BONUS: Time and Change - The Best Freshman Seasons In Ohio State History and Who Could Be Next

Who had the greatest true freshman season in Ohio State football history?

Tony Gerdeman and Juck Miletti rank the Top 10 true freshman seasons ever by a Buckeye, led by Jeremiah Smith's incredible 2024 campaign. Along the way they debate Andy Katzenmoyer, Maurice Clarett, Orlando Pace, Ted Ginn Jr., the Bosa brothers, J.K. Dobbins and more before turning their attention to the current Buckeyes.

Which members of Ohio State's 2026 freshman class could make a championship-level impact? Could Chris Henry Jr., Legend Bey, Brock Boyd, Jay Timmons or Khari Wilder become the next freshman stars? Finally, the guys look ahead to the 2027 recruiting class and discuss the long-term outlook for one of Ohio State's most talented groups in recent memory, including the pursuit of David GabrielGeorges.

Who would make your Top 10 list?

Subscribe to Buckeye Insiders for more Ohio State football coverage, recruiting, history, and analysis.

0:00 Welcome to The Time and Change Will Surely Show
0:49 The show's format: Past, Present and Future
1:17 Ranking the greatest true freshman seasons in Ohio State history
1:48 Jeremiah Smith claims the No. 1 spot
2:36 When did everyone realize Jeremiah Smith was different?
4:19 Ryan Day's "Watch this" moment and spring practice memories
7:02 No. 2: Andy Katzenmoyer's legendary 1996 season
9:26 No. 3: Orlando Pace changes left tackle forever
11:08 Maurice Clarett's unforgettable freshman championship run
13:09 Joey Bosa vs. Nick Bosa debate
14:44 J.K. Dobbins' explosive freshman campaign
15:41 Marcus Marek, Korey Stringer and the offensive line legends
17:49 Ted Ginn Jr.'s game-breaking freshman season
20:54 Juck's personal Top 10 list
23:51 Cris Carter's place among Ohio State greats
25:28 Which 2026 freshmen could make the biggest impact?
26:54 Chris Henry Jr. vs. Legend Bey
29:58 Why Legend Bey could be a perfect fit immediately
30:38 David Boston and Michael Wiley set the standard in 1996
32:53 Jay Timmons, Khari Wilder and the defensive freshmen to watch
36:34 Looking ahead to Ohio State's loaded 2027 recruiting class
40:34 The future of the Buckeye defensive line
42:22 Where does Jamier Brown fit?
44:09 David Gabriel-Georges' potential impact
48:22 Why Ohio State's 2027 class is already a major success
50:59 Is David Gabriel-Georges a "must-get" recruit?
53:52 The latest recruiting prediction discussion
55:15 Final thoughts and outro

Speaker 1: Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Time and Change Will Shirley Show.

I'm Tony Gerdaman here as always with Juck Malady, Juck.

I have no other way to start shows now. This

is just it's been so many years of doing it.

Let me try something else. Hey, Juck, what's new?

Speaker 2: What's shaking? Tony?

Speaker 1: Not much? Just I need to eventually settle into an

intro for this show. I will I promise what we'll

get a taken care of. But everybody, welcome to the

Time and Change Will Shirley Show, where we take one

Ohio state specific topic, talk about the past and the

present and the future of that topic. Today we are

talking about true freshman the best true freshman seasons of

all time. We're gonna look back, gonna look to the

present day and see what kind of true freshman contributions

the Buckeyes will get this year, and then take a

peek ahead to the twenty twenty seven class and what

kind of contributions the buck Eyes may get from some

of their players that are committed and perhaps other players

who are not yet committed in twenty twenty seven. I

don't know who that could be. I'm sure we'll figure

it out. We will talk about that what things might

look like next year from that class. But first I'm

going to go ahead and throw graphic up on the screen.

I went and I put together my top ten true

freshman seasons of all time at Ohio State. There's nothing scientific.

You didn't have criteria here, no, because there's no good

way to do it because you're talking about defensive lineman,

offensive lineman. There's no stats. You've got some big ten

freshmen of the year who did not make the list

and others who did. But this was just I figured,

you know what, I'm part of the show. I can

just go ahead and use my opinion and go with that.

But obviously the number one I think we would all

agree is Jeremiah Smith based on what he did that year.

And I'm curious when did I'll tell my story after

you tell yours, But when when were you all in

on him being the guy as a true freshman? At

what point? Was it? Was it before he was signed?

Was it after he was signed and you started to

hear stuff, or because I'm gonna call you out right

now if you think if you're gonna tell me, I

knew he was gonna you know, catch go for fourteen

hundred yards or whatever when before he was ever signed,

because that's insane. I mean, it ended up being correct.

But when did you have this strong feeling that he

was going to be something that we hadn't seen before

or did you.

Speaker 2: So the the film coming out his senior year at

Shamanad made me think that for sure he's gonna come

in and fight for a starting job. And then I

want to say, like that first week a spring was like, Okay,

this is this is legitimately like maybe the number one dude,

And that felt like a ridiculous take at that point,

but it wasn't. It was not a ridiculous take. But yeah,

the senior film at Shamanad was just like, I mean,

it'll go down in history as some of the most exciting,

ridiculous stuff we've ever seen, just so big and fast. Yeah,

it was just it just it was everything right. It

was like, there's no way this guy's not going to

actually compete for a starting job as a freshman, and

just to say that sounded absurd and then to be like, yeah,

he's really gonna start. But even then, you always had

the wonder because of this particular coaching staff has never

been big on, you know, giving the freshman a lot.

They've always been cautious with them, but you just didn't

know how much they'd feed him. And then and then Tony.

When it really changed was the spring game when Ryan

Day was like watch this and then he was like,

but we're gonna pull him out early, and it's like, okay,

he's talking about him like he's the fourth year starting quarterback,

like we got to make sure he stays healthy. And

that's when like, okay, he's going to be the dude.

