We answered a wide range of questions on Ohio State football and basketball in our weekly Chat.
Steve Helwagen
Bucknuts.com's Steve Helwagen hosted his weekly Chat on Monday night. The transcript is below.
Programming Note: Steve will again participate in Ohio State Buckeyes Live on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. Check out The Front Row message board for access information after 11 a.m.
BuckeyeFan3131: This is an odd question -- but I'd love to hear the thoughts and opinions on who the second string DTs are? Tyleik and Hamilton are starters, but who will be backups?
Helwagen: Not an odd question at all. I think they had some great competition and were able to mix a lot of the "other" defensive tackles in there this spring.
This is just my opinion as OSU does not do an "official" post spring depth chart. But I have Hero Kanu as the next DT up. I then think a case could be made for Kayden McDonald or Tywone Malone for the next spot with Jason Moore and/or Will Smith Jr. after that. Eric Mensah is an early enrolling true freshman.
I think McDonald, Moore and Smith were all very pleasant surprises during the spring. Future looks bright at the DT spots.
zman2: Do you know what happened to cause Jamie Ffrench to. It put us in his top 3? I thought we were the leader.
Helwagen: Bill Kurelic is much closer to this situation than I am. He is still of a mind that Ffrench will make an official visit to Ohio State during the fall season, maybe for a game weekend if he can. He is the No. 30 overall prospect in the country and a top-five wide receiver as well. So Ohio State and Brian Hartline aren't giving up on him by any means.
Here was Bill's reply in his Chat from four days ago:
"Someone also asked me a question about this the other day and basically I said the Buckeyes continue recruiting their top wide receiver targets and that, of course, includes Vernell Brown III, Jaime Ffrench, Dakorien Moore, Phillip Bell, Daylan McCutcheon and Talyn Taylor. All but Ffrench and Moore have official visits set to Ohio State. I look for Ffrench to make a during the season official visit to Ohio State. Yes, other programs are coming after him hard and he is going to take OVs. I have said I would have him "in" the class as of now. But I've never felt sure enough to CB him to Ohio State though others have. So I like where the Buckeyes currently are with him, but I'm still not ready to CB him to the Buckeyes."
bucksgrad: Thanks as always for taking time to field our wild range of questions!
I've been curious about recruits in HS, and Transfers as well, regarding their 'advisors'. I'm expecting to hear Scott Boras's name any day now.
Are there ANY boundaries on who can contact and try to get a seat on a kid's choices? I presume the kids can't literally sign contracts with an agent, but the landscape changes by the hour. Can you share thoughts?
Helwagen: They may in fact have agents to help negotiate NIL deals. It's up to the college coaches, obviously, who they choose to work with and talk to. But any good assistant coach going back many years has always tried to decipher who around the player will have an impact on the player's final decision and then get as close to that person as possible.
Maybe that would be the parents, the third uncle (as Urban used to say), an older sibling, a coach, a friend or now the agent. It's a wild and crazy new frontier out there. Like Ryan Day says the landscape changes almost week to week right now in how things are done. You have to be flexible and roll with those punches.
jms1019: Steve, I've been watching a 2026 quarterback out of California named, Brady Smigiel. I wanted to see if you've checked him out or know who he is. I watch a fair amount of film and I don't think I've ever seen film any better than what they're showing the sophom*ore can do. Let me know your thoughts!
Helwagen: Brady Smigiel looks like quite a prospect. He is ranked as the nation's No. 75 overall prospect and No. 5 quarterback in the 2026 class out of Newbury Park, Calif. He is right out of Central Casting at 6-5 and 205 pounds. He already has offers from over 30 colleges, including Ohio State. Chip Kelly may or may not have been acquainted with him from his time at UCLA and quickly offered him upon showing up at Ohio State.
OSU has offered several talented 2026 quarterbacks and I have no doubt they will sign one (they always do). He is labeled as a big-armed pocket passer who throws a tight spiral and is very accurate. Those are all great traits. Will be interesting to see how he grows and develops over his next two years of high school. The Buckeyes are well positioned for him, I believe.
Garwood72: Steve, thanks again for this forum , anything happening on the basketball front at all? I know it's pretty quiet right now as is football . Hope you have a few good weeks to enjoy the peace
Helwagen: Yes, it has been very quiet in recent weeks since Sean Stewart picked Ohio State as a transfer. The staff had Ohio 2025 guard Dorian Jones in for a visit this past weekend and I think that visit went well. I will try and catch up with Jones at the Nike EYBL this coming weekend.
