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2021 tOSU Defense

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“We have really good minds in there, really good thoughts,” Day said. “Kerry came from the NFL and was there for a couple years — there’s plenty of ideas there. It’s just a matter now of: How do we implement it? How do we do a better job of coaching it? That’s really what it comes down to. If there’s some scheme out there that someone could bring in that we haven’t seen before or don’t know, then yeah, I would do that. But there isn’t. We know the different schemes, we know the different coverages. These guys are really sharp. But now: How do you implement them the right way and how do you pick the right ones? I think that’s the key.

“Just because we were a four-down, Cover Three team two years ago, that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to be that the majority of the time. … Certainly the last thing we’re doing is making excuses, but certainly the way the season played out with less games, no spring, preseason chopped up — it just didn’t help. Now we have a whole year. Once we have a whole season, a whole year to evaluate that, as we sit here next year we’ll have a much better feel for where we’re at.”

Just sayin': Is Coombs up to the task? I sure hope so. Anyway the 2 big challenges before the start of the 2021 season are develop a new QB1 and improve the pass defense.
 
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The Candidates

Playing behind Tommy Togiai last year were Antwuan Jackson and Jerron Cage. Jackson is back as a sixth-year senior, choosing to utilize the free year provided by the NCAA. Cage will be a fifth-year senior in 2021. Together, they have seen it all, but much of what they saw was from the sideline.

Redshirt freshman Ty Hamilton played in three games last year and continues to add weight and strength in preparation for this coming season. True freshman Tyleik Williams is already on campus and is an athletic big man who will bear watching. Fellow true freshman Mike Hall will arrive in the summer but is likely slated for the three technique spot.

Speaking of the three techs, that’s where both Haskell Garrett and Taron Vincent reside. Could one of them move over so that they can get their two most explosive tackles on the field together?
 
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Ohio State must replace veteran linebackers Tuf Borland, Pete Werner, Baron Browning, and Justin Hilliard, who combined for nearly 100 career starts over the years. It was a talented, experienced, and versatile group last year, and one that won’t soon be forgotten. There is versatility and talent among the linebackers returning, but the experience is lacking. This spring will help that, especially with the likeliest starters being seniors and upperclassmen. Being older, linebackers like Teradja Mitchell, Dallas Gant, K’Vaughan Pope, and Craig Young shouldn’t be seeing anything they didn’t already know, it’s just now there is actually a starting job up for grabs, which increases the pressure as well as the excitement.
 
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1. Is Sevyn Banks a No. 1 cornerback by Ohio State standards?

2. Where is Cam Brown in his recovery from a torn Achilles?

3. Are young Buckeyes better positioned to demand playing time?



There are a dozen factors that contributed to the slide to No. 122 in the country in pass defense a year ago, and those are important to keep in mind to understand why the Buckeyes didn’t panic about it in the offseason when it retooled the coaching staff. But Ohio State obviously isn’t even remotely satisfied about what happened in the secondary, which puts that group squarely in the spring spotlight starting on Friday in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

“The last thing we’re doing is making excuses, but certainly the way the season played out with less games, no spring, preseason chopped up — it just didn’t help,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “Now we have a whole year. Once we have a whole season, a whole year to evaluate that, as we sit here next year we’ll have a much better feel for where we’re at.

“There’s plenty of ideas there. It’s just a matter now of: How do we implement it? How do we do a better job of coaching it? That’s really what it comes down to. If there’s some scheme out there that someone could bring in that we haven’t seen before or don’t know, then yeah, I would do that. But there isn’t. We know the different schemes, we know the different coverages. These guys are really sharp. But now: How do you implement them the right way and how do you pick the right ones? I think that’s the key.”
 
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What Needs to Happen
Defensive line coach Larry Johnson needs to figure out who are defensive ends and who are defensive tackles. There has been talk from outside the football facilities about Tyler Friday moving, but that seems unlikely because of how much they like him at defensive end. But what about redshirt freshmen Jacolbe Cowan and Darrion Henry-Young, both of whom were listed as defensive tackles as recruits. Heck, Cowan is currently listed as a defensive tackle on OSU’s official roster from last year. Then there’s redshirt sophomore Cormontae Hamilton who moved from tight end and was thought to be going to defensive tackle, but showed up at defensive end last year instead. Assuming nobody has been moved yet, Johnson needs to see everybody in action at defensive end to see if they have what he’s looking for. And all of this may be done with the idea that they’ll be adding 5-star defensive end JT Tuimoloau following spring ball.

And all of this may be done with the idea that they’ll be adding 5-star defensive end JT Tuimoloau following spring ball.
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Let's hope so. Get him and his parents in for the visit as soon as the NCAA allows it.
 
