Real Pod Wednesdays

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

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 Competitions
• 11:51 Malik Hartford vs. Jaylen McClain is Buckeyes’ Top Defensive Position Battle
• 16:33 Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Leads Five-Man Battle for Playing Time at Defensive End
• 23:06 Backup Defensive Tackles, Led by Will Smith Jr., Must Step Up in Preseason Camp
• 30:36 We Can Pencil In Ohio State’s Starting Offensive Line, But Competition Remains
• 38:02 Incumbent Starters Face Competition at Kicker and Punter 

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.

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 Weeks
• 4:52 Anticipation Builds for Potential Michigan Punishment
• 12:53 Big Summer Ahead for Ohio State Recruiting
• 18:45 Big Ten Media Days in Vegas Will Be Fun
• 21:46 Season Openers Don’t Get Any Bigger Than Ohio State vs. Texas
• 26:28 Jim Knowles’ Return Makes Ohio State vs. Penn State Extra Spicy
• 32:00 Beating Michigan Still the Big Hurdle Ryan Day Must Clear
• 38:07 Illibuck Game in Champaign, Trip to Camp Randall Among Other Exciting Matchups
• 43:35 Why Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs Should Be Even Better in 2025
• 48:11 Buckeyes Will Have Potential Breakout Stars All Over the Field