College coaches are allowed to go on the road for one weekend in May. They will be spread out at the Nike EYBL and adidas events in particular this coming weekend.
They still have one scholarship spot available and I'm sure they will sift through whoever is left in the transfer portal. They kicked the tires on a 6-10 big man project from BYU but he selected New Mexico without visiting. Maybe that is tip for what they think they need -- another big man. But it could be said they also could use a three-point shooter.
ButlerBuck: Based on the NCAA mea culpa on money, it seems like any school who was busted for anything $$$ related should get their wins back . It matters more to the players who lost the W's compared to the fans. I think if the Tat 5 wants their wins back, other players who were impacted need to join their cause. Agree or disagree?
Helwagen: Agree, I suppose, for those people and teams who were otherwise not involved in any of the violations. I don't really worry too much about all that past history. The Tatgate stuff was 13-14 years ago. It doesn't change much about the present day. Time heals a lot of wounds. Cris Carter came back after a while and Terrelle Pryor, if he is in the right frame of mind, should be able to come back and counsel people on what's out there -- good and bad -- for these young guys.
I am glad the model is moving to where people will be paid for what they are creating. These off-seasons are hell on people with the portal right now. You can never let up, that is for sure. Maybe they can negotiate some portal sanity into the collective bargaining agreement when that day comes.
bucksgrad: Curiosity on the FB Recruiting pages. I know that's not your focus, but gonna ask anyway.
I see ttun with 5 total recruits (a curiosity already), anyway, they're rated: 92, 90, 89, 89, 88.
Yet their overall team rating is: 92
Fuzzy math at best. Any insights?
Many of us nerds spend a lot of time out there, hard to decipher sometimes.
Helwagen: I'm sorry. I don't rate the players and I did not devise nor understand that numerical system. You might go to the 247 Sports Blue Board and pose that question or PM one of the experts like Tom Loy or Allen Trieu and maybe they can explain it.
ButlerBuck: Could we be seeing the end of the walk on due to NIL and pending payment to players? Ross Dellenger seems to think so from a recent column he wrote that wouldn't let me post the link.
I see why they would want to keep the roster down if they are going to be paying kids. Such a shame. This should reduce recruiting, while at the same time making it more cut throat, if that's even possible.
Any thoughts on this one???
Helwagen: I saw those comments posted as well. I know the college coaches don't like it because the walk-ons are valuable practice players that help the team get ready and sometimes pan out into stars like Xavier Johnson.
They may go up to 90 scholarships and eliminate walk-ons so walk-ons would not have a court case to get full pay for the same amount of work as the paid players. It's all a slippery slope. Do football guys get more than basketball and baseball? Do men's bkb guys get more than women's bkb girls? Where does Title IX come down on all of this? Are they fulltime W-2 employees who get health and retirement benefits just like their coaches do?
Lot to sort through as they begin the baby steps toward the new arrangement of bringing NIL in-house and using a combination of donations and TV money to pay the athletes.
rkang7: Who are the best 11 we have on defense? We have a lot of flexibility at LB, CB and Safety, but if we have to put our best 11 on the field, what does that look like?
Helwagen: I think most of them are very simple
DE Sawyer and Tuimoloau
DT Williams and Hamilton
MLB Simon
CB Igbinosun and Burke
Nickel Hanco*ck
S Ransom and Downs
The big question is at OLB with Hicks and Styles. Hicks seemed to have the upper hand in the spring. But Styles will play quite a bit as well.
Maybe on run downs they pull a DB out and put Styles in there. On pass downs they go with Hicks and the 5 DBs as listed. And Styles can play on some pass downs instead of Hicks, too. They really seem to have a starting 12.
BucknutsFan58: Hey Steve! With the walk on (Nash) coming on this past week, does this addition go towards the team total ? Is the BB Team allowed any more portal players? Thanks
Helwagen: No, the walk-ons do not count toward the scholarship total. They have 13 scholarships they can use each year and they are at 12 right now, so they can add one or bank it for use next year. We'll see now that school is out if they have some more possible transfers in for visits.
foxr2001: In my opinion, no one in the revised Big12 and nearly no one in the current ACC has a chance of EVER winning a naty (in football). It really has become the P2 more than ever before, I'd call it the P2 + 4 (the 4 extra teams being Clemson, FSU and maybe Miami and ND). What are your thoughts, who outside the P2 has a legit chance of EVER winning a natty in football, assuming recruiting, NIL and conference alignment stays the way it currently is?
