home loss to Minnesota.
That’s not so good.
It’s going to be interesting to see what team Ohio State sees when Big Ten play starts, but Michigan definitely has the potential to turn its season around.
Hunter Dickinson is being Hunter Dickinson in the paint, averaging 15.6 points and 9.1 rebounds while shooting over 60% from the field. Caleb Houstan has been inconsistent, but has shown spurts of being one of the better freshmen in the Big Ten.
For Michigan, its season starts Jan. 4 against Rutgers.
For a Wolverines team that still has earned eight votes in the latest AP poll, that’s when the turnaround begins.
A personal note:
The holidays are approaching, of course.
As bowl season ramps up and Christmas comes closer, I just wanted to wish you all a happy holiday season. I hope that you all are able to enjoy time with your friends and family, eating good food and watching, hopefully, good football.
Thank you guys so much for being a part of this community. I’ll likely have more on this in the next few weeks with the football season wrapping up in Pasadena and 2022 coming fast, but thank you for taking a chance on me, Eric and the rest of the team here. I’ve really enjoyed interacting with each and every one of you.
As for me, I’ll be getting on a plane and getting my Whataburger soon enough.
With that: the song of the week:
Groan now, because it’s another doozy.
Not only is it one of the longest Mike’s Songs Phish has done, but it leads into what turns into a beautiful rendition of the classic Christmas song “O Holy Night” at the 22-minute mark. This is a moment for sure, just one of many from the classic Baker’s Dozen run in 2017.
See you on the board.
Let’s start this holiday week off right, shall we?
Grab a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or even wassail. Let’s talk Ohio State.
Here’s what I’m thinking about this week.
The Early Signing Period is officially complete.
From Dec. 15-17, Ohio State brought in 18 players for its 2022 class: one quarterback, one running back, four wide receivers, three offensive linemen, one tight end, two defensive ends, two linebackers, one athlete — projected at bullet/safety/wherever the hell Ohio State wants him — one safety and two cornerbacks.
Throughout last week, we met a few of them, getting to know how each made the jump from high school to Ohio State:
Caden Curry
Alex "Sonny" Styles
Gabe Powers
Heading into 2022, Ohio State has the No. 4 recruiting class in the country, 48 points ahead of Texas and 497 points behind Georgia. However, the Buckeyes are averaging four stars per player in its 18-prospect class, something only 12 teams have done since 2012.
Long story short: this is an Ohio State-level class.
So where do the Buckeyes stand in terms of roster management?
It was something on the mind of head coach Ryan Day as he reflected on his 2022 class on Early Signing Day, going position by position, sharing his ideal numbers for each position in terms of scholarship athletes.
Let’s start with the offense.
Quarterback
What Ohio State wants: Four
What Ohio State has: Three — C.J. Stroud, Kyle McCord, Devin Brown
What’s next: Ohio State seems to be set here. It’s not ideal to have only three scholarship quarterbacks, but it’s happened with the Buckeyes before, as recently as the 2019 season with Justin Fields, Chris Chugunov and Gunnar Hoak. Obviously, this is a different situation where Kyle McCord and Devin Brown serve as the likely succession plan for C.J. Stroud instead of just filler graduate transfers like Chugunov and Hoak were.
Running back
What Ohio State wants: Five
What Ohio State has: Six — TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams, Evan Pryor, Marcus Crowley, Master Teague III, Dallan Hayden
What’s next: This room seems a bit full. While cornerback Cameron Brown kind of botched the trend with him announcing he was coming back, Master Teague III did participate in Senior Day before the Michigan State game, leaving it easy to think that he’s on his way out.
Wide receivers
What Ohio State wants: 11
What Ohio State has: 11 — Garrett Wilson, Julian Fleming, Kamryn Babb, Jayden Ballard, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Caleb Burton, Kyion Grayes, Kaleb Brown, Kojo Antwi
What’s next: Yes, Garrett Wilson is still here, so Ohio State will likely be one short of its 11 heading into the 2022 season when the junior likely announces he’s off to the NFL. But with four new receivers coming in from the 2022 recruiting class, Brian Hartline is doing a very good job at keeping this room fresh and home-grown.