Speaker 1: The dude. Like that to me was the big tell.

It was interesting because Ryan Day up until that very point,

was very cautious on what he would say about Jeremiah Smith.

And we all we've talked before about his reaction to

Jeremiah Smith signing and getting that, but he was very

cautious in what he would tell people and didn't want

to he would stop himself, and anytime a coach has

to stop themselves, you're like, okay, I'm gonna make a

mental note of that. But then when he was finally

like watch this, you're like, yeah, okay, he's he's now

allowing himself to be a little bit freer. With everything

he's seen because by that point others had seen it

as well. And I can't remember if we were there

for the like the first spring practice, because I was

getting reports. I got a text from somebody, and I

could remember if they told me that he was awe

inspiring or jaw dropping. It was something like that, from

like the first practice awe inspiring. It's like, I mean,

come on, what are we talking about? And then you

go and you watch it and it's just like the

place it's you got a crowd of people in there,

whether it's recruits or coaches or whatever during the spring,

random spring game or spring practices, and he'll make a

play and then there's just like the silence and then

explosion because you're like, you know, what did I and

he would? It just be every single practice that we

were there. It got to the point where then for

like the student appreciation day and then the coaching clinic practices.

It reminded me of because I knew what was gonna happen, right,

So it reminded me of rewatching Breaking Bad with my

wife who had never seen it, and I knew all

of the good stuff coming up. I knew all of

the great scenes. I knew all of the things that

were gonna blow her mind, and I just got to

relive that experience through her. It was just like reliving

the experience of watching Jeremiah Smith for the first time

through all of these other people who hadn't seen him before,

getting to watch him make these plays.

Speaker 2: And sim was Ryan Days saying watch.

Speaker 1: This, yeah, right exactly. And so then it was maybe

those first few practices that we saw I was like, well,

I'm no longer slow playing. This guy's gonna get a

thousand yards receiving this year. I was like, I'm done.

I can't not be calm about this any longer. Because

I was trying to say, look, look, I remember Tony,

you were driving me nuts.

Speaker 2: Bro, you really were, because you and Tom in particular

have always been very cautious of this, not to put

too much on freshmen. And I was just waiting, what

are these dudes just finally gonna admit it? Man, Just

would you just admit it? This dude's different. Would you

just say it for crying out loud? And I remember

the day you did, and I was like, here we go.

Finally they got gard I mean, it's officially on and.

Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. It was a memorable year, as everybody knows,

and just the best freshman season we've ever seen. I

want to move to the second one on the list.

That's Andy Katsimware. I don't know, did you Did you

get to watch much of the ninety six that one? Yeah, okay,

all right, And I don't know for the people who didn't.

He was almost a mythical figure in ninety six with

what he was doing and what they were able to

allow him to do. He was basically just a wrecking ball.

His season as a true freshman eighty five tackles, twenty

three tackles for lost, twelve sacks, four interceptions, a touchdown,

three forced fumbles. In the Rose Bowl against Jake Plummer,

the number two team in the nation, Arizona State sun Devils,

eight tackles, five tackles for lost, three sacks, an interception.

It was. It was incredibly fun to watch him that year,

and it would take a special season to top that

one in terms of the true freshman and I don't

think he ever. He never matched those tackle for lost numbers,

but he was also doing different things over the course

of the rest of his career. But that was the

time to be alive.

Speaker 2: Boy was it ever When you talk about he was

almost like a mythical character. So I was two years

below him, three years, three years behind in high school.

So I'm playing high school football at that period, maybe

like a sophomore. And he really was like eight feet tall,

five hundred pounds. This guy was just I mean, I

just wanted to see him in person. Eventually did at

a party on campus. It didn't go as well as

I hoped, but it was like just mythical bad dud dude.

And it was so amazing to watch this guy in

the pictures that came out. Remember the picture members where

a visor is freshman, the picture with the visor and

you could see, uh, the one is against Missouri and

you can see Missouri and the visor and it's just

like that might be the hardest picture in Ohio state

history of a guy just standing there.

Speaker 1: I mean, it is so awesome.

Speaker 2: Uh. He had the barbed wire tattoo, we had it all.

He was.

Speaker 1: I think they were listening him in like six four

to six fire like two hundred and forty five pounds,

like should have never he was too big like he was.

He was a prototype, Like if you were to create

a middle linebacker and be like, you know, I'll just

make him little bit taller, a little bit stronger, a

little bit heavier. I know it's not realistic, but let's

do that. He was that, yeah, and he was a

USA today All American as a you know, in high

school and then started I think, every game as a

true freshman for the buck Eyes. And we're not gonna

spend a whole bunch of time on all of these guys,

but I do want to talk about a few of them, because,

like number three on the list is another guy, Orlando,

who started every game for the buck Eyes. I think

that was the first offensive lineman to start game one

for the buck Eyes and the reason he's number three

on this list. He was just really really good from

the outset. Maybe gave up a sack as a true freshman,

depending on who you ask. He was the Big Ten

Freshman of the year, only second team All Big Ten,

but anytime you could put a freshman in left tackle

and just be like, we don't need to worry about

that anymore, that's something special. And there's no stats. They

eventually created stats for him, but this one was just

I had to have him somewhere right, and I couldn't

put him ahead of Smith or Katz and Moore. I'm wondering,

as you look at this list, do you agree with

where he is? Should he be somewhere else? What do

you think?

Speaker 2: I've got him fourth? Okay, so my list if we're

going down, so I'm at JJ. I've got Moa too,

kat similar at three in Orlando at four.

Speaker 1: That's fair enough. Because Maurice Claret as a freshman, was

also another mythical figure and twelve and thirty seven yards

rushing in eleven games, missed three games, was injured with

playing hurt in a couple of others, and even in

the National Championship game, the running wasn't there for him.

