Real Pod Wednesdays

Eleven Warriors
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Dan Hope and Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors bring you inside the Ohio State beat every Wednesday with a podcast covering everything you need to know about the Buckeyes.

  1. 08/13/2025

    Drafting Head-to-Head Lineups from Ohio State’s 2025 Roster

    In our annual Ohio State football team draft, Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope and Andy Anders went head-to-head to draft dueling lineups from OSU’s 2025 roster for a hypothetical game of Buckeyes vs. Buckeyes. Each beat writer drafted 22 players – 11 on offense and 11 on defense – with the goal of building a lineup that would defeat the other writer’s team in a head-to-head game. Each player could only be drafted once. Each writer was required to draft one quarterback, five offensive linemen and five skill-position players (running backs, wide receivers or tight ends) on offense, and at least three defensive linemen, two linebackers and four defensive backs with two flexible positions on defense. There was little suspense around who the first two picks would be, but things got interesting from there as Dan and Andy attempted to strategically outmaneuver each other to give their teams advantages at specific positions. Dan ultimately chose to go to mirror Ohio State’s base formations, drafting three wide receivers on offense and five defensive backs on defense, while Andy opted to go old-school by drafting two tight ends and three linebackers. Dan won the coin toss for our snake draft and chose to take the No. 1 overall pick, after which Andy and Dan alternated selections two at a time until both teams had 22 players for a total of 44 selections. You can read our full explanations for every pick and vote for whose team should win here: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2025/08/157238/2025-ohio-state-football-team-draft-picking-head-to-head-lineups-for-a-matchup-of-buckeyes-vs-buckeyes

    38 min

  2. 07/30/2025

    Preview of Ohio State’s Top Position Battles Entering Preseason Camp

    We’re less than 24 hours away from the start of preseason camp at Ohio State. As the Buckeyes prepare to start their 25-practice preseason slate on Thursday, we’re previewing all of Ohio State’s top position battles entering camp on a Real Pod Wednesdays-style episode of Press Coverage. We start by sharing our thoughts on the headlining competition of camp, Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz for the starting quarterback job, before continuing with our pre-camp thoughts on the ongoing battle at strong safety, competition along the defensive and offensive lines and challenges for Ohio State’s incumbent starters at kicker and punter. The full rundown for our Preseason Camp Preview show, which you can watch in the video at the top of the page: 0:00 Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz Headlines Ohio State’s Preseason Camp Competitions11:51 Malik Hartford vs. Jaylen McClain is Buckeyes’ Top Defensive Position Battle16:33 Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Leads Five-Man Battle for Playing Time at Defensive End23:06 Backup Defensive Tackles, Led by Will Smith Jr., Must Step Up in Preseason Camp30:36 We Can Pencil In Ohio State’s Starting Offensive Line, But Competition Remains38:02 Incumbent Starters Face Competition at Kicker and Punter

    44 min

  3. 05/14/2025

    2025 Kickoff Times Predictions with Ohio State vs. Texas Likely Set for Noon Start

    Even we beat writers who typically prefer noon games believe Ohio State vs. Texas should be a night game. With how spectacular the atmosphere was for Ohio State’s home night College Football Playoff game against Tennessee, we want to see another primetime showcase for the Buckeyes’ season opener against the Longhorns. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards, however – unsurprisingly – with FOX set to broadcast the Cotton Bowl rematch, likely at noon. As such, Ohio State finds itself facing the possibility of playing most of its big regular-season games at noon once again this year, though we do believe Ohio State vs. Penn State is a prime candidate for the marquee home night game Ohio State and its fans covet. But we’d love to see more transparency with the Big Ten television networks’ game selection process – which could be easily achieved by televising the networks’ game draft during a time on the calendar when sickos like us are starved for more college football content. Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope, Chase Brown and Garrick Hodge share their thoughts on the season opener’s likely noon destiny, our kickoff time predictions for the rest of the season and how the networks could bring fans into the game selection process on a new episode of Press Coverage, which is also available on the Real Pod Wednesdays feed for this episode.

