Skull Session: Dallan Hayden Plans to Enter the Transfer Portal, Will Howard Needs to Finish Spring Practices Strong and The Eclipse Takes Over Ohio

By Chase Brown on April 9, 2024 at 5:00 am
Will Howard
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

How long would you last in a zombie apocalypse?

Have a good Tuesday.

 FAREWELL, DALLAN. Oh, Dallan Hayden. We hardly knew thee.

ICYMI: Hayden has informed Ohio State’s coaching staff that he intends to enter the transfer portal when the spring window opens on April 16.

I wish it could have worked out between Hayden and the Buckeyes. 

Alas… ear wax…

… the timing never lined up in Hayden’s two years on campus.

Due to injuries TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams, and Evan Pryor suffered as Ohio State’s top three running backs, Hayden was thrust into a more prominent role than expected as a freshman and carried the ball 111 times for 553 yards and five touchdowns. His best performance came in Ohio State’s win over Maryland, in which all of his 27 carries, 146 yards, and three scores were needed for the Buckeyes to beat the Terrapins 43-30 in College Park.

As a sophomore in 2023, Hayden looked poised to compete with Pryor and Chip Trayanum to become the “spare” to Henderson and Williams' “pair.” However, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said early in the year that the Buckeyes planned to redshirt Hayden. 

Despite Henderson and Williams suffering injuries for the second straight year (Henderson missed three games and Williams missed seven), Day and his staff stuck to that plan, leaning on Trayanum in their absences. Hayden appeared in three games in 2024, collecting 19 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown. Most of his production came in Ohio State’s win over Purdue, with his 11 carries, 84 yards and one score earning him offensive player of the game honors from the Eleven Warriors staff.

Just last week, Hayden said he was “very confident” he could earn a role in Ohio State’s offense behind Henderson and Ole Miss transfer running back Quinshon Judkins. But now we know that comment was all for naught. And that’s too bad.

I wish Dallan nothing but success at his next school. He has the talent to be a bell cow at the college level. Hopefully, we will see him thrive wherever he lands. Just please, please, please, don’t let it be “That Team Up North.”

 FIVE BUCKEYES TO WATCH. After its 12th spring practice on Monday, Ohio State has three more practices left in 2024, including Saturday’s spring game at Ohio Stadium. With only a few days left in the early offseason, I wanted to look at five… ish… Buckeyes who would benefit from a great week of work at the Woody Hayes Atheltic Center and “The House That Harley Built.”

Will Howard

Duh.

Howard was a no-brainer for this list.

When the Kansas State transfer quarterback committed to Ohio State, it seemed all but guaranteed that he would be the Buckeyes’ starter in 2024. However, that’s been far from the case this spring — at least from what the media has seen of his performances in two brief practice windows and Ohio State’s Student Appreciation Day scrimmages. With Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz and Julian Sayin breathing down his neck, Howard needs to perform at a high level in practice and in the spring game to claim the coveted title of QB1.

Seth McLaughlin

McLaughlin transferred to Ohio State after four seasons at Alabama, where he appeared in 35 games and made 25 combined starts in 2021, 2022 and 2023. This past season, his performance drew criticism from those who don’t give a piss ‘bout nothin’ but the Tide, as the 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman had some trouble with errant snaps down the stretch, including the Crimson Tide’s CFP semifinal loss to Michigan. Still, Ryan Day has said that hasn’t been an issue for McLaughlin this spring. If he continues being consistent in that area in the final week of practices, McLaughlin can lock up the starting center spot over Carson Hinzman, the Buckeyes’ starter in 12 of 13 games last year.

Luke Montgomery

After Josh Fryar had “one of the best offseasons of anybody” in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, according to Day, the fifth-year senior has impressed at right tackle this spring. Should Fryar remain there in 2024 (an outcome that seems probable), the right guard spot on the offensive line is open for the taking. Montgomery has moved to guard this spring and taken first-team reps at the RG position during practices open to the media. He also saw a handful of meaningful reps as a sixth offensive lineman for the Buckeyes as a freshman in 2023.

