Back in action after spring break, the Buckeyes resumed practice sessions at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center Tuesday.
Following Ohio State's third spring practice, head coach Ryan Day met with media members to discuss his team's progress early in the offseason. Day also set the stage for Wednesday's pro day event, where C.J. Stroud and a host of other top NFL prospects will work out in front of scouts, and previewed Saturday's forthcoming scrimmage.
All that and more below as Eleven Warriors took notes on everything Day said during his 20-minute interview session:
Ryan Day
- Day starts by congratulating the Ohio State women's basketball and women's hockey teams for their postseason runs.
- Day has been "impressed" by Carson Hinzman's progress at center and thinks Victor Cutler has had a bit of an adjustment period coming over from Louisiana-Monroe.
- Day says it's "too early to tell" who in particular is emerging at right tackle.
- On standout DBs, Day mentions Denzel Burke, Jordan Hancock, Jyaire Brown and Davison Igbinosun: "They're getting their hands on balls."
- On Ja'Had Carter and Igbinosun, Day says "I think they are fitting in well." Day says both have earned the respect of their teammates thus far and thinks they'll be able to help the Buckeyes during the season.
- On evaluating Brian Hartline as a play caller, Day says "you don't really know until you get into a game." Day says today was OSU's first day in pads so things have been pretty basic so far.
- On Saturday's scrimmage, Day says the Buckeye staff is still figuring out how they want to handle it in terms of contact or reps for certain players. Day says the Buckeyes will be basic schematically in the scrimmage.
- Day says it's hard to truly evaluate a quarterback until you get into a game. Day says the Buckeyes saw "good things out there today" from the QBs.
- Day says "you certainly sleep better at night" when you have a quarterback with returning starter experience. "The frustrating thing is you only get them for a couple years and then they're off to the NFL. But that's a good problem to have."
- Day says Ohio State is trying to create as many "winner-loser" situations as possible now that the pads are on.
- Day says the Buckeyes try to get rid of the "quiet, awkward tension in the room" during pro day workouts to try and keep things light and loose.
- On Stroud throwing at pro day, Day says "I think most teams know what he can do, but it's another piece of the puzzle" in the draft process.
- "We don't need extraordinary stuff" from the Buckeye quarterbacks. Day stresses ball security, but also says the Buckeyes still want to score a lot of touchdowns on offense.
- Day says beyond the quarterback position, he thinks about the OL and the secondary the most.
- Day says the game is changing, but that what you look for in a quarterback as a coach evaluating talent hasn't changed all that much.
- Day says "you have to be highly, highly competitive" to play quarterback at Ohio State and that the Buckeyes are looking for an "extraordinary trait" out of their QBs. On what those traits might be for Kyle McCord and Devin Brown, Day says "I probably won't get into that."
- Day says he's told his quarterbacks to not "stick their nose in Twitter" after open practice sessions.
- Day has "a lot of respect" for the other coaches around the Big Ten, and says it was good to talk with them during a recent meeting.
- On Tim Walton's raise and elevated title, Day says "not much is going to change" but that the entire secondary is going to meet more often going forward.
- Day says Marvin Harrison Jr., Xavier Johnson and Jayden Ballard will all participate in Stroud's workout on Wednesday, and that Cade Stover might help out as well.
- Asked if he would consider putting an additional CB on the field instead of a third safety in some scenarios, Day says "what we're looking for at that nickel position is different than the safety position."
