2022 tOSU Defense

[ScriptOhio]

BIGGEST UNKNOWNS

WILL GAME-CHANGERS EMERGE?
Ohio State’s 2019 defense, which led the nation in total defense in Jeff Hafley’s only season in Columbus after the worst statistical defense season in school history in 2018, has been oft-cited as an example of the immediate defensive turnaround Knowles is looking to spearhead this year. It can’t be forgotten, however, that the 2019 defense included a pair of top-five NFL draft picks in Chase Young and Jeff Okudah leading the way.

If Ohio State is going to have an elite defense this year, that starts with having elite defensive players. There are plenty of defensive players on the current roster who have the talent to emerge as superstars, but a lack of game-changers on the defensive side of the ball is a big reason why Ohio State’s defense has underperformed for the past two years.

WILL TALENT ACCELERATE TIMELINE?
Although Knowles has a demonstrated track record of making defenses better, that improvement has taken multiple years to achieve at previous stops. His first defense at Oklahoma State ranked 112th in total defense. He didn’t have a top-25 defense at Oklahoma State or Duke until his final season at each school.

Knowles knows he’ll be expected to achieve immediate results at Ohio State, and he’s embraced that expectation. He’s said this offseason the Buckeyes have picked up his scheme more quickly than he expected, and he believes he has all the talent he needs to field an elite defense right away. But that’s all easier said than done, and history is reason to believe there could be some growing pains for the defense in Knowles’ first season.

HOW MUCH SUBSTITUTION WILL WE SEE?
Knowles is on record saying he doesn’t plan to rotate much in the back seven of his defense, believing it is important for the linebackers and defensive backs to stay in the flow of the game. But while it’s likely the starters at those positions will see most of the snaps in the base defense, there could still be ample opportunities for backups to earn roles in subpackages.

Ohio State is expected to use three-linebacker packages at times against bigger offensive personnel alignments, while it could also use six- and even seven-defensive back packages at times against spread offenses. There are also expected to be packages that utilize a hybrid Jack linebacker in place of a defensive end – though defensive ends like Sawyer and Javontae Jean-Baptiste will likely see most of the snaps in that role, and Ohio State is expected to rotate heavily on the defensive line anyway, as Johnson has said he could play as many as 12 players up front.

 

[RB07OSU]

Did the offensive projected depth chart in the offense thread, now have to follow up on the defense, which proved to be much more difficult. I hope my blatant ignorance of how the Knowles 4-2-5 works is not on display here, as I have tried to read up on it and grasp it...but I am sticking with general position designations since I don't know the intricacies of the different positions. Here we go:

DE (Jack): Sawyer, Harrison, JBB (regardless of who is designated a starter, Harrison is going to play a lot...also see JBB playing plenty as well)
DE: JTT, Friday, Curry (could swap JTT and Harrison to me, but JTT seems to have seized on the job...Friday I hope is healthy because we need him in the rotation...Curry has been impressing everyone and I am not surprised, I thought he was criminally underrated in HS rankings coming out, he will play)
DT: T. Williams, Cage, Hamilton, McKenzie
DT: Vincent, Hall Jr (wherever he is on the depth chart officially, he is going to play a lot imo), Kanu (sounds like he showed up in good shape, could play decent minutes, probably eclipses McKenzie and Hamilton for PT imo)
LB: Eichenberg (I think he will thrive in our new defensive scheme), Simon (he is a good player, I think he will be better this year with improved coaching), T. Mitchell (going to play, just don't know how many minutes)
LB: Chambers (going to be a stud with his new position set), Hicks (yes this is a somewhat ballsy pick...I don't think he starts on the depth chart here, but I think he ends up here being a key contributor by the end of the year), Trayanum
CB: Burke, Hancock (think he plays regardless of health at this position), Jyaire Brown (adding him bc depth could be a concern)
CB: Brown (please stay healthy, he is solid when he is), JK Johnson (like Hancock, he will play regardless), Turner (again listing someone based on health of our other CBs...he redshirts if we keep relatively healthy.
S: Proctor (hope he is healthy, he is crucial to this season), Stokes (looks like the next great safety here, he will likely play)
S: McCallister (going to play a huge role in getting things turned around on defense), Kourt Williams (voted captain, good player and will play no matter what), Styles (likely redshirt but if we have injuries here, I feel like he is more than ready to play if needed)
S: Hickman (he gets the nod, but many others will vie for time), Ransom (talent is there in droves, hopefully shines with better coaching), Martinez (also talented and should play, maybe he edges Ransom out for PT?)

