Ohio State Football - Defensive Depth Chart Projection

really this is gonna be pretty easy because yeah pretty cut and Dy I've heard of those two guys yeah it's go watch a show from last year um but yeah I mean Jack already JT to M while I think the key here is getting Kaden Curry and kinata Jax and playing every like like playing every quarter essentially like being part of a true rotation and we saw kinata Jackson go down and practice last week with a foot ankle type of thing um he didn't leave like he wasn't carried off or anything but he had to get retap and then he was done practicing but that happens all the time in Camp so I wouldn't worry too much about it right now I haven't heard anything about that being any worse than it than it is um but those two guys are gonna be Jack s and JT T T Mo are the foundation of the defensive line and then you need Steve you need to get contributions from everybody else there because it can't just be those two guys carrying this thing again yeah I agree 100 perc uh kinata Jackson to me uh has got star potential written all over him I mean he looks like coming out of Central Casting he's a National Football League defensive end you know with that huge frame and you know long wing span and everything else and uh I know I'm keeping track of Jim nolles does the Silver Bullet of the day and I believe Kenyata has now wanted at least one once or twice here in the early stretch she picks out a defensive player for practice every day and uh makes a point to put on social media that this was our best defensive player of the day and you can generally figure out who's going to play on defense just by uh who is being selected and Kenyata Jackson was certainly a I think he's done it twice now through the first 11 days Germaine Matthews uh if you remember Tony one last a week ago Sunday had the pick six and a sack in a spin of about five plays and lo and behold when the the winner for day four came out it was Germaine Matthews so it's not hard on a given day to go to practice and see who who's going to win that award usually it's the guy whose name gets called they honest to goodness have a PA guy uh one of the program assistants will tell you what happens pretty much on every play so we don't even need to go to practice Tony we could stand outside and just who gets announced you know sack Jack Sawyer you know is what you'll hear and uh you know you in this instance you hear that a lot so same with kenat and I want to see JT had the one game against Penn State which was arguably one of if not the single greatest game any Ohio State defensive player ever had I mean you could say Chris bman had 29 tackles against Michigan in a game that they lost lost in 1986 and Jamie Morris ran for 200 yards that day but uh you know you can you can we can argue all that till the end of time but get off the field yeah JT Tui maloa in a win that maybe that's a way to put it had as good a and he had his fingerprints on the victory I mean it was like in the AP story of the game the first words in the story were JT tuy maloa you know kind of like that game they had at what Michigan State and it was the punter uh Drew krisman was the first two words in the AP game story that day because the punter won them the game and he was interviewed on network television after the game uh kind of interesting but uh yeah so yeah those are a long and short thoughts on the defensive end position again uh these guys got to bring the goods you know I'm you know you you know don't don't tell me about the pain show me the baby guys it's uh you know the moving sidewalk is ending do you want to be a first round player look down the the one anecdote about Drew Chrisman in that game he was also brought to the post game interview with all of us and he's like I didn't even realize this stuff happened like he had no clue that there was like postgame room postgame interviews I wondered where those guys went where did where were they going yeah so yes that was a fantastic we always have to wait for him on the bus everybody else is ready to go and those guys are the last ones to take their shower what what's going on it's like when Dorothy steps out of black and white and into colors like what in the world moving to defensive tackle then obviously Ty Le Williams Ty Hamilton Ty Hamilton started uh seven of their games last year splitting time with Mike Hall so you essentially have two starters returning and I agree with the backups here Kaden McDonald hero canoe those two guys have been um the two guys basically have been with the ones and the twos out camp when when one of those guys is sitting hero canoe has been the three Tech behind Ty Williams Kate McDonald the nose tackle behind Ty Hamilton but all of those guys can play both positions Larry Johnson wants them to be able to do that I think it's key to find somebody else a fifth and a sixth now Larry Johnson was effusive in his praise of Jason Moore back in the spring and he's been mostly with the threes at this point can he get up into there do they even need do they need more than four because Steve they're going to play defensive ends inside as well with the brushman package there'll be times where JT tuy mooa or Jack Sawyer or Kaden Curry are playing inside which eliminates the need for a defensive tackle in there so I think they they want more I'm not sure how uh readily available a fifth tackle is going to be whether you know Jason Moore Will Smith Jr who we haven't we didn't get to see last year Taiwan Malone I'm not sure if that's if that's happening this year I wouldn't expect anything from Eric Mena the true