He still scored twice and he still made the biggest

play of the game. Stripped him over the top for

me in that kind of argument, It's like when you

show up in that moment as a freshman and you're

the best guy on your team, like making the play

of the game in the National Championship, I mean, the

dude was just different.

Speaker 2: It was talented, very talented, not super speedy. I mean,

you just got it done, yep. And he never would

be denied. It was just like something to watch man.

Speaker 1: He made the first guy miss every time and gave

the offensive line time to get to where they needed.

But even the Michigan game, he's the one that drew

up and said, hey, let's run a wheel route because

Michigan's not following me, and that led to what the

game winning score eventually. So smart guy able to pick

up pass protection, was the best blocker of the running backs.

That's that's one of the reasons he played. I don't

have a problem with him being number three because for

a long time he was the best running back I

ever saw at Ohio State. And obviously it's too bad

we didn't get to see more of them. We're seeing

more of them now, which is good. But just an

incredible freshman season. And I've said before, if you would

if he was healthy that entire season, he wins the Heisman,

and I still stand by that, even though they sure

didn't want to give it to a freshman back then.

But he was so good and the hype was so

expansive and he got so much attention that they may

not have been able to deny him. Yeah, what do

you think about the bosas Because I've got Nick ahead

of Joey here, and.

Speaker 2: I got Joey ahead of Nick. Okay, I got Joey

at six and I got Nick at seven. You've got

Nick at five and Joey at six.

Speaker 1: And I think for me, Joey Bosa started. I think

ten games. Nick's numbers were just a little bit better,

and he was splitting reps with more people. That's why

I went with him ahead of Joey Bosa. But I

do remember, still one of my favorite memories is Joey

Bosa as a freshman in twenty thirteen at one of

his first practices. I don't remember. I don't think he

came in early. I don't think any of the Bosas did.

I don't know if Saint Thomas Aquinas even allowed it.

Speaker 2: I don't believe so.

Speaker 1: So it was Mike Rabel was the defensive line coach

at that point. They were outside and he was putting

them through drills and he's working him, he's working him.

He's yelling at Joey Bosa the entire time, saying this

Saint Saint Thomas a quai us anymore and really really

running him. But he ended up starting, like I said,

like ten games that year. And that was also you know,

Dolphus Washington was a five star defensive defensive end in

twenty twelve. We're talking twenty thirteen, Joey Bosa's freshman year.

Adolphus Washington got hurt and said, well, when I came back,

I knew if I wanted to play, I had to

move to defensive tackle because Joey Bosa was on the team.

And so just just to cause that kind of understanding

and a teammate as talented as Adolphus Washington being like, thank,

guy's really good. I'm gonna have to move inside. So

do you do?

Speaker 2: You let me guess your number five is JK Dobbins. Yeah, yeah,

number five, JK. Yeah, number five is JK. And that

was kind of a shocker for me, Like, you know,

the senior year where he gets hurt. I thought he

was a really good running back, you know, and then

that happened, and I was, I don't know, I was

wondering what we would see out of him as a freshman,

Probably not a ton and then wow, what was the

I was just read rereading this, but I think his

yards per Carrie were just insane that year. Seven point two,

seven point two yards of carry. That's insane, dude. That

guy was so good. Man, he was so good, and honestly,

I think in our conversations, just you know, fan conversations,

I do think he kind of gets glossed over a

little bit when we talk about that. I mean, he's

always there, but just how good he was. Man, that

guy was something.

Speaker 1: The jump Cutch season, yeaheah, I mean he he made

dudes look ridiculous. Then he had the down twenty eighteen

where he was splitting carries with Mike Weber and trying

to hit the home run every time. And then of

course went for two thousand yards in twenty nineteen. But

he was very, very special. I remember talking to his

high school coach that summer and he was just like,

you know, you'll see like I've got hand times and

you know, high four to threes, low four fours. He

can play receiver. He's impossible to touch when you know

you're in the open field. And then you just started

hearing buzz and it wasn't you know he was. I

think he still rushes for a thousand yards even if

Mike Weber wasn't a little banged up in camp that year.

I think you're still gonna see JK. Dobbins out there. Boy,

he was fun to watch. And if he doesn't get

hurt in twenty nineteen against Clemson, I think that's a

different outcome as well. And all the all of the

many different outcomes that could have differently outcomed in that game,

that's one of them. I had to fill Marcus Merick

on here because I didn't watch him, but he had

over one hundred tackles as a true freshman and that's

I think a an Ohio state record. Corey Stringer was

a second team All Big Ten, started like six games,

but was playing in every game Ted and I have

number eight on this list because again another just incredible

to watch. And the numbers that set him over the

edge is are the punt return numbers that I have

or that he had four touchdowns? He only caught twenty

five passes, two touchdown catches, two touchdown rushes, four touchdowns

on punt returns, tied for the team lead in touchdowns

with Ted. Just your thoughts on him? When did you know?

Because I remember watching him in the Big thirty three

and I think the North South and you could tell

that this end the Army All American Game where this

was guy that he better not play defense at Ohio State.

Speaker 2: So yeah, that was like a big fear of mine.

I wanted to see this guy with the ball in

his hands as much as possible. But he does come

in on the defensive side of the ball and a

very advantageous decision there to flip him around. But just

maybe you know, there's a whole lot of a lot

of unique guys we've seen in Ohio State. Of all

the unique guys, this guy was maybe the most unique.

I mean the way he runs the ball, just the

way it looks, it's just something I've never seen since.

And you know, people talk about Jamiir Brown for instance,

Jamiir Brown's times. Jamir Brown's incredibly fast. Jamiir Brown doesn't

look like Ted Ginn when he runs. It's just totally different.

When he gets into that that trot and he gets

this forward lean, you see the lean come down and

it's that's it.

Speaker 1: It's over.

Speaker 2: It's insane to watch. I don't think we'll ever see

anything like it. It was just mesmerizing.

Speaker 1: You can go back and his highlights are incredible to watch.

