2016 tOSU Really Basic Defense Discussion

[RobotParty]

Bosa at 265 is probably too light for much time at tackle.
He'll probably get lots of time spelling one of the ends. Probably Lewis.
But that's a very nice lineup!

From yesterday:

Reporter: "Is (Nick Bosa) inside or outside"

Larry Johnson: "He can do both, he can do both. So, we're gonna find the best fit for him. Put the best 11 guys on the field. He's probably in that best 11."

 

[ScriptOhio]

HOW DOES OHIO STATE REPLACE JOEY BOSA? IT'S A QUESTION THE BUCKEYES HAVE ALREADY HEARD MORE THAN ONCE

Jalyn Holmes heard a familiar question, one he seems to have lost count how many times has been asked already and one he’s surely to hear again on numerous occasions in the future.

Ohio State’s junior defensive end could only smile before answering.

How will this defense go about replacing Joey Bosa?

“I hear that so much,” Holmes said, laughing. “But you can’t really replace him. … We just gotta go hard every day, work on fundamentals and we’re going to make a name for ourselves and fill our own shoes.”

Holmes certainly isn’t wrong in his thinking; the Buckeyes can’t simply plug a new player in and replace one like Bosa. After all, we’re talking about a two-time All-American here who ranks third all time at Ohio State in sacks — despite playing just three seasons — with 26. It’s likely Bosa winds up a top-five pick in the upcoming NFL Draft; you don’t just replace a guy like that.

So the Buckeyes will be forced to do things a little differently. They’re going to have to replace Bosa's production with a number of different guys.

“My philosophy is you don’t try to replace them, you just try to find a guy to raise their game to the next level. If you can find a guy to raise the bar a little bit, you’re good,” Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson said. “I think the talent is there, I think these guys are really talented players, they want to be really good and that’s special.

Entire article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...ion-the-buckeyes-have-already-heard-more-than

 

[ScriptOhio]

Buckeye Football Notebook: 'It's probably the fastest defense Coach Johnson has ever seen'

The Buckeyes are taking the practice field this spring with three new starters on the defensive line.

Having said a heartfelt goodbye to Joey Bosa, Adolphus Washington and Tommy Schutt, Ohio State is now breaking in some new faces. Some would call it a youth movement, but at least at the top that's not necessarily the case.

Defensive tackles Michael Hill and Tracy Sprinkle are both fourth-year juniors, as is defensive end Tyquan Lewis. Sam Hubbard is the pup of the group, and this is going to be his third year in the Scarlet and Gray.

There are certainly some young players behind them who are going to have to produce, but the veterans ahead of them will allow things to move at the proper pace.

Given the number of upperclassmen and underclassmen, this defensive line can't be categorized as young or old. But if you must categorize it, maybe you should focus on the speed at which they move.

"We’re fast and we can bring in some young guys that are fast too," Sprinkle said this past week. "We’ve all got a chip on our shoulder. We’re a lot of no-name guys. Maybe not all-star guys like Didi and Joey were last year, and we’re all going out there with something to prove."

Entire article: http://theozone.net/Ohio-State/Foot...e-fastest-defense-Coach-Johnson-has-ever-seen

 

[ScriptOhio]

OHIO STATE DEFENSIVE LINE MUST CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THIS SUMMER AHEAD OF 2016 SEASON

Urban Meyer talks often about those players that contributed to the defensive line on the team that won him his first national title at Ohio State.

"When we won the national championship, the defensive line played as well as any team in America," Meyer said Saturday after the spring game. "And a good chunk of those guys are gone."

Joey Bosa, Adolphus Washington, Mike Bennett, Rashad Frazier, Steve Miller, Tommy Schutt — all names that left the program either after 2014 or this past season. Each thrived against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon for Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson in the 2014 post-season. Miller's interception return for a touchdown against the Crimson Tide is one of the iconic plays from that run, much like Bennett's inspired play for fallen teammate Kosta Karageorge and Bosa's overall dominance in the trenches.

That team put all the necessary pieces together on both sides of the ball to win the first-ever College Football Playoff, but Johnson's unit specifically played out of its mind to boost the rest of the defense.

"Why did Curtis Grant, Stevie Miller, all these kids become so great at the end of (2014)? Because they fixed that No. 3," Meyer said April 5, when he laid out three reasons players struggle to reach their potential. "They were always good enough, but they didn’t play good enough and we have to find out why."

"It’s very complicated and something we spend an inordinate amount of time on is finding out why is that kid not playing good. It’s easy to say, ‘You stink, you’re not good enough.’ No they don’t. They’ve done something very well to get here."
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Entire article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...e-to-improve-this-summer-ahead-of-2016-season

 

[TampaBuckeyes]

Defense is definitely not bare. They embarrassed the o line and made plays all over the field.

 

[1926Buckeyes]

Excited to see how the whole defense gels. I think theyll have a very good pass rush, and the talent is there for an elite secondary, but not sure about the run defense. Thats one change they really need. To not let teams bully them upfront.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Excited to see how the whole defense gels. I think theyll have a very good pass rush, and the talent is there for an elite secondary, but not sure about the run defense. Thats one change they really need. To not let teams bully them upfront.

Urban Meyer teams are built to score points in bunches and play defense from ahead. If they end up on the field for long stretches trying to slug it out with teams that run straight ahead effectively it is playing to the other teams strength and the defenses weakness.

The fact they aren't elite run stuffers is by design, being my point.

