Ohio State’s spring game will be headlined by a quarterback competition for the second year in a row.

While Will Howard entered the spring as the frontrunner to start at quarterback, the competition has heated up over the past five weeks. Not only is Devin Brown pushing Howard for the starting job, but true freshman Julian Sayin is becoming a real factor in the competition, adding intrigue to Saturday’s spring game as each of them looks to make their case that they should be Ohio State’s starter this season.

Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs and Ohio State’s offensive line will also be in the spotlight on Saturday as Smith and Downs look to keep their hype trains rolling while the Buckeyes continue to evaluate whether they have the pieces they need on the right side of the offensive line. We discuss all of the top storylines entering the spring game on this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays.

To add a layer of fun to our spring game viewing experience, we also conducted a fantasy draft to pick the offensive skill-position players who we think will have the biggest spring games on Saturday. Each of us drafted one quarterback, one running back, one wide receiver, one tight end and one flex player – which both of us used on a second wide receiver – to build teams that will be scored 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).

Spring Game Fantasy Draft Picks:
1. Dan – Jeremiah Smith, WR
2. Andy – Quinshon Judkins, RB
3. Andy – Carnell Tate, WR
4. Dan – Julian Sayin, QB
5. Dan – Jelani Thurman, TE
6. Andy – Devin Brown, QB
7. Andy – Brandon Inniss, WR (Flex)
8. Dan – James Peoples, RB
9. Dan – Bryson Rodgers, WR (Flex)
10. Andy – Gee Scott Jr., TE

In the second half of the show, we discuss the state of Ohio State’s running backs room following Monday’s news that Dallan Hayden will enter the transfer portal. We wrap up the show by discussing all of the latest news on the Ohio State men’s basketball front including the hirings of Joel Justus and Jamall Walker, John Calipari’s reported interest in the job that ultimately went to Jake Diebler and the commitment of five-star point guard Marcus Johnson.

The full rundown for this week’s show:

• 0:07: Quarterback competition is the big spring game storyline, especially with Julian Sayin’s progress
• 9:25: We’re all excited to watch Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs play in the Shoe for the first time
• 14:06: Ryan Day leaving the door open for a transfer addition on right side of offensive line
• 19:54: C.J. Hicks, Sonny Styles, Bryson Rodgers among others to watch in spring game
• 22:10: Drafting our spring game fantasy teams
• 29:35: Ohio State still has the depth it needs at running back even with Dallan Hayden’s exit
• 35:43: Expect more transfers next week because that’s just the way college football is now
• 39:22: Carlos Locklyn won the introductory press conference
• 42:49: Jake Diebler makes two strong assistant coach hires in Joel Justus, Jamall Walker
• 48:30: Money, timing, long-term upside among factors in OSU hiring Diebler over John Calipari
• 55:12: Ohio State lands a huge piece for the future with commitment of Marcus Johnson