Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Big 10 SQUAD - PREDICTING Conference Leaders in 2025!

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Big Ten football's future stars take center stage. Who will lead the conference in passing, rushing, and receiving?Spencer McLaughlin and a panel of college football experts break down the top contenders for statistical dominance. From Ohio State's Julian Sayin drawing Dwayne Haskins comparisons to Oregon's Makai Hughes as a potential rushing leader, the discussion covers every angle. Dark horse candidates emerge, including Purdue's Devin Mockbee chasing rushing records and Nebraska's Dane Key making waves as a transfer.Will Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith live up to the hype as the next great receiver? Can Drew Allar elevate Penn State's passing game? Tune in for insider predictions and heated debates on the Big Ten's offensive powerhouses.

Housley in the Big Ten in passing, rushing, receiving. You're going to know, or maybe not know, and you're just going to have to find out what happens on today's Lockdown Big Ten Squad. You're talking ball with the Big Ten Squad, sponsored by Game Time. From USC to Ohio State, from Michigan to Oregon, from Nebraska to Washington, it's the local experts of the Locked On Podcast Network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming Big Ten weekend. No hurt feelings and thin skin allowed.

Squad up, you're part of the Big Ten Squad. Happy Thursday, everybody. Welcome to this week's Locked on Big Ten Squad. I'm Spencer McLaughlin, your host, neutral arbiter of all things college football. Of course, Jay Stevens of Locked on Buckeyes is here. Zach Seiko of Locked on Nittany Lions. Jacob Goans, locked on Hoosiers, Mark Colkin, locked on Trojans, Ryan Harings, locked on Badgers.

I'm out of breath. We don't usually have this many people. Roman Tomashoff, locked on Huskies, Trent Condon, locked on Hawkeyes, who I definitely did not access. absolutely blow off at Big Ten Media Days a couple weeks ago. And the newest member of the squad, everyone. Give a warm welcome to Nick Arvin of Locked On Boilermakers.

Even Jacob is clapping. That's how nice we're going to be for Nick. That's wonderful, wonderful to see. Thank you, guys. So we're all going to make our picks. By we, I mean all of them. I'm just going to bug the crap out of them. Who you think is going to lead the conference

at a particular statistical area. and a dark horse selection to keep an eye on. And the reigning national champ host, Jay Stevens, is up first. Jay, who's leading the Big Ten in passing yards when the 2025 regular season curtain comes down? So the name I'm going to say is one that I wasn't expecting to come out of my mouth on this show. But Ryan Day made some comments about Julian Sand recently

and compared him to Duane Haskins. And Dwayne Haskins in 2018 had 50 passing touchdowns, but I think he also had like right at 5,000, passing yards. And so I do think it's Julian Sand. That comparison is huge. He hasn't officially been named the starting quarterback yet, but I do think when he gets that title, he will have the best receivers and the best tied in in the entire conference. And he's going to have a field day every single week. Four thousand eight hundred and thirty one yards and fifty touchdowns. That was, that was pretty good. You got a dark horse pick, Jay, someone to keep an eye on that's

flying under the radar? This is weird because I was kind of up in the air between two. Roman may have liked me if I picked his. Zach may like me if I pick that one. Zach Seiko, that is. I'm going to go with Drew Aller, someone that I really haven't believed in, but I do think a guy that could maybe fly

under the radar if possible, because Penn State's offense and receiving has not really been there. He could be a guy to get that done. I can't believe I said that. Saco, you might think I'm crazy, but it's already out there. I can't take it back.

Seiko, go ahead and just keep the Homer picks going. Does Drew Aller lead the Big Ten in passing yards this year? Uh, why not? No, I'm actually going to take the, uh, middle of the road nuanced approach here as Penn State's going to be leading in a lot of games. They're going to run the football a lot. I, I, I like Jay's pick. And we don't even know Julian Sane's the starting quarterback, but I imagine that he's going to be, I who if it's keen holes, if it's saying, there's a very good chance that that one of them leads the, the big 10 in passing because Jeremiah Smith, Max Claire, Brandon in his carnal Tate, uh, it's also because. It's also because. because Ohio State's defense is going to take some a little bit of a step back. I think that Ohio State's going to have to win games by putting up 50 points every single week. I'm not saying that they're going to give up 50 points, but it's going to help. And you do that when you're kind, you're kind of saying that, like just like just a little.

