COLUMBUS, Ohio - We continue to look at what Ohio State's depth chart may look like at this point of the year. On Tuesday we started with the offense and now we move to the defense.
The Buckeyes will return many more players on the defensive side of the ball than they will on offense but the biggest concern this year is how will they turn around the defense as a whole. Four new coaches on that side of the ball will all be tasked with turning 2018 into the exception rather than the rule as Ohio State's defense gave up way too many big plays along the way and inexplicably could not answer the bell against Purdue, Ohio State's lone loss of the year and the one that kept the Buckeyes out of the College Football Playoff despite having a pretty strong resume outside of that one game including its second consecutive Big Ten Championship.
Even with the guys that are returning, there won't be a Nick Bosa or Dre'mont Jones on the roster. But there will be guys like Chase Young and Davon Hamilton to see more time in their roles while we should see some differences in the defenses that will go all the way down to formation and philosophy.
With that being said, we will plug in the way that we think that things will go but only time will tell what Greg Mattison, Jeff Hafley and Ryan Day all have in mind for what this defense will look like come August 31st when the Buckeyes open up with Florida Atlantic.
The Buckeyes are so deep at the defensive line and they had to go 11 games without Nick Bosa last year so having a lineup without the likely top-five pick won't be foreign as they went most of last season without him. Chase Young and Jonathon Cooper will see a majority of the snaps at the end positions. That does not mean that Larry Johnson won't be looking to roll guys in and out of the lineup during the year, like he has over the last several seasons, but the tandem of Young and Cooper are at the top of the list and have the experience to thrive in those situations. Behind them is a lot of talent and we had a chance to see a good amount of Tyreke Smith and Tyler Friday last season and it will be important for the success of this team that both of them have taken big steps forward going into this season. All reports have been very positive about the growth of each of those players and they will have their number called a lot this year. Throw into the mix guys like Javontae Jean-Baptiste and Zach Harrison and the depth just becomes absurd. One player we did not include on the list but we saw flashes from during spring is Alex Williams. The Buckeyes have finally decided where they want to play him and he is someone that could be pushing for some quality snaps as the season goes on.
The interior line will have a pair of familiar faces with Davon Hamilton and BB Landers each starting at their respective positions. Landers has been a mainstay at the 1-tech position while Hamilton has not been a stranger to the line at the 3-tech. Ohio State is also blessed with a lot of depth behind each of these players and while they will miss what Dre'mont would bring to the position, guys like Tommy Togiai, Taron Vincent, Haskell Garrett, Antwuan Jackson and Jashon Cornell are all high-level players. Cornell could also play some defensive end as well but sliding him inside to play three-tech seems like a natural progression based on where Ohio State needs to be to get its best linemen on the field in the right situation.
Of all of the positions, linebacker is the toughest one to really nail down because we still are waiting to see what the Sam and the Will will be responsible for under this new scheme and while the Buckeyes do return all three starting linebackers from last season, the competition is going to be fierce with several players who have proven through the spring that they are worthy of being starters as well.
Pete Werner and Dallas Gant will both see time at the one outside position in our opinion. Werner has already played in 17 games during his Ohio State career and has shown a steady arc of improvement during that time. Gant is one of the players that we have heard the most about during the spring on the defensive side of the ball. With only one year of separation between the two in terms of eligibility, it is going to be on the coaches to figure out how to split the snaps once the season starts but both have proven to be valuable assets.
The Mike position gets to be even more crowded with three players all vying for valuable minutes. Tuf Borland did not go through drills in spring as he has been dealing with the wear and tear of football and missed last offseason due to an achilles injury. That opened the door for Baron Browning to see a good amount of time but the position is even deeper with Teradja Mitchell there pushing as well. The margin between Borland and Browning is incredibly small but Mitchell is the wild card in the whole mix. Al Washington will have a lot of decisions to make in this position.
The other outside position is pretty simple to sort out, Malik Harrison has done nothing to lose his starting spot but K'Vaughan Pope is out of that same recruiting class along with Gant and Mitchell that is pushing to see the field. Both will play but Harrison still should see the majority of the snaps to start the season.
The Bullet position is not a new position in terms of football but is something new to Ohio State in terms of being a named position on the depth chart. This spot is just built for a player like Brendon White as a hybrid LB/S type of spot, very much like the Viper under the systems at that school up north. The position also could see White in a pass rushing position so this is not just some sort of extra defensive back like a nickel and has a lot more wrinkles to it. Jahsen Wint seems to be the back-up here, coming off of a strong spring game with two interceptions. Wint struggled in his first foray in the lineup as a defensive back but to the credit of Wint, he never let it get him down and create doubt, he kept working and now has a new lease at a new position.
The rest of the defensive backfield is pretty straight forward as the Buckeyes only lose one out of the secondary from last year with the early departure of Kendall Sheffield. Jeffrey Okudah and Damon Arnette will start at corner, this really is not even up for debate. Behind them is a group that includes Sevyn Banks, Marcus Williamson, Tyreke Johnson and Cam Brown. Keep an eye on Tyreke Johnson as being a star of the future. That is not to take anything away from anyone else but Johnson has the skills to be a next-level type of player once he puts it all together.
Safety is easy to sort out as well with Jordan Fuller and Shaun Wade as the starters but Josh Proctor is going to demand playing time with his ability and Isaiah Pryor has starting experience as well. Amir Riep rounds out the group of safeties who appear to be in line for minutes. The big question will be how positions line up when the Buckeyes are using someone at the bullet.