In a similar vein, who do you see in the B1G and SEC that have legit chances of EVER winning a naty?
Thanks Steve.
Helwagen: Great observations. Wait and see but my guess is the SEC and the Big Ten with all the TV money they will make will channel that for whatever replaces NIL as payment from the schools and they will pay more than their counterparts in the ACC and Big 12. They have already gotten some favored nation status for the CFB Playoff which, beyond the four top conference champions (top four seeds who get byes), should strictly be the next best eight teams regardless of conference affiliation.
I don't think we can completely rule out the ACC (if it stays together, which seems unlikely) or Big 12 entirely. TCU was in the playoff last year as an example. Kansas State and Iowa State have good programs, too, as does West Virginia. From the ACC, Clemson has not embraced the portal and that's a killer in this day and age. Maybe North Carolina, Florida State, hard to say. Miami never has recovered from Jan. 3, 2003 (LOLOLOLOL).
Teams in the Big Ten and SEC who have no chance? About half of them realistically have no chance ... Vandy, Miss State, South Carolina, Arkansas. Probably more non-entities in the Big Ten with UCLA (should be better than they are), Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Rutgers, Maryland, Minnesota. That's 12 of the 34 teams in those two leagues who I don't see winning a national title any time in the next 20 years.
DRR4622: Hey Steve! Thanks to you and all of the guys at Bucknuts! You all do a great job but, it would be nice if Dan Ruben would stay on topic..."but, I digress." LOL.
Digressions aside, a lot of us anticipate major tests from Oregon, Michigan, and PSU this season, but I think a couple of "under the radar" games give me a MSU upset vibe. Iowa, always has a though Parker defense and will have, by default, an improved (no Ferenz impeded) offense. Nebraska will be much improved with our ex QB commit, Raiola, probably leading them into the Shoe. Both of these games are part of the most difficult stretch of the season. Do you think there is an upset potential with these two teams, or any other UTR teams this season?
Thanks again!
Helwagen: Some good observations there. Most people look at those big 3 games -- Oregon, PSU and Michigan -- as the big ones. But I would agree Iowa and Nebraska could be sneaky better than you think type games. They should bury everybody else pretty handily. It helps those two games will be at home because both of those stadiums can be tough places to play.
Just can't afford to look past a team and play a bad first half that keeps a team like those two in the game into the second half.
alabuck: What are the prospects of Michalski and Walker contributing in the 2 deep during their career?
Helwagen: Oh man tough question. Miles Walker has been banged up for much of his short time at Ohio State. I think he is still a big bodied OL with some potential, but I doubt he plays much if at all this year. Michalski seemed to be in the two-deep last year. But it looks like George Fitzpatrick and Tegra Tshabola will be the backup tackles as of right now. Michalski is a fourth-year junior so the sands of time working against him, it seems.
ButlerBuck: Are the Reds dead? Did they fall into the trap of extending a mediocre field manager after one overachieving season like so many others teams?
Helwagen: I don't want to say they are dead because it's only mid-May and still 122 games to play ... but they need to survive this West Coast trip and get Friedl and CES back as soon as possible.
The starting pitching has been better than expected. But the fielding, hitting and base running have all been terrible. Like D-plus terrible. I put that on the coaches and manager. In today's game, I don't sense that guys are taught the little things it takes to win MLB games. You can dominate the minors on talent. But when you're in with the best of the best, the smarter and veteran teams win more often than not. Some of this is youth. But a lot of it is heart, too, and fighting through adversity and learning from mistakes. I haven't seen many of these guys fight or learn so far this year. So this is where they are.
The owner loves Bell. I don't think they will fire him until a season ends. It's a mess, I do know that.
BuckeyeSalsero: Do you know if Diebler prefers to add a 1 year player or a player with multiple years elibility for the last rost spot? Personally, I hope it's a 1 year player to make sure they can save space for 2025 class. But, I guess we'll see what happens.
Helwagen: Yeah, the BYU player they were targeting had one year left, so maybe that is an indication they are thinking the same way you are. If they got three of the five Ohio guys they have offered for 2025, it would be a very good class. Then just fill in with 1-2 portal players as needed.
But it's a long way until next spring. Things change in this sport on a daily basis.
Guys and Gals, thank you all for reading and participating. Please join us 11 a.m. Wednesday for Ohio State Buckeyes Live. It's a one hour show devoted to Ohio State football and we answer fan questions there as well.
