Brett Ludwiczak
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You’re Nuts: Which Ohio State player needs to show improvement in Big Ten play?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Ohio State has faced little resistance during the three games of their non-conference schedule, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 157-20 over the three games. The competition will start to ramp up a bit for the Buckeyes now that they are in Big Ten play. This week Ohio State will hit the road for the first time this season, heading to East Lansing to take on Michigan State, followed by contests against Iowa and Oregon before they have their second bye week of the season.
So far this season there have been a lot of great performances from Ohio State players through the first three games. There also have been a few players that haven’t lived up to expectations so far. If the Buckeyes want to make a deep run in the College Football Player, they are going to need everyone at the top of their game. As the famous proverb goes, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.
Since everything can’t be sunshine and rainbows, today we want to look a little deeper at those who have underperformed so far this season. This isn’t meant to be mean-spirited and to get Buckeye Nation to start scrutinizing every little thing a player does wrong and call for them to never see the field again in the scarlet and gray. Look at this more of identifying some of the very few weaknesses some areas of the team have shown this year. If we can see it, there’s no question the coaching staff has also seen it and are working to try and correct some of the subpar play that has been shown at times during the first three games of the season.
While I know the question asks for one player, the tight ends as a whole have been disappointing, so it only feels fair to call out a number of them for their play.
Anyone playing tight end for Ohio State this year is going to have huge shoes to fill as they have to take over for Cade Stover, who was one of the best tight ends in school history. Out of the tight ends that have recorded a reception this year, the leading receiver among the tight ends is Ohio transfer Will Kacmarek, who has three receptions. Gee Scott Jr., Jelani Thurman, Bennett Christian, and Patrick Gurd all have one catch each. Christian actually has the best play from a tight end this season, taking a Julian Sayin throw 55 yards for a touchdown late in the shutout of Western Michigan.
With so many talented wide receivers and running backs on the field, it’s understandable why the tight ends don’t see many balls thrown their way. The biggest responsibility of the group is to help in pass protection and run blocking. Still, there have been a number of plays I have seen where tight ends have dropped a couple of easy throws during the first three games. Ohio State might be able to get away with these types of mistakes against Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall. The tight ends will have to tighten up their play against the likes of Oregon, Penn State, and Michigan.
If there is anyone in the group that I have some high hopes for the rest of the season, I’d put my money on Will Kacmarek since he does have plenty of experience after catching over 20 passes in each of the last two years for Ohio. Heading into the season I thought we could see a bit of a breakout from Gee Scott Jr. since he did find the end zone a couple of times over the last two years, but it feels like something isn’t clicking for Scott. At this point, I’d like to see more playing time for Bennett Christian since I think he has the most potential of all the tight ends on the roster currently. Christian might be a starter right now if he wasn’t suspended for the 2023 season because of testing positive for a banned substance.
It’s tough for me to pinpoint one specific player who needs to step up as we enter the conference portion of the schedule. The team has, objectively, been excellent, but as any analytical fan can tell you, the Buckeyes have not yet found perfection. So, as I go through Ohio State’s stats, there’s one guy who stands out as having room to improve that I think the team will need as the competition level increases and the Big Ten foes get tougher; linebacker Sonny Styles.
Now, Styles absolutely deserves a lot of grace when it comes to his play this season, and you had to anticipate that there would be something of a learning curve this fall. Styles is playing linebacker for the very first time having spent the rest of his career at safety. So despite all of the work and preparation that he has clearly done, he just lacks the game reps that many of the other players have.
So, I fully anticipate that he will continue to grow as the season progresses if for no other reason than that he will have a much larger sample of experiences to draw from. But, with the experiences that he has accumulated thus far, the Buckeyes will absolutely need better production as the level of competition improves.
Through three games, Styles is fourth on the defense in terms of total snaps (most for a non-defensive back), but he doesn’t have a lot to show for it statistically. He has a total of 10 tackles (three of which are solo) and none for loss. He has only been credited with one quarterback pressure on the season and has given up receptions 50% of the time that he was in coverage.
Against Marshall, inarguably the best of OSU’s three non-conference opponents, the younger Styles brother had the lowest pressure grade on the team and the third-lowest tackling grade after he missed tackles on three of his 10 opportunities on Saturday.
What makes the lack of production from one of your starting linebackers even more concerning is that moving into the Big Ten slate, the defensive line has not proven to be especially productive either. So, in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’s safety-focused defense, there are only two linebackers. The idea is that the front four should be able to take on the offensive line, leaving the linebackers to clean up everything else while the DBs are in coverage.
If the Buckeyes are going to compete against — and hopefully beat — the likes of Iowa, Oregon, Penn State, and Michigan, they will need a fully functioning defense, especially if their best defensive lineman Tyleik Williams continues to be unavailable.
Sonny Styles has all the physical skills in the world, but he doesn’t have much experience at the position he is being asked to play. He will obviously get more of the latter with every game, but we just have to hope that’s enough to get him ready for the toughest tasks ahead.
