Tag: Cody Simon

Ohio State football names this years ‘Block O’ jersey recipient

An honor well deserved #GoBucks

In April of 2020, the NCAA decided to allow zero to be an official jersey number worn in collegiate games. The Ohio State football program decided to make it an honor to wear the number and call it “Block O,” as the number closely resembles the Ohio State Block O logo.

Each year, a player is awarded the honor and is someone who put time and work into the program as well as faced some adversity. Someone who is a proven leader. This year, the honor goes to linebacker Cody Simon.

With a bevy of young talent at the position, coach James Laurinaitis was recently asked who was the most well-rounded linebacker on the team. Laurinaitis didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“It’s Cody. Cody Simon’s the guy you could put at MIKE, at WILL, at SAM,” Laurinaitis said. “You can move him all around. He’s the unquestioned leader of the group. He’s the leader of the defense. He gets everybody lined up. Very technical, has really good footwork, really clean footwork, which allows him to change direction and get off blocks and tackle well.”

Simon becomes the fifth player to be awarded the ‘Block O’ honor. Jonathon Cooper was the first, followed by Thayer Munford, Kamryn Babb, and last year’s recipient, Xavier Johnson.

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Three players named ‘Dudes of the Week’ by Ohio State football

Dudes of the Week! #GoBucks

We are deep into the offseason for Ohio State football, but there’s still plenty of workouts and action going on behind the scenes at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. In fact, by the looks of it, there’s some serious business being put in by players as they continue to prepare for preseason camp and what everyone hopes is a season to remember in the Scarlet and Gray.

Throughout the offseason workouts, the OSU football creative team has been sharing what they call “dudes of the week,” and this past week’s honorees were just shared.

We don’t know what goes into being a “dude of the week” but we’re pretty sure it involves hard work, toughness, and effort, and attitude, among other stereotypical things. According to the announcement on X, the “dudes of the week” for Ohio State were linebacker Cody Simon, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, and offensive lineman Donovan Jackson.

See some of the highlights of the week and what went into this unofficial award below.

We’ll keep bringing you news that comes out during the offseason as it happens.

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Current Ohio State Inside Linebackers and their 247Sports rankings

Current Ohio State Inside Linebackers and their 247Sports rankings #GoBucks

The Ohio State football team has eight linebackers on scholarship, but just two arrived on campus with bonafide inside linebacker designated rankings on 247Sports. Now the Ohio State scheme only has two linebackers and the rotation for both is likely going to be fluid, but to keep things simple I just wanted to recap the two that were rated as inside backers and provide the ratings for the remaining six next time.

The obvious star of this group is Tommy Eichenberg who had an extremely surprising breakout season in 2022. Eichenberg went from being a fringe-level starter to an All-American caliber player that deserves a parade for announcing his return.

The other backer is Cody Simon who arrived on campus with some serious recruiting hype and has shown flashes, but has struggled with injuries throughout his career and will look to bounce back in 2023. Enough talking about these two as it is time to now reflect on their recruiting rankings.

Freshman linebacker Cody Simon loses his black stripe

Ohio State freshman linebacker Cody Simon joined the list of Buckeye newcomers to have their black stripe removed Tuesday.

Ohio State freshman linebacker Cody Simon joined the ranks of Buckeye newcomers that shed their black stripe on Tuesday.

Out of St. Peters Prep in Jersey City, New Jersey, the 6-foot, 1-inch, 218-pound Simon was a four-star prospect that was listed as a top 100 recruit according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He chose Ohio State over the likes of Penn State, Nebraska, Miami, and others.

And on Tuesday, he “officially” became a part of the Buckeye family, as he thanked several for his journey.

“I just want to thank H2, our linebacker group, all the strength coaches, all the training staff,” Simon told his teammates. “I’m really excited for this week. We’re going to go play well and go play hard and we’re going to win this game.”

Watch the short and sweet ceremony and comments below courtesy of the Ohio State Football Twitter account.

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