Well, so, but when you have, when you have four elite targets to throw to and then some, uh, your job's going to be pretty easy. Again, Ohio State's going to win games by trying to win shootouts. So I, I think Drew Aller, won't have a 5,000 yards or anything like that, but the passing attack attack is going to have a lot more options than it did a season ago. So when you have three legitimate wide receivers, not to the extent of Ohio State, but Penn State's also going to lean on its ground game. So you have Nicholas Singleton, Ketron Allen. They both of them came back for a reason. If one of them had gone on, I'd say otherwise, but this is going to be a run first team for Penn State. Goans, are you going to throw that number one pick lingo at me?

If so, I'm going to get you fired so quickly if you, if you say, yeah, the number. Go ahead. Make your, make your, make your pick. Make your, make your pick. The number was nine percent, Spencer. Some folks in the professional world are saying a nine percent chance to be the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft. I don't believe that to be the case. But Fernando Mendoza absolutely will be the leading passer in the big 10. Two of his best receivers are back from a year ago. Elijah Surrott, Omar Cooper, the offensive lines, going to. to be better to where he actually has time to throw against good teams that have good defensive lines. He's going to be the leading passer. But if he is not, Roman, I'm taking your boy. I'm doing it. I'm taking Williams to be the dark course leading passer in the Big Ten. Mark, are you outside of an airport loading baggage area at the moment? What is that behind you there? Also, go ahead and make your selection. So I'm actually on the fourth floor of the Annenberg Journalism School at USC. I got practice to go to here shortly. That's why I asked you to move it up for the week. So thank you. Yeah. Yeah, just so you know, we recorded this earlier just to accommodate Mark. And now that I see how many people are here,

I'm wondering why in the world we did that. But anyway, Mark, the floor is yours. So the amount of disrespect right now in this room is probably off the charts. Why isn't Jade Maiava? Why isn't his name coming out of anybody's mouth? I mean, you go to the betting service. You go to the betting services, who's going to have the most passing yards? Guess who's leading the field? Guess who else has some pretty good wide receivers? Look, I'm taking the Homer pick, obviously, because you have Lincoln Riley also as a play caller. He's known as being able to produce quarterbacks passing wide receivers. It's a safe pick. So I'm going to go there. My dark horse, and I'm glad he's not, he's one of the guys who's not here today, I'm going

to go with Nico. I'm going to go with what they got over there. Wow. Is he throw 20 interceptions also? Is that, does that count into the store? You know, that's the one thing he actually did do last year? See, I'll stay on Canada. I thought we were talking about passing. Yeah, we're just talking, just talking yardage here.

So, Homer picks are popular, which brings us to Ryan Herrings of Locked-on Badgers. Hi, Ryan. How's it, how's it going? So if, you know what, it's a free country, man. You go out and say whatever you like here at this show. within reason and the guidelines of our arrangement with this wonderful network. But are you going to put your name to Billy Edwards, Jr., leading the conference and passing yards? No, so I asked Chad GPT what the odds of that would be, and the answer came back pretty late.

No, I'm not going to go there. I hate doing it because I hate, Jay, no disrespect. You and I are cool. We've done a crossover. We're fine. I hate Ohio State. Like, I hate that program. But I wrote down literally insert Ohio State quarterback year, which is,

probably going to be Sam. Very smart man. Ultimately, the guy who has the most weapons is probably going to be that guy that's going to do it. Zach had a lot of the same reasons. He just is throwing to generational talent at receiver. It just makes life easier. I think it's hard to bet against him.

