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Aaron Taylor sends extremely encouraging message on Ohio State's OL even with LT questions​

CBS Sports' Aaron Taylor told me that Ohio State is in a good place regardless of where Ian Moore and Austin Siereveld slot in.

Aaron Taylor believes Ohio State's OL is 'way ahead of the pack'​

"So you look at a school like Ohio State, which has a question at left tackle; that's phenomenal because Oregon has probably three question marks. They've got eight that can play, but they don't know what combination it's going to be, and that's proving to be a key differentiator for the units that emerge and move on from maybe a semifinalist to a finalist and then the eventual (Joe Moore Award) winner," Taylor said.

"Consistency is one of the six criteria, and it's proving to become more and more important because injuries are having some sort of a force multiplier effect in the era of the NIL and the portal. We can't fully put our fingers on them, but we are watching that when one player goes down, it's a 2x reduction in production for a week or two longer than it's been historically.

"So the dip is further, faster, and it takes longer to climb out of it, and I think we saw that a season ago with Ohio State, maybe even the last couple seasons, but certainly with Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, all of them. All of those units had a single player go down that, when they had to shuffle the deck, was problematic. Indiana, for a couple of games, had that situation happen last year, so, as having challenges and question marks, I think Ohio State's way ahead of the pack compared to some of the other national contenders."

Padilla, who could play all along the interior, guard Gabe VanSickle, and even true freshman tackle Sam Greer could see snaps in the rotation behind, from left to right: Moore, Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman, Siereveld, and Phillip Daniels. Taylor's confidence in the entire group is notable, since chemistry up front defines any offense's ceiling.

With the margins so thin at the top of the sport, it's music to Buckeye fans' ears that a trenches expert like Taylor believes the offensive line is in such good shape relative to the other teams in the CFP mix.

brodybuck21 said:

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.....Aaliya committed to Michigan in 2023, but never actually enrolled at the university due to circumstances involving the NCAA, where issues with his academic and visa clearance prevented him from ever joining the active roster.

The NCAA is still determining how much eligibility Aaliya will have to start his Ohio State career. He won't be eligible to play in a game until the NCAA sorts that out, but he is allowed to start practicing with the team.....

Just sayin': A lot of new faces on this team...

Aaliya is the ninth newcomer to Ohio State's roster this offseason. The Buckeyes added forwards Anthony Thompson and Alex Smith, center Vuk Lazarevic and guard LJ Smith in their freshman class. OSU also added transfers from former California guard Justin Pippen, former Kentucky forward Andrija Jelavić, former Duquesne guard Jimmie Williams and former Memphis guard Curtis Givens III from the portal.

He gone,

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This guy has the ability to sure keep the locker room lose.....

I’m really excited for this offense. From all accounts, the defense seemed shell shocked a bit with what the offense was doing in the scrimmage from last week.

Maybe some will be worried about the defense but it seemed to me the defense was having a really good camp so far. It’s just the offense really found their footing.

Defense probably is a bit taken aback now that the offense has all the OL and their RBs. Wasn’t a fair fight in spring ball.

Just start fast, get the starters out, and play depth for 2.5 quarters.

Hopefully it’s not like Akron from 2024 where we start slow and play with our food a bit.

Smart guy. Let his Dad tout his kid. After all that's what we fathers do! Keep your mouth shut, and anything you say won't end up twisted, and insinuating something completely out of context.

One would think that Arch, with the influx of talented portal players, and a solid D to go against, would in fact improve his lot. Got nothing for Underwood, so there's that. But Texas has a stout team, and even with a black jersey on, should have improved a bunch. His name is still gonna garner some big time consideration, but we'll see how Patricia schemes against Arch's proclivities. Go Bucks! Predict 31-10 tOSU.

Heck, I'm hoping that Tennessee makes the playoffs, and comes up against the big, bad Buckeyes. And then the next day DGG can spend it in the whirlpool easing his black-and-blue marks.

Will came out on his 2nd drive and was looking sharp. Had a nice gain on an 18 yard dig w/ levels - set the pass pro and everything.

Doesn't identify the crosser cut, throws a bad INT and now he's being a bit timid pushing the ball downfield on his current drive.
Hate to see that. Hoping he can gut out a roster spot. Dude throws a really pretty ball and has flashed some surprising pocket acumen tonight.

Guess it bears repeating. Most (CYA here folks) beat writers on the Buckeye scene will/do overplay our recruits. No good stuff happens if you downplay, or take shots at our signees. Blowing smoke up we folk's posterior is more likely to get 'hits' 'reads' or whatever. Could be that they hit his one best game, and put that up as 'his average'. Dunno. Seem to recollect that European ball has a weird key, so maybe his adaptation to the American game will be easier (?) Anyway, from his pic, looks like he's got some muscle/bulk on him, but am not a connoisseur of European basketball, not being ever covered on American TV. So guess we'll see. Might opine that Diebs sees some very raw clay, that can be molded into something useable. Bit troubling that the above suggests that he wasn't in an elite league. Stay tuned.

Well, guess that the pundits wouldn't get any views if they wrote Tennesse recruit probably signing with Buckeyes. Heck, I wouldn't bother if it was other way around.....soooo they put their best face, and best spin on the article. As we've found out, doesn't have to be accurate, but should at least have a smidge of truth. But do notice Pops said 'more than likely to sign' with the good guys. But might want to put some money in Vegas on the good guys winning.

OHSportsFan said:

Triple post but I figured it out, by doing this thing called “research”. He was on the Murcia U22 team and played in the Spain U22 youth league. Not their top division team.

Bit disengenous and flat wrong to say he was doing anything in a “top Euro league”. More like a Spanish college league.

Anyway, some highlights look impressive. Looking forward to what he brings.

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Sadly, typical lack of in-depth research by these beat types.