PHILLIP DANIELS APPRECIATION THING​

I wanted to write about Daniels in Five Things last week but there was just too much to dig into. Against Texas, making his first start as a Buckeye and just his fifth overall (4 at Minnesota last year), Daniels set the tone in going toe-to-toe with elite edge Colin Simmons throughout. He even drew a 15-yard penalty from Simmons that extended Ohio State's first touchdown drive in what became a 14-7 win. Throughout that contest, Daniels was mauling dudes, finishing plays and giving back any chirp that came his way.

Yesterday, Daniels played about a half and was again dishing out punishment and doing his job with vigor.

Growing up, Daniels wanted to be a Buckeye but the 3-star out of Cincinnati Princeton didn't receive an offer from Ohio State, that is until he entered the transfer portal following his second season at Minnesota. Last winter, Ohio State was the only visit Daniels took after entering the portal and quickly committed to the Buckeyes as the No. 4 offensive tackle in the transfer portal.

At that time, there seemed to be a solid chance he'd start at tackle but after Ohio State signed Ethan Onianwa from Rice via the portal - a guy Tom Luginbill tabbed as the best tackle available by a wide margin - and then Day kept raving about Austin Siereveld as a tackle in fall camp, Daniels' chance at starting seemed a bit more tenuous.

But as reviews on Onianwa seemed less impressive as fall camp marched on, Daniels kept grinding and put a stranglehold on the starting right tackle spot. Through two games, it's easy to see why. He's done his part as Ohio State's offensive line has yet to yield a sack and yesterday the run game showed more signs of life with 7.2 yards per carry.

If you don't find yourself watching the offensive line much throughout a game, just focus on Daniels for any given play and I bet he's giving max effort and intensity.

pnuts34 said:

The point was that both are/were returning champs. And 1 team got complacent and partied their faces off while the other seems to be staying more focused and more driven to repeat.

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I get the point he’s trying to make but’s like he’s creating an argument that no one is making just to defeat that argument.

The ‘25 team is a completely different team. Why would they be complacent?

The ‘15 team brought back everyone. Why wouldn’t they get a little complacent?

Captain Buckeye said:

I think the only concern I have anymore is this defensive line vs a team that is committed to running the ball. Specially Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, TCUN.

Haven’t really crushed it vs the run and I don’t think our back ups are going to provide much help this year.

Bright side is we have like 100 defensive ends and linebackers who can straight up ball. So we can sort of mask things with a 3 man front.

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Uh you missed probably the biggest run threat Penn State.

Nice

About time .Well deserved.

Sounds like a Jake Cook situation. Kid commits to a school who he feels wants him more, but deep down WANTS an OSU offer. Works his butt off for one, and eventually flips. And hits campus with a vengeance