freshman so the four here I like but but also Kaden mcdonal and hero kunu have not really done much yet there's excitement about them Kade McDonald was had an okay freshman year but now you're asking them to be in a rotation which they really haven't done fully and so I think that's something to watch as well yeah there are some people who think Williams could be a firstr NFL draft picked at 63 327 and I'm here for that if he plays up to that capability then they are going to be extremely difficult team to beat I think this year and Tai Hamilton is one of the unsung heroes I think of the defense as well does a lot of that dirty work inside so uh you know Tai Hamilton somebody asked me if you had a Darkhorse somebody who could win all big 10 honors I'd say Tai Hamilton because he's going to he's going to do a lot of things I think for this defense that helped them win and maybe opposing coaches will recognize that even if maybe he doesn't have huge numbers with tackles and the media may not catch on to him uh some young guys Jason Moore Will Smith Jr's been banged up and uh really started to kind of get healthy in the spring and started to do a couple things Tony edric Houston is he more of an edge player I believe as opposed to being a tackle I thought edric uh in one of the practices seemed to do pretty well going back on defensive end I think maybe he's a guy a true freshman but they again this is the whole same premise you're losing probably 15 of your 22 starters off this team will be gone and it's imperative that you get some youngans ready to go for 2025 and I think Jason Moore kind of fits that bill and uh you know edric Houston at defensive end kind of fits that bill ER Mena is a humongous person and uh I don't want to Discount that he's not going to help him this year but uh uh I think he's a guy in the plans certainly for the future but uh I like the present and the future at defensive tackle that's that's my uh my thoughts on that and then U moving to linebacker again uh Mike linebacker middle linebacker Cody Simon is the leader of the defense he's the quarterback of all of this uh confidence is very very high in him I think the interesting battle between Gabe powers and Aral Ree and Dave's got it as an or here I think that or has I it wasn't there before camp but I think it's starting to appear they really really like Aral Rees and I think he was one of the the Silver Bullets of the day not recently and and he's the guy yeah Jim noes cannot speak highly enough of him just all of the different the athleticism and trying to find a ways to use him I know last year he talked about you know he he could be somebody in that Jack role the jack is not a thing with this defense this year as NES told us recently if I put that in there I have to take somebody else off and there's too many good players to take off the field to put that on there so this is a situation where Gabe Powers arvel ree I'm fascinated to see how much those two guys play because again Cody Simon has had injuries in his past he had a he had a bad shoulder a couple years ago you want to it's kind of like the back quarterback you want to get the backup quarterback of your defense reps as well uh to in case something happens and I think they do need to figure out exactly who the backup is I think right now I'd still give the edge to Gabe the powers but it's been interesting to watch arll ree come on and earn some praise from his coaches yep Payton Pierce just lost his black stripe too so although he may Factor more at the outside linebacker spot but he's another guy that uh I've heard nothing but good things about his work in preseason camp so maybe special teams certainly arel Reese will be on special teams he kind of got dinged up I think on special teams last year that kind of put a damper on his season uh yeah I don't know what to say about that Tony do you think there's any chance that they play Sunny Styles and CJ Hicks together with one of them as the middle linebacker and take Cody Simon kind of the same premise as I mentioned on the offensive line that those are your three best linebackers ERS and you will simply rotate them uh between the two spots and James laurenitis has talked a lot about cross trining everybody at middle and outside will linebacker do you think that's a possibility or what what what do you think I suppose well and that's what I'm wondering with those two um because when you play will at Ohio State you can also play Mike like there there's some cross training there they want it to be interchangeable but some Styles coming from safety to will linebacker do you want to give him that much to do and CJ Hicks still trying to get the will linebacker position down and be the kind of read and react guy and see somebody that can even do the middle linebacker stuff but also I it's it's easy to imagine them together on a passing down type of thing with their athleticism their ability to cover ground I just don't know um how comfortable they are and maybe that's a good question for nolles when we talk to him tomorrow how comfortable they would be just having those two guys out there without a middle linebacker per se making the calls and getting everybody right getting the defensive line right I think it was a James loridas talking about Gabe Gabe Powers how um in talking about him in the position as a whole he said you have to make sure everybody is Right whereas right now Sunny Styles and CJ Hicks are more concerned about themselves being right and so they may not have the the the wherewithal right now to make sure everybody else is right so they may that may be