THE Live Show: Lathan Ransom among leaders stepping up for Ohio State as offseason workouts arrive

Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom joins THE Podcast for a fun, casual conversation at Roosters restaurant on Olentangy River Road.

Prior to that, Roosters Nicole Cox and former Buckeyes quarterback Justin Zwick talked with Austin Ward and Jeremy Birmingham about where things stand with Ohio State at key spots heading into the next round of Buckeyes workouts.

Want to talk even more Ohio State football with the guys? Text us! Send a text to 614-662-4509 to get started and receive your first two weeks free.

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hello again from the Horseshoe Lounge we at roosters it is a fun casual joint and this is a fun casual conversation the live show on the podcast that is Jeremy Birmingham Justin’s Wick Nicole Cox I’m Austin Ward did we have a fantastic weekend Jay-Z I have to check on you every week now couple weeks ago it was roughy yeah it was better weekend yeah all right I got to go out to New York Thursday for the New York Alumni club where at uh the SE Wayne Club you know what my favorite New York City is skinc just think it’s a fun name to say oh wow okay yeah well I don’t know New York very well so I don’t know exactly where I was but uh it was great I got met a lot of uh awesome House State people uh Brutus was there Bobby and I flew out from Columbus uh and were you more excited to talk to Urban Meyer or BR you know what it was actually nice talking to Urban I think it was like maybe the first time you remember your name this time well I don’t know if you remembered it but I was with Bobby so he figured I he might know who I am okay um he did look a little strange when I he asked me where I was from and where I graduated I was like massin and I expected him to be like oh massin the Tigers he just kind of looked at me like he had not heard massin before I was like yep all right well no but it was it was great you know where dein Smith played well I know I want to be like the guy who every time he caught a touchdown pass you guys won a game you know that was my home school uh but he did a great job he was the guest of honor and and spoke at the end of the night and actually made me stand up and introduce me there too so I was like I think I might be you know in the brain now as somebody that he knows felt good about that so went into the weekend on a high note I know you must have played well to leave an impression well I did out drive him on the we played a couple holes with him he hit a good one of course you know the Young Buck stepped up and uh you know Bobby actually made a putt that hole so we all actually all three of us had a nice shot I had the drive Urban hit a nice shot in Bobby made the putt a scramble nice yeah it’s a scramble so it started off there and then you know working from an airport and traveling on Friday and 27 holes on Saturday that sounds w a couple want a couple bucks it was good day a lot that’s a lot of holes of gold it was a lot of holes of gold I like 12 holes 12 I I like 12 after 12 I’m kind of like all right no 18’s not enough we always try and get it get on that course play some extras but yeah it was a great weekend you know you could stop at nine that’s what the clubhouse for you but I’m always in a golf outing you know so but I always noticed by whole 12 I was like oh man I got a lot to do sometimes those outings can take a little too long yeah I love scrambles though like I feel like anytime I go play golf I’m like can we just make it a scramble cuz you know if everybody hitting their own ball I mean I feel like I just hold up the team so just get into the two-person Scramble game that’s the way to go that’s the best game in the world the ideal format yes it how was your weekend it was good nothing too crazy just you know grown up stuff grown up running kids doing some yard work graduation parties I’m sure no you didn’t have any to go to I’m kind of in that in between but you still know people I mean like we kind of like I’m kind of in that in between where no one’s yet quite graduating yet still only May 20th so I had one since Saturday night I had a I had a college graduation party last weekend okay they do well not all the time but this one of my nephews who graduated from college and we just wen’t sure you were so excited that he he made it go we’re throwing a party we were not entirely sure he was going to get there so yeah we had one of those last weekend but you know I have I was telling Nicole before we came on obviously my my stepdaughter has her graduation my nephew Mason my nephew Jackson my niece Maggie U my nephew Isaiah all have graduation parties in the next five weeks so it’s going to be hetic that sounds wonderful yeah yeah the the joy of having a large famia other than that I didn’t do squat I just prepared just prepared prepared for what prepared for more parties preparing our house for the party yeah I mean that’s now that’s another thing that for graduation my daughter said you can always tell when someone has a kid that’s getting ready to graduate she goes oh they’re really sprucing up the outside oh yeah it’s like power washing done you get the M down you get all of it yep we’re having a brand new backyard put in yep oh wow got to get ready for the party this week Friday Thursday and Friday so love it I thought we were going to do adult things this weekend Nicole and then at 11:30 on Saturday allly said are the crew playing tonight and I said yeah they’re in Chicago and she’s like can we go to the game and I was like in Chicago and I was like are you serious like she’s like yes Liberty if she wants to go to Chicago and I’m like okay that’s amazing got in the car and we drove 6 hours to Chicago and we made it uh 30 minutes before kick you realize you the greatest wife ever right it was unexpected I mean May crazy wife I would looked at my wife and said no but I didn’t want why but think about it like why would you say no soccer because if he would had to stay home he would have to do adult stuff around the house I other thing she was like you’re going to have to go to Home Depot and get smoke detectors this weekend and I was like okay cool I hate Home Depot more care the house burns down let’s go to the soccer game yeah the one that there’s two that are working like aren’t we okay upstairs you can order those on Amazon too just you thank you that’s good advice I can avoid going I just what a trip and so we just fired that off I love that did we win yeah three big weekend for the crew let’s go crew that is so awesome I love that you did that it was wild and then we got back and then burm and I recorded the podcast and we talk about guys who need big off Seasons JayZ I’m curious oh God they’re back if you look at this team could be a player could be a unit oh it’s a unit for me I mean I think that’s the most glaring one I’m going to guess I’ve heard offensive the receiver room oh W okay no I mean golly I I think the quarterbacks the two I think the two guys who are you know up for the job need to have a good offseason we talked about it last week I think just what they are able to do or how they’re able to carry themselves throughout the summer to to kind of have that leadership um aspect to them and just showing the guys how they’re working in the weight room and doing all that stuff and organizing the seven on sevens um but no matter how good they are it doesn’t matter if those guys up front don’t get it together so I don’t I don’t you know I don’t feel like we came out of spring with a great understanding of what exactly was going to happen right there in the in the middle you know I guess and uh you know so I think I don’t know what those guys can do I know it’s a lot different when you throw pads on and you’re you