- At DE, if there are injuries or guys who need a break, Kenyatta Jackson and/or Omari Abor could find themselves on the field as true frosh...Jackson is my pick for a guy that could see the field in that scenario, but hopefully that scenario does not come to fruition.

- At LB, I think Eichenberg and Chambers are locked in for the guys that play the most. After that, I could see a hundred different scenarios of who earns the most PT of the LB's. I just think Hicks is going to be a star and bite early as a pup (as Cooper said), but Simon, Mitchell, Trayanum, etc. will all make noise. With only two spots, PT gets harder to come by though.

- At DB...biggest question mark really, just not due to a lack of talent. At CB, Burke and Brown are the clear starters, but Brown has had issues staying healthy. It sounds like JK and Hancock took the next step and were highly rated guys that I thought would be our next stud CBs. Past that, not sure what we have. I feel comfortable in saying that Proctor and McCallister are the cogs at safety and in the defensive backfield as a whole, those two will rarely come off the field. Then there are 4-5 guys imo that could run away with a role and stick the landing. I see Hickman, Ransom, Martinez and Kourt as all very close talent-wise...Hickman has a little edge there, but any of the rest could grab the third safety spot. Plus Stokes looks like the real deal and could be too good to keep off the field. But I do think with a cohesive defensive scheme that we are hoping/praying for, some combination of our safeties has got to work and frankly our roster might be best suited to Knowles' scheme with all the talent at safety. My hunch is that a lot of guys play like last year, but only because they are too good to keep off the field and fingers crossed they all shine.

- Summary: So much damn talent on defense, I just hope Knowles can harness it and get guys in a position to succeed. If that happens, we should improve markedly.

 

[Buckeneye]

The play that hurt oksu the most was when there was some sort of delayed route, typically a back or tight end slipping out of the backfield after initially dropping into protection.l

There was a bit I touched on some days ago when I was last in this thread - communication. More specifically, having McCallister not only on this roster, but on the field. Because the play in question was a miscommunication and misread by the Okie linebackers on who was tracking the NoD RB.

As a result, the Domers used their backs to great effectiveness early on in the passing game because of Knowles bringing his signature 5th man (delayed pressure or field pressure as well). A couple of them from NoD were simple HBC (half back choice) Once our newly christened DC got away from that 5th pressure, be it c2, c3 or man, he trusted his front 4 to get home and took away the easy throws from the Irish. At that point their offense had trouble converting 3rd downs and extending drives. The implosion was shortly there after.

It speaks to Knowles halftime adjustments, understanding his own defensive calls and being dialed in with the mental lapses from his players so he could coach better situational awareness.

In short, I agree with you. If NoD plans to go back to the well and dial up those same seam and choice concepts, Knowles will be ready. It depends on the Silver Bullets to execute.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

There was a bit I touched on some days ago when I was last in this thread - communication. More specifically, having McCallister not only on this roster, but on the field. Because the play in question was a miscommunication and misread by the Okie linebackers on who was tracking the NoD RB.

As a result, the Domers used their backs to great effectiveness early on in the passing game because of Knowles bringing his signature 5th man (delayed pressure or field pressure as well). A couple of them from NoD were simple HBC (half back choice) Once our newly christened DC got away from that 5th pressure, be it c2, c3 or man, he trusted his front 4 to get home and took away the easy throws from the Irish. At that point their offense had trouble converting 3rd downs and extending drives. The implosion was shortly there after.

It speaks to Knowles halftime adjustments, understanding his own defensive calls and being dialed in with the mental lapses from his players so he could coach better situational awareness.

In short, I agree with you. If NoD plans to go back to the well and dial up those same seam and choice concepts, Knowles will be ready. It depends on the Silver Bullets to execute.

I agree with most of this, but some of it seems to assume that Knowles coached the bowl game. He didn’t.

 

[Buckeneye]

I agree with most of this, but some of it seems to assume that Knowles coached the bowl game. He didn’t.

Silly me, I forgot he wasn't there. That's my bad.