If Montgomery can impress Justin Frye, Chip Kelly and Day down the stretch, he could earn himself a role as one of the team’s five starters this fall.

C.J. Hicks and Sonny Styles

I couldn’t decide whether Hicks or Styles needs to have a better final week of spring practice, so I picked them both!

Having started all 13 games at either strong safety or nickel safety in 2023, Styles has more on-field experience than Hicks. However, Hicks has two full seasons as a linebacker under Jim Knowles and one full season working with graduate assistant turned linebackers coach James Laurinaitis. While Laurinaitis said last week that Styles has “made a really smooth transition” from safety to linebacker, it normally takes more than 15 practices to learn the intricacies of a new position. Granted, Styles is not normal — not in the slightest. At 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, Styles is a groan man. And, like Hicks, he is one of the most athletic players on the roster.

Hicks and Styles will continue their competition this week in practice and in the spring game. Both would benefit from putting their best foot forward as Ohio State enters the summer.

Jayden Ballard, Kyion Grayes, Kojo Antwi

Here’s where the “five-ish” comes in.

With five Buckeyes mentioned in four sections, what’s the harm in mentioning eight Buckeyes in five sections?

Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and Jeremiah Smith are the top four players in Ohio State’s wide receiver room. I believe that. I think you do, too. If we named the top five players, how many would choose Bryson Rodgers over Ballard, Grayes and Antwi? I would. I think you would, too. 

So where does that leave Ballard, Grayes and Antwi? 

I have no idea.

Of the three, Ballard has the best chance to see the field as a receiver in 2024. He has also earned reps on Ohio State’s special teams in the past, but he didn’t do much with them, returning nine punts for 49 yards (5.4 yards per return). Grayes (one reception, 2 yards) and Antwi, meanwhile, have hardly made an impact in their two years on campus. This final week of practice and the spring game could go a long way in determining what kind of future the trio will have in Columbus.

 I NEED A HERO! Hero Kanu played three games for Ohio State as a freshman in 2022 and 12 games as a sophomore in 2023. Jim Knowles was impressed with Kanu’s performance last season, as the 6-foot-5, 305-pound defensive tackle recorded 10 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack in 90 snaps.

“Hero really flashed last year at times,” Knowles said on March 7. “That’s a guy who needs to have a good spring for us because he’s going to be the next man in.”

Knowles and Larry Johnson have been encouraged by Kanu’s progress, especially since the Geltendorf, Germany native only started playing football a few years ago.

This week, Big Ten Network showed how Kanu’s football career started overseas. The three-minute video is well worth the watch.

Kanu believes he’s ready for a more prominent role this fall and hopes to work behind Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton in Johnson’s defensive line room.

“I feel like I’m elevating my game every day,” he said. “Coach J is pushing me every day to get better, to focus on the small things. It’s never the big things. It’s always small steps, small techniques, and he wants to fix that. I feel like I’m improving well. I’m not worried about anything else right now.”

I love it.

I need a Hero!

 THE ECLIPSE. Americans in all 50 states watched a solar eclipse on Monday, as the moon passed between the Earth and the sun in the late afternoon and created darkness above.

Ohio State football and several other Ohio-based sports teams and organizations celebrated the eclipse (and its “totality” in the Buckeye State) with posts on social media. I collected a few of them to share here:

Ohio State Football

Cincinnati Football

Cincinnati Reds

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Total Eclipse of the Heart” - Bonnie Tyler.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. Images from the Solar Eclipse: See photos of the rare event on April 8, 2024... Airplane passenger fined in Sydney for urinating in a cup... Gray wolves hadn’t been seen in south Michigan since the 1900s. This winter, a local hunter shot one... An engine cover on a Southwest Airlines plane rips off, forcing the flight to return to Denver.

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