Unheralded Ohio State football transfer addition might be getting ready to steal a starting job during fall camp​

Ohio State Buckeyes are going to have a different-looking defensive line in 2026, and one transfer addition is inching toward a starting job.



When the Ohio State Buckeyes step on the field against Ball State in Week 1 of the college football season, they’ll have a much different looking team than a year ago. Ohio State lost 11 players to the NFL Draft and north of 30 players opted to enter the transfer portal, mostly depth pieces from the back end of the roster.

The Buckeyes’ defense specifically is going to look a lot different, and it’s why they had to hit the transfer portal this winter to land a few difference-makers for defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s unit.

Ohio State’s defensive line is set to feature three new starters, and while Alabama transfer James Smith has generated most of the offseason buzz, it’s actually UCF transfer John Walker who might end up starting next to defensive tackle Eddrick Houston when the season opens.

John Walker’s path from UCF to Columbus​

Walker was a player the Buckeyes recruited out of high school in Florida in the class of 2023, but he opted to stay home and play for Central Florida. The now 6-foot-2, 324-pound defensive lineman missed the entire 2024 season with an injury, but in 12 games last year with UCF, he recorded 40 tackles and a sack. As a freshman in 2023, he had 24 tackles and a half sack to his name.

An interesting tidbit recently came from Lettermen Row’s Jeremy Birmingham.

“That’s why we think there’s a very good chance that it’ll actually be Walker—not James Smith—who is next to Eddrick Houston when the season opens,” Birmingham wrote. “The buzz around Walker is growing and it’ll pick up after fans and the media get to see him over these first three days of training camp.”

Why John Walker fills a specific need for Ohio State​

Walker is a big human at his listed size and could fill some of the run-stopping needs the Buckeyes have after losing Kayden McDonald to the NFL from last year’s team. Houston is more of a 3-tech who is going to get after the passer from the interior. Walker can be more of that run-stopping defensive tackle for Ohio State, and the two could complement each other well.
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Mike80 said:

that's what the screen was designed to do....and it wasn't blocked properly....

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That was just terribly designed play. Lining Jeremiah and Inniss up on one side and having Jeremiah be the blocker is hilarious

knuckifyoubuck said:

If we are talking about the worst games and no adjustments, the Urban game w Tuf Borland covering wide receivers has been blocked out of my memories

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1. It wasn't Urban coaching in the game.

2. Tuf was playing zone. He was NOT covering wide receivers in any type of man to man scheme.

3. The moment Sermon went out with the popped collarbone it was over. The only way Ohio State was winning that game was with ball control.

Tanner said:

Disagree. Not like it's the first football game ever where the d line was beating the o line. Lets start doing some quick passing etc

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that's what the screen was designed to do....and it wasn't blocked properly....

restless said:

Miami deserves credit. But without that int TD, buckeyes were in ok position. And that play was not on coaches. Either JJ or Klare should have at least slowed Keionte Scott.

Miami won that game on the back of their dline, I’m not sure how much in game adjustments Day could’ve done.

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Disagree. Not like it's the first football game ever where the d line was beating the o line. Lets start doing some quick passing etc

OregonBuckeye said:

They also looked extremely underwhelming all season. Did not pass the eye test

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Multiple games all season where they were lucky. Shoot even in a bad non conference game they looked terrible.

A team can make the playoffs with 3 losses but it’d have to be to 3 top tier teams and by close. Hopefully we don’t have to find that out.

What Vikings fans were overheard saying at training camp as ‘terrible’ J.J. McCarthy struggles​

Minnesota Vikings fans have not been left impressed with what they have seen from J.J. McCarthy during the early stages of training camp.

A battle for the starting quarterback spot with the Vikings was expected this offseason, but it looks as if there will be a clear winner.

Kyler Murray was brought in from the Arizona Cardinals as he sought a fresh start following his own struggles in Glendale.

The 28-year-old QB is going up against McCarthy at camp, with Vikings fans left rueing their organization’s decision to let Sam Darnold leave for the Seattle Seahawks.

However, with Murray and McCarthy left as their best two options at QB, there is already a clear winner as fans attending camp have been heard lambasting what they’ve seen from McCarthy.
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Fans are finding it difficult to cut him much slack, though, with footage emerging from training camp of some errant throws from ‘nine’.