The times where he's returning a punt and everybody is

even and then he kicks it in and you just

see the separation that is not natural. And yeah, everybody

knows the lean that you're talking about where and it's gone.

He's gone ludicrous speed is what he's gone and done

the big thirty three games, So that was Ohio versus Pennsylvania.

He I think threw a touchdown in that game, caught

like four or five passes for over one hundred yards,

including like an eighty six yard or to start, and

then Devin Lyons, who ended up going to Ohio State,

had like one hundred yards receiving in the first half

and then finally they put Ted Ginn on him. Ted

Ginn was only playing offense in that game, and in

the second half that he's like, yeah, I'll play some defense.

Shut Devin Lions down. Gave up like one catch for

like three yards and was remarkable, and I think he

had a touch kickoff return for a touchdown maybe in

the Army game. Yeah, always electric, and you know you're

talking about all the different kinds of people. I think

if maybe maybe at one point we'll do like the

most dangerous Buckeyes, because he was dangerous from wherever, and

the Michigan State game is a true freshman where he

scored three touchdowns, one on an end a round, one

on a part return, and then the game winner on

a slant. It was just you never knew what he

was going to do, but you had to keep your

eyes on him. And then he capped it with that

Alamo Bowl and some craziness in that game. It was

just it was so fun to watch. It was a

It was a.

Speaker 2: Great, great career to watch, and I did not. I mean,

he lasted so long in the NFL, becoming more and

more of a polished receiver every year, which is awesome.

And now, of course you know the head football coach

for for the Aviators, So there you go.

Speaker 1: Is there anybody like what was what was your list?

So that again it was there anybody on this list?

Speaker 2: I see after JK at five, AY had Joey at six,

I had Nick at seven. I had Chris Carter at eight,

who I didn't get to see a whole lot of.

But for me, Chris Carter is kind of a revolutionary

wide receiver. Like the stuff that we see these guys

do on the routine now is he's he's kind of

like the Godfather, Right, He's like the acrobatic one handed catch,

the body control. And then I put a little bit

of what he did into the NFL in with that

legacy because he was so great in the NFL as well.

It just kind of I can't separate the two because

the majority of my life I watched him playing in

the NFL. Right, That's that's the majority of what I

knew of him. But I've got Travion at nine. I

thought Travian's freshman season deserved to be on here with

nineteen total touchdowns, which is just bizarre. Also six point

eight yards a carry, which is some serious, serious stuff.

And then at Uh at ten, I've got Stringer as well,

who was the Big Ten freshmen of the year. Starting

six games again, starting a tackle as a freshman just

blows my mind. I mean, I guess was it more

common back then, Tony or was it? Well? No, never

really see.

Speaker 1: It any because, like I said, Orlando Base was the first

one to start the first the season opener on the

offensive line for Ohio State. And I think with Orlando

the fact that they didn't move Corey Stringer to left

tackle and pass freshman year and they just said, no, Orlando,

you're the left tackle. We'll keep this all big ten

right tackle at right tackle and go from there. But

oh yeah, it's incredible. And then also in short yardage

and on field goals, they put them both on the

defensive line and I'll try dealing with that. It's that's

just all kinds of mass the you know. Yeah, Travon

Henderson in that Tulsa game as a true freshman is

pretty incredible. Yeah, Chris Carter. So I don't necessarily remember

him as a as a freshman. I remember him at

Ohio State because as kids, as a child, me and

me and my friends, we would be Chris Carter as

we're trying to toe the line or you know, catch

something while diving, because we knew even then before he

was ever in the NFL he had the best hands

we ever saw, and it was just known. It was

a thing. I was like nine years old. It's like, yes,

everybody knows this, like George Washington is the first president.

Chris Carter has the best hands in football history. What else? Yeat?

That's all I need to know. I'm fine. Yeah, we'll

eventually do a show on wide receivers and you look

at all the numbers that are going on, and he's

still gonna have to be on that Mount rushmore.

Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely, I don't know that that he's ever coming

off of that no matter. Well, who knows, I don't know.

Maybe you get a couple more JJ's, you know, I

don't know. I guess I don't say that.

Speaker 1: Well, and the thing is here now, like Marv would

be up there and again where this is a new

show that we're not doing yet, but Marv would be

up there. But he's got to get the NFL thing

going or else it's going to diminish what he did

at Ohio State, which is crazy because it shouldn't because

he was it shouldn't, but it.

Speaker 2: Just does in our perception. It just does. But I

just coming out into the NFL, I didn't care who

the quarterback was. I was positive that was going to

be a successful NFL player. I don't know that I've

ever been more shocked than seeing him drop balls and

like get this case of the drops that he's had

in the league, which I think he's somewhat gotten straightened out,

but like seeing him like defeated in interviews because the

drop balls was like, what's going on? Here one of

the more shocking ones, but I still think he'll turn

it around. He's two dog one good.

Speaker 1: Well, I'm sure they'll have better quarterback play this year

with Kyler Murray in Minnesota. And I'm sure Minnesota will

have better quarterback playing with Kyler Murray. Last quick thing

on ted Gin in that Big thirty three game, the

one of the Pennsylvania corners was Darryl Reeves and Ted

Gin finished with five catches for one hundred and forty

two yards, and of course I think like a thirty

six yard touchdown pass on a on a double pass

and a round type thing. That's amazing. Man.

Speaker 2: I heard they still play the Big thirty three against Maryland. Now, yeah, yeah,

what a plumber is that?

Speaker 1: Well, I think Pennsylvania got tired of losing and said,

what's Maryland up to? And so they texted Maryland you up?

Speaker 2: Yeah?

Speaker 1: Maryland was like sure, yeah, sure, we'll come over. So

let's move to the present and talk about the freshman

impacts that Ohio State could have this year, because I

want to point out, if you go back whenever Ohio

State has won a national championship since freshman true freshmen

have been eligible, there have been at least one true

freshman that makes a sizable impact on that championship season.