know going against guys so summertime for them might be a little bit harder but uh they just they got to have a big stay healthy one so we have everybody available and then two you know Mick will get him going in the wa room you I don’t worry about that kind of stuff it’s just I don’t know if it’s the mental aspect of knowing where they need to be or who’s going where you know just getting on the same page with everybody but I also think not knowing who you know those two guys are Center Right Guard kind of throw a wrench in that a little bit because you’re not really sure you know you’re going to be running you know guys through all summer long and just giving everybody reps but uh you know I think if those guys can stay healthy going into Camp I think they had a decent spring you know um they have experience after last year everybody’s kind of back you know so that’s something that I mean that that does carry a lot of weight because they just feel differently coming into all this stuff as as opposed to being a first year guy like we’ve done this we’ve been here you know so hopefully that gives them that confidence mentally that they they know they can do it they just have to get on the same page with everybody I think that’s the biggest when do you think like I just have a question from the perspective of just fans like when do you think coaches have to make that decision on first who’s the starting quarterback and I understand what they’re doing like they’re trying to give guys reps to see who actually plays the best together and where that confidence is and that connection but when do you think they have to absolutely make that position like before camp or because when is Camp uh starts right roughly August for year yeah okay so when I mean quarterback wise I think golly we went through it last week or last year and it’s like Yeah by week two you hope to have an idea because then you have what another two weeks of practice or it went into it went we they have three weeks of like no competition to start this year so I mean they could theoretically we kind of felt that last year right like ohy this might not be a bad thing let them get out into the into the real games and see what happens and figure it out before another I like that idea too I mean because that’s totally different than just doing practice Yeah I think the problem with that and the frustration looking back is that you could do that in theory if both guys are playing at a really high level and that keeps the competition going but that that doesn’t seem to be what actually happened with Kyle McCord and Devin Brown a year ago yeah um maybe that will be different this year with Devon Brown will Howard who both had really strong Springs from what we saw from you know two full paces five viewing periods spring game uh neither one of them played a ton in that spring game in the Horseshoe Lincoln kenol thought had a pretty good spring as well but but I would think you generally hear coaches Jay-Z say you want to know by the middle of Camp you can do a week or two of competition and carry that over you know from the summer but then you need to start installing a game plan and getting ready to win games yeah I I think if they can go into if they go into Camp I mean they got to be feeling like will Howard is going to be the guy just because of the experience that he’s had you know he’s been through the fire he’s won what Championship down at Kansas State you know so he’s been there he’s done it you know you got to feel like they’re probably leaning that way just because of the experience um he’s a big dude he can take a beating you know he can run I mean they’re kind of the same type of quarterback in my opinion that that both can run and both do things keep things alive maybe not the greatest passers but that can come you know as they get more comfortable in the offense that’ll come um just the experience so I I feel like going into camp they’re probably like all right if he if he is where he was and you know we give him a week week and a half has a good scrimmage first scrimmage or something along those lines maybe they make that call a little bit sooner um but you know hey if Deon Brown who keeps fighting you know he comes in and and shows him like I had a great summer I’m really I’m the best option here then I think it would probably go two weeks two and a half weeks you know if he’s pushing him more than they expected but if not I think it’d be a week into camp that that they probably say he this is going to be our guy when you’re talking about a three-man competition like the Right Guard I don’t think I think Center’s pretty well locked up I think that’s going to be South mlin um but when you’re talking about Carson Hinman Tegra shaba Luke Montgomery the only thing you can really do especially as an offensive lineman like it’s not like quarterback where you can go out and play seven on seven stuff or like all you can really do is lift right and and be in there and a sled you know you get you get time with the coaches you know you get some lift and film guess time with the coaches if you want it but like I don’t know that you can find a real differentiator in that position this summer I agree like I think maybe I think maybe a guy can fall off and you can know if someone’s not if their heart’s not in at all way but as far as if they’re going to be ready to be the guy come August 31st or whenever the season starts is it August 31st against akan um that’s really what makes this in next couple months I think difficult because it’s just working out and so is is it human nature to be like I got to go harder and harder and then then you end up hurting yourself you know by the time Camp rolls around you’re not you’re actually not healthy like I think there there has to be a weird uh internal conversation like I need to study and lift but I can’t go crazy in the summer because all you’re likely to do as an offensive lineman is Terra laum as opposed to actually getting yourself ready to compete so you know when you talk about which position group especially needs to step up like those guys are all working together but I don’t know how much they can really prove in the they get throughout the sum you know you can prove it individually but like I don’t know that you can really prove it as a group or yeah group study you know film study might be the best situation hey we got this call pull it up right we got this front who’s doing what and you know you just get so it’s you know every player up to last all right we’ve been here we know this and we know what to do we know who’s pulling with me or who’s going I’m going from here up to here you know the film study probably is the best for them in the summertime because you’re doing one-on ones but no pads are on I mean that’s just a waste of time really especially against this defensive line that we have what do you make of the fact that Carson Hinman played center all last year like Tegra shaba and Luke Montgomery both played and Tackle so they had a little bit more understanding of that responsibility at Right Guard where Carson hman had no understanding of that until spring but yet he’s the guy that was starting the spring game like I don’t know if that’s just an experience thing I don’t know if that was a nod to him saying hey you you fought through a really difficult time and could have left and all the other stuff so I just think it’s interesting to see how the coaching staff is actually going to approach this and if Carson hinsman is truly ready to be that guy or if he’s a little bit behind because he was not actually a guard yeah but I to that extent I think guard’s easy right well no I don’t want to I don’t mean that you heard it here I don’t mean that but as a center you know what everybody else is doing or you should know what everybody