The spotlight will be on Ohio State’s defense as the Buckeyes begin spring practice next week.
Yes, the quarterback competition will draw plenty of attention too, but it’s the defense that we’ll be watching most closely this spring as we seek to get an idea of what Ohio State’s defense will look like in 2025 with eight new starters and a new defensive coordinator.
While we know the defense will be built around Caleb Downs and that Sonny Styles and Davison Igbinosun will play major roles as returning starters, there are otherwise more questions than answers about Ohio State’s new-look defense under Matt Patricia – even if the Buckeyes’ defensive talent and what we heard last week from Patricia offer plenty of reasons for optimism.
We spend more than half of this week’s show talking about our expectations for Ohio State’s defense entering spring before turning the conversation to what we’re looking to see from Julian Sayin and the Buckeyes’ offense over the next four weeks. We wrap up the show by discussing what Ohio State men’s basketball needs to do in this week’s Big Ten Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.
The full rundown for this week’s show:
- 0:00 Why This Spring Feels Different Than Last Spring at Ohio State
- 5:57 Why Ohio State’s Defense is the Biggest Thing We’ll Be Watching This Spring
- 15:19 Ohio State’s Defensive Line is Its Biggest Question Mark, But There’s Plenty of Promising Talent
- 25:35 Lorenzo Styles Jr., Devin Sanchez, Safeties Could All Determine What Ohio State Does at Nickel
- 34:25 Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese and Payton Pierce Lead A Strong Core at Linebacker
- 38:23 What We Need to See From Julian Sayin This Spring to Feel Confident He’s Ready to Start
- 43:46 Offensive Line, Running Backs Among Other Offensive Positions to Watch This Spring
- 51:08 What Ohio State Basketball Must Do in the Big Ten Tournament to Make the NCAA Tournament
You can watch our pre-spring football episode of Real Pod Wednesdays in the video at the top of the page or listen to it in the audio player below. All episodes of Real Pod Wednesdays are also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Eleven Warriors’ YouTube channel.