Two thousand and two, you've got Maurice Clarett. You've got

a j Hawk in the two deep. Twenty fourteen, Curtis

Samuel is the backup running back, rushing for almost four

hundred yards. You've got ray Kwan McMillan splitting time with

Curtis Grant. He finishes with almost sixty tackles. Twenty twenty four.

Obviously Jeremiah Smith. That's about the extent of it for

twenty twenty four. But if we're talking about Ohio State

having a possibility as a national champion this year, history

says that there has to be a true freshman who

contributes a lot, whether as a starter or as a

two deep guy. I don't know that any freshman is

starting this year. Maybe Chris Henry could win a job.

But when you look at the biggest impact that kind

of maybe leads to helps a national championship, where do

you start.

Speaker 2: Well, I would probably start with Chris as well, but

part of me leans towards Legend as well, just based

on you know, we kind of figure he's already getting

penciled in for five touches minimum of game. There's no

guarantee that's happening with Chris. We kind of feel like

that's already in the plans for Legend, and if things

go well, that grows. And I'm kind of a firm

believer that things are gonna go well with that should

they find a way to utilize him right And you know,

we're seeing the masket packed on, which means he's gonna

be a little more durable, which means they're gonna be

less skittish about where they give him the ball. And

I think adding a little bit of extra power isn't

going to hurt his game at all. And he already

is powerful. He's in a very powerful lower half. It's

not like he's some kid that you just pop around

and he drops on first contact. It's not just a

speed jitterbug like that that goes down easy as well.

So Kris Henry Legend probably the two on offense that

I could see potential, would be the most likely to

make that kind of impact.

Speaker 1: I think the interesting thing with Legend is you're right,

he's not a guy that well, we need to get

him in space, and it's like oh, here we go

and try to give me times. Yeah yeah, throw it

out and throw a swing pass out and it's a

three yard loss on a tackle because the blocking isn't there.

The thing that Carlos Lochlan has said about Legend Bay

is he's run between the tackles his entire life. When

you watch him play. This isn't somebody that only runs

sweeps or is just scrambling. He will run between the

tackles and he will duck his head and he will

keep his eyes up or what you know, like he's

not afraid of the contact. So this isn't like you

Knowdtre Wilson in twenty thirteen were Urban's like, well, we

can't run them between the tackles until he's two hundred pounds,

and he never quite made it to two hundred pounds,

so it could never run between the tackles because that's

a rule. Legend Bay is currently listed at one hundred

and seventy seven pounds. He ain't one hundred and seventy.

He's about one ninety five. He is not one hundred

and seventy seven pounds. We'll see what they list him

at on that first fall camp roster. But he looks

like he can run the ball at anywhere you want.

I'm not saying they're gonna, you know, put him in

there with forts tight ends on third and short. Lachlan

laughed at the idea, saying, I'm never I'm not doing that.

We've got other guys for that. You got three guys

are two hundred and twenty pounds for that. You don't

need legend bait to do that. But he's not just

a gimmick guy that you only use in one area.

They can use them all over the place. And I

think for me, he's probably the guy that I'm saying

is the biggest impact, just because it can come from

so many different places, including special teams, including special teams.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think if I had to bet between him

and Chris and Brock just you know, offensively, don't want

to like say that. And I do think Brock will

get a lot of receptions. I just don't know if

it'll be the wow. But I could see potentially back

half of the year, Chris Henry is coming on, coming on,

coming on, and then eventually somebody's sitting the bench a

lot of the game and Chris is in there. And

if that's the case, then I'd probably go with Henry.

But this feels like such a toss up between the

two of these guys. But it's one of these two.

Is where is where I'd put my money if I

was betting on one.

Speaker 1: It's interesting because thirty years ago, yeah, David Boston and

Michael Wiley, Oh my gosh, dude, and David Boston he

played as a true freshman, but then the second half

of the season he was starting ahead of Buster Tillman.

He took the job, finished with like thirty three catches,

and of course in that Rose Bowl, Michael Wiley playing

running back at that point or actually playing wide receiver

and then kind of switching to running back after that,

very dynamic player. I guess you'd take you take David

Boston as the most impactful freshman on offense that year.

Defensively it was Andy Katsimware, but man, what a freshman class. Anyway,

that's another that's another show. But yeah, I think Chris

Henry watching him get better and more productive as the

spring went on. You can absolutely see him doing the

same thing as the season goes on. I think I

think that's fair and I think, like you said, Brock Boyd.

I think he's just going to be consistent and and

maybe twenty five catches in maybe twelve. I don't know

what it's going to be in there. I think we'll

see him out there. It's just a matter of where

is he in the progression, because I don't know how

often he'll be that early, unless you know, when you

consider all of the veterans that are going to be

out there as well. Defensively, because I don't think anybody's

gonna I'm not putting Sam Greer on this list or

anybody on the offensive line or any of the tight ends. Defensively,

I think there's a world where Jay Timmins gets involved

because of various dings or injuries in the secondary. We

know that Terry Moore has dealt with injuries. We know that,

you know, sometimes corners, there's always somebody randomly starting at

corner except for last year basically, but all right, I

know in Devin Sanchez I think started twice last year

at corner. So just because of injuries, I can see

Jay Timmons getting involved somewhere, whether it's they lose one

of their safeties and somebody knew has to come in.

Maybe that's the Roy Roker, But defensively, I'm thinking Jay

Timmins or Carry Wilder, Like, what do you.

Speaker 2: Think, I've got five on my list, And I'm so

going back to last year's freshman class looking at snap count.

Obviously you had Bo with three hundred and fifty some.

Then you had Isaiah West with one hundred and eight,

Zion Grady with one hundred and four, Fahim de Layne

with eighty one, Riley Pettijohn with seventy seven, jar Quiz

Carter with fifty one, And looking at next year's I

think the guys that kind of slot in and I've

got five guys that I think are the most likely

to reach that one hundred snap mark as a freshman.