a down the road thing maybe a next year thing as well but I do think you can see uh Sunny Styles at Sam CJ Hicks at will and then a middle linebacker when they're going with their three linebacker sets that will happen and it gives them some flexibility but I think um with with those two I'm I'm Sunny's been with the ones that we've seen he was with the twos in the spring which is understandable he's gotten better he's talking to him about his footwork and being more patient and um you know not overstepping and not and just staying in his gaps that's that's been a learning process for him CJ Hicks talks like he's he's excited about his opportunity this year and said they don't care who starts they talk about it all the time him and sunny they talk about it they don't care who starts as long as he said as long as they both eat they'll be happy and and they both believe is that CJ said it like we're basically the you're getting the same guy so when H say Sunny's tired and he wants to come out I go in when I'm tired I'll go out Sunny will come in and you're getting the basically the same guy to do the same job yeah I want to see how it all works in uh principal uh Jim NES spoke right at the beginning of camp and I you know I I kind of was a little bit koi with him I said you know you can say what you want today about how this is all going to go but once Ohio state gets into games one two and three it's it's going to be readily apparent uh how these guys are used is sunny styles used for every meaningful play and then Hicks just comes in when the score is 21 to nothing or does Hicks come in in a first and 10 situation where they're going to run the football and then Sunny Styles comes in on Third and 10 where they're going to throw the football and he's got that experience from safety being a cover guy be much easier for him as he was having to play at times last year the nickel safety uh trying to cover a guy in the slot and he did the best he could with it although he gave up a few plays here and there well it's going to be a lot easier I think on in this year trying to cover the running back out of the back field or uh the the tight end releasing you know down the middle of the field or whatever I think those are going to be easier assignments for him and more up his alley so uh I'm uh interested to see how this goes and uh again uh two really really good players and I I kind of consider Hicks to be a the 12th starter maybe on this defense because uh I think he could play a starter's number of plays uh particularly let's say if Styles goes out for a game then you've got Hicks and he plays the whole game and and that's how it goes or vice versa so uh yeah I I think it's a good good situation for him to have and his impact could be felt by the the plays that he makes not necessarily the plays that he's in on like the snaps he he may have a higher U percentage of plays made with the snaps basically because they are going to be attacking more with the wills and we saw one of the practices C.J Hicks was on the edge basically on on the line of scrimmage and Jim N said they they want to be more aggressive with those two guys and it's it's a process that he's he's implemented over his time whether it's a western Michigan or Oklahoma State or Duke where you do more and more as you have guys who are older and older and who are more comfortable doing it so they're going to get more more aggressive there um and and really that's CJ hicks's best quality so let's see if that actually comes through on the field moving to um Corner because again this one is also pretty cut and dry Denzel Burke and David nbos arguably the best duo in the nation Germaine Matthews would be starting at I don't know 9 6% of the schools around the nation at either probably be 100% at either nickel or corner like there would be a spot for him somewhere and and he's the backup to Jordan Hancock at uh in a slot I do Wonder though is is he still the number three corner or is that I assume that he is but he hasn't played outside like he's just been inside he's been playing nickel but I think they're pretty confident they can just move him outside if need be but Calvin Simpson hunt has been fantastic in Camp he's given up some ridiculous catches made by a ridiculous receiver some really really impressive plays have come against him but he's right there and there there are some plays where he's batting the ball away and we saw Jaden Ballard still haul it in with one hand like the coverage has been there Aon Scott's been picking it up more and more as as he's come on you know Bryce West still working his way he was injured in the spring so he's coming along miles Lockard as well but um yeah it's a pretty good crew uh Tim Walton loves the depth he said he's he's working on getting five guys that can play I'm just wondering Steve if they come to a situation where there gonna be some there's some rotation at corner because Germaine Matthews makes plays that's I mean that's what he does and I I just wonder how much we see of him because he can rotate a different two different spots for you or three different spots if you're going to consider both outside corners and coming in for Jordan Hancock at times yeah you think about today's game and uh all the passes that are thrown and all the routes that are run these Corners really blow themselves out and I think that uh Matthews is a guy who's gonna get to play I would think at a minimum 25 to 30% of the snaps just uh just the way it's going to work out and uh I do view him as the fourth corner I think Calvin Simpson Hunt is going to get to play 10 15% of the snaps as well uh you know as a backup outside and I think again this is an embarrassment of riches here uh Denzel Burke I looked at four mock drafts and he was in the first round on three of them he could play his way up to the middle of the first round if he has a great great senior year for Ohio State I think for him taking the next step is okay you've deflected the pass you've shown you can master that now you need to intercept the pass and return the pass and I think that is what uh kind of the final finishing step for Denzel Burke to do if he comes back with four five six interceptions he could win the Jim Jim Thorp award possibly so to me uh he's a guy that that can be in that rarified air up there if if he can do that uh davidon bosen I think he's solid uh I know scrolling on down he mentions Dave mentions the slot Corner position and uh you know that's certainly Jordan Hancock with Germaine Matthews backing him up and Lorenzo Styles Jr you know is a guy uh he's kind of been banged up at times and I think in preseason camp he's still coming off a little bit of an injury somebody earlier asked about injuries and and Tony to my way of thinking other than the virus on the offensive line and Lorenzo styles junor I can't think of anybody that we know of and maybe tomorrow we'll find out a little bit more that has missed appreciable time uh due to injuries but hopefully Lorenzo can be a force for this uh this defense and on special teams defense when give the chance and on special teams as well and talking to him back in the spring he would love to be involved in in kick returns which we have not seen any of so far in Camp moving to safety my biggest question here is Jaylen mlan and whether or not he will be able to move mik Hartford to strong safety and jayen McLean is the backup behind Caleb DS or if they're comfortable having Malik Hartford be the backup for both downs and Ransom should somebody go down but when they want to play multiple guys or when they want to play the backups where do they fit in now Jaylen mlan has been mostly with the threes but uh Steve you mentioned the announcer uh I was at getting ready for interviews one day and I heard the um Jaylen mlan interception that was the day he got his black stripe removed as well like so he's one of the earliest guys to get the the black stripe removed in this class he was fantastic in the spring but we've seen Malik Harford and Jaden bonsu with the twos throughout most of camp and again we haven't been there in almost a week now so maybe there's something changed or maybe Jaylen mlan has been able to work his way in there but again the the starting Duo is arguably the best in the nation willik cartford would be a comfortable starter this year if one of them if one of downs or Ransom hadn't you know decided to be a be a buckeye or stay a buckeye and they'd feel pretty good about that Jaden bonso had a strong spring played a bunch because lean Ransom was out so that helped so I think it's a pretty um pretty good crew I just have a question about uh Jaylen mlan and where he fits in and could he move mly cartford over too strong safety yeah DS was the SEC freshman of the year as Dave list here LED Alabama and tackles as a true freshman helped lead that team SEC Championship college football playoffs so he's accomplished he's been there he's done that and certainly that's that cliche uh stands for lean Ransom been there done that been through so many injury issues in his career and uh you know I think he's a possibility to be the block O Jersey guy I I did a story about that as well on our site I gave 10 seniors kind of a run at that uh that block O Jersey I left out Cody Simon so really there could be 11 of them uh that could be in consideration for that but certainly Ransom is a guy that's been through the ringer uh Hartford I look at this is he's the number three safety and then probably as you say bons Su and then mlan and McLean is a cumer no doubt about it a dog going to bite you he's going to bite you as a pup and as our friend CP CP would have said so uh they're not saying boo they're saying Coupe uh I think sometimes they were saying boo but any R uh Jaylen mlan uh to me is is a guy maybe his early next year that that's going to be in the mix I mean you know you you you you hope and you believe that DS will return uh for a third year uh in college at Ohio State next year without another transfer but um you know you never know in this day and age but he'd be the backbone of the defense certainly coming back next year downswood and potential All-American this year so uh we we'll see how it all shakes out mark would you like to have anything to say yeah we we kind of EX excluded you from your own show for the last 30 minutes you that's quite all right this is pay your bills and able to you know catch up on your emails and none of that no I was locked in on this because this is where after I know I know the names the positions the stats and I can recall about three or four plays from most of these guys but this is where I can then after I start watching week one I'm like well that's right Tony said to look out for that oh that's right Steve said that I didn't know that before no this is where it all comes back so this was awesome I I love the the breakdown on the positions because that is uh I hope everybody took that in because that was great stuff to go in depth on each position because well absolutely I can only know so much and when you guys Supply that kind of background then it makes these games so much more enjoyable to watch and and I know so much more than just reading magazines