Head coach Ryan Day and his coaching staff were dodging barbs in the media after a third-straight loss to Michigan, and a ho-hum initial peek into all the big names in the transfer portal, but since then, he’s moved the needle on the excitement meter by making some major moves.
Ohio State grabbed the top prospect in the transfer portal, Alabama safety Caleb Downs, took the top SEC running back out of the portal, Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins, and grabbed several other high-profile kids the same way including a potential new starting quarterback, Kansas State’s Will Howard.
Day and staff also somehow convinced the large majority of talented juniors to put off the NFL and come back for some unfinished business. Add that to a recruiting class that is ranked inside the top five no matter what recruiting service you look at, and it’s clear that there is some serious offseason momentum
We got our first look at the transfer class on Tuesday with a player availability session, and we were exceptionally stricken by some comments Howard had to say about his first impressions of freshman wide receiver, Jeremiah Smith.
“He’s a dude, man. I haven’t talked to him that much yet just because we’ve been in different groups lifting and stuff. But man, he’s a specimen,” Howard said. “I mean that dude is a freak show when it comes to physical. I’m excited to see him out on the field in live action.”
Will Howard had high praise for the WR room, especially incoming freshman Jeremiah Smith:
"He's a specimen, that dude is a freak show." pic.twitter.com/JJUHFICqKw
— Lantern Sports (@LanternSports) January 30, 2024
Aren’t we all? Smith has a lot of buzz surrounding what he can do, and you have to think that we’ll see a lot of him this fall no matter what. Maybe when we do, it’ll be Howard dropping dimes to him for some explosive plays.
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