And on offense it's Legend Chris Henry and Brock Boyd.

On defense it's Jay Timmins and Carry Wilder. And so

I'm right there with you with Jay, who I think,

you know, injury or not. I think he I think

he's almost a lock to reach that hundred snap mark.

I think that that is just what's gonna happen with Jay,

And I can't wait to see it too, because he

is just boy and you know, in the era of

what they're looking for out of secondary players. I saw

him in person for the first time at camp, and

I am just like, I cannot believe how small he

is compared to the legend that's growing around him in

the film and the way he hits. It's the dude's

got something. He has got something, and I think he's

going to play early. And then I've also got Cary Wilder,

who if this were a different season and you didn't

have all of these different options that were older vets,

I would say this guy is going to play a

ton and be effective. But because there are so many options,

they'll probably run through all of them first. If one

or two of them that were not or maybe some

are ex Let's say bo Atkinson hits and he's improved,

and then all of a sudden, now he's not going

to get as much opportunity as as maybe, uh he

might otherwise. But if he does get the opportunity, I

think he could potentially take it and really be a

big chunk of that rotation. Because there's there's not a

single one of these guys in this class that I

believe in more as a future first rounder than Cary Wilder.

Speaker 1: It would be interesting to see if he had been

there last year what he would have done with Zion

Grady snatch. That's right, right, exactly.

Speaker 2: Yeah, when I look at him and wild him and

Zion Grady, Zion was really effective, different stratosphere of athlete

and power like Cary is just as a notch above

is savvy is Zion is, and he is. But not

to take anything away from him, but if Cary would

have had those opportunities, like you said, like, I think

it would have been you know, even to the next level.

Speaker 1: Yeah, and now there's just more people in front of him,

including up satan Ala, who I think is going to

play quite a bit. And yeah, yes, ser too. Yeah,

I think you could also throw Blaine Bradford as somebody

who will have a shot. He'll be I think he'll

be in the two deep. That's not unusual for safeties

to be in the two deep, to be the backup

to a veteran starter. But you know, overall, like the

rest of those guys, I think there's some developmental guys,

but also just there's there's so many guys in front

of them that it's very difficult. So I think, is

there anybody that we haven't touched on because I think

we pretty much have in terms of whom I am

expecting to be that kind of contributor.

Speaker 2: Yeah, that would have been it for me. Is Blaine

on there as well would have been probably next up

for me. But that's about it for this class. And

then I was rolling into twenty twenty seven, which you

know currently includes four five stars in the class rated

a five star at one of the three major services.

Seven top players. But a lot of them are linemen,

you know what I mean? So how many do you

end up with that are actually getting it playing them?

Two of them are offensive linemen in Kellen Weimer and

Cayden Moss, and I don't ever expect lineman to get

that kind of run. If Sam Greer is not gonna

get it, they're not gonna get it either. But then

when we look at the defensive lineman, that might be

a little different. When we're talking about DJ Jacobs at

one to one, this guy's built to play right now,

and he's gonna go play a senior season. Obviously, Marcus

Fatcatuo and Wyatt Smith like these guys all could potentially

come in and contribute in a big way, depending on

which one of them pops like it's it's quite an

exciting pair on that defensive line, and you would assume, well,

Kenyana Jackson will be gone. Bo Atkinson, I think now

could come back if he is he a true senior

this year. I thought I saw that this is it

for him.

Speaker 1: Okay, he may have read shirted as a true freshman,

so you would assume he would be gone. So there's

going to be some room on there to make an

impact on the defensive line and be impactful as a

pass rusher, which Larry Johnson is okay, putting those young

guys in positions to where they don't have to do

too much thinking and then you'll build into that ability

to do something. So I wouldn't you know, I'm gonna

be fascinated to see what why a Smith looks like

when he is like at this point and his freshman

like heading into his freshman season, because we know there's

still he could still add weight and he's going to

and so he's going to show up and I guess

maybe won't show up early because he's the same time

as a Quitas, but it's going to be you know,

I'll get here in June. I would assume then and

hit the weights right away. But also I'm going to

assume he's also going to be like not staying away

from them beforehand, so he's Ohio State will give him

a plan. And he's just got such a good frame.

And you can say the same thing about DJ Jacobs

as well, and Marcus Fukato. It was like six six

two eighty and looks like, you know, he's kind of

skinny you can put some weight on. There's just some

really interesting frames on those guys that you wonder like

how quickly will they be able to play at their

their new weight and things like that. But any of

those three you could be like, I think that guy's

going to play.

Speaker 2: Tony. When you look at those three and Carrie Wilder,

the three interior guys in twenty twenty six of Jamia

perez Da, Mari Simeon and Emmanuel Ruffin, potentially Carlos may

On the eighteenth, you're looking at eight guys that is

maybe the most exciting eight man crew in two years

on the defense sub line we've ever seen. I mean this,

there's so many guys here that, Yeah, I could see

that guy popping and being a first rounder at some point.

I mean, they're just I cannot wait to see these

guys' careers on, you know, pan out, because it's just

amazing and we're talking about some top tier, ridiculous talent.

I think Wyatt Smith is gonna have a season as

a senior even better and finish a five star. It's

top one hundred now. I think they're coming in three

five star edges. I think that's what's about to happen here.

It's gonna be insane.

Speaker 1: And not to look too far into the future, but

in twenty twenty eight, Aiden Heavili, the defensive tackle out

of Washington, was I think the best. I had the

best overall performance of anybody I saw at camp last month.

He was quick and strong and listening to like six' two.

He said he's three twenty and wants to arrive at

three hundred so that he can put the the other

twenty back on correctly, like wherever he ends up.

Speaker 2: You know what, I'm smamish.

