Last year at this time, Damon Arnette was maligned by much of the Ohio State fanbase, and DaVon Hamilton and Jashon Cornell had combined for just four career sacks in their four previous years.

Each of them flipped the script in their senior seasons and became major contributors for the Buckeyes with performances that earned all three a spot in the NFL draft.

There is no shortage of seniors on the 2020 team that are looking to do exactly the same thing. Here are five seniors on the Ohio State defense that have one last shot at making a big splash for the Buckeyes.

Redshirt senior defensive end Jonathon Cooper’s swan song was supposed to come last year, but the Gahanna, Ohio, native couldn’t stay healthy.

An ankle injury hampered Cooper all year, but by the time he had recovered enough to finish out the year, he and the Buckeye coaching staff decided it was best to shut it down and retain eligibility for 2020.

Cooper’s return should be a big lift for an otherwise young group of pass rushers for the Buckeyes. Sophomore Zach Harrison may be one year away from a monster season for Ohio State, and there has yet to be a true standout among the slew of third-year DEs that includes Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday and Javontae Jean-Baptiste.

With his skill and experience, the former top 100 prospect could be the Buckeyes’ sacks leader in 2020 and propel himself into NFL draft conversations.

Returning for a fourth year in the program, linebacker Baron Browning is the most proven commodity on this list for the Buckeyes, but you get the sense that he hasn’t hit the final gear just yet.

Ohio State must replace leading tackler Malik Harrison in 2020, and there has been talk about Browning getting reps at the will linebacker spot despite playing mostly in the middle for the Buckeyes in the past.

Browning’s versatility sets him apart from the rest of the Buckeye linebacking group, as he even worked on coming off the edge as a pass-rushing outside linebacker at times last year and in Ohio State’s first couple spring practices before the pandemic.

Making plays behind the line of scrimmage was a specialty for Browning in 2019, finishing with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss. He’ll need to do it at an even higher frequency in 2020 to help replace Harrison’s productivity, reach his full potential and boost his draft stock.

Two of Ohio State’s three starting cornerbacks from the 2019 season will not return this year, but senior Marcus Williamson’s name has not come up much in talks about who could step into one of the vacant slots.

The Westerville, Ohio, native was a four-star recruit out of IMG Academy in 2017 and the No. 29 prospect at his position, but an injury in 2018 was a setback for his Buckeye trajectory.

Williamson played just enough games to rule him out of redshirt eligibility two years ago, meaning 2020 is his final chance to make a stamp on the Ohio State secondary.

He’s never had more opportunity, as the starting spots among Ohio State cornerbacks are still up in the air at this point, but Williamson doesn’t have much time left to prove that he deserves more snaps in the Buckeyes’ defensive backfield.

Injuries have threatened to derail Justin Hilliard’s Buckeye career at nearly every turn, but the linebacker from Cincinnati returns for a sixth season in 2020 that many are hoping is his best to date.

Hillard was the No. 55 overall recruit in the class of 2015, and the No. 3 linebacker in the nation, but two torn biceps and a ruptured Achilles kept him on the shelf for months at a time over several years.

But Hilliard found success for the Buckeyes in 2019, making big plays against some of Ohio State’s toughest opponents, including a tackle for loss against Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor in the teams’ first meeting last year, and an interception against Penn State.

With an improvement on his ’19 campaign during his final season, Hilliard can ensure that the his college tenure will end as a feel-good story, and not one of disappointment.

Senior Haskell Garrett’s 80.5 grade from Pro Football Focus for his 2019 season is the higher than any returning defensive tackle in the conference this year. But he didn’t display his talents over a particularly large sample size.

With Robert Landers, Hamilton and Cornell getting the lionshare of snaps at DT, Garrett tallied just 10 tackles last year, with 2.5 for loss. Both were career-high marks for the former No. 6 defensive tackle in the country coming out of Bishop Gorman, but his three-year stat sheet with the Buckeyes is pretty scant.

He’ll have a chance to change that in 2020, as the departure of the three primary tackles on the defensive line frees up spots for Garrett as well as Tommy Togiai and Taron Vincent heading into the new year. The difference between Garrett and those other two is that this will be his final shot to display his talents on the field.