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Ohio State loses starting cornerback Shaun Wade from last season, but does return the other starter in Sevyn Banks. (For our purposes, we are only considering the outside cornerback positions here and will cover the “slot corner” (from here on out known as “slot safety” or “strong safety” or “box safety”) with the safeties this weekend.) Along with Banks are four freshman-eligible possibilities, assuming all of the names in the depth chart below are actually out wide and somebody like Cameron Martinez or Lejond Cavazos hasn’t be moved to safety. Fourth-year junior Tyreke Johnson returns as well. He’s a veteran, but doesn’t have as many snaps as you’d like. Denzel Burke is the only one of the three freshman cornerbacks enrolled early for the Buckeyes. Fifth-year senior Marcus Williamson could also appear here, but he’s spent most of his time in the slot, so the assumption is that that will continue.
 
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ScriptOhio said:


Ohio State loses starting cornerback Shaun Wade from last season, but does return the other starter in Sevyn Banks. (For our purposes, we are only considering the outside cornerback positions here and will cover the “slot corner” (from here on out known as “slot safety” or “strong safety” or “box safety”) with the safeties this weekend.) Along with Banks are four freshman-eligible possibilities, assuming all of the names in the depth chart below are actually out wide and somebody like Cameron Martinez or Lejond Cavazos hasn’t be moved to safety. Fourth-year junior Tyreke Johnson returns as well. He’s a veteran, but doesn’t have as many snaps as you’d like. Denzel Burke is the only one of the three freshman cornerbacks enrolled early for the Buckeyes. Fifth-year senior Marcus Williamson could also appear here, but he’s spent most of his time in the slot, so the assumption is that that will continue.
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Time for Coombs to earn his paycheck and get these CBs up to speed with the rest of the defense
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Bring back the Silver Bullets.....:gagnam:

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AL WASHINGTON'S NEW-LOOK ROOM
While the Buckeye secondary is perhaps the biggest concern for most fans, it's the linebacker room that's going through the most turnover. Pete Werner, Baron Browning, Tuf Borland, and Justin Hilliard are gone from Al Washington's room. That's 19 years of experience that has to be replaced. And while the next guys in line are now mostly all upperclassmen, there's not a whole lot of experience left at the position.

We know the names by now. Teradja Mitchell, Dallas Gant, K'Vaughan Pope, Craig Young, Cody Simon, and Tommy Eichenberg are expected to be the primary players fighting it out for the three backer spots. Of the returnees, Mitchell (95) and Gant (80) saw the most snaps in the shortened 2020 season. They're both now expected to transition into starting roles after seeing plenty of special teams action since their arrival in 2018. Gant is looking to get the nod in the middle, but he's set to miss the spring due to a foot injury.

Young and Simon are perhaps the two most intriguing names on the list. Young is one of the more athletic players on the team. With a 6-foot-3 and 228-pound frame, he's reportedly been working with both the safeties and the linebackers. He and Kourt Williams are candidates for the bullet position, which Ryan Day insists still exists. Simon and fellow 2020 signee Mitchell Melton were both referred to as "young studs" when Washington met with the media this week. Simon already has the look of a terrifying human.
 
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I can see the 4-2-5 being legit and the plays in that formation seem to show that for the spring game although I realize it can change. I also realize there are times when 5 true DBs are on the field and the Bullet comes off. I realize the true DBs will likely rotate a little on most years but I feel like a very porous pass D looking to improve may not rotate nearly as much... if they find 4 good ones and it’s working.

So with that said, if we are talking (4) starting DBs getting the vast majority of snaps then to me it’s pretty straightforward. It’s a battle between Lejond and a youngin like Watts or someone like Brown finds some health or by some miracle the light comes on for someone like Johnson, etc because Proctor, Ransom, and Banks are in ink.

So in my mind, the big time battle is between Lejond and Watts. And Watts looked like he may be legit. Maybe. Those 2 dudes know they have a huge opportunity.

Now.....I didn’t forget Williamson. I realize he’s there and he will likely be a starter game 1 but I also think me we may have seen his ceiling or very close to it.

My money is on a 2 man battle between the ones I mentioned.
 
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It may have taken two seasons, but the Buckeyes are finally using the bullet position on defense. We’ve spent two years defining the position and who best fit that description. Was it a linebacker pretending to be a safety or a safety pretending to be a linebacker?

It turns out the answer to that is either. Either way, the job for Craig Young or Ronnie Hickman is to hunt down ball carriers in space while also having the defensive-back skills and athleticism to cover tight ends.
 
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