Speaker 1: Yeah, he is East Side Catholic, just like j T

twoim all the while and Jets G. Scott just really man.

Just he was doing their one on ones. There will

be times that nobody could touch him. Like, literally did

not get a hand on him, and you're not supposed

to move like that, and and he did, And talking

to him afterwards, he's like, yeah, I like to use

my speed, my quickness, and you know I can use

my power, but I'd rather just get away Scott free basically,

And and he did it. But that's that's a little

further out to the future. Jamiir Brown. I think it is.

I want to see more this year, and I want

to see what he looks like in terms of just

a a more refined receiver rather than a track athlete

playing football. And I and I plan on seeing him

several times this year. Won't I won't live won't be

living too far away from from his games, and see

how that maybe can translate to next year. I just

at this point, I think they've done the Cortes Hiking

has done a good enough job with the recruiting, and

you don't necessarily know that Brandon Ennis and Kyle Parker

are leaving next year, so I don't know that he

can have too much of an impact next year. Even

though that speed, you got to figure out if you

can use it, Like, can he help us? That's what

the coach has got to be asking next year.

Speaker 2: So I'm with you and you and your train of

thought that and he has gotten better, certainly as a

wide receiver, but it is he's got a ways to go.

He's not coming in like Chris Henry or Brock Boyd

or Chiquadin Guilford. You I don't think he's coming in

quite as refined as any of those guys. And maybe

he's like a year year behind in development, we'll put

it that way, probably a year behind in wide receiver development.

But if you can find ways to get him the

ball a little and you know, different ways potentially utilize

him like that, but you also kind of have legend

for that. So how much you know, I'm not seeing

him at this point playing a ton as a freshman.

Of course, his senior year could change her mind for sure,

but at this point, it just feels like he's uh

a lot of camps this summer, a lot of camps

where he was the top wide receiver going into the camp,

and then you'd read notes coming out and there's nothing

about jimiir and it's just like what's going on here?

So a little bit disappointing on that end, but certainly

not a guy I would be concerned about at all.

I think he hits that five star ceiling for sure.

It's just gonna take a little.

Speaker 1: Bit watching the seven on seven stuff. I think one

of the reasons we didn't hear much about him is

because quarterbacks weren't throwing him the ball. That was an

issue on one of the days I was watching. So

there are still you know, what about a name jack

of somebody who's not committed at this point that could commit. Say,

I don't know, in two weeks a little over two weeks.

What kind of impact do you think David Gabriel George

could have on this team in twenty twenty seven.

Speaker 2: I think his impact could be just enormous. I think

he could eventually start taking the I mean at least

half the carries, right. I mean, let's say, for instance,

you've got Bo and Isaiah in year three, and I'm

of the opinion that we're gonna see Isaiah take on

a little more of that workload this year. So they

kind of walk in as you're presumed two pack in

twenty twenty seven with the freshman David Gabriel George, and

he comes in and he is the guy that everybody

thinks he is. He's gonna start working his way in

more and more and getting more and more carries, and

by the end of the year, maybe he's part of

that two pack, or maybe he becomes the lead man.

If you feel and I'll be They do that he

is that transcendent of a guy. They would not have

done everything they've done to try to get him in

like they believe that he is that transcendent of a guy,

a guy who can walk in and say to your

really good backs, I'm a little I'm a little on

a different level here and be that quickly. He's already

as big as them, He's already faster than them. He's

got everything you need, Like there's no and it's running back,

you know, Like, yeah, I think he could be super

impactful in You're One, But I also personally have a

lot of faith in those two. But neither of them

have that game break ability that DGG brings.

Speaker 1: He's just got. Some of his highlights are like this

looks fake? Is this a I he's fighting? It's like

he's in a street fight and he's fighting off a

bunch of people trying to take the football from him.

And then he runs and he's like burst out of

an alley after winning a fight over six dudes, and

then you know, goes and scores a touchdown and there's

like the local bodega is on fire and he puts

out a fire and he's just doing all of these

different things and the rest are just letting it all go.

And like this guy's got a knife, but it doesn't

matter because what's a knife going to do to DGG?

So yeah, yeah, it's he's he's got something special. The

idea that he would come in and the and be

a contributor, I think is Yes, that's why we're talking

about him. They don't need him to be a thousand

yard they don't need him to be eight hundred yards

because I think it's gonna be hard to not keep

giving the ball to Bo Jackson and Isaiah West and frankly,

when we talk about Legend Bay, like Legend Bay is

his own thing. There's always gonna be a carve out

for him. So don't we're not just missing him at all.

There's just like he's got his own thing. It's almost

like he's his own position. He's the Legend position. Don't

worry about him, you know, losing carries or whatever. But

with what I'm expecting to see from both Bo Jackson

Isaiah West, you'd look at them this year and be like,

you'd be crazy to like take a bunch of carries

away from them. But the thing is, if they do

sign David Gabriel George and he does, he will play,

and then it's just up to him to keep playing.

This isn't anything that Carlos Lachlan's going to give to anybody.

We talked about Legend Bay. Legend Bay isn't going to

be given anything. He's going to earn it, He's going

to take it, and then they'll just continue to give

him the ball. Bo Jackson he earned that job last

year after he didn't play against Texas and the season opener,

and then continue to get better and better and they

could trust him. Isaiah West didn't play early, then started

to play, finished with over three hundred yards rushing. The

more that you show, the more that you'll get the ball,

and that just makes everybody that much. It's like the

idea that David Gabriel George, if you're Bo Jackson and

Isaiah West and you see him come in, you think

you're just gonna stand by and like not work on

your game, or you're gonna be like taking this in stride.

They're gonna be fighting like hell to make sure that

they keep the ball. But also they're fine sharing as

well because they know that this is a long, long season.

