Even though it's been an uneventful National Signing Day from a recruiting perspective, there's still a lot to like about Ohio State's class of 2021.
While the Buckeyes were in the mix for four-star linebacker Raesjon Davis, who signed with USC on Wednesday – and they certainly still want to land a commitment from five-star defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, who isn't making his decision for another two or three months – they already have a loaded class of 21 signees, including 15 who are already on campus as midyear enrollees, that they can feel good about.
In the first half of this week's show, we take a closer look at the new class of freshmen. While we'd already talked some on Real Pod Wednesdays about the five-star trio of Jack Sawyer, TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle McCord, we dive deeper into the class this week to talk about some of the other new Buckeyes you need to about, including Jakailin Johnson, Jordan Hancock and four more defensive backs (10:20), defensive tackles Mike Hall and Tyleik Williams (19:20), guard Donovan Jackson (21:55), the wide receiver trio of Emeka Egbuka, Jayden Ballard and Marvin Harrison Jr. (24:00) and running back Evan Pryor and linebacker Reid Carrico (27:20).
We also provide our answers to the following five “Call Your Shot” questions posed by Colin:
- Will Sawyer make Larry Johnson's Mount Rushmore of defensive ends? (33:00)
- Who will be the highest NFL draft pick from this class among the prospects ranked outside the top 100? (35:15)
- Which defender from the class not named Sawyer or Tuimoloau will start first at Ohio State? (36:35)
- Which member of the class will make the most money from name, image and likeness reform? (37:00)
- Which player in this class will Ohio State fans fall in love with? (39:20)
After that, we spend the second half of this week's show answering your questions about a wide variety of topics, including:
- Is promoting Parker Fleming to replace Greg Mattison an underwhelming hire? (41:00)
- Ranking the assistant coaches, Mickey Marotti and Mark Pantoni in order of their importance to Ohio State (49:20)
- Is there reason to be concerned about Quinn Ewers flipping back to Texas? (1:03:20)
- How deep a run can Ohio State men's basketball make in the NCAA Tournament? (1:09:30)
- What are your go-to snacks for the Super Bowl? (1:17:15)
(Note: This episode of Real Pod Wednesdays was recorded on Tuesday, before Parker Fleming's hire was made official on Wednesday morning.)
Listen to this week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays in the audio player above or click subscribe to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or another platform of your choice.
