Tag: Buckeyes

Saints linked to a 2024 draft linebacker at Ohio State pro day

The Saints were linked to a 2024 draft linebacker at Ohio State’s pro day. Steele Chambers could be a good pick to help replace Zack Baun:

Here’s an interesting draft prospect. The New Orleans Saints had dinner with Ohio State linebacker Steele Chambers before his pro day workout on Wednesday, per Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline. New Orleans signed free agent linebacker Willie Gay to push Pete Werner for snaps but they could use more help with multiple players hitting free agency.

So what’s the story here? Chambers doesn’t fit the athletic thresholds the Saints have maintained at the position. He weighed in at 6-foot-flat and just 226 pounds with 30.5-inch arms at the NFL Scouting Combine, posting pedestrian numbers in the jumps and agility drills, without timing the 40-yard dash until his pro day (where he was clocked in the 4.6 to 4.65 range by scouts in attendance, per 11 Warriors’ Dan Hope). As fate would have it, Buckeyes linebackers coach James Laurinaitis, who briefly played for the Saints, conducted drills for Chambers at the school’s pro day.

While those numbers aren’t strong enough to get him drafted by the Saints early on, they shouldn’t eliminate him altogether. Chambers is projected to be picked in the the last few rounds of the 2024 NFL draft, and that’s generally where teams like New Orleans start to make exceptions for players they like who don’t hit their athletic targets in these drills.

And there’s a lot to like with Chambers. He’s only played linebacker for three years after spending his first two seasons in Columbus at running back, but he’s already totaled more than 1,700 career snaps across 39 games on defense. He has some ball skills with four career interceptions.

Importantly for the Saints, Chambers has played plenty of snaps on special teams. He’s ran with the return and coverage squads on both punts and kickoffs as well as the field goal block team. Zack Baun was a key player on special teams for New Orleans and they need to replace him, among others, in that capacity. Nephi Sewell won’t be ready for training camp after suffering a torn ACL in December, and other special teamers like Andrew Dowell, Ty Summers, and Ryan Connelly are all free agents. Maybe Chambers can win a role in the kicking game before developing into a quality backup. We’ll see where he ends up in April’s draft.

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Saints one of several teams with scouts at Ohio State-Minnesota

The Saints were one of several teams scouting Ohio State-Minnesota. Could they reopen the Buckeyes pipeline in the 2024 draft?

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, but the New Orleans Saints had a scout in the building for Saturday’s college football game between Minnesota and Ohio State, per Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope.

New Orleans has pulled a lot of talent from Ohio State over the years — some notable names on their current roster include cornerback Marshon Lattimore, linebacker Pete Werner, and wide receivers Chris Olave and Michael Thomas. They also drafted rookie safety Jordan Howden from Minnesota earlier this year, so it’s safe to say the Saints weren’t keeping their attention on just one sideline.

But Ohio State ran away with this one 37-3, and some of their top 2024 draft prospects showed out. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (the No. 1-rated player in the upcoming class) had a relatively quiet game, catching 3 passes for 30 yards and a touchdown, while his teammate Emeka Egbuka led the Buckeyes with 5 catches for 83 yards. Running back TreVeyon Henderson gained 146 rushing yards and had two scoring runs on just 15 carries.

Any of them could help the Saints in 2024. Thomas could be a free agent if the Saints don’t work out a new deal with him after the season, and their running game been nothing to write home about. A big-play threat like Henderson could add a lot to their struggling offense. Egbuka could make a lot of sense as a Thomas replacement.

Don’t overlook defensive end JT Tuimoloau, either; the 6-foot-4, 270-pound first-round prospect nails the size thresholds Dennis Allen looks for at the position and he came away with a couple of quarterback pressures and a fumble recovery. Maybe he’s the guy who could take some pressure off Cameron Jordan?

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Saints’ Buckeyes shout out C.J. Stroud for taking down the Bucs

Some of the New Orleans Saints’ proud Ohio State Buckeyes took time to praise C.J. Stroud for taking down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The New Orleans Saints had their fill of C.J. Stroud earlier this season, but they wrapped up their win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday with enough time to hurry to the locker room and tune the televisions in as the Houston Texans rookie quarterback led his team to their own win. Stroud broke Andrew Luck’s record for single-game passing yards by a rookie quarterback (470) while upsetting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final seconds.

It was a dramatic win. It was impressive. And most importantly, it helped New Orleans. The Bucs fell to 3-5 on the season with a sizeable gap growing between them and the 5-4 Saints — Tampa Bay has lost four games in a row after beating the Saints back in Week 4.

And the Ohio State Buckeyes on the Saints’ roster took notice. Proud alumni like Michael Thomas and Chris Olave were quick to praise Stroud’s performance in a unique crossover between the two teams. Here’s what Saints players, fans, and observers on media had to say after Stroud and the Texans did them a solid:

Kickoff time and TV information announced for Wisconsin-Ohio State matchup

The Badgers and the Buckeyes under the lights in Madison

The Badgers will get a visit from the Ohio State Buckeyes in less than two weeks, as Ohio State visits Madison on October 28.

The Big Ten has been putting premier games on NBC this season, and that new deal will be the provider for the Badgers and the Buckeyes.

