At least two tight ends will play substantial roles in Ohio State’s offense this season, according to Ryan Day.
Ohio State hasn’t specified whether fifth-year senior Gee Scott Jr. or Ohio transfer Will Kacmarek will be its starting tight end this season, but they could end up platooning as the Buckeyes’ top two tight ends anyway. While Cade Stover played the vast majority of tight end snaps in Ohio State’s base offense over the past two seasons, Ohio State would ideally prefer to have multiple tight ends share the load, while there will also be plenty of situations where multiple tight ends will be on the field together.
“They're both gonna play,” Day said Thursday. “It's 11 (one-tight end) and 12 (two-tight end personnel packages), so we'll figure out where they fit into those. There's a lot that comes with playing tight end. Cade really, two years ago, probably played maybe too many snaps (707). I mean, that was a lot of snaps for him. We tried to help him out a little bit last year. So there's gonna be plenty of snaps to go around.”
Scott has been seen as the frontrunner to start at tight end since this spring, when he took most of the first-team reps at the position and Day said Scott “had a really good offseason.” At the time, Day listed Kacmarek along with the Buckeyes’ other tight ends as needing to step up and prove they could play. But Kacmarek was a strong starter for the past two years at Ohio, catching 42 passes for 507 yards and two touchdowns while playing a big role as a blocker, and he’s shown his mettle as a receiving threat during practices that have been open to the media so far in preseason camp.
The wild card at tight end for the Buckeyes is Jelani Thurman, who projects as the highest-upside playmaker in the unit. The athletic 6-foot-6, 258-pound redshirt freshman has flashed plenty in Ohio State’s early August practices as a pass-catcher, hauling in two touchdown passes during the Buckeyes’ last practice open to the media on Thursday.
Day indicated after that practice, however, that Thurman hasn’t yet shown the consistency on a play-to-play basis that Ohio State wants to see from him before it relies on him to play significant snaps.
“Jelani has the talent,” Day said. “You've heard me say this before, but he has the talent and you can watch a five-to-10 play cut-up and be very, very impressed. But he needs to be consistent. It's all the no-talent issues with him. It's the focus. He made some plays (on Thursday), but then there were some plays that we gotta make that weren't.
“I love the way he competes. I love his approach. I love his attitude. But in order to play tight end, you have to do a lot of job description. So you really gotta be on it every play. And all it takes is one bad play and that can ruin a whole drive at tight end. So we say that you have to run routes like a receiver, you have to block like an offensive lineman, you have to protect like a running back, and you have to know all of them.
“After I would say the quarterback, the tight ends are probably asked to do the most things. So we try to do the best we can and keep it simple. But the reality of it is, they're asked to do a lot. So he needs to continue to work in the meeting rooms to make sure that when he gets on that field, he knows exactly what he's doing. Because we see a huge ceiling in him. He's made strides. He's had a good first couple weeks of camp. But we need him to come on in that area and just show more consistency. If he can, he'll play for us this season.”
Jelani Thurman’s role in the 2024 offense will depend on whether he proves to Ohio State’s coaches that he can be reliable as both a receiver and blocker.
Other candidates to earn playing time at tight end include redshirt sophomore Bennett Christian, who’s looking to work his way into the rotation after serving a suspension last year for testing positive for a banned substance, and fifth-year senior Patrick Gurd, who emerged as Ohio State’s No. 3 tight end behind Stover and Scott and played 39 snaps on offense last season despite walking on with the Buckeyes. Ohio State’s coaches also like what they’ve seen so far from true freshman Max LeBlanc, though it would be a surprise if he sees substantial playing time this season as a summer enrollee.
Ultimately, Day says Ohio State will play as many tight ends as can prove that they can handle the many responsibilities that come with the position.
“It's gonna be one of those deals where, does he deserve to play? If yes, we'll draw that line and roll those guys. But we're looking for them to be able to do multiple things,” Day said. “I don't know if all the guys in that room have the same exact skill set, so we'll figure that out as we get closer to the first game. But ultimately, they all can play Y and they all can play H. And I'm hoping that Bennett can come along. I'm hoping Jelani can take that next step. We're seeing some good things out of Max. Pat Gurd is another guy who's been around the program for a while that is a guy that we hope we can rely on as well in some of the packages that we have. So I know (tight ends coach Keenan) Bailey's working hard to get those guys game-ready.”
