Carson Hinzman’s Push for A Starting Job, More Jeremiah Smith Hype Among Big Ten Media Days Takeaways

Real Pod Wednesdays

Real Pod Wednesdays is on location this week at Lucas Oil Stadium as representatives from Ohio State and the Big Ten’s other 17 schools go through Big Ten Media Days.

After Ohio State coach Ryan Day, cornerback Denzel Burke, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and defensive end Jack Sawyer participated in their media sessions at Lucas Oil Stadium on Tuesday, we sat down inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday morning to share our biggest takeaways from what we heard from the Buckeyes. (Note: This episode of Real Pod Wednesdays was recorded before Wednesday’s Big Ten Media Days interview sessions.)

Among those takeaways: Carson Hinzman sounds like a strong candidate to start on the offensive line even with the addition of former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin, the hype around freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith just keeps growing and Will Howard still has work to do to prove he should be Ohio State’s starting quarterback this season.

The full rundown of what we’re talking about on our Indianapolis edition of RPW:

• 0:00 Intro
• 2:24 Carson Hinzman, Seth McLaughlin could both start at either center or right guard
• 6:11 Denzel Burke, Ryan Day not ready to fully endorse Will Howard yet
• 8:37 Burke not backing down from “natty or bust” declaration
• 9:56 Jeremiah Smith draws more praise from Burke, Jack Sawyer
• 12:56 Brandon Inniss also remains a major player to watch at wide receiver
• 14:02 Caleb Downs could see action on offense, but not a true RB depth piece
• 18:31 Ryan Day trusting Chip Kelly to establish offensive identity
• 21:36 Nick McLarty seems like the frontrunner to be Ohio State’s punter
• 24:15 Sawyer makes it clear that players stand behind Ryan Day
• 27:12 Everyone’s talking about expectations and Michigan, but Day’s focused on preseason camp