If you want to go super dark horse, because I don't think, listen, Alar's got some weapons coming in. I don't think he's actually a dark horse, right? I think if you want to go super dark course, look at teams that generally at the top of the Big Ten in passing yardage, go super, super, super deep. Maryland last year was third in the Big Ten in passing yardage, the year before they were first, the year before they were third. The year before that, they were third. Mike Loxley literally puts up a top three passing offense every single year in the big

10. He should also be fired, but while he's there, they pass the ball. It's because they're playing from behind. They're down three touchdowns, throw it around. Any means necessary, Zach. Yeah, Reardon is yardage. So maybe look at a guy like Malik Washington, if you want to go super deep because every single year, they have receivers and every single year they put a passing yardage. That's a deep pole. That's it. That, you know what? That's, you know what? That's my favorite prediction so far. Oh, Roman, you're up next. Did you want to plug Dante Moore here? Because I haven't heard any Dante Moore, love. And for no reason in particular, I just think

that his name should get thrown out there. It's not like he's in an office that's produced back-to-back Heisman finalists, it's at his position or anything like that. Yeah, the five and a half yards per completion just doesn't get the job done when we're talking about, you know, leading and passing yards. I thought I was going to come to the table with Julian say and be like, yeah, you know, I'm one of the few guys that has this nod following Ryan. So thanks for that. I think it's always bold to pick a guy who is heading into his first year as a starter. But having Jeremiah Smith, having all those weapons certainly does make life easy. I do have to plug DeMond Williams, though, as my dark horse because this is a guy who, when you look

at Washington's offense last season, they were sixth in the Big Ten in total yards per game at 390. And that's something that could very easily take a step forward with an improved offensive line, improved pass catchers behind Denzel Boston. I really like what Omari Evans and Rashid Williams were bringing into the table. And I just, I look at what this offense, can be with Jedfish at the helm. And I think that it's prime to take a big step forward with Demand, who can move, who can get outside the pocket and something we just didn't see what Rogers do at any point last season.

Trent, can you believe that Mark Grinowski's name hasn't been thrown out here in the Iowa offense? I mean, whoa, that was it. That's a stunner to me. We're six hosts into these predictions and not a single mention of the two-time national champ. Come on, man. you guys will know you guys will know he's not going to set the he's not going to lead the big ten in passing yards i live in reality you guys live in your own realm but my eva he's a betting favor

for a reason i mean there's no doubt about it they're going to throw a ton that wide receiver group is absolutely loaded but if you're looking for somebody a little bit deeper down take a look to our neighbors to the west you know rayola it was a disappointing end to the season but with holgo a full season a full off season now is the offensive coordinator they're going to check around. If I could take this award and say, hey, let's send it at the end of October, I think Raylo might be up there as one of the betting favorites. But you're looking for a long shot. I go to Nebraska and Dylan Rayola. Nick, there are more new players on Purdue's roster this year than you've probably had a chance to go over on your show at this point since there

have only been a couple of episodes. But that's why we stick to your team every day here at the network. The floor is yours for the first time. here in the squad. No pressure, but you only get one chance to make a first impression. Absolutely. So if I wanted to go with one of my Purdue guys, it would be kind of hard because Purdue hasn't decided on a starting quarterback yet. We're between three guys right now. So that shifts me over to Mark's team. Jaden Maiva, we've seen Lincoln Riley be able to develop quarterbacks. We've seen him be able to develop those Heisman guys, whether that be Kyler Murray, whether that be Baker Bayfield, whether that be Caleb Williams. And we know that offense is

going to be explosive. They're going to pass the ball a lot. The defense may not be able to stop anybody, but the offense is going to put up points. So that's something that we look at. And I would say, Jaden Mova is my quarterback for that. When we talk about a dark course, Maize actually shift to Illinois and someone that nobody said, which kind of surprises me. And that is Luke Altmeyer. We saw him kind of show out last year. That offense was much improved last year. And they kind of made a statement. So going into this year, they should be much improved. He has the weapons. He has the team. I think that Luke Altmire is a dark horse to be of the Big Ten leading passer.

How about that? Nice dark horse pit. Mark, okay, make it fast. I saw you. I was about to call him the smartest man in the room, and he got a little cock in the evening. He was almost there. Mark was like this close to liking you, and now you're just never going to recover. And he doesn't like anybody.