Tight ends
What Ohio State wants: Five
What Ohio State has: Five — Cade Stover, Gee Scott Jr., Sam Hart, Joe Royer, Bennett Christian
What’s next: Bennett Christian rounded out a full, yet very inexperienced room. Ohio State did seem to be in the hunt for an experienced tight end in the transfer portal early on — hosting former Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner before he eventually chose South Carolina — but it doesn’t seem to be a priority, especially with the role tight end plays in the offense.
Offensive line
What Ohio State wants: 16
What Ohio State has: 17 — Nicholas Petit-Frere, Luke Wypler, Matthew Jones, Zen Michalski, Enokk Vimahi, Jakob James, Trey Leroux, Josh Fryar, Ben Christman, Grant Toutant, Donovan Jackson, Harry Miller, Paris Johnson Jr., Dawand Jones, Tegra Tshabola, George Fitzpatrick, Avery Henry
What’s next: Like Wilson, Nicholas Petit-Frere seems to be on his way out, coming into 2022 projected as a late first-round, early second-round draft choice. However, it seems like Ohio State is eager to keep the offensive line room a bit more full than usual in 2022. After the likely starting-five next season up front: Luke Wypler, Matthew Jones, Harry Miller, Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones — who is also eligible to leave, but is likely staying at Ohio State for another season — there’s little to no experience at its disposal.
Where’s Ohio State’s defense at numbers wise?
One thing first:
One of the things Day was clear about was how volatile these numbers are, and how they may change from year to year. With Ohio State’s mid-season transition, fully embracing a 4-2-5 look, these numbers may change a bit in the coming years.
Anyway, let’s do the same thing with the defense.
Defensive tackle
What Ohio State wants: Eight
What Ohio State has: Seven — Taron Vincent, Michael Hall Jr., Ty Hamilton, Jerron Cage, Jaden McKenzie, Tyleik Williams, Darrion Henry-Young
What’s next: In an ideal world, Ohio State would add another piece here from high school, either Hero Kanu or Christen Miller for depth and development in an already inexperienced room.
Defensive end
What Ohio State wants: Eight
What Ohio State has: 10 — Cormontae Hamilton, Jacolbe Cowan, Noah Potter, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Zach Harrison, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Tyler Friday, Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Caden Curry
What’s next: This seems a little bit too, but there doesn't seem to be much change happening here. If anything, Ohio State adds one more if it can secure a commitment out of Omari Abor. But other than that, there isn’t much movement necessary, especially with a 4-2-5 scheme.
Linebacker
What Ohio State wants: Seven or eight
What Ohio State has: Nine — Teradja Mitchell, Mitchell Melton, Palaie Gaoteote IV, Steele Chambers, Reid Carrico, Cody Simon, Tommy Eichenberg, Gabe Powers, CJ Hicks
What’s next: Even though it may be more full than it usually is, Ohio State needed some fresh blood in the linebacker room, something that both Gabe Powers and CJ Hicks provide.
Bullet
What Ohio State wants: Four
What Ohio State has: Three — Kourt Williams II, Ronnie Hickman, Alex ‘Sonny’ Styles
What’s next: This is not really a real position room, but it seems like Ohio State is set, especially until we see what new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles does with the defensive back/linebacker hybrid position.
Safety
What Ohio State wants: Seven
What Ohio State has: Eight — Cameron Martinez, Lathan Ransom, Bryson Shaw, Marcus Hooker, Jantzen Dunn, Andre Turrentine, Josh Proctor, Kye Stokes
What’s next: In a 4-2-5 defense, this is exactly where Ohio State needs to be, adding depth with a few members from the bullet room too. With Proctor back, there’s a lot more depth here.
Cornerback
What Ohio State wants: Eight
What Ohio State has: Eight — Lejond Cavazos, Jordan Hancock, Sevyn Banks, Cameron Brown, Denzel Burke, Jakailin Johnson, Jyaire Brown, Ryan Turner
What’s next: Cameron Brown brings the experience Ohio State wanted out of someone like Elias Ricks. With securing two starting cornerbacks back for 2022, the Buckeyes should be done here. Ohio State may be down one spot depending on what Sevyn Banks does, but that depth is made up elsewhere in the secondary.
What do these numbers mean?
Right now, Ohio State has 87 on scholarship. It needs to be at 85.
However, when it’s all said and done, Ohio State should have a couple of roster spots to work with as the calendar year flips.
If you take Nicholas Petit-Frere and Garrett Wilson out of the picture, the Buckeyes would sit at 85 exactly. Even with Zach Harrison and Dawand Jones expected back in 2022, the Buckeyes could add two more spots if Sevyn Banks and Master Teague III both exit the program.