else is doing I mean Nick Mangold was our Center or sophomore junior year Nick we good like we check with Nick like but he knew everything every what everybody was supposed to be doing so to take a center and move him to Right Guard I feel like it’s it’s going to be different don’t get me wrong because you’re not snapping you’re not you know you don’t have a lot of other stuff do but you should know what he’s supposed to be doing but hinsman only played center for one year of his life well so that’s see so and and Nick Mangold is a Hall of Fame level Center so I don’t I I just think it’s I’m just saying I think those guys should know or do know what is going on with the rest of the off the responsibilities are streamlined there if you’re going like I think for a guard to go to Center you’re adding snapping you’re adding line calls like that’s a far more challenging I think move if you’ve already done that at Center and and Carson hinsman had strong games and strong performance performance is not he he certainly struggled a bit late in the year which is what has opened this door for Seth mcglaughlin and other conversations at Center but like well now if you remove the snapping part which he didn’t really struggle with that he was pretty consistent throughout the majority of the year if you remove some of the the calls and take some of that off your plate like we saw physically after winter and throughout spring Carson hinsman looking a lot different a lot more mature a lot stronger more Guardian maybe I mean more starting caliber than he was perhaps ready for and I don’t think they rule him out entirely at Center like he may he’ be the backup at maybe multiple spots potentially but I think that’s what I’m interested to see for Carson hensman I think he’s he’s on your list I can see it right there Nicole like if you have another summer working with Mickey moradi and schlags and all those guys like who knows how different that could look for him physically when you had two more months on top of that I agree I agree and remind me guys why at the end of the season he was in the right guard position I he was he finished the year at Center and then he was benched in the cotton not did not play in the Cotton Bowl uh and they moved Matthew Jones over there and had Enoch fahi out there at Right Guard and Enoch fahi is no longer on Ohio State’s roster there was some discussion about that happening for the Michigan game and it just ultimately didn’t and then there was a continued I I don’t want to say spiral of a lack of confidence that was happening that led to them saying maybe we needed to get Carson a break and people misconstrued it because they thought it was something he said on a podcast but that decision had been made prior to that but um it not our podcast by the way we would never ask players to say anything controversial we are going to talk to a player on this week’s podcast though if you want to stay tuned for that uh teaser it’s a teaser you have to you have to wait and find out or or or just look at the cover hit the fast forward version or look at the cover or look at the cover of the episode yeah since I didn’t say that anyway go ahead ni no I I do I I would I’m like dying to like see the behind the scenes of just how the coaches watch the guys as they train um I think we talked about was it Mar um Marvin Harrison that would stay after and just constantly practice I just always look at kids like that I look at servers in the restaurants the ones that you know see someone needs help and goes over and helps you know even though it’s not their table yep that’s right just think things little things like that are what make you stand out on and off the field so I’m anxious to see where they end up putting him I do think CU he was only in the center position for last season right y I think that that’s a very like that’s a lot of pressure to put them you know like if you haven’t played that your entire career I mean that is kind of and he wasn’t supposed to last year Ohio state was expecting Luke whiper to do that and they were a bit surprised when he went to the NFL with eligibility remaining so you know they’ done this a couple times Luke lier was in that situation before they’ve it has been focused at Center where they’ve been surprised a bit and not able to maybe load up with veterans the way that they want to and that’s that shouldn’t be over overlooked like that is a critical position they start every single play they do I mean and if you could get him to Phil H at guard just having a new center who’s only been here since what January you know so you know it might be somebody for him to bounce ideas off of hey we’re out here like I’m seeing something you you know what do we do here you played this whole you played this position last year it’d be nice to have that you know extra Acumen in the offensive line you know just for you know Seth to kind of bounce off of so you know it’d be awesome I think if he could make that move um we need somebody to I think tgra played a little bit well in the spring game you know the one drive that a couple drives that he was in there they they moved the ball and I think that was the first I had seen him at guard but you know if if Hinman can do that I think it’s a home run well burn brought up the point about Carson hensman in playing guard and that was notable but I think it was just as significant that it felt like going into spring Ohio state was adamant Tegra chabola is a tackle whether he just because he just wants to be a tackle whether he needs to play tackle whatever whatever justification it was it’s like well he he’s not in that Gard mix and then by Midway through Camp you’re like well he could be and I he’s one of the more physically imposing players that Ohio state has on the offensive line so I felt like that was probably of the two they’re both notable but Tegra being in the guard mix and playing well in the spring game felt more significant to me than Carson hensman all three Luke Montgomery Tas Shola and Carson Hinman were top 75 prospects coming out of high school like they were all highly recruited kids it’s just another reminder of how difficult life as an adjustment is on the offensive line like it takes time to be there all of them come from very unique situations where Tegra was a highly rated tackle if you’ve ever spoken to T Shola like you real he’s not a demonstrative kid he does also struggle sometimes with confidence and you can tell like he just it took him a little time to get there Luke Montgomery was not really sure if he was going to continue playing football until like it was sophomore year when all of a sudden he started playing on the offensive line and then it’s like well is he a inerior guy is he a tackle is he a center and like his path was was different I mean they’ve all had a rough road to get there but Tegra if you look at physical Talent he is an NFL type player and so if you can get and this what we talked about this morning like who’s is it someone stepping up or is it other guys leveling off and I I like to think it’s people stepping up because that that feels better um but optimistic burs that’s all I am is optimistic so Tegra has the ability to be a like a road grader all big 10 type player but so does Luke Montgomery and and so does Carson Hinman well to your point Luke’s just a young guy right I mean so takes these guys time into a position where there’s your own men that they’re going against he’s a true sophomore yeah he’s a true sophomore so I mean it’s going to take some time for him to get to where Mickey probably wants him but then you know that confidence will come with you know okay I can I can run with these guys now JayZ when you’ve talked about like your experience is 20 years ago 20ish years ago how well which year which year are you talking about we want to be I’m just talking about the summer portion not and not when he was a no he it was his his recording class was 2020 was 2002 so we’re the same so it just made me feel really old when you said that but that’s that’s real that’s how that goes I’m five years older than both of you time time moves fast uh we get reminders of that all the time yeah um you didn’t have like coach’s ability to hand you the script you talked about you’ve talked about that a number of times on the show here like making sure that there was a loose one around that you could organize for quarterbacks they do have some level of organization now in the summer so you don’t have to put everything for seven on seven and throwing sessions together on your own and come up with the probably not an entire script but these moments for quarterbacks to try and establish leadership presence command uh chemistry over the summer how significant are they I I don’t think they probably measure up to March and April in pads but what can what can these guys get done over these next two and a half months before they get back in pads in August well you’re just going to be doing what what you know you have to I mean it it’s like when our sophomore year Troy and I were in a battle but we had seniors and so it’s like you had nude you had Simon Frasier you had these guys who yeah had Craig still I mean well no he was gone by then then that was that well going into 04 no 04 was you said your second year so I’m my red shirt sophomore year right so three years third year yes sorry um but we had like that live fact checking I’m sorry it 20 years ago is I’m I my mind’s not as sharp as it used to I didn’t take as many hits as you did so my memory is fine fair but that’s why he loves the offensive but the leadership thing was like all right we have these you know n was an All-American kicker and you know Simon was a starter and you know like so you want to be that guy because you want them to be looking at you you want to be breaking down all the huddles you want to be doing but it was just kind of different that year because we you we were young guys sophomores and we had guys who were up there and and it was their turn and so you kind of took a backseat to that but we were still the ones you all you can do is you become best friends with your receivers for the most part we would do that I’d bring the offensive line up to roosters and we would sit out there and we would have we would have wings and beers and you know so that was kind of like my deal like we’d do seven on seven all right boys because they were there doing whatever you know they were doing and then we’d go hang out but it’s just getting into that where you’re just around the dudes and you know it’s summertime but you don’t want to take that you want to keep it going you just want to keep things moving so that’s all these guys Will’s a senior I mean he’s an older guy so he’ll probably take that that role even think about anything else cuz he’s been doing it for a couple years he’ll step right into it you know Devon is that guy he’s been that guy since he’s been here everybody looks at him knowing he’s you know a fierce competitor he he wants to do everything he can to help this team uh so I think they’ll just look at them and it’s just throwing I mean you’re just out there doing what you can you know you can’t put pads on you know you’re you’re not going to necessarily you’re going to be going hard but it’s not going to be anything like practice like you talked about you just are getting in what you can creating that atmosphere that you know the the team aspect of this thing throughout the summer when the coaches aren’t really there and you can maybe get away with you know having some more fun when you’re out there and just making it Lively but uh you know it’s it’s your to bur’s point like there’s not a whole lot you can do because you’re not putting pads on you’re not getting the full feeling of somebody rushing at you or you having to make moves in the pocket or that sort of thing but uh you know but leaders emerge they do I think it’s probably Ohio State we’ve talked all offseason about how it’s probably the most talented team in the country um maybe not even a probably I mean you could almost objectively state that it is but if you look at the departures from a year ago to now there are significant leadership losses on this team and aside from Kade Stover who you know people will talk about it and think about but Julian Fleming as as an iron Buckeye leader uh chip trainum Tommy ikenberg steel Chambers like there are actual major losses in the leadership department and for a team that has a lot to impr and a lot of guys coming back there are actually a number of players who are heading into their fourth year that are actually going to be vital this offseason as far as being a leader of the team and stepping up and and not deferring to Tommy not deferring to Kade like someone else now has to do that so whether that is you know Jack Sawyer who we’ve talked about a lot whether it’s lean Ransom whether it is uh will Howard or even Devon Brown who was probably still despite the fact that Kyle mcord was the starter I think most guys objectively would say that Devon was like the more of the leader of the quarterback room from from a from a heart and soul perspective um and and a Mecca is back at wide receiver which is vital because there’s so many guys that haven’t played but this is actually a pretty important TW month stretch for guys to see who’s who you can talk all the talk during winter and during spring ball when you’re actually playing football and it’s fun but this next two months is not the fun part so now you really figure route who’s willing to lead on a team that has no excuses to not win a National Championship so and it can be weird too because you have I mean I never forget going into our first meeting after the 03 Squad left and they had what 12 guys drafted and we go into our first meeting she’s like huh okay Michael Jenkins isn’t here Chris Carter’s not here Craig’s not here Scotty Mack’s not here you know like you just went down to Lista like this room looks a lot different now and it used to run a lot differently and you know so you figure that out but I mean it is it’s a different feeling when you go to that first meeting like man I think it’d be so ex they have a lot of guys coming back but you still did lose you know some some main guys in these rooms and yeah pressure to opportunity as well you have to embrace that it would be amazing like because you’re like all right now it’s my turn and that’s like your chance to go for it you know and not be a shadow but Donovan Jackson actually I think we need to mention him he I know I from he’s reached out to us to coordinate dinners for the group um them to come in and eat together well Jay-Z’s been paying for it for years so I think I’d always call my dad like hey is it cool if I do this on the credit card all right all right cool round of shots it was before nil yeah and so that would yeah oh mr’s Wick poor he was wish was the first Collective literally um but I I give a lot of props to kids that coordinate that I mean I know what it’s like as a mom trying to coordinate you know like groups getting moms getting together the kids getting together and so to take the time to do that for his entire you know team or part of you know group yeah yeah it was just it’s nice and I like that he takes the initiative to do it well if he comes on Tuesday he can save a little money because he can get appetizer threes which this week Jay-Z what do we got right here well we got some delicious curly fries I like to call those with yummy yummy cheese sauce and bacon which is three of my favorite things potato cheese bacon you had a cup of ranch if you had a cup of ranch right here or the spicy ranch spicy ranch oh golly oh yeah that would be really good with those get in here get some of these and just a reminder we’re closed on Memorial Day so that our team can be with their families but we’ll be here on Tuesday recording we will be back next Tuesday we’re expecting another guest to join in for that show these guys are just getting all sorts of I’m not going to have a seat here soon golly come me either it’s okay there is no show without Jus nothing promised you know there’s no we we’re not even guaranteed tomorrow we can’t promise about next Tuesday wow I thought what happened to optimistic now now he’s just dropping the mortality on us are we all gonna die yes yes hopefully not tomorrow we I don’t want to think about it let’s take a break time for a break catch our breaths it might be our last break it might might be our last breath that’s true take a deep one I don’t know okay we are going take all right we’re going to come back and guess I can’t promise but we’re expecting a guest to be joining us on the other side thank you to Nicole Cox and Justin Wick again for hanging out with us I know there’s going to be another show I just believe there will be and it’ll be back here at roosters next Tuesday after Memorial Day it’s a fun casual Joy roosters has been so fortunate we just want to be able to give some of that back to the community they donate to organizations that are near and dear to their heart and we’re so fortunate to been with roosters now for a long time they always go above and beyond to help support our foundation to further help veterans it’s just a wonderful feeling to know that roosters support the Buckeye cruise for Cancer all the folks at roosters are just genuinely kind folks and they want to make a difference thank you roosters Foundation thank you roosters thank you roosters thank you roosters Foundation welcome back into the hesy lounge at roosters this is a fun casual join and it is a fun casual conversation now with lean Ransom the Ohio State safety nice enough to come hang out with us and naan you’ve been on a little bit of a mini media tour you’re hanging out with Bob and the morning juice like I didn’t know that uh some of this Media stuff was uh up your alley that you really want to get into it yeah it’s definitely something uh I’ve always wanted to do um when I first uh got to college something I was very interested in just being so focus on football and wanted to have a success that uh I’ve luckily had a little bit of um kind of hard to do both at the same time but got a little free time now I’ll actually be on morning juice tomorrow so uh I’ll be back there so I’m just it’s is all excited man what why why is it interest you so much um I think me and my my pops and um my mom growing up you always see especially basketball like a lot of basketball players uh will eventually become analysts and then eventually be like you got Shaq and their show like man that show looks like a lot of fun then a lot of football players just seeing now um do it as well um and I think it’s just when you’re watching the football games you don’t really get to see especially since we have helmet on our personality and you don’t get to know us that well so I think now I’m just trying to start early and um give me a little Foundation to where I can get in front of a camera um get some practice in and and also get to show uh people watching a little bit of my personality do you think like obviously when you chose Ohio State I you you weren’t thinking about this stuff so you probably weren’t thinking about KT herbstreet and Joey Galloway and Robert Smith and maybe he was there’s a big display I say actually actually uh that was a big recruiting point is kind I also told him that my interest in in media and they just talked about man uh basically all the connections that the Buckeyes have and you come here you be able to to meet with so many people which I’ve been able to do man and it’s been great it’s been a blessing is it when you get a chance because obviously it’s Saturdays you’re not watching game day you’re not watching I maybe if you guys are playing a night game maybe you sit around and watch it do you find yourself getting annoyed at like the the media members who went to other schools and how they talk because because maybe I’m wrong but it feels you’re talking about one in particulars like it feels like to me that like Kirk herb Street for example and even Joey Galloway I mean they try very hard to be unbiased they try to be objective and then there are media members from other schools who do not try to be unbiased and it seems as though it’s intentional and I wonder like do you guys sit around and go man if I ever see that dude I’m not GNA talk I will bite my thumb at you or whatever yeah I think I think first of all the people that can go on there and and not be biased and be as unbiased as they can I got so much respect for them because it is hard at times even when like you said sometimes like I’m watching in the game and I see someone be biased or or even I see a buckeye do something good or bad I’m like if I’m if I’m watching and I’m narrating or I’m talking about the game you want to say you want to praise the Buckeey and and and you don’t want to praise some of these other teams but I think that’s just comes with the professionalism when when you’re doing it is you got to be as unbiased as possible and and I respect the dudes that go up there every day and and continue to be unbiased that’s why I think it’d be easier to cover the NFL yeah because it sort of forces you to have to be uh a little bit removed from like you’re all a mod like here’s AJ Hawk on TV right in front of us right there’s Buckeyes everywhere um it’s been a busy offseason right I mean you’ve been all over the place you were on the Buckeye Cruise right you you did what else did you do this off season obviously Spring ball came you didn’t participate in a lot of the stuff as you continued your rehab what was the best part of this offseason for you um I think first of all the best part of this offseason was first when everyone we all came together all the dudes that decided to come back we all decided to to come back and um no one was one foot in out the door one other everyone decided to come back and put all their energy into coming back and being the best team we can be this year so that was definitely the first the first um thing that I really liked and then the Buckeye Cru was a great opportunity man um to go out there help raise money um help meet uh help meet people and build connections and relationships and I appreciate Ohio State and the Buckeye Cru who even accept me on that because I had a lot of fun man and I would love to go back so I think those are the two things but other than that man I’ve been here heard I’ve been here in great state of Ohio heard a lot about the the wing eating contest on the cruise did you participate and which sauce did you have to tap out it so I did participate I didn’t really have a choice Denzel right Denzel forced this yeah so Denzel went first um and then I went next we we ate the second hottest swing we took one bite and that that whole day they didn’t see me for the rest of the day uh on on the cruise I mean I was drinking milk I’m I’m doing everything I can do I was I was done I tapped out I don’t know how anyone doesn’t wi them Wing eating challenges I’m sweating I’m my mouth’s hot I can’t talk I can’t eat I didn’t eat nothing for the rest of day and I laid in my room just just with the stomach g so when you come to roosters when you come to roosters normally where do you tap where do you top out I’m a I like um I’m a mild guy like I don’t go more than mild he’s getting the new parmesan garlic on the Tes yeah the new parmesan garlic this sio goes to the very bottom I go nuclear oh it’s at the top I go nuclear but I mix it with the honey barbecue yeah see I don’t know I don’t know y’all don’t even enjoy your’ food he he cries while he’s eating it he likes to tell me that he’s got sweat coming from his eyes it is sweat it’s not tears I’m also just I I am an emotional person I got but I also get emotional about good hot food okay that’s because I lived in Arizona you know because I lost my taste buds when I lived there okay and you burn them off no I think there’s a thing called desert fever see he doesn’t know about see that’s the thing is like in Arizona it’s already so hot so why would I want to eat hot wings to be even hotter like I’m already sweating I lost my taste buds I think that I I must have had something that happened and so now I can really only eat like taste food if I’m like crazy crazy hot yeah I’m not a fan of the hot but I do I mean I enjoy some uh the flavors like Maya garlic Korean barbecue all those are great flavors so I’m definitely I’m eating all those flavors but just halfway yeah when it comes to the hot though that’s that’s just that’s not for me but some people love it so lean you talked about uh the group of you veterans that wanted to stick around and had the option to go to the NFL and come back we had talked with Jack Sawyer last week and we’ve talked with all you guys about how well we made our decisions individually everyone had to do what was best for them but it did feel like there was some sort of collective the Brotherhood stuff gets maybe overused a little bit but that you all understood the similarity in your situations y when when did that decision for you become clear that you needed to come back wanted to come back however you want to put it and then when did you get the vibe that like oh everybody’s doing doing this I think the biggest thing for me was definitely not being able to play in the team of North game um that was definitely the hardest thing for me to watch just because of all year that’s the game that’s the only game I cared about that’s the only game I cared about the only game Wanted playing and then for it to get taken away from me was definitely hard and then being able to just having to watch my brothers play and not being able to participate was was hard so that was definitely the first one even though I was still considering it that was then and then just to watch how the season ended against Missouri it just didn’t sit right with me it just really didn’t sit right with me and then I mean talking to my family and stuff obviously my biggest dream is to play at the next level and just being so close it it is hard to come back but just knowing that coming I haven’t accomplished anything any my goals I haven’t accomplished my goals here yet and I haven’t left the Legacy that I want to leave yet so just knowing that made it an easy decision um looking at it from the outside in what did you feel like anybody took a more active role and trying to like you had we give Jack a lot of credit he was vocal about his intent to come back and wanting to get guys what was your I don’t know input with the other guys how much did you want to say hey let’s just do this we I haven’t accomplished this you haven’t accomplished this how much did you want to be in part of other guys decisions um what was your what did you feel like your responsibility was in that I feel like my responsibility was just giving my opinion on what we haven’t accomplished yet but at the end of the day I would never want to I wanted everyone to make the decision for themselves and I think that just makes it so much better that everyone made the decision for themselves if I’m I’m over here forcing and begging someone to come back it just doesn’t feel real so the fact that like you said I think the Brotherhood stuff I like you guys said sometimes might get thrown around but I think this is the biggest example of the Brotherhood especially since I’ve been here that everyone made their own decision without being persuaded to come back for a bigger purpose than just themselves but I think I’m I think obviously Denzel being probably my closest friend obviously me and him talked about coming back together and um I think me and him talking together about coming back and accomplishing something bigger was definitely something that that happened Denzel was leaving a lot more clues out there I want to be a top 10 pick well okay well you’re not right now I want to do this okay well you haven’t done that we nobody wants to ruin your moments and your announcements but like Denzel made it about as clear as anybody possibly could have and Jack was doing a lot of that too we were really unsure publicly about what was going on with your mind in your process but like there’s nothing wrong with that either yeah but well that what’s exciting is now Denzel gets to come back and he will accomplish all those things so obviously laan you are sensibly ready to go healthy 100% right I mean you still took it easy this spring as you’ve earned with how many reps you’ve played over the last couple years but what did you gain out of this spring and you know from you just taking a step back and watching maybe getting some more mental reps just working on on rehab how did that help you but also how does the addition of Caleb DS help your job and how excited are you to play next to to Caleb this season yeah so first of all for me um it was a time for me to exactly like you said get a lot of mental reps and um with bringing in coach Coach G back man I was meeting with Coach G every day I’m talking before the before the early spring practices me and him meeting in there for a an hour after the spring practice we come back me for hours just trying to become like he talked about a second coach on the field uh that was my goal just to learn as much as I can and I’m G continue to do that um until we get into fall camp in such because of uh the great relationship we built and then by bring calebin man it’s just so exciting because I’ve been blessed to have rocket have proc have um Shawn way safeties and D like that that I’ve constantly been able to compete with since I’ve been here and it’s made me a better player and a better person so now bringing in Caleb DS is another great DB to come in with um help bi as a whole and then someone I get to compete with every day and uh there something I I was super excited for and I can’t wait uh for it to continue when you when Ohio State brings in somebody like Caleb down slan we know what the Brotherhood is and it’s entrenched there at the top and all these veterans come back they’re the key you know driving unit of this team how how long does the process take to initiate for lack of a better word somebody into that group and and when did they start feeling comfortable because there there’s a perception out there that oh have stay added like 30 guys in the portal which they did not it’s like six guys with Quin Shan will Howard you know Caleb DS trying to get in there and get in the mix with you Seth mclaughin like how long does that take when you have new teammates trying to get to know guys who’ve been playing together now going into their fourth year yeah so luckily Ohio state did a great job recruiting Because the guys they brought in um they fit in perfectly they fit in with the culture they bought into to the culture I think that’s just the biggest thing is as soon as they buy into the culture they’re going to fit in and no dudes struggled with that they bought into the culture they um require worked as hard as they could and then um for an example Caleb he was someone that like I said I’m meeting extra he’s meeting just as much as me so me and him are constantly meeting as much as we can and and you just see how hard he works it makes you just want to uh to just hang out with him much as you can and then obviously he fits in to B so I think just bringing in dudes like that made it easy transition for all of them did you get a chance to know him during his first recruiting process at all like they visited a couple times yeah I think actually cam was his host on one of the officials so I got to talk to him a little bit I didn’t get to known that well but uh I know Jordan Hancock and him kind of grew up in the same area and knew each other really well so no but he came in man and he he fits in perfect and now he’s a great friend of mine do you get sick and I have to ask this now because he brought he brought up the transfers and the numbers and and people acting like when Ohio state does something it’s wrong if other schools do it it’s like man they’re really moving hard in the right direction like do you know what I’m talking about yes my biggest thing on the transfer portal is this is this is my perspective on this people want to get mad for du’s transferring D’s transferring in if you look at it from a coach’s standpoint if a Coach gets another opportunity to go somewhere they’re going to take it just like that and that’s no hard against them I get happy for them because that’s just the business that’s how the business works so people get mad at these players for transferring and going for better opportunities or going to different places the coaches are going to do the same thing so why can’t the players have the opportunity to do that Old Miss I think brought in like 15 transfers and everyone’s complaining that you guys brought in six and of those six cayb Seth and Julian only happened because Nick Sabin retired out of the blue right so like you guys really were really it was like three guys coming in yeah I mean honestly I I don’t even pay attention to none of the other teams we’ll do it for you we will be pissed off over here just trying to get you to cause trouble Desmond Howard and all this yeah I could care less what the other team’s doing I just worry about the Buckey man when uh so we know Denzel went for couple weeks to go back to Arizona you said you told us when you came in that you decided to stick around for the last few weeks when you guys have that option like what you’re weighing your choices could I go home for a little bit see the family what made you want to stick around what what was the thought process there I mean for me like we said I come back I come back with certain goals that I want to achieve and this is a this is business for me like this year is straight business so I got stuff that I want to achieve and handle and I’m going to do that so I come back to obviously continue my treatment with stu um work up work with Stu every day um work with at get some speed work in I’m getting the weight room just staying in shape and trying to be in better shape to where when we start up right now this there’s no transition I’m already in shape and want to continue to work on my body work on my foot work on as much as I can to be the best player that I can be when fall comes and that’s what that’s what I’m putting all my time and effort into doing in the early part of our show today I mentioned that you know despite the fact you guys return a lot of leadership there was also a lot of guys that were leaders that are gone the Kate Stover the Tommy ikenberg the uh you know you know Julian Fleming even chip trainum guys that maybe people don’t on the outside don’t think about as As Leaders but inside they were the hardest working guys in the weight room do yourself being one of those guys that stuck around here have you seen other guys that are making that that next step with you yeah so first of all I want to say like you said Tommy Cade um Julian all those dudes they had a huge impact on me and someone once told me is is the biggest thing about being a leader is how much of an impact are you going to leave when you’re gone so as a leader that’s my goal this year that to leave a big impact when I’m gone and just like them is that hard work and that grit and everything that they brought is that’s what we’re trying to continue that doesn’t just leave when they leave that’s it’s our job and as all of our leaders to continue that so I think um like you said all the leaders obviously like you said Jack JT um uh I think Tek has stepped up really big and I think that’s that’s the first one that comes off my head Tek even Caleb igb dudes like that are stepping up to become leaders Jordan Hancock so just seeing them step up man is is really exciting and uh just knowing how much tent we have on the team but how much leadership we have on the team and I just can’t wait can’t wait to put that football down it is wild lean you just rattled off all of those you and everybody else that you said are proven all big 10 All Conference caliber performers who’ve been in big games and you still have an opportunity to do it again like let’s set aside what may have happened you know in November the last couple years there’s a few teams in the country that have that amount of Veteran guys who’ve been through multiple offseasons multiple years multip you know hundreds and hundreds of snaps it’s got to feel like different in some ways to be around that many people who know how to handle their business and have been doing it for a long time you know what I mean like that’s that’s a rare thing in college football that you just you went through the whole starting defense pretty much outside of replacing Tommy and steel you guys all know the system you all know what’s required to get to the top like that’s got to be fun challenging pressurized I don’t know the word for it but yeah I think uh I think it’s very exciting just knowing how much time we have how much uh veterans and and Leadership that we have but at the end of the day is it’s really nice to talk about oh look at the roster look at the team but at the end this year all we want to do is just handle business and and Achieve our goals like it’s nice to talk on social media how great our team looks but it it look great until you lose so that’s that our goal this year is is not to pay too much to the outside noise man and just strap our Hemet on um be quiet and and go win games speaking of looking great couple weeks ago we did our buck nine this is our golf uh thing we did with Denzel Burke and uh Denzel mentioned that he was the best dresser on the team um and so he mentioned you as maybe the other guy on the roster that could challenge him as far as having a a fashion sense yeah so I want to know if you agree with his assessment number one or if you in fact feel like you are a better dresser but number two are you concerned that no one’s going to confuse you for cam Martinez anymore or do you just do you just immediately grab Miles lockart and make him follow you around I think first of all I think you were the only one who confused me for K Martinez but I think I think Miles lockart definitely looks more like cam than I look but you and Jordan look more alike than the number one cam Martinez fan in the entire world this the number one this biggest I ever met in my life I promise you I would never have confused you guys you look more like Jordan Hancock than you you and Jordan look more alike than you and cam did I think there’s a there’s a lot of dudes on a team that we could say look I think light all look alike that’s that’s I think the miles and cam it is Eerie when at the spring game I was like that’s that’s Cam Martinez out there hey if you’re trying to give lean some pointers and like we’re going to give him Reps for media don’t ask two completely separate questions I mean that’s the way I roll I think um first of all if Denzel was sitting here right now with me he would tell you that I drud better than him Denzel Denzel has good fashion I think oh he was only saying that because you weren’t around exactly he does great with his jewelry and accessories I think he does good with that but there’s categories to it and I’m a better I’m I’m going to name the three best dress on the team is me Davidson and Carell Tate those are the three best dudes on the team that’s our category there’s other dudes that dress well but what is the is there a was Marv number one last year or not yeah Marv just well just because he’s in a different classification like I think Marv just as well I think Marv just as well but with the team this year I think it’s it’s me igb and Cardel t as the top three and then Denzel as four but I think Denzel dresses really well though I think his accessories are really nice but I’m having visions of not like you remember MTV Cribs of course yeah but what if you guys why of course like because he watched it MTV was already like done by the time was still cribs was still around what if you guys have uh uh what’s that show on Bravo you know the fashion show with the one guy it’s old that show on Bravo it’s old well like what if you guys had a show I watch Bravo yeah I know watch Bravo so I was waiting for you to say something I watch uh Married at First a sight on on Bravo and uh know it’s called because I didn’t watch that show I only watched southern charm on like what kind of show are you talking you know like a fashion show I see what you’re saying like like if you guys took the worst dressers on the team and had a a show where you took them out to the the local uh you know uh what are those places called where you go buy clothes malls stores and you like stores and you went out and you were like who let’s pick let’s call someone out who’s the worst dresser on the team ah I’m not calling anyone out but okay we pick we picked the worst on the team we take them out yeah I think that would be it’s got to be an offensive cont offensive that’s content people would watch I’m telling you yeah I think I mean we had the right media team with us I think that’d be a cool opportunity if you guys hey if you guys want to do that we could do this we do he tried to get you and cam to do a podcast slash yeah I yeah I know it’s just you know how guys it is it’s it’s so busy and stuff but I don’t if I have to watch the Ohio State media team sit in front of Donnie Zen mahalski and uh who else was with those guys uh do just eating food yeah like if I have to watch that I’d much rather watch you guys you know show someone how to how to style it up I think yeah I think that would actually be I never I mean I haven’t put too much thought into that but yeah I think that’d be a great idea um we we go to we got to set that up I’ll hit up Pursuit yeah they did the offensive line stuff last year to try and help them out and then the podcast we’ll get that done hosted by lean and not Denzel Burke who’s apparently Denzel should be my host with me I think I like you said me Denzel uh cardnell igb I think that that’s a that’s a we’ll get anyone dress well I think that I don’t think anyone will dress someone better than we would boy that is going to be I was going to say I was going to ask lean can we start with you guys dressing Austin yeah we could we could definitely do that I mean hey I’m rocking with the the rooster shirt right now though that’s that’s a great touch I’m not I’m not hating on that that’s a good touch what is your problem with the way I dress man if you stay ready for golf you don’t have to get ready for golf all right um I was going to ask lean if any podcast what he thinks that would be nonf football that he would like to bring to the table but then we already just decided on on closing Fashions actually I have a um a podcast that’s like my dream in the future obviously have a great NFL career and then when I finish is to have a podcast with my pops and uh just to have you know me as the Young Generation him as the older generation and kind of talk about where Sports uh music all types of stuff cuz I mean we have great conversations all the time but I think it’d be very entertaining for the two different generations to bump heads like we do all the time and uh yeah that’s my dream podcast what do you think of CJ becoming the world’s like for CJ stra becoming the world’s like most popular person oh he’s killing it him and uh Michael Parson man they’re killing it I’m so happy for him he’s killing Mah Parsons no they’re doing so good I mean they go so well together they uh I mean they’re they’re entertainment for sure and I think everything CJ’s achieving and doing man he deserves I I wouldn’t wish anyone else to have it so I’m so happy for him BM you got anything else no I mean I just I appreciate you coming and and it is valuable and and I think that something that you guys especially because you’re class of 2020 you guys came in and right at the start of nil and like are able to be the the actual examples of what it can be used for in the right way as opposed to some of the stuff we’ve seen in the last couple years where stuff gets crazy but you know we really do appreciate you giving us this opportunity because you did great and you know I’m GNA wake does think I’m GNA wake up and listen to the juice tomorrow you that’s not on where I live so I can’t do it uh well you can actually stream that on YouTube as another place stream the juice on YouTube as another place that signs my checks and and hopefully lens you don’t let Bobby be forcing you to do that for free um but I think about that like you’ve always been uh willing to go out there and get those media reps and deal with some of us dating back to when we first met you that was in 2019 before the Fiesta Bowl when you came out on your own way to the camel back to sit out there chat with us a little bit by that basketball court years ago that that feels like it was all 10 years ago to me so I can’t imagine what it feel for you you’ve probably done enough interviews since then that you forgot all about that one but um are you asking Jerry forcing him to get on that travel roster to go to Big 10 media days in July I’m not asking uh Jerry for nothing but Jerry’s definitely someone that helps me with uh with all the media and um all all the time if I’ll have an interview he’ll tell me man you did good or you should work on this and he’s constantly just helping me perfect my craft man so I can’t appreciate Jerry enough yeah there’s a lot of competition to go there in July and get those headlines for Ohio State uh I have one last question okay I knew you did Denzel said Natty your bust do you feel that yes there you go yeah that that’s an easy question I think um we all came back for one goal and if if we don’t achieve that goal I feel like that we failed so I mean obviously our first goal is to beat the team of North though don’t get it twisted The Natty The Natty is obviously a goal that we have but we got one goal first and once we handle that then we can handle the other ones isn’t it wild how they’re like truly separate goals now I mean that’s a whole another show I guess but like I know that that is the one that’s most important you guys want the gold pants but like you could also achieve another one without even doing that and that’s just a bizarre situation that’s never existed really for any other Ohio State players but not yeah that’s my one goal right now all I think about being team on North and other stuff will handle stuff later yeah all right that’s how it should be we we greatly greatly appreciate lean Ransom Ransom giving up us some time on a Monday in uh the Horseshoe Lounge at roosters thanks to Jay-Z and Nicole Cox for having us down here as well appreciate burm I’m just Austin warley back here again not in Memorial Day on Monday we’ll be back the next day Tuesday anticipating another Ohio State guest for that one so stay tuned thanks for joining us we’ll see you next week