Speaker 2: Absolutely, and when it comes to running back, I almost

assume you're gonna have at least one injury. Like it's

almost like the assumption anymore, particularly if you you know,

you gotta go sixteen seventeen games to win a national championship,

So then you're assuming, all right, well, now he's in

the two deep in the running back room because like

you know, I don't don't I don't care if Turbo

ends up sticking around or not.

Speaker 1: He's not holding him back. That's not happening.

Speaker 2: Favors not holding him back like I mean, he's walking

in its five eleven, two twenty, squatting six hundred pounds,

bench four hundred pounds. It's just it's something special. It's

coming down to it. Tone obviously, this is this is

actually my show tomorrow is about what we just saw.

The experts did a big poll nine deep, and they

were picking Ohio State or Tennessee and six of the

nine chose Ohio State, and it just feels like such

a coin flip at this point until what happens in

that very last twenty four hours, right what we don't know.

We don't know if Tennessee is holding off on you

know where we're waiting to push this in at the

very last minute, something that will really change, to change

the whole tenor of it. And we just don't know. Man,

we just don't know. I can't wait for it to

be over with.

Speaker 1: Though.

Speaker 2: The unfortunate thing is when we look at this freshman class,

this Ohio State class of twenty seven that they put

together with the single bes collection of offensive and defensive

lineman that we've seen in the modern recruiting era, I

think so many are looking at it through the prism

of whether or not they win for DGG as a

pass fail basis. If they don't get them, it's a fail,

not just for DGG, which I agree that would be

a fail, but for the class. And I think the

class because of where they're adding, because of how much

they needed that, you know, this infusion of talent in

the trenches to play this style of football. Ryan Day

wants to play because of that. It's an absolute winner.

It's a total winner. And DGG to me is all upside.

It's not like you're you're losing out a ton. I

still like the running back room without him, you get him.

It's a huge upside. But I think a lot of

people are going to really crap on it, which which

is gonna suck. But they've really set it up to

look like this because they have gone so hard, so

all in, and ignored every other option along the way.

Speaker 1: Yeah, they've said no thanks to other options. They've had

to say, go go enjoy your life. Yeah, that sort

of thing. And and yet the if you could have

one or the other, a huge offensive line or a

huge line of scrimmage hall or a top two running back,

you're crazy to go with the skill player. I mean,

I've seen a ton of blowback or just criticism on

social media or just the idea of always signing these

talented wide receivers and ignoring the trenches. And now, so

if they go and focus on the trenches but don't

land a running back that they don't necessarily need, then

somehow they've failed this recruiting class. But as we all know,

it's once they're in, they're forgotten about and you've already

just you've moved on to the next thing, the next

past fail and if you fail that, then you've failed everything.

So you know, again we've talked about it in the

previous show. I don't think David Gabriel George is a

must get. I think he's a sure thing. And those

are two very different things. Yeah, totally agree.

Speaker 2: Sure thing a guy who can, you know, potentially be

that difference maker like JJ was. But if you didn't

get JJ, you had a Mecca Buka, you had Carnel Tate.

You were good. You know, you were good at the position.

You just got a whole lot better when you brought

him in. They don't win a national championship though, without Jeremiah. Well,

that's my contention for you. Absolutely push your chips in

when you get an opportunity to get a guy that

you believe is that caliber a kid. Absolutely, so I

totally agree with what they've done. You just have to win.

That's it. We both agree there.

Speaker 1: You have to win. And as we've said before, at

some point, you've got to show the rest of the world,

the college football world, that you're not just going to

let somebody come in at the end and outbid you

by a couple hundred thousand dollars, and if the final

asking price is one million dollars a year, and this

is not my money, but the idea of Ohio State

walking away from a sure thing that they're comfortable with

because of you know, say one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,

when the kind of money that we're talking about over

the course of a year, or what a national championship

could bring, or what Jeremiah Smith brought he's making more

than a million dollars was at a bad investment. No,

so there's there's some things that they have to weigh.

Where's he more likely to win a national championship Ohio

State or Tennessee. We could argue for days about that one.

In terms of the nine experts, it was a little

disappointing that they didn't get an old miss expert in

there to say old miss just just to have a

third hat on the table. Well, they did.

Speaker 2: Get Pete Naikos in there Tony to say he doesn't

know anything about it, but he's picking Tennessee because they

have the bigger offer. In Usually guys go with the

bigger offer. Thank you for your insight there, Peter, is

he Wrong's not wrong? So yeah, boy, it's gonna be one.

I think all of the Ohio state YouTube internet will

be live online that day watching that and reacting and

it's bit.

Speaker 1: Wait one was when was the last one like this?

Because the Jeremiah Smith thing was signing day so you

couldn't really watch a long you're just waiting to.

Speaker 2: Hear David Sanders for two years was my record live show?

That one was enormous, like everybody was tuned in on that,

and that was the last one that was that big.

That one was just all eyes on that, like all Tennessee,

all Ohio state and surprising right like we're talking about.

I think we've had some relatively big once since then

where we knew they were announcing ahead of time and

didn't really know what we hit it. We just recently

had one pretty pretty dog on big, but none none

like that. This one will will will trumpet for sure.

Speaker 1: I think this will be the first. Like if Trell

Pryor was post.

Speaker 2: YouTube there we go, right, yeah YouTube ra traill prior.

Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that'll be and that would have you know,

you would had Ohio State, Michigan, West Virginia fans all

all in on that this one. I don't know how

the old mess is really although maybe they're just waiting

to see what the number is. They've been known to

pull some pull some stuff. So there you go. Freshman seasons.

We're talking about it as you, guys saw. If you've

got some thoughts on your your all your all time favorites,

your favorite freshman season's most dominating freshman seasons, who you

think is going to explode this year, what you think

may happen next year, go ahead and let us know.

And if you're listening you want to watch on YouTube,

you can go to YouTube dot com slash at Buckeye

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If you go there right now, Buckeye Insiders dot com,

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that will do here from here, Thank you all for

tuning in, and we will talk to you guys, letter