Yeah. Yeah. You were so close. It's like you were out there on the day. You were making a good. good impression and then you offered to split the bill and mark was like oh no no don't do that so we still got to pick the leading rusher and receiver in the big ten conference that coming up on the big ten squad first though reminder this episode brought to you by our friends over at fandul

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I got Jonah Coleman, top 10 in the conference last year in rushing yards. And I do think with a lot of the growth that you have seen that you're going to see in Washington, I think he's going to take a step forward and lead. It would be easy for me and for Zach. I don't know what Zach's going to say to pick one of the starting running backs at our schools. But both of these, schools, Ohio State, Penn State are going to have a two-back system where even last year, both Allen and Singleton, we're top 10 in the conference and rushing. I don't think that they will be number one, though. Dark Horse is to me a little weird when it goes somewhere that Trent is not going to like. I know Ryan doesn't like it either. Minnesota and Darius Taylor,

he was also top 10 in the conference last year in rushing. They're going to have a young starting quarterback. And when you have a young starting quarterback, they're going to rely on the running game and your tight ends. I think Taylor's going to have another monster year. this year. Seiko, uh, your, your opportunity to weigh in and see who will, and say who will be just behind Mackay Hughes this year. Uh, so ironically enough, I was thinking Jonah Coleman in my head before we, you know, started this show, but I'm not going to go on, this podcast is starting to make me nauseous. No, I, I actually, I agree with you because if we're actually trying to answer this instead of trying to, you know, give the Homer answer, I, does Oregon have a

split backfield? It is going to be Mackay Hughes. You're going to, you want to, you want to, you want to take a team that is going to win a lot of games running winning teams run the football so if we're going to say what team is going to lead the conference in rushing it's going to be pen state because they're going to be a run first team they're going to be leading in a lot of games and they have two superstar college running backs two running backs that are in the top five singleton second and i'd argue that katron allen's either fourth or fifth so pen state's going to run the football they led they led the conference in rushing a season ago and ironically enough, Jonah Coleman actually had fewer rushing yards than both Ketron Allen and Nicholas

Singleton last season. So if Coleman is that Belcal player in Washington punches above its weight class and wins more games than it should, then yeah, there's definitely a case for him. But between what Oregon's going to do by winning double digit games and if they have a workhorse type of running back, then he's he's probably going to lead the, he's probably going to lead the conference and might have a case to lead the nation. Goans, you may now, way in with your usual tomfoolery no no you are going to want to take that back spencer because i actually have your boy he's going to be serious i have mackay who's because best take of his career i'm not sold on what dante more's production will be especially worse take of your career

especially early in the season okay later on sure he's probably going to be talented and be a really good player but early on they're going to run they're going to turn around and hand it off they're going to have to. And you lean on that early in the season with a good offensive line at Oregon. So yes, I'm taking Mackay Hughes as my leading Big Ten rusher. And I love the Darius Taylor pick, by the way. So can I jump on that as the dark horse? I'm changing mine because I think that's better than what I had. Yeah, Darius Taylor, probably the most underrated back in this. He might be the best NFL caliber back in this league after Singleton and Allen. And I don't even know if he's after those two. I mean, he's Darius Taylor very good. Anyway, Mark, you got any surprising selections over there.

Yeah, I do actually. So can anybody here name the only team that has three members on this year's Doak Walker Canada World Watch list? Kansas State? Anyone? Anyone? Wait, the only team in the country or in the conference? In the country. So I'll save your breath. It's tailback you. USC has three members of their running back room on that Doke Walker Canada list. Will one of them lead the conference in Russian? Probably not.

I'm going to go with the program named a member. Michigan, just because that's what they do. And I think Justin's Hayes is going to be pretty good, not to take anything away from Penn State or any or Mackay Hughes. I don't know if Mackay Hughes lasts the entire year because you might be overusing him. I don't know if he's a workhorse type of running back. I guess it's my. He ran for 2,700 yards in the last two seasons.

Not in the big 10. That's true. That's true. Wasn't wasn't in the big 10. He's got a solid number two behind him. I heard that from some other podcaster out there. Ryan, who leads the Big Tenon rushing? Yeah, 2,700 yards is familiar.

That's the number Melvin Gordon ran for in a single year when he was snubbed in the Heisman from that guy from Oregon. You know, it's funny. Mark said, tailback, you, I'm sorry. Did we forget about like Jonathan Taylor, Ron Dane, James White, Monta, Ball? Like, there is a tailback you in the Big Ten. It's not USC. Let's be super clear on this.

The answer is yes, Ryan. He forgot. It happens to manage his age. it up. I don't even care about it on my side of the back. I have my dark horse and my leading guy. The hell with that. Let's talk about this for a second.