    32 min

  4. 05/07/2025

    The Biggest Things We‘re Looking Forward to With Ohio State Football in 2025

    While there’s not a ton happening with Ohio State football right now, there’s a lot to look forward to over the next eight months. Right now, the most anticipated event of the summer for Buckeye fans might be Michigan’s Committee on Infractions hearing that’s set to take place in one month as the Wolverines could finally face punishment from the NCAA this summer for their impermissible scouting scheme orchestrated by former staffer Connor Stalions. The height of recruiting season will also come soon as Ohio State prepares to host official visitors and camps in June, while we’re personally excited to make our way to Las Vegas in July for Big Ten Media Days, the unofficial kickoff to football season. Ohio State’s season opener could be its most highly anticipated season opener ever as the Buckeyes host Texas in a Cotton Bowl rematch that could be a 1 vs. 2 game. Ohio State’s Nov. 1 home game against Penn State will be one of its most-anticipated games against the Nittany Lions ever as the Buckeyes look to spoil Jim Knowles’ return to Columbus. And of course, everyone in Columbus has Ohio State’s Nov. 29 trip to Ann Arbor circled on the calendar with hopes that Ryan Day’s Buckeyes will finally end their drought against Michigan. Add in road trips to Washington, Illinois and Wisconsin and Nico Iamaleava’s return to Columbus with UCLA, and the Buckeyes’ regular-season schedule is loaded with games we can’t wait for. As fun as the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff was, we’re also excited for year two of the expanded playoff race. Of course, we’ll be excited to watch Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs play every game as the Buckeyes’ superstars have the potential to be even better than they were last year. And there’s no shortage of players with the talent to emerge as stars around them, such as Max Klare, James Peoples and Jermaine Mathews Jr., just to name a few. With Ohio State in the quietest part of its offseason and us preparing to take an early summer break on Real Pod Wednesdays, we highlight all the biggest things for Buckeye fans to look forward to this season. The full rundown: 0:00 Why There Won’t Be Real Pod Wednesdays for the Next Few Weeks4:52 Anticipation Builds for Potential Michigan Punishment12:53 Big Summer Ahead for Ohio State Recruiting18:45 Big Ten Media Days in Vegas Will Be Fun21:46 Season Openers Don’t Get Any Bigger Than Ohio State vs. Texas26:28 Jim Knowles’ Return Makes Ohio State vs. Penn State Extra Spicy32:00 Beating Michigan Still the Big Hurdle Ryan Day Must Clear38:07 Illibuck Game in Champaign, Trip to Camp Randall Among Other Exciting Matchups43:35 Why Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs Should Be Even Better in 202548:11 Buckeyes Will Have Potential Breakout Stars All Over the Field

    54 min

  5. 04/30/2025

    Ohio State’s Quarterback Battle is Real and Austin Siereveld’s Stock Keeps Rising

    Ohio State’s quarterback competition is real, as is Austin Siereveld’s surge on the offensive line. Those two things were made clear by Ryan Day on Tuesday, when he revealed that Lincoln Kienholz led Ohio State’s quarterback competition entering the spring game – until Julian Sayin evened it up with his spring game performance – and that Siereveld has already earned a starting job this offseason even though Day doesn’t know where he’ll line up on Ohio State’s offensive line yet. Day’s press conference Tuesday also included excitement for the Buckeyes’ recent transfer addition of North Carolina transfer defensive end Beau Atkinson, who we view as a high-quality addition that gives Ohio State the ability to deploy a deep rotation on the edge and get creative with its pass rush personnel this season. Ohio State’s defensive tackle depth is a much bigger question mark, and that concern was only exacerbated by Day’s acknowledgement of the reality that the Buckeyes’ options to upgrade that position through the transfer portal are dwindling – though there is still one available defensive tackle, Oklahoma State’s Justin Kirkland, who would be exactly what the Buckeyes need at nose tackle. Regardless of how that plays out, though, there are many reasons to feel good about the state of Day’s program after the Buckeyes retained their entire scholarship roster during the spring transfer window and had 14 players selected in the 2025 NFL draft. We talked about all of those topics on the newest episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. Here are the timestamps for each chapter should you want to listen to a specific segment first: 0:00 A Great Week for Ohio State in the NFL Draft and the Transfer Portal2:02 Ryan Day Makes It Clear Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz is A Real Competition10:56 Austin Siereveld Has Earned A Starting Job, But Will It Be at Tackle or Guard?19:21 Adding Beau Atkinson Should Allow For Creative Pass Rush Packages23:19 Ohio State Still Needs A Transfer DT, But It Might Be Justin Kirkland or Bust29:54 Buckeyes Could Still Add Another OT, Kicker to Well-Stocked Roster36:05 Roster Retention, NFL Draft Class Show Strength of Ryan Day’s Program

    43 min

  6. 04/23/2025

    Predicting Where Each Buckeye Will Land in the 2025 NFL Draft

    The 2025 NFL draft is just one day away, and there are at least 15 reasons to be excited if you’re an Ohio State fan. Ohio State is projected to have 15 players drafted, which would break its school record and tie Georgia’s record for the most players selected in a seven-round NFL draft. It’s not out of the question that Ohio State could have as many as 17 players drafted, and we talk about all 17 of the Buckeyes’ draft prospects on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays. In the first half of our NFL draft preview episode, we build our own five-man Buckeye draft squads in which we draft Ohio State players from five different tiers based on their average mock draft position. After that, we make our picks for the Eleven Warriors NFL Draft Contest, in which we predict which round each Buckeye will be drafted in. One of us has four Buckeyes going in Round 1 while the other has only two, but both of us expect at least seven Ohio State players to be drafted in the first two rounds and nine total Buckeyes to be drafted in the first three rounds. We’re both also expecting each of Ohio State’s 15 projected draftees to come off the board no later than the sixth round. The full rundown for our NFL draft preview edition of RPW: 0:00 Ohio State’s 2025 NFL Draft Class Has Something for Everyone5:54 Building Our Five-Man Buckeye Draft Squads21:44 The Most Underrated Prospects in Ohio State’s 2025 NFL Draft Class25:28 Who We Would Select If We Could Only Draft One Buckeye28:10 Predicting Which Buckeyes Will Go In the First Round35:29 Second-Round Predictions41:31 Third-Round Predictions47:00 Why We Both Think Four Buckeyes Will Go in Round 452:27 Fifth- and Sixth-Round Predictions