Get ready for Camp Randall under the lights, because Ohio State and Wisconsin are set to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC.

Ohio State is currently at 6-0 and 3-0 in the conference, but gets a very tough test from Penn State next week at home before visiting Wisconsin under the lights.

It’s primetime for the Badgers and the Buckeyes:

Ten things Ohio State football hopefully accomplishes during its bye week

Ten things Ohio State hopefully accomplished during the off week. #GoBucks

Through the first four games of the 2023 season, [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] has managed to stay undefeated.

The Buckeyes have not been perfect, by any means, but with a bye week, they have a golden opportunity to work on multiple aspects of their game that need to get cleaned up.

Head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] has his team in a very good position, 4-0 with a big win under its belt defeating Notre Dame on the road. The win was enough to move the Buckeyes up in the polls.

Although the bye week might seem like no work for Ohio State, there still is plenty to get done. Here are ten things that I would love to see the OSU football team accomplish during the off week.

Notre Dame stunned on final play of game – falls to Ohio State

An all-time thriller between Notre Dame and Ohio State came down to the literal last play of the game. And Notre Dame came up short…again.

Some games live up to all the hype and some games exceed them.

Notre Dame and Ohio State on Saturday night in South Bend flew by all of them.

Notre Dame looked like they were on the verge of their biggest win in perhaps 30 years, instead it was Ohio State converting a fourth down as well as a third-and-19 in final seconds to get in position and win the game on the final play from scrimmage of the night.

17-14 the final from South Bend as Ohio State moves to 4-0 on the year and Notre Dame drops to 4-1.

In a game that close it’s easy to look back at seemingly countless “what if’s” for Notre Dame.

And we’ll do exactly that throughout the evening and into Sunday.

In the meantime – take a look below at just a handful of the best pictures from the bittersweet thriller in South Bend.

Notre Dame-Ohio State: Behind Enemy Lines with Buckeyes Wire

Everything you need to know about Ohio State ahead of Saturday’s showdown.

You really don’t need to say anything besides “Notre Dame-Ohio State” to gain the attention of a nation.  Saturday will be just the fourth regular season meeting between the two since World War II and to inform the unaware of just how big these brands are – it’ll be the fourth time ESPN’s College Gameday will be on hand to showcase the two.

Here at Fighting Irish Wire we know a good amount about this Notre Dame team but a massive test awaits Saturday.  Ohio State has been the standard of Midwest football the last few decades and one of the absolute most successful programs in the nation this century.

How do the Irish matchup with the Buckeyes and is this Notre Dame’s best shot at a true marquee win in recent memory?

We caught up with Buckeyes Wire editor Phil Harrison who gave us the 4-1-1 on everything Ohio State.  Check out his answers to all our questions below.

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State: Staff Predictions for Saturday Showdown

Do the Irish pull it off Saturday night in the Bend?

This will be the kind of weekend that speaks exactly why some of the best high school football players nationally choose to attend Notre Dame or Ohio State each year.  It’ll show why thousands upon thousands spend a significant amount of their disposable (or in some cases not-so-disposable) incomes on travel and game tickets.

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State.

What else do you really have to say?  You put those two names together, strap on the helmets and a nation of football fans will follow.

Is this to be Notre Dame’s coming out party under Marcus Freeman and can the Irish show that the saying “closing the gap” is more than just a saying?

Or will Ohio State continue their streak against the Irish, having won the last five games in the series and having been the standard for major college football in the Midwest for the last few decades now?

It doesn’t get much bigger than this in the regular season and here is how the Fighting Irish Wire staff sees it going.

Notre Dame-Ohio State: Ryan Day previews showdown in South Bend

The key things Ryan Day had to say on Tuesday…

Notre Dame is getting set to host annual powerhouse Ohio State on Saturday in one of the biggest games South Bend has seen in quite some time.

In Columbus, they’re preparing for a trip they’ve made just twice previously, and not at all since September of 1996.  Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day met the media for his regular availability on Tuesday.

What did he have to say about his team as they prep for their first real test of 2023?  And what are his impressions of [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] now that the Ohio State graduate has been on the job more than a year?

Here are the key things Day had to say about the Notre Dame-Ohio State showdown on Tuesday.

Notre Dame-Ohio State: Best photos of previous meetings

Notre Dame won the first two but haven’t beat the Buckeyes since before WWII.

There are few brands bigger in college football than Notre Dame and Ohio State.  They’re the standard in college football when it comes to the Midwest and right towards the top when it comes to a national perspective, too.

But for all the winning and history the two have had, they’ve barely met historically, doing so just seven times ever.  In fact, until the kickoff Saturday’s epic showdown, the two will have met just as much in the Fiesta Bowl all-time as they have at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame won the first two meetings of the series way back in 1935 and 1936 but haven’t beat the Buckeyes since.  Ohio State swept the home-and-home series in 1995 and 1996 and won both Fiesta Bowl meetings as well (2005, 2015).  Will they sweep this home-and-home with the Irish as well?

We’ll know exactly what happens late Saturday night.  But until then, enjoy some photos of the two powerhouse programs taking each other on over the years.