“Sacked. And he overthrows it. Terrible. Just terrible,” one fan was heard saying after McCarthy overthrew a pass to a wide-open receiver.

It must also be noted that in the relevant clip, McCarthy would have been sacked by the defender if it had not been a practice session.

There were numerous examples of McCarthy failing to find any accuracy with his throws, which was in stark contrast to Murray.

The offseason addition, Murray, appeared to have a much more impressive day than McCarthy based off the footage provided.

Buckeye86 said:

Texas didn’t make the playoffs because they lost to 4-8 Florida, not because they lost to Ohio State.

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They also looked extremely underwhelming all season. Did not pass the eye test

Their winning percentage the last 14 games makes their team batting average look great.

McClelland takes swipe at Indiana despite Hoosiers' recent national title​

Indiana won college football's national championship just a few months ago. Purdue hasn't won a national championship of any kind in 16 years. The facts didn't stop new Boilermakers athletic director Tommy McClelland from taking a shot at Purdue's instate rival.

"Every recruit, every current student athlete will hear this message repeatedly -- we are here to win championships," McClelland said Thursday during his introductory news conference. "If you don't want to win championships, go to Indiana."
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Purdue hasn't won an NCAA national championship in any sport since the women's golf team in 2010. It remains the school's only national championship this millennium.

"The future of Purdue athletics is incredibly bright," said McClelland, who previously was the athletic director at Rice. "I am ready to get to work."

Kid reminds me a lot of Christian Kirk. Would love to see him in the slot here.

brodybuck21 said:

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Yeah, Day specifically mentioned him in his presser today:

• Day said running back Isaiah West had a “tremendous offseason” for the Buckeyes. “One of the best in the whole building… We want him to take the next step.” Day said West “looks the best physically he’s looked,” which is exciting after West started his college career coming off a knee injury.

The RB room looks to be pretty solid/deep. And I was afraid that we might miss Peoples when he decided to transfer. Had Peoples of stayed, he might not be any higher than RB3; and he would have stiff completion for that.

buchtelgrad04 said:

I’ve always hated this narrative because that’s not exactly what happened.

Tuf wasn’t covering D. Smith. He was dropping into a zone.

That same coverage has been ran by every DC that’s been here since. Alabama was just flat better.

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Covid didn’t help the bucks either. That game was just the oddest of all the bad luck Day endured in my book.

Gunlife said:

You have to give Miami some credit. They were the much more physical team in the 1st half. They slugged OSU in the face.

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Miami deserves credit. But without that int TD, buckeyes were in ok position. And that play was not on coaches. Either JJ or Klare should have at least slowed Keionte Scott.

Miami won that game on the back of their dline, I’m not sure how much in game adjustments Day could’ve done.

pnuts34 said:

Word on the street is that he either: arrived late to practice OR he went on tik tok live and spoke like a young and dumb frosh and Coach Day had to let him know he was not bigger than the team. We'll all move on and hope he learns from the transgression

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Just sayin': First of all, I had no idea that you could go on Tik Tok live...... Regardless, at least (if the word on the street is correct) it was nothing major, i.e. DUI, arrest, sexual harassment charges, failed drug test, etc. Arriving late to practice and/or going on Tik Tok are easily corrected/fixed.

I just hope your street informant is as reliable as Huggy Bear:





Update: I saw on "X" where some others said it was the Tik Tok thing too. Anyway, this sure isn't the best start for him on his Ohio State football career, but there's still hope that this is just a minor blip on the radar.

Respect that decision

Haven't posted in here in a while. Been in kind of a cooking rut and sorta decided to get out. Now, for those of you who have seen me post here, I don't try to do "Authentic" - I do the AKAK version of stuff. Anyway here's some jerk chicken I did, the marinade probably leans Cayman with lots of citrus and I used habaneros and jalapeños from my garden.


Wiod is mulberry from my property. This is more a small scale practice before I run it on my offset with either whole or half chickens. I'm not gonna lie, it was crazy good.

Word on the street is that he either: arrived late to practice OR he went on tik tok live and spoke like a young and dumb frosh and Coach Day had to let him know he was not bigger than the team. We'll all move on and hope he learns from the transgression

brodybuck21 said:

boys are starting to heat up! which means the Nats will sweep them this weekend

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LOL! Exactly.