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Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Ohio State has faced little resistance during the three games of their non-conference schedule, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 157-20 over the three games. The competition will start to ramp up a bit for the Buckeyes now that they are in Big Ten play. This week Ohio State will hit the road for the first time this season, heading to East Lansing to take on Michigan State, followed by contests against Iowa and Oregon before they have their second bye week of the season.
So far this season there have been a lot of great performances from Ohio State players through the first three games. There also have been a few players that haven’t lived up to expectations so far. If the Buckeyes want to make a deep run in the College Football Player, they are going to need everyone at the top of their game. As the famous proverb goes, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.
Since everything can’t be sunshine and rainbows, today we want to look a little deeper at those who have underperformed so far this season. This isn’t meant to be mean-spirited and to get Buckeye Nation to start scrutinizing every little thing a player does wrong and call for them to never see the field again in the scarlet and gray. Look at this more of identifying some of the very few weaknesses some areas of the team have shown this year. If we can see it, there’s no question the coaching staff has also seen it and are working to try and correct some of the subpar play that has been shown at times during the first three games of the season.
Today’s question: Which Ohio State player do you think needs to show improvement in Big Ten play?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: The tight-end conglomeration of Gee Scott Jr., Jelani Thurman, and Will Kacmarek
While I know the question asks for one player, the tight ends as a whole have been disappointing, so it only feels fair to call out a number of them for their play.
Anyone playing tight end for Ohio State this year is going to have huge shoes to fill as they have to take over for Cade Stover, who was one of the best tight ends in school history. Out of the tight ends that have recorded a reception this year, the leading receiver among the tight ends is Ohio transfer Will Kacmarek, who has three receptions. Gee Scott Jr., Jelani Thurman, Bennett Christian, and Patrick Gurd all have one catch each. Christian actually has the best play from a tight end this season, taking a Julian Sayin throw 55 yards for a touchdown late in the shutout of Western Michigan.
With so many talented wide receivers and running backs on the field, it’s understandable why the tight ends don’t see many balls thrown their way. The biggest responsibility of the group is to help in pass protection and run blocking. Still, there have been a number of plays I have seen where tight ends have dropped a couple of easy throws during the first three games. Ohio State might be able to get away with these types of mistakes against Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall. The tight ends will have to tighten up their play against the likes of Oregon, Penn State, and Michigan.
If there is anyone in the group that I have some high hopes for the rest of the season, I’d put my money on Will Kacmarek since he does have plenty of experience after catching over 20 passes in each of the last two years for Ohio. Heading into the season I thought we could see a bit of a breakout from Gee Scott Jr. since he did find the end zone a couple of times over the last two years, but it feels like something isn’t clicking for Scott. At this point, I’d like to see more playing time for Bennett Christian since I think he has the most potential of all the tight ends on the roster currently. Christian might be a starter right now if he wasn’t suspended for the 2023 season because of testing positive for a banned substance.
Matt’s answer: Sonny Styles
It’s tough for me to pinpoint one specific player who needs to step up as we enter the conference portion of the schedule. The team has, objectively, been excellent, but as any analytical fan can tell you, the Buckeyes have not yet found perfection. So, as I go through Ohio State’s stats, there’s one guy who stands out as having room to improve that I think the team will need as the competition level increases and the Big Ten foes get tougher; linebacker Sonny Styles.
Now, Styles absolutely deserves a lot of grace when it comes to his play this season, and you had to anticipate that there would be something of a learning curve this fall. Styles is playing linebacker for the very first time having spent the rest of his career at safety. So despite all of the work and preparation that he has clearly done, he just lacks the game reps that many of the other players have.
So, I fully anticipate that he will continue to grow as the season progresses if for no other reason than that he will have a much larger sample of experiences to draw from. But, with the experiences that he has accumulated thus far, the Buckeyes will absolutely need better production as the level of competition improves.
Through three games, Styles is fourth on the defense in terms of total snaps (most for a non-defensive back), but he doesn’t have a lot to show for it statistically. He has a total of 10 tackles (three of which are solo) and none for loss. He has only been credited with one quarterback pressure on the season and has given up receptions 50% of the time that he was in coverage.
Against Marshall, inarguably the best of OSU’s three non-conference opponents, the younger Styles brother had the lowest pressure grade on the team and the third-lowest tackling grade after he missed tackles on three of his 10 opportunities on Saturday.
What makes the lack of production from one of your starting linebackers even more concerning is that moving into the Big Ten slate, the defensive line has not proven to be especially productive either. So, in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’s safety-focused defense, there are only two linebackers. The idea is that the front four should be able to take on the offensive line, leaving the linebackers to clean up everything else while the DBs are in coverage.
If the Buckeyes are going to compete against — and hopefully beat — the likes of Iowa, Oregon, Penn State, and Michigan, they will need a fully functioning defense, especially if their best defensive lineman Tyleik Williams continues to be unavailable.
Sonny Styles has all the physical skills in the world, but he doesn’t have much experience at the position he is being asked to play. He will obviously get more of the latter with every game, but we just have to hope that’s enough to get him ready for the toughest tasks ahead.
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