Seeing Patrick Gurd in some of the spots he appeared in last year may have come as a surprise to some.
The walk-on tight end played two snaps in a tight 24-10 win at Wisconsin in 2023 and 14 snaps in a tighter-than-the-scoreline 35-16 win at Rutgers. He played 39 snaps on the season in total and made special teams contributions throughout the back half of the year.
Now one of a handful of Ohio State’s tight ends with some high-leverage experience as the unit replaces two-year starter Cade Stover, Gurd is looking to step into a leadership role and carve out even more reps in a competitive position room alongside Gee Scott Jr.