Ryan Day Talks NFL Draft, Ohio State Roster Building, Addition Of Beau Atkinson

COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters on Tuesday to discuss the latest goings-on with the Buckeyes. Topics included the NFL Draft, the transfer portal — including the addition of North Carolina defensive end Beau Atkinson, scholarship numbers, and much more. The highlights of everything he had to say can be found below.

On adding Beau Atkinson: “Very excited about adding Beau.” Spent time with him and his family on the visit. It’s a great addition to the room. Somebody who has experience and good size. His mom is from New Hampshire. “Beau made it very clear that he wanted to play at the highest level.”
Still looking for a defensive tackle in the portal but it has to be an upgrade to what they have. “We’re not going to do it just to do it.”
On the QBs in the spring game, Lincoln Kienholz missed some things early but responded well. They all handled the huddle well. The defensive looks were generic but you still have to execute them. “Now they have cut-ups they can learn from and grow from.” “You can see the talent with Tavien.” Just needs more experience. “Right now it’s a two-horse race.”
When you hear about the possible 105 limit, you have to have real conversations with players about whether or not there may be roster spots for them. “We were just being transparent with those [the four walk-ons who transferred out] players.”
How did CJ Hicks do in the spring? He loves being a Buckeye. He puts in extra work. Even right this minute he was on the field. He has made the transition well. Things change when you move closer to the line of scrimmage. It does take time.
On the directives for improvement for the QBs: Each guy has things throwing-wise that they want to get better. The players do that on their own. The coaches try to help them how they can.
There is no way to simulate experience for a quarterback during the summer. Any other sports, you are constantly playing games. You can’t do that 11-on-11 in football. There is no science to drafting/developing/knowing how quarterbacks are going to top out. They have done virtual reality stuff but it’s not the same. They watch a bunch of film but nothing beats playing the game.
Evaluations on Matt Patricia and Tyler Bowen: He always meets with the players after spring and has them rate their relationship to their position coach, 1-5. They both got great reviews. Same with the recruits. The first thing you look for is the relationships, then comes the development, then the scheme implementation.
What do you want to see between now and fall camp? “I’d like to see these guys get out of here and get away from football a little bit.” “These guys need to get around their families a little bit…” The weight room will be big again this summer. There is a connection between the summer a team has and a season they have.
On having 14 players drafted: He’s happy with the location that everybody ended up in. They’re all good fits. It’s easier to get to the NFL than staying in the NFL, so starting out with good fits is key. There has been unbelievable feedback leading up to the draft from the NFL. The unselfishness, their love of teammates, etc.
Anybody who slid in the draft that you didn’t like: “I don’t think Seth (McLaughlin) should have been undrafted.”
He will have the team read a book when they come back from their break. The idea of the book is that the guys who watched people lead last year now need to carry the water. “When you are the leader, you have to take on the burden of being a leader.”
On having different weapons offensively this year: There are more options at tight end than they’ve ever had. They have different styles of wide receivers. They have depth at running back. “That part really is fun.”
On the offensive line, specifically the RT: The players appreciated having so many coaches working on the offensive line. They have different backgrounds, but one voice. They are getting coached well. They made approvements across the board. Austin Siereveld took a big step. Not ready to talk about who is starting and who isn’t. “Austin Siereveld is going to be a starter for us.” Phillip Daniels improved over the 15 practices. There were a lot of guys who got better on a day-to-day basis. Still, he would often look at the interior and wonder how they’d look if they were battling Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton.
How pivotal is this time on the road in recruiting: “We have to do a better job now than ever in evaluating.” In the past, they have maybe done too much selecting. They need to do more evaluating now. “To come in and play all types of roles.” Finding developmental guys is more important than ever.
What allowed you to keep all of your scholarship players? “It says a lot about our team. Stability is very, very important.” It’s always important to be transparent in recruiting, but now more than ever. They always backup what they say. When they recruit guys, they want guys who want to be at Ohio State. If money is the first thing you’re looking for, Ohio State isn’t for you. If being a Buckeye is the first thing on a recruit’s mind, they’re more likely to stick it out.
They’ll be at 90 scholarships this year.
The DEs will be able to roll this year. The more you can do that, the better. They will all play. “I’m sure Larry wants to do that.” But they all have different skill sets, so Matt Patricia can get creative with them. That’s exciting to put together over the summer. They have 18 defensive linemen, so now you’ve got to do something with them.
How does starting with a top opponent change your summer/fall camp? The preparation starts much earlier because everything is ramped up sooner. “You can tell. I’ve been talking about it since spring ball.” Does it make you want to pick a starting quarterback earlier? No because it’s still a long season.
In your mind, do you have a front-runner at QB? “No,” Day said with a slight nod. Lincoln Kienholz was a little ahead of Julian Sayin before the spring game, but Sayin had the better spring game. “So there you go.” The more you play, the more you find that these things work themselves out.
Where did you see Julian Sayin improve the most over the spring: “For Julian, he just has to go play and let his competitive nature come to the surface.” He has to be the most competitive guy on the field, and when you’re comfortable, those things will come to the forefront. He took more command in the huddle and the line of scrimmage over the course of the spring.
On QBs being “gamers”: Nobody really rises to the occasion, you fall back to your training. If you can just be your career average in the big moments, you’re going to be better than most because of the pressure that gets to most people.