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2024 tOSU Defense Discussion

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247sports.com

Day on OSU's linebackers: Emphasis on blitzing better | 'Excited' that Buckeyes 'look different than the past'

What did Ryan Day have to say when Bucknuts asked him about Ohio State's 2024 linebackers? You are about to find out. We also added our analysis of his comments at the bottom of the story.
247sports.com 247sports.com

Day on OSU's linebackers: Emphasis on blitzing better | 'Excited' that Buckeyes 'look different than the past'​

What did Ryan Day have to say when Bucknuts asked him about Ohio State's 2024 linebackers? You are about to find out. We also added our analysis of his comments at the bottom of the story.​

What will Ohio State's linebacking corps look like in 2024? Well, we did a close look earlier this month in our VIP Outlook series. But today, we have a much better source who will offer his opinion. That person is OSU head coach Ryan Day, who met with the media recently and was asked about the linebackers by Bucknuts. What is Day expecting out of Cody Simon, C.J. Hicks, Sonny Styles, Gabe Powers and the rest of the group?

"Good versatility, all of those guys," Day said. "Arvell Reese, and then like you said C.J., Gabe, Sonny, Cody. I'm missing a couple I'm sure, but these guys are very versatile guys. You can see the length on them and they do a good job in terms of fitting the runs. They have enough length to cover in zone, but they'll also blitz and that's something that we really wanted to work on this offseason is get better at blitzing and hopefully we can even take the next step in the preseason.

"But they're all playmakers. I think when you see us and the length that we have there at linebacker, we look a little bit different than we did in the past. And that's exciting when you tie that in with our front four and our back end. It's important to make sure that the linebackers are the one, they're the glue.

"Cody's had an unbelievable offseason. He leads the pack with that group, but you're seeing a lot of those guys come on."

Analysis
I found two of Day's comments particularly interesting. First is how strongly he emphasized his desire to have a better blitzing defense this year. And that was evident in the spring with the likes of Hicks and Styles disrupting the offense with a series of blitzes.

The second was how he somewhat snuck in there that OSU looks "a little bit different than we did in the past" at linebacker. Then in the very next breath he says "and that's exciting when you tie that in with our front end and back end."

Some might take that as a shot at the Buckeyes' starting linebackers the last 2-and-a-half seasons, Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers. I didn't take it that way. Day was being honest. Ohio State is more athletic and bigger at the LB positions this season. Eichenberg and Chambers were good players at OSU -- particularly Eichenberg when he was healthy (which was not very often the last year-and-a-half). But Eichenberg was a fifth-round pick and Chambers signed as an undrafted free agent. I don't think it is a stretch at all to say that James Laurinaitis' room has upgraded this season and I like the mix of players. As Day said, Simon is the unquestioned leader of the room, the lone senior (a fifth-year senior at that). Simon played a lot last year and performed well. Laurinaitis said during the spring he wished he had played Simon more last year.
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I think his statement on this year's guys being different was fair. Eich and Steele were anywhere from a C- to a solid B, depending on the game during their run. They were limited, but solid when they were. These guys have more top out room and should be able to complement the guys in front of and behind them.
 
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I don't think anything he said was harsh or unfair either. They were both good players but they both had significant limitations that hamstrung the defense, especially against good TEs or pass catching backs. They were the weak links in last year's defense and with how Cody played late in the year and Sonny's physical tools, that shouldn't be the case in 2024.
 
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The reason I think this defense could be absolutely amazing is the quality of the 'backups'. If you play in this national championship game, it will be the 16th game you've played. That's more abuse than any college player has had to deal with. It's asking a lot or hoping. The quality of our backups is what will keep it elite.
 
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RugbyBuck said:
And, hopefully, they're given real minutes throughout the season. It's one thing to be a quality backup, but the time to be blooded isn't in the CFP when a starter is injured.
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That’s what I’m waiting to see most this season.

Let’s be real we have what 3 games out of the 12 where we’ll need to give the opposition the full weight of the program for 4 quarters? The first 3 games our starters should not see one rep in the second half and I mean that. We’ll be up 4-5 touchdowns by half and there’s no need to get one more drive in for the starters.

Then for the others we have to gauge how we are doing at the half. I tend to think with the defense we have 4 touchdowns is basically a wrap.

Particularly the WR and DBs I want to see rotation.
 
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I'd say WR/DB just as a matter of course. To my mind, rotation should be part of your regular strategy. On the edges and running full out, our depth is an asset to exploit. Then, having game experience toward the end of the season is gravy.

With the LBs and OL, and probably RBs this year, I think the strategy is the other way around. They just have to get enough experience to not be learning on the job when it's critical.
 
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RugbyBuck said:
I'd say WR/DB just as a matter of course. To my mind, rotation should be part of your regular strategy. On the edges and running full out, our depth is an asset to exploit. Then, having game experience toward the end of the season is gravy.

With the LBs and OL, and probably RBs this year, I think the strategy is the other way around. They just have to get enough experience to not be learning on the job when it's critical.
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I think that’s the one thing the TCUN teams did well. They subbed a lot in all of their games over the last 3 years. So when 2023 rolled around they had boat loads of kids with massive amounts of experience.

That would enable our team to maybe transition next season more easily since we have so many likely headed to the NFL in 2025.
 
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NJ-Buckeye said:
The reason I think this defense could be absolutely amazing is the quality of the 'backups'. If you play in this national championship game, it will be the 16th game you've played. That's more abuse than any college player has had to deal with. It's asking a lot or hoping. The quality of our backups is what will keep it elite.
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Exactly, our schedule would seem to allow us to do that early on and frankly our two-deep players would start on most defenses in the country. That's a defense that is set to take you on a title run. We should be rotating a lot on the front half of our schedule to get everyone game ready.
 
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