Wisconsin is tailback you. I don't have a lot of wins recently. That is one that was not with. I do not remember Donaldson Taylor just a couple of years ago and then Melvin Gordon before him. And then I don't know, Ron Dane and all these pieces, Monta Ball, James White is tailbeck you. And by the way, if you want a dark horse, I was at Camp Randall recently. I was at practice down in Plathville watching the badgers. And if you listen closely, you can listen to the extra.

those running back. So the next guy out for the Badgers is Dylan Jones. He was a four-star guy last year. If you look at Jeff Grimes, a new offensive coordinator in 2021, his offense led the Big 12th and rushing. Last year at Kansas, they were third in the Big 12th and rushing.

Dylan Jones is the next Badger star at running back. He's not going to lead the conference this year. There is a bit of a time share there. I got a little angry about that USC coming in and then your two years tailback you. Get in that stuff. It's huge, by the way, that's going to lead the conference and running.

That was my answer, but I got thrown off. The pain that, came through when Ryan was like, just give me the tailbacks, man. You can't take this from me. Everything else is gone and horrible. Don't take that away. Let's just be real here. Okay. I guess this compelling point. A lot of good running backs out of Wisconsin. Uh, Roman, your, your pick and your dark horse. Uh, I'm, I'm going to shock some people here. My, my pick is not Jonah Coleman. I, I really love all the, the Jonah love here. I don't think we're going to see him get 193 carries.

like he got last season because I'm factoring and Adam Muhammad, a sophomore who this coaching staff is really high on. I think he's going to take a step forward. We also have to factor in DeMod Williams might get 50, 60, 70 carries by the time the season is over. So I think that Jonah is going to be efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if he still gets to 1,000 yards,

maybe crosses 10 touchdowns again. I don't think he's going to be number one in the conference in rushing yards. I have Darius Taylor. I think that he's someone who that offense is just going to have to lean on time in and time out because they just don't have much else. So he was my favorite and then my dark horse. I had to go with

one of the Penn State guys. I went with Nicholas Singleton. I just feel like Penn State is going to be as, Zach said it perfectly. I don't think I need to rehash that. Look at what Herrings is sure. Harings, what is that? Ron Dane. I was going to say, it looks like Ron Dane.

It's definitely Ron Dane. Is it from like, is it like a retro graphic? It looks like it could be from like EA college football 2003. I'm just going to leave that there. You guys continue on. I'm just going to leave that up there. Ryan just wants to leave so he's come like this clever way. Look at it. Look at it. Look at it. Yeah. Trent, I imagine you're going to plug a hawk eye in this opportunity. Well, I mean, this is assonine. We get through you eight jokers. Nobody has mentioned the team that had the leading rusher from a year ago and Caleb Johnson, the guy that was a starter in front of him a year ago, Kamari Moulton, back for another season. He's the betting favorite in the league. And not one mention out of you, Goobers? I mean, come on here. At least have a little bit of

of insight into this Iowa team that took a huge step forward offensively year ago. Now with the passing game, another step forward this season. Camarie Moulton is the betting favorite for a reason and nobody even brings up his name. Enough about Darius Taylor. Come on. I mean, Phil Fleck, that idiot. We don't need to hear him and pound the ball anymore. That's enough.

Enough with the Iowa hate. In fact, I am moving on. I'm not even going to stick around for the wide receivers because, well, of course, I'm in. Yeah. Yeah, I can't believe Trent wants to duck out on the passing segment. Like, oh, it's not really where we go. By the way, Perguber. Trent, I'd just like to save my own reputation here and point out I didn't officially make a selection.

I'm just playing antagonizer here. So, yeah, everybody else, though, yeah, toast them. Nick, is there a world where Purdue has a leader in the conference in, like, any category this season? and if so, will any of us have heard of who that guy is coming into the year? You should if you've been paying attention, but most people haven't. I don't care about being unbiased. I don't care about odds. Devin Mockaby is 1,170 yards away from becoming Purdue's all-time leading rusher.

