On this Buckeye Talk episode from cleveland.com, Doug Lesmerises is joined by Alabama beat writer Michael Casagrande of AL.com to break down the Alabama roster and compare this Crimson Tide team to the 2014 team that the Buckeyes beat in a playoff semifinal.
How does Heisman-winning receiver DeVonta Smith compare to Amari Cooper? Is running back Najee Harris like Derrick Henry? And how much better is Mac Jones than the quarterback of that team, Blake Sims? Plus, how vulnerable is this Alabama defense and what might the Buckeyes do against it?
But first, Doug and Nathan Baird broke down the title game news of the day, which centered on rumors of Monday's game possibly being pushed back, and the actual tweets that were sent by Nick Saban's daughter criticizing the Buckeyes over their possible positive COVID-19 cases.
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Nick Saban's daughter tweeted what? And how vulnerable is the Alabama defense?

The latest analysis on Ohio State football, basketball and recruiting from cleveland.com's Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis. Usually, quite a good time.

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Football

The 2024 NFL Draft has arrived with a few Ohio State football players expected to be taken over the next three days.
That means it's time for our annual Buckeye Talk NFL Draft prediction pod. OSU has nine players in this year's draft and Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis reveal how many of those players will hear their name's called.
Then they wrap things up by looking forward at a 2025 class which explains why the number in 2024 is so low.
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Predicting where Marvin Harrison Jr. and other Ohio State Buckeyes will be picked in the 2024 NFL Draft

The NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday night and we're getting you ready with a full first round mock draft.
For the third year in a row, the Orange and Brown Talk and Buckeye Talk crews got together and made every pick in the first round. Nathan Baird, Tim Bielik, Andrew Gillis, Dan Labbe, Stephen Means and Jimmy Watkins were all assigned teams and they worked their way through the first 32 picks, making trades and filling needs along the way.
While the first pick was a no-brainer, things got interesting after that and included discussions on Justin Fields in Pittsburgh and which Buckeyes player could be the first to go in their class next year.
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NFL Draft first round mock: We make all 32 picks

Ohio State football's 2025 recruiting class is currently the number one class in the country with 13 commits, including three five-star recruits as it’s gotten off to a hot start.
But the question is whether it’s on track to reach heights that the Buckeyes have only reached one other time by making history. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis map out what would need to happen for the 2025 class to match the success of the 2021 class. That class featured 24 players, with seven being five-stars and seven others being top 100 recruits as the nation’s No. 2 class behind Alabama.
But first, a conversation about OSU’s latest representation at the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback competition.
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Is Ohio State football’s 2025 recruiting class on the verge of making history?

Ohio State football's 2024 roster is littered with future NFL prospects and the same can be said of the players in its recruiting classes.
But which one is the best of them all?
On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis search through the roster along with the 2025 and 2026 recruiting classes to rank the best future prospects. The rankings are done regardless of the potential draft class each player could be apart of.
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Ranking Ohio State football’s 12 best NFL Draft prospects

The 2024 NF Draft is just days away with Ohio State expecting to again be well-represented potentially on all three days, but how good has it been at ensuring that happens annually?
On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis discuss the program's ability to develop draft picks since Ryan Day took over as head coach. They evaluate the position groups and assign them star ratings based on their success in producing draft picks. The rankings were based on the number of draft picks and the overall success of those picks.
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Nick Saban's daughter tweeted what? And how vulnerable is the Alabama defense?

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