On Saturday we started looking at some of the returning stat leaders from the offensive side of the ball for the Buckeyes. There really were no surprises as to who led in the throwing, rushing and receiving aspects of the game with some pretty big names all set to return for the 2020 season.

When it comes to the defensive side of the ball, things might not be as cut and dry.

First, we are talking more about specific stats on this side of the ball because so much of defensive metrics are measured in terms of what the unit does. Points allowed, yards allowed, things of that nature. You could rack up 25 tackles in a game and still see your team lose 63-0.

Secondly, Ohio State does lose several big-name players from last year’s defense including the likes of Chase Young, DaVon Hamilton, Jeff Okudah, Damon Arnette and others.

That does not mean that Ohio State is in any sort of trouble on this side of the ball, as year-in and year-out the Buckeyes have proven the ability to step up and replace first-rounders in the NFL.

Somebody had to step into the roles left vacated by the Bosa brothers, Denzel Ward, Raekwon McMillan, Marshon Lattimore and others when their time came to head off to the next level.

Okay, you could have given me five or six guesses and I would not have guessed that K’Vaughan Pope is the interceptions leader coming back from the 2019 squad with two. The Buckeyes had 15 picks on the year in 2019 and nobody had more than three (Jeff Okudah had three) while a pair of departed players (for very different reasons) each had two along with Pope.

Predicting interceptions is not an easy task, you see players like Shaun Wade coming back and you expect for him to really flourish in his highlighted role. But, something else can happen, opponents could respect him to the highest level and stay away from him at all costs. That could put someone like a Sevyn Banks into a position where he is going to have to defend a lot of passes.

Of course, we also could look at a case where someone like Pope or another linebacker might be in the right place at the right time more than anyone else and could lead the team in interceptions this year.

But it will probably be a defensive back and if we had to guess, even if teams are going to avoid Wade, he is just too good and will cover too much ground out there and our guess is he will lead the Buckeyes in picks in 2020.

K’Vaughan Pope: 2 interceptions

We love to talk about who leads the team in tackles or led in a game but this once again is a stat that has very little to do with what the final score ended up being. Obviously you don’t want all of your tackles happening in the secondary, showing that teams were getting through the first two levels of the defense with ease, but we have seen several group of five teams come through Ohio Stadium through the years, have a player who put up a tackles number in the high-teens or even higher and the final score was nowhere close.

The Buckeyes lose their leading tackler from last season with the departure of Malik Harrison, but Peter Werner is coming back and was the team’s second-leading tackler with 64 on the year, 39 of those tackles solo.

It really should not come as a surprise that three of Ohio State’s four leading tacklers were all linebackers with Tuf Borland coming in at No. 4 and Baron Browning was No. 6 just for good measure.

A player like Chase Young, who had 46 tackles of his own, saw 21 of those tackles register a loss for opposing teams, a tremendous ratio and a textbook example of what you would want to see out of your rush end specialist.

With Ohio State returning Werner, Borland and Browning, the safe bet is one of those three will lead the defense in tackles once again and all there will be within the top-five on the team, provided all play throughout the season and nothing unforeseen occurs.

Pete Werner: 64 tackles, 39 solo

Earlier we mentioned that it was a linebacker and not a defensive back that led the team in interceptions with K’Vaughan Pope. But when it comes to PBUs (pass break-ups) that goes all to the secondary, and while there may be a question as to when a PBU is an actual PBU, we do know that Shaun Wade is the leading returner with eight, a number that was shared with Damon Arnette for second on the team, only behind Jeff Okudah’s nine.

The actual definition of the PBU is “an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player. This is done by slapping or blocking the ball with a hand or part of the arm, knocking the ball to the ground”.

Is there any reason not to expect Shaun Wade to be right there again? Sure, with guys like Sevyn Banks and Cameron Brown, among others, being out there and likely to be tested as new starters, Wade is going to find himself around the ball an awful lot and while there are times you see a defensive back blanket an opposing team, for whatever reason he is not credited with getting his hand on the ball and getting an official PBU.

Who could step up into that next guy though? How about someone like Josh Proctor playing that single-high safety? Sounds good to us.

Shaun Wade: 8 PBUs

I really did not want to put these both in the same section because they are not always mutually inclusive, but if you lead the team in sacks, we have an idea of at least how many TFL’s you may have.

Ohio State loses a big name in Chase Young and his 16.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. Those obviously are staggering numbers and nobody is expecting anyone to talk right in and replace that kind of output.

But Ohio State also lost 16.5 tackles for loss from Malik Harrison and 10.5 from Davon Hamilton, as well as a combined 10.5 sacks from the pair.

Baron Browning is the next man up with 10 TFL’s of his own and five sacks. After Browning, nobody had more than 3.5 sacks of their own and that was from Zach Harrison, the player we expect to make a good run at those numbers along with guys like Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday and others.

There have been some quite discussions amongst fans that someone like Browning could be a devastating situational rush end in limited doses and could allow the Buckeyes to really move to some different looks and while we don’t know if that is more fan talk or if there is something to it, it is something to think about, the thought of having Browning and Harrison in a “rushmen” look.

The defensive line is going to have a lot of players with a lot of experience coming back this season and while a lot of the air in the room was getting sucked up by the mentions of Chase Young, this line really could be something special this year as Larry Johnson will have the chance to roll players in a little bit more freely without the confines of feeling like having Young out there as much as possible as Ohio State’s top lineman.

Baron Browning: Five Sacks, 10 TFLs