You bring Barry Odom in because he's a type of guy that wants to have a strong offensive line, that wants to have a strong rushing attack, and Mockaby is going to be the featureback in that offense, an offense where we don't even know who the quarterback is. there's not much going for that team for that offense besides Devin Mockaby. So they're going to be feeding him the ball constantly. Maybe he may not be a day one, day two draft pick, but he has heart. He has grit. And that's why he's going to be the Big Ten leading rusher.

That's the mantra for Purdue this season. Heart and grit. That's what they're looking for. That to win over Indiana. Mark, you look like you discovered Google for the first time. We're trying to show us something. What's going to show Ryan? Google says tailback, Google.

Wait until he finds out about chat. I don't think we just say I haven't even figured out chat GPT man I don't know it's like this thing anyway so so the internet said that USC is tailback you if it's on the internet it's true that yes I'm on the internet obviously Ryan is always true yes yeah this show this show is on the internet uh to wrap today's show I'm going to see if anybody has the audacity to not make the obvious selection. All right, the leading receiver in the Big Ten for this year. I just, I want to start with, with a quick poll and a show of hands.

Does anybody have the intestinal fortitude to not seriously pick Jeremiah Smith to lead the conference in receiving yards this year? Show of hands, is anybody going to actually do that? Okay, Mark. for Mark to raise his hand. Why was that? Why am I not surprised? You should have started with him.

I probably should have started. We will. We will. Okay, Mark, Mark is not picking Jeremiah Smith. Mark is not picking Jeremiah Smith. Who just got kicked out? I can't keep trying. Oh, yeah, Trent.

Trent's done. Trent's like, oh, passing game. Gosh, Almighty. It's like a scarecrow. Mark, you're leading Big Ten receiver at the end of the year is who? It's Mackay Lemon. Okay. I mean, I guess it's not, that's not the crazy.

It's not a bad pick. Let's see. It's not a bad. It's not ridiculous. What happens? Let me give you my homer rationale. And I'm not knocking Jeremiah Smith. The dude is a stud. He's going to be great.

But let's just clear the air there, okay? You've got a quarterback who's playing, he's what, from five passes, four passes in his career. Is Jeremiah Smith not going to be the focal point of every single defense you guys go against? probably in Oregon's in the Rose Bowl but you know no it was that's the problem thank you Roman I appreciate that well I am I going to plant the flag on the hill that Kyle Lem is going to do it course not you tested by manhood you say who has the intestal fortitude here I am I don't know if that's how I'd phrase it but yeah okay let's let's let's let's roll with that also watch or Roman good to see you as always fighting battles that are

not your own that are just against Oregon. But that's okay. Jay, who's your dark horse to lead the Big Ten and receiving yards this year? I will make it quick for time, Denzel Boston. Ooh. You're a big Washington. It's an, it. That's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, kind of, kind of nice dark horse back. Seco, go ahead. Uh, to finish in second, Nick Marsh. I can't believe, I don't think Nick Marsh made it onto the, are locked on college football top 100. and I saw our good friend, Matt Sheehan, who doesn't make enough appearances on this show, go to bat for it. He is completely justified.

I mean, that was a player that I wanted Penn State to win that recruitment battle, and Michigan State was able to get that across the finish line. Nick Marsh is good. He just wasn't, not enough people realize how good he is because he didn't play last season fully healthy. Give me a team that has a young quarterback in Childs that you're looking for that team that's not going to win a lot of too many football games. but it's still offensively sound, and it's probably going to play a little bit extra of backyard football this season.

Nick Marsh might actually be closer than we think to Jeremiah Smith. Goens, your dark horse. Dark horse wise, just because of the reasonings we gave, let's say that it doesn't all work out for Jeremiah Smith this year. Let's say he has the focal point of the defense as he will. Why not go with the number two according to the betting odds? Let's go Cornell Tate at Ohio State, right? Why not go with the secondary guy who could be the go-to if Jeremiah

Smith is locked up. And Mark, this one's just for you. I'll take Jacoby Lane, the third best betting odds in that USC receiving room. Why? For literally no reason. Oh, that's as good a reason as I've ever heard to pick something for USC. Uh, herrings, anybody in Madison that could, uh, that could, that could, that could surprise. No, no, no, boy, that was a quick no. That's, Herring's going through it, man. He's a really good receiver for people who don't really, for real ones. If you know, Vinnie Anthony had more yards against man coverage than, uh, Jeremiah Smith did last year, average 17.4 per catch against man coverage. He's really good. And he did that with Braden Lock, chucking him the rock. Let's be, let's be honest. Vinnie Anthony's

Anthony's really good. But this is a solid honor. Dark horse to lead the Big Ten, like their, their offense isn't going to be there and they play a brutal schedule. That's just not realistic. I don't know, man. Like there's no, can I just say there's no dark horse when Jeremy Smith is on the field? Like there's, it's almost not worth talking about. It's almost that's why that's why it's called dark horse. It's not a, it's not an outright pick. It's like, Yeah, keep an eye. Something that is so statistically not going to happen. It's like picking against Jerry Rice in 1987 to leave the NFL in receiving yards.

It's just, it's going to be Jeremiah Smith. The dude is incredibly not from this planet. Listen, if you want Dark Horse, I think Penn State's really intriguing. Brought in a couple receivers, they obviously lost Tyler Warren. That's a big chunk of that receiving talent that's gone. You know, a guy like, what's his name? A pain. He has a really good route runner cut 84 balls last year.

I think Alar is a type of guy that works really well with good route runners. He has good timing and touch. If he is one of the better quarterbacks in the Big Ten, he's got to throw to somebody. Tyler Warren's not here anymore. I think somebody like that makes sense. But again, it feels like we're talking about who's going to deliver presence of Santa's dead. Nobody. Santa's going to be there.

Jeremiah, bam. Wisconsin, look at what you have done to our friend Ryan. He is emotionally tormented. It's the first thing. It's going to be Jeremiah Smith. It just is. Oh, my goodness. The poor guy.

And now is your chance to plug to Corey and more. No. It's going to be Denzel Boston. Like, it's one thing where, you know, I talk about Jetfish's offense a little bit earlier and what it can do for DeMond Williams.

When you go back and you look at especially his time at Arizona, Jedfish loves to funnel targets through two guys in his offense. One of them is kind of that move that like Jacob Cowling, Dorian Singer from their time there. The other is just a big outside ex-receiver. And obviously they had an elite talent to Tyro-McMillan during his time down there. Denzel Boston is the closest thing that you're going to get to that in terms of what this offense can be. He has all the potential in the world to be a first round pick. And he's someone who

threw the back half of last season, people kind of forgot about him because the offensive line broke down. Defense has started a key in on him. So the production went downhill. That doesn't seem like it's going to end up being the case this season. So I wouldn't be surprised if he gets to 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. Nick, you got an under the radar pick to lead the big 10 in receiving yards? I do. So very under the radar. Um, I'm not, actually going to look at Nebraska and a transfer that comes from Kentucky in Dane Key. That may be a bit of a poll for some of you guys, but he had success at Kentucky. He did have success at Kentucky.

There wasn't a whole lot of quarterback consistency following Will Levis going to the NFL over at Kentucky, but he was able to make plays. He's a physical receiver that can go up and get balls. He can make the explosive play with Dylan Ryola potentially filling some shoes this year and proving as a passer. see an improvement from the yards for Dengue this year. So that's my, that's my dark horse pool. That's a nice, that's a good deep pole. First squad of his life, Nick Arvin of locked on boiler makers came absolutely positively prepared. Mark, you already, you already gave your pick

ride or did you have another name you want to throw out there? No, this is a solid second. Boiler up, man. Good job. Okay. Yeah, boiler out. That's how we're, that's how we're, that's how we're end of the day just for just for nick yeah let's go around and everyone has to say boiler up i get under jacobs scheme i can do this all day long yeah let's uh let's call it there one day when peru beats indiana in football uh we're going to get goins to say boiler up but until then i'll quit now i really want peru to win that would be whoo uh that would be great j steward's locked on buckeye Zach Saga, locked on Nettany Lions, Jacob Goans, locked on Hoosiers.

Trent Condon of Lockdown Hotkeyes left because we started talking about wide receivers. Ryan Herrings of R.B.U. Lockdown Badgers, Roman Thomashoff, locked on Huskies. Nick Arvin is the new guy on the block here at the network. Lockdown Boilermakers, Mark Colkin, Lockdown USC. I'm Spencer McLaughlin.

Lockdown all over the place. We'll see you next time. And until then, hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day.