NOAH POTTER AIMS TO BE NEXT NO. 97-WEARING, LEGACY-SETTING OHIO STATE DEFENSIVE END
Both Joey and Nick Bosa will be in the NFL, but a defensive end wearing No. 97 with brown hair flowing out of the back of his Ohio State helmet will still take the field at Ohio Stadium for the next three to five years.
Meet freshman Noah Potter. The Mentor native unafraid to follow the Bosa brothers and Cameron Heyward, who each left a legacy with the jersey number he now inherits.
Potter didn’t randomly end up with No. 97. Of course not. No one accidentally ends up with a pair of digits that represents such recently heralded players. Per famed defensive line coach Larry Johnson, Potter asked for the number, the one he has worn dating back to high school.
“Sometimes I have flashbacks watching 97,” Johnson said this spring. “Some different guys have been in that jersey number. So we'll see how it goes.”
Johnson doesn’t want Potter to feel like he’s in the Bosa shadow, even though undoubtedly the first thing every Ohio State fan watching will think whenever he records his first sack will be, “Wait a second, is there
another Bosa brother?”
“The guys who have wore that jersey have been great football players,” Johnson said. “Really outstanding players. Noah's just got to be himself. He can't follow those guys. Those are special players.”
Just being Potter means being the next defensive end that Johnson believes can turn into a force at the college level before eventually developing into an NFL prospect. Given the studs who Johnson has coached both in Columbus and at Penn State, that’s simply the expectation at this point.
Potter entered the program as a four-star prospect ranked No. 334 in his class. He was the 23rd-ranked strong-side defensive end and the ninth-rated recruit from Ohio. Ryan Jacoby, a fellow four-star prospect from Mentor, joined him in the Buckeyes’ 2019 recruiting class.
Defensive end Chase Young, Jonathon Cooper, Tyreke