 

[RugbyBuck]

This team is going to be lethal the next couple of years. I'm not worried.

 

[bigdog3300]

Urban Meyer teams are built to score points in bunches and play defense from ahead. If they end up on the field for long stretches trying to slug it out with teams that run straight ahead effectively it is playing to the other teams strength and the defenses weakness.

The fact they aren't elite run stuffers is by design, being my point.

It's going to be interesting too to see how Schiano impacts the defensive play calling.....you can already tell that the secondary is going to be aggressive and I think we'll see more CB blitzes than ever before. That last point is the reason why I think Denzel Ward will win that second CB spot ahead of Lattimore, Ward is a speed demon and can pack a hit too, really excited to see him progress. The one thing our run defense has going for it is that Kwon is right there and with Conner down the line those guys add the insurance that the front line needs.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Easy to See Why Urban Meyer is Feeling Better About the Defensive Line

One old recruiting adage — to bastardize a famed gelatin sales pitch — says that there is always room for a talented defensive lineman in a recruiting class, and Urban Meyer has put that axiom into practice in his first five recruiting classes at Ohio State.

You only needed to watch the first 10 plays of last January's Fiesta Bowl to see the impact that a single defensive end can have on an offense.

Losing three starters from the 2015 defensive line in Joey Bosa, Tommy Schutt and Adolphus Washington, as well as senior leader Joel Hale, meant that Ohio State's 2016 front four came into winter workouts and spring practice with as much to prove as any position group in the OSU program.

For many, the defensive line was the biggest question mark going into the spring. Yes, the recruiting had been successful and productive at defensive end, but the defensive tackle position was unproven at best.

Late in March, however, things began to change according to Urban Meyer.

"I just talked to Davon Hamilton’s family, boy he’s crawling out of his shell a little bit," he said. "He’s doing pretty good. Sam Hubbard’s really doing good. Jalyn Holmes is coming on. D-line was the area of most concern in our program. I think that’s shifting a little bit to the O-line now."

Entire article: http://theozone.net/Ohio-State/Foot...er-is-Feeling-Better-About-the-Defensive-Line

 

[TheStoicPaisano]

Looking for some DT depth with Munger retiring -- confident in Hill/Sprinkle but the seven (8, with Bosa) backups have yet to see a collegiate snap. I expect a 3-3-5 nickel look like the past two seasons.

 

[pnuts34]

Looking for some DT depth with Munger retiring -- confident in Hill/Sprinkle but the seven (8, with Bosa) backups have yet to see a collegiate snap. I expect a 3-3-5 nickel look like the past two seasons.

Doubt it. Jones and Cornell looked really good in the spring game. And I'm sure Barrow may see the field as well. Don't forget that Hamilton also looked very good in the spring game. Our entire defense is basically young, may as well throw them into the water and see if they can swim

 

[buckeye4ever21]

Defense is definitely not bare. They embarrassed the o line and made plays all over the field.

I'd temper that enthusiasm until we see them against a cohesive OL that isn't just patched together. The OL is at a disadvantage in the spring game because the position is so watered down with the unit being split and none of the starting 5 from last year played. So you've got a young unit that hasn't worked together with poor communication and no cohesion trying to block a young, quick DL unit that isn't as watered down. The QBs don't have that much time. That being said, Cornell, Jones and Hamilton all were disruptive. Berry looked electric off the edge.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Buckeye Football Notebook: 'We have nothing but discomfort, which is what we should have'

At some point — probably around October — you will stop hearing about the established Buckeyes who are no longer on the current roster.

The loss of talent remains a significant story, but it's not one that the OSU coaches are interested in fretting over. After all, their job is to build that next batch of stars who will end up leaving them as well.

To put it another way, there's a reason Sisyphus was never worried about yesterday's boulder, and that's because today's boulder was plenty to keep him busy.

The good news is that the departures have created the kind of upheaval that leaves everybody looking for new and more important roles.

"We don’t have any contentment right now," cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs said of his position group. "We have nothing but discomfort, which is what we should have. We should have a lot of guys who are uncomfortable about where they are and how can they get better and what they need to do. So I think there’s a real urgency among the guys to do that."

Entire article: http://theozone.net/Ohio-State/Foot...g-but-discomfort-which-is-what-we-should-have

 

[ScriptOhio]

SPRING REWIND: WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT OHIO STATE'S LINEBACKERS

With the departures of Darron Lee and Joshua Perry — two surefire NFL Draft picks — Ohio State has a pair of massive holes to fill at linebacker this season. The Buckeyes don’t seem to be worried much, however, because of the depth they’ve built in the linebacker room and the one linebacker who does return will likely be a first-round NFL Draft pick next season.

Dante Booker, Raekwon McMillan and Chris Worley head out of spring practice as Ohio State’s three starting linebackers. Booker and Worley as the replacements for Lee and Perry; McMillan as the returning man in the middle.

Position coach Luke Fickell feels just fine if he had to trot those three out onto the field for a game tomorrow.

“When you put your head on the pillow and you have got great kids and you know they are going to continue to work, those things that they may be a little shy in, you have got great confidence that the next four months are big for us and in the growth of what we do,” Fickell said this spring. “They have got a sense of they understand and they have a chip on their shoulder, they know what the expectations are and when you have got guys that work like that, it makes you sleep a little bit easier.”

Entire article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...what-we-learned-about-ohio-states-linebackers