    1 hr

  7. 04/16/2025

    A Post-Spring Assessment of Ohio State’s Roster and Championship Chances

    Spring practice is in the books and the transfer portal has reopened, which means it’s time to assess where Ohio State stands in its quest to compete for another championship in 2025. While only one of us would say we’re more confident in Ohio State’s championship chances coming out of spring than we were going in, Eleven Warriors‘ Dan Hope and Andy Anders both agree that there’s a lot to like about the Buckeyes based on what we saw this spring. Ohio State is loaded with offensive skill position talent and its defensive back seven looks like it should rank among the nation’s best once again. Ohio State’s offensive line also looks to be on a promising trajectory coming out of spring. Strong showings by Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz in the spring game left us feeling better about Ohio State’s quarterbacks than we did just one day before, but the spring game exacerbated our concerns about Ohio State’s depth at defensive tackle, the position that stands out as the Buckeyes’ clear-cut top priority for adding to its roster in the post-spring transfer window. On this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays, we make our assessments for what we think the Buckeyes’ biggest strengths and biggest areas of concern are coming out of spring and make our early predictions for what Ohio State’s regular-season record will be in 2025. The full rundown for this week’s show: 0:00 Are You More, Less or Just As Confident in Ohio State’s Championship Chances After Spring?6:56 Ohio State is Absolutely Loaded with Playmakers at the Offensive Skill Positions12:29 Ohio State’s Defensive Back Seven Looks Ready to Be Elite Once Again21:00 Buckeyes Building A Strong Core Along Offensive Line26:44 Ohio State Quarterbacks Finish Up-and-Down Spring on High Note in Spring Game33:55 Defensive Line Lacks Established Stars and Needs to Add Talent at Tackle43:34 Replacing Departed Leaders, Coordinators Still A Big Question Exiting Spring51:40 Why We’re Both Predicting A 10-2 Regular Season for Ohio State in 2025

    55 min

  8. 04/09/2025

    Quarterback Competition in the Spotlight Entering Ohio State’s 2025 Spring Game

    Ohio State’s starting quarterback competition will be in the spotlight during Saturday’s spring game at Ohio Stadium. After Ryan Day said Monday that Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz are “pretty much neck-and-neck” in their competition to be Ohio State’s No. 1 QB this season, the biggest storyline on Saturday will be the performance of the Buckeyes’ top two quarterbacks as each of them look to make their case that they’re best the choice to lead Ohio State’s offense when it opens the season against Texas on Aug. 30. Aside from quarterback, other positions to watch on Saturday include right tackle, where Austin Siereveld appears to be making a move in the competition for a starting job, and the defensive line, where the Buckeyes are still assessing whether they have the depth they need ahead of the transfer portal reopening later this month. We discuss all of those storylines on our spring game preview episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. We also conducted a fantasy draft in which we made our picks for which offensive skill-position players will have the biggest days in the spring game, keeping in mind that established stars like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate will likely see only brief action. In a snake draft format, each of us drafted five players – one quarterback, one running back, one wide receiver, one tight end and one flex player (a spot each of us elected to use on a second wide receiver) – based on who think will score the most fantasy points using standard fantasy football scoring (one point per 25 passing yards, four points per passing touchdown, one point per 10 rushing/receiving yards and six points per rushing/receiving touchdown). Our picks, which are explained in more detail in the show: 1. Dan - Bo Jackson, RB2. Andy - Max Klare, TE3. Andy - James Peoples, RB4. Dan - Mylan Graham, WR5. Dan - Quincy Porter, WR6. Andy - Lincoln Kienholz, QB7. Andy - Brandon Inniss, WR8. Dan - Tavien St. Clair, QB9. Dan - Jelani Thurman, TE10. Andy - Bryson Rodgers, WR Finally, we wrap up the show by breaking down the two newest transfer additions for Ohio State men’s basketball – Christoph Tilly and Brandon Noel – and assessing what the Buckeyes should still be looking to do to round out their roster for 2025-26. The full rundown for this week’s show: 0:00 Playing A True Spring Game Completes Physical, Competitive Spring for Buckeyes4:47 Competition Between Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz Looks Quite Real Entering Spring Game16:28 Austin Siereveld Making A Push to Be Ohio State’s Starting Right Tackle This Season24:08 Defensive Line, Emerging Linebackers In Focus for Ohio State Defense in Spring Game31:55 Spring Game Fantasy Draft42:54 Assessing Ohio State Basketball’s Roster Build with Christoph Tilly, Brandon Noel Additions

    55 min
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About

Dan Hope and Andy Anders of Eleven Warriors bring you inside the Ohio State beat every Wednesday with a podcast covering everything you need to know about the Buckeyes.

Information

  • Creator
    Eleven Warriors
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    294
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Eleven Warriors
  • Show Website
    Real Pod Wednesdays