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- Thread starter MD Buckeye
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ShowMeBuck
You know what? Chicken butt.
Just saw the dude’s senior stats. Holy smokes. 181 tackles including 40 tackles for a loss. Good gracious, talk about being disruptive. That’s unreal. One season with 40 tackles for a loss. That’s getting it done!!
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Payton Pierce Says He's "Grateful" for a Productive First Year at Ohio State and Hopes to Integrate Himself into the Playbook to Be More Productive in His Second Season
By Garrick Hodge on February 11, 2025 at 11:35 am @garrick_hodge
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There were no shortage of expectations for Payton Pierce when he arrived on campus.
The Texas product was a Butkus Award finalist in his senior season of high school, notching nearly 200 tackles in his final prep season and slotted in as a four-star recruit in the 2024 class.
But the 6-foot-2, 223-pound linebacker came into spring football with Ohio State at a disadvantage, as he was recovering from a serious leg injury that prevented him from doing much in his first few months on campus.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” Pierce told Eleven Warriors last month before the national championship. “I obviously didn’t expect to be hurt when I got here, but there have been so many great things that have happened this year. I learned a lot through my injury in the spring and carrying that into fall camp, now I’m playing special teams in the national championship. I’ve come a long way since then, so I’m super grateful for that.”
Once he fully recovered from his injury and was a full participant in fall camp, Pierce felt rejuvenated. Like nearly every freshman, there were plenty of highs and lows.
Pierce remembers his “welcome to college moment” all too well from fall camp. The way he describes it, the offense ran a pin-pull with a quarterback lead with Quinshon Judkins as a lead blocker. Pierce put himself in position for what he thought would result in a big play by tackling the quarterback (well, really wrapping up the quarterback, it’s fall camp after all), but he failed to see Judkins lurking as a blocker. Pierce got blindsided by the future NFL Draft pick, resulting in him getting launched in the air and his helmet getting flung even higher as it left Pierce’s head.
Payton Pierce Says He's "Grateful" for a Productive First Year at Ohio State and Hopes to Integrate Himself into the Playbook to Be More Productive in His Second Season
Payton Pierce says he's "grateful" for a productive first year at Ohio State where he raised his football IQ and hopes to contribute more in year two.
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calibuck
Too soon old, too late smart
Am subject to listening to everything written, so hearing the strength of the LB group, wonder if tOSU will morph into a 4-3-4 formation rather than a 4-2-5 one? Guessing that every scheme changes to fit the caliber of personnel on current roster, or who's playing well, or what film shows as the opponent's strengths. Last year's team had bunches of talented DBs (very experienced), but this year's version, maybe not so much. Still, college football seemingly becomes more pass dominant, and on paper, tOSU's DBs are very talented, if not very experienced. Stay tuned, and it will all sort out. Go Bucks! Kinda would like to see Hicks line up as a LB, then find a gap and flatten the QB.
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I'm smelling an AJ Hawk type LB in the making. Got to keep his speed with the beef he's packing on though. He and Reese been eating all the Wheaties!
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LB Payton Pierce, 74 OVR
The fact that a fictional character made up for the game, Blake Carney, is rated 79 overall at middle linebacker to Pierce’s 74 might be the biggest oversight on this list. Then again, it’s hard to realize the hype surrounding Pierce if you don’t cover Ohio State for a living or follow the Buckeyes as a fan.A sophomore, Pierce’s 247Sports composite ranking as the No. 15 linebacker and No. 204 overall prospect in the recruiting class of 2024 wasn’t anything special by Ohio State standards. An ankle injury eliminated his 2024 spring practice, and he played just 31 defensive snaps across six appearances last season.
But James Laurinaitis beamed about Pierce just as much if not more as he beamed about starting linebackers Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese this spring.
“Payton's awesome. Tough,” Laurinaitis said. “Absolute natural middle linebacker. His feel in the box and his ability to maneuver and feel blocking schemes. He's got that wrestling background, so his striking ability and the way he snags and then runs his feet on contact, like, it's just a throwback, man. I love Payton. I expect Payton to have a lot of playing time.”
Pierce will serve as the third linebacker in Ohio State’s 4-2-5 defense, but it should give him plenty of opportunity to show why he’s got more tools than a 74 overall video game rating would suggest and better than the fake Carney he backs up on console.
Kayden McDonald, Payton Pierce Among Most Underrated Buckeyes in EA Sports College Football 26
Kayden McDonald and Payton Pierce are among Ohio State's most underrated players in the new EA Sports college football video game.
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