Heading into 2022, expect for Ohio State to have anywhere from one to three roster spots to work with.
Who will fill it? And why?
Day made it clear that he would much rather have a high school recruit than a transfer: someone that he can develop from the ground up, molding them into the culture that the Buckeyes have instead of just patching a hole that will need fixing later with a recruit.
The head coach was clear that transfers have worked in major ways in the past: QB Justin Fields, RB Trey Sermon, OG Jonah Jackson, etc.
But he would much rather recruit.
These names are not anyone new: Carson Hinzman, Hero Kanu, Christen Miller and Omari Abor.
Both the offensive and defensive lines — especially the middle of both — have a distinct lack of inexperienced, something that Hinzman, either at guard or center, along with Kanu and Miller at defensive tackle, would provide.
Would Ohio State make do without them? Sure. It was targeting former FIU transfer Miles Frazier for a tackle spot, who eventually picked LSU. But it seems as though the Buckeyes will start from the high school ranks and look into the portal if it needs to.
Alright, what’s up with this basketball team?
Ohio State was on a run.
The Buckeyes were as hot as they had been all season long, winning four straight, including three-straight double-digit wins against Penn State, Towson and Wisconsin. Add in a win against No. 1-ranked Duke and you have quite a development period.
Sure, the Buckeyes weren’t perfect. Junior forward E.J. Liddell was turning it over seemingly every possession and the team was allowing way too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points. But they were finding a way somehow.
Then a’la 2020, COVID-19 hit, canceling Ohio State’s CBS Sports Classic game against Kentucky — another chance for Ohio State to see where it stood on the national stage before it went to compete in probably the toughest league in the country. The cancellations now continue into Tuesday’s game against Tennessee Martin, leaving the Buckeyes one chance to see where it’s at before Big Ten play starts.
Yes, there are bigger questions to be answered. COVID-19 is continuing to hit the college basketball world hard, leaving teams scrambling to find opponents after other teams canceled games. How will this go once conference play starts? Will it affect Tournament play once again?
Those are the most important aspects of this, no doubt about it. But in terms of gameplay — far less important than the overall safety of the players — there are still questions to be had:
Will Ohio State have the same momentum it had prior to the stoppage?
Will there be a rust period that only Big Ten play could magnify, especially if the Buckeyes are forced to drop into conference play?
We will have to wait and see. And that’s all that head coach Chris Holtmann and his team can do right now: wait and see what the test results say.
Let’s take a look at that Team Up North: Basketball edition
Michigan has been unable to live up to its expectations.
Coming in as the No. 6 team in the country, the Wolverines have lost four of its first 11 games — a two-point loss to Seton Hall, an eight-point loss to Arizona, a 21-point loss to North Carolina and a 10-point home loss to Minnesota.
That’s not so good.
It’s going to be interesting to see what team Ohio State sees when Big Ten play starts, but Michigan definitely has the potential to turn its season around.
Hunter Dickinson is being Hunter Dickinson in the paint, averaging 15.6 points and 9.1 rebounds while shooting over 60% from the field. Caleb Houstan has been inconsistent, but has shown spurts of being one of the better freshmen in the Big Ten.
For Michigan, its season starts Jan. 4 against Rutgers.
For a Wolverines team that still has earned eight votes in the latest AP poll, that’s when the turnaround begins.
A personal note:
The holidays are approaching, of course.
As bowl season ramps up and Christmas comes closer, I just wanted to wish you all a happy holiday season. I hope that you all are able to enjoy time with your friends and family, eating good food and watching, hopefully, good football.
Thank you guys so much for being a part of this community. I’ll likely have more on this in the next few weeks with the football season wrapping up in Pasadena and 2022 coming fast, but thank you for taking a chance on me, Eric and the rest of the team here. I’ve really enjoyed interacting with each and every one of you.
As for me, I’ll be getting on a plane and getting my Whataburger soon enough.
With that: the song of the week:
Groan now, because it’s another doozy.
Not only is it one of the longest Mike’s Songs Phish has done, but it leads into what turns into a beautiful rendition of the classic Christmas song “O Holy Night” at the 22-minute mark. This is a moment for sure, just one of many from the classic Baker’s Dozen run in 2017.
See you on the board.
Last edited:
