Welcome to the Skull Session.
The Ross Bjork era has arrived in Columbus.
The journey begins officially at THE Ohio State University. Could not be more grateful, humbled & fired up to lead Buckeye Athletics & Business Advancement into a new era.
— Ross Bjork (@RossBjorkAD) July 1, 2024
Lets go Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/8iDdoe6bva
Have a good Tuesday.
“I DON’T REALLY HAVE TO BE A HERO.” Last week, Will Howard was one of 46 quarterbacks to attend the 2024 Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana. (The “Manning Passing Academy” is the same camp Brady Quinn said C.J. Stroud ghosted as the former Ohio State quarterback went through the pre-draft process). As Howard returns to Columbus this week, the 6-foot-5, 242-pound signal caller hopes he can use what he learned to win the team’s quarterback competition this fall.
“The spring was kind of a transition period for me — kind of just feeling it out, feeling everyone out,” Howard told On3 on Friday. “I wanted to come in and not be too loud spoken and not step on people’s toes. … But now it’s time. Coming back in the summer, it’s like, ‘Alright, it’s go time now.’ I’m stepping in. I’m trying to be that leader and stepping up in every way. It’s been good. The guys took me in really well. The locker room surprised me with how good a person everyone is."
The talent in Ohio State’s wide receiver room has also surprised Howard.
“Jeremiah Smith is the real deal, man. That kid is special,” Howard told Bayou Time Sports. “Emeka Egbuka is the leader of that room. He is the alpha. He is a special leader. He knows how to get that room going. Carnell Tate is special. We are so deep at those positions. Our two and three-deep could start at most places. … Brandon Inniss could have gone anywhere in the country and started, but he’s going to be our two. He’s a five-star recruit. The wealth of riches we have is crazy. It makes my job easy.”
Oh, wait, and one more surprise — this time in the form of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.
“(Quinshon) is a special player. You can look at him and tell. He’s built different. He’s about as strong as they come. He’s as strong as an ox. He’s fast as heck,” Howard said. “The best thing for him has been TreVeyon. TreVeyon has really helped him in his transition. Those two have leaned on each other a lot. They haven’t been negative about it at all. They haven’t complained or said, ‘Oh, I’m worried about how many carries I’ll get.’ They’ve truly bought in and said they’re doing it for the Buckeyes. We’re going to put them both out there together. We can do whatever the heck we want to do.”
Howard is correct. Ohio State can do whatever it wants on offense. But it needs an efficient quarterback to lead it (and a respectable offensive line, but that’s a topic for another time). When I think of Howard’s four seasons at Kansas State, I wouldn’t call them efficient. However, to be fair, the Wildcats never had a player as talented as any of the six Buckeyes mentioned above.
“In the Ohio State system, I don’t really have to be a hero or anything,” Howard told On3. “I can kind of dish the ball around, make good decisions and let those guys go make plays.”
I like that plan. Scratch that — I love that plan.
Take care of the football. Make the routine plays routinely.
If Howard can accomplish those two tasks, Ohio State will have a great shot at reaching its goals in 2024.
THIS TEAM IS FRICKIN’ LOADED. Ohio State football is loaded in 2024.
I see it. You see it. Pro Football Focus sees it.
This week, Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman of PFF previewed Ohio State's 2024 season. The duo assessed the Buckeyes' strength and weaknesses and completed a deep dive on Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins and Caleb Downs in a recent article. Here is what Chadwick and Wasserman wrote about the three Buckeyes:
QUARTERBACK SPOTLIGHT: WILL HOWARD
2023 Grade: 78.1
Key Stat: 90.7 play-action passing grade over past two years (fourth best in Power Five)Overview: Perhaps no quarterback in college football will be under more pressure this season than Will Howard. Ohio State has championship expectations and five-star recruit Julian Sayin breathing down his neck. Luckily, Howard does have big-game experience, including an epic Big 12 title win in 2022 over eventual national runner-up TCU. If Howard can bring balance to a Buckeyes offense that should have an incredible running game, they will be serious title contenders.
Strengths: Howard is one of the best play-action quarterbacks in the country. He performs well when he recognizes safeties stepping up at play fakes and intermediate route concepts. He doesn’t have the biggest arm, but he has a natural feel for the placement and trajectory of seam routes and deep crossers. Howard is also a deceptively fast runner who will offer the Buckeyes another ground threat to complement their terrific running back duo.
Weaknesses: Howard has to show more consistency when working without play-action. He has just a 60.9 non-play-action passing grade across the past two seasons. His decision-making worsens as he gets further into his progression, and there are times when he struggles to see when zone windows are tightening. He has flashed some improvement in those areas, such as the second half of games against Missouri and Texas in 2023, but his consistency will be under a microscope this season.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: RB QUINSHON JUDKINS
Ohio State has the best backfield in college football, thanks in large part to the addition of Judkins via the transfer portal. The former Ole Miss tailback leads the Power Five in rushing yards (2,726), yards after contact (1,800) and forced missed tackles (154) since 2022. The junior has fantastic contact balance with great vision at 6-foot and 219 pounds. He’s easily one of the best returning running backs in the country and is the early RB1 for the 2025 NFL Draft, according to PFF lead draft analyst Trevor Sikkema.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: S CALEB DOWNS
Downs is now part of college football's best secondary as the top returning safety in the country due to his stellar true freshman season at Alabama. He was named a first-team PFF All-American in 2023 and ranked second among Power Five safeties in coverage stops (16). His 88.9 coverage grade placed third. The sophomore has no real weaknesses in his game, an unfathomable feat for a player of his age. Even though he was the highest-rated safety recruit since Derwin James Jr. in 2015, Downs has already lived up to the hype.
You know what's wild? Chadwick and Wasserman could have selected three or four other Buckeyes on offense and defense to break down instead of Judkins and Downs — that's how talented Ohio State will be this fall. For the offense, TreVeyon Henderson, Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and Jeremiah Smith will all make an impact. JT Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer, Tyleik Williams and Denzel Burke will all do the same on defense.
Where does that place the Buckeyes?
In “now or never” mode, Chadwick and Wasserman wrote.
BOTTOM LINE
It’s now or never for Ryan Day at Ohio State. He has arguably the best team in the country and has a great chance of delivering the Buckeyes their first national title in a decade.
One can hope.
AN X-FACTOR ON DEFENSE? A name I didn't mention when naming Buckeyes who could make an impact this fall was C.J. Hicks, though I probably could (or should) have. Hicks will compete with Sonny Styles in preseason camp to start at Will linebacker next to Cody Simon. If he succeeds, college football writers at The Athletic believe the former five-star prospect could be an X-factor for Ohio State's defense in 2024.
Ohio State: With the entire team basically returning and big-time additions on both sides of the ball — from Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith to Caleb Downs — there are a lot of X-factors at Ohio State. But I’m going to go with someone the Buckeyes recruited out of high school, former five-star C.J. Hicks. Ohio State fans have been waiting patiently for him to get his chance, and if he plays at an all-conference level, it could be a game changer for the Buckeyes
Hicks has long been tabbed as a future X-factor for the Buckeyes because of his next-level athleticism. However, for reasons unknown outside of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center the 6-foot-3, 233-pound linebacker has yet to be "unleashed," as Jim Knowles said several times last season.
Me, personally? I'd love to see that finally happen in 2024 because — like the college football writers at The Athletic — I believe Hicks could be a difference-maker in an already-talented unit for the Buckeyes.
OH, HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED. Ummmmmmmmmmmmm…
The game has changed
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) July 1, 2024
Ohio States Jeremiah Smith thanked his tattoo artist with a signed jersey pic.twitter.com/aux7lRWFI5
I'll leave that there...
SONG OF THE DAY. “Love Sick Doctor” - Thunder Jackson.
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