In this, I'll still give a nod to Knowles coaching prowess and making sure his position group coaches were so well versed in his designs that we got to see these halftime adjustments. That's knowledge being disseminated from the top down.
Coaches are teachers, first and foremost. So it may not speak to Knowles making these adjustments, but it does speak to his teaching ability then.

Good catch, I should have known better.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

How many times this year will the Buckeye defensive backfield face better receivers in a game than what they faced against the Buckeye scout team that week?

Will it happen at all before the playoff?

MSU has some good receivers…

anyone else?

 

[thackattack]

How many times this year will the Buckeye defensive backfield face better receivers in a game than what they faced against the Buckeye scout team that week?

Will it happen at all before the playoff?

MSU has some good receivers…

anyone else?

I think you could put Team Up North in there among the else - at least for consideration. They return Bell and have several other promising receivers, right up there with the Buckeye reserves. Because that’s the comparison. Obviously no one is coming close to Zone Six’s first-teamers.

 

[pnuts34]

How many times this year will the Buckeye defensive backfield face better receivers in a game than what they faced against the Buckeye scout team that week?

Will it happen at all before the playoff?

MSU has some good receivers…

anyone else?

I'd say Ped St and Maryland may have some of the best crop of WRs we'll face. The issue for them will be that their OLs aren't very good and their QBs will be running for their lives

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

I'd say Ped St and Maryland may have some of the best crop of WRs we'll face. The issue for them will be that their OLs aren't very good and their QBs will be running for their lives

MSU’s are better imho, but that’s beside the point. I think our DB’s will have an easier time on Saturday vs all opponents to the east than they had during the week against the scout team. I think that’s true for most of the B1G

 

[MGMT]

One of my thoughts was to mentally prep myself and ensure I remind my anger sharks that hiccups and bumps need to be expected as players acclimate to a new system. I understand there was an off-season for it to be installed, but live stadium game-based action is a different story and I think it’ll take some weeks to see the consistency we want.

How I feel about Knowles is a different subject (only a handful of top 30 defenses during his tenure and several bottom 30) but I’m sure ND will have some chunk plays as a result of us recalibrating/adjusting.

 

[pnuts34]

One of my thoughts was to mentally prep myself and ensure I remind my anger sharks that hiccups and bumps need to be expected as players acclimate to a new system. I understand there was an off-season for it to be installed, but live stadium game-based action is a different story and I think it’ll take some weeks to see the consistency we want.

How I feel about Knowles is a different subject (only a handful of top 30 defenses during his tenure and several bottom 30) but I’m sure ND will have some chunk plays as a result of us recalibrating/adjusting.

Yeah, we all need to temper our expectations on the defense in game 1. Though I know a chunk of the fanBase expects a shut out and no first downs allowed. In reality game 1, we should be happy for a W, not allowing many big plays, and just showing some visible improvements in the pass rush and from the LBs.

I’m excited to see how the Safeties are used, and what the new era “super Sophs” will do

 

[MGMT]

Yeah, we all need to temper our expectations on the defense in game 1. Though I know a chunk of the fanBase expects a shut out and no first downs allowed. In reality game 1, we should be happy for a W, not allowing many big plays, and just showing some visible improvements in the pass rush and from the LBs.

I’m excited to see how the Safeties are used, and what the new era “super Sophs” will do

At the very least, it seems like we won’t have situations comparable to Tuf Borland attempting to come within 10 feet of Devonta Smith 30 yards downfield or some shit.

 

[Onebuckfan]

The D line is the key stop the run and rush the passer. Back 7 talented but if the D line is soft ..the D is in trouble.

 

[RB07OSU]

The D line is the key stop the run and rush the passer. Back 7 talented but if the D line is soft ..the D is in trouble.

Agreed, stopping the run is key numero uno in this game. If the word on Tyleik checks out (lost some weight and in much better shape), I think he is going to be the key guy to stop the run...when he wasn't gassed last year, he was a treat to watch as a true frosh and incredibly dispruptive, he has the ability to clog up some major gaps and slow the play down in the backfield. Vincent is solid enough and hopefully is ready for a big finale season, but after that there are some question marks at DT, albeit there is considerable combined experience between Cage and Hamilton, and we could have a very good one in Hall Jr if he lives up to his recruiting ranking and the praise he has been getting this offseason. All that said, DT is the one position I am a bit uncertain on for defense, all other positions are stocked with talent.

 

[Abenaki]

Knowles seems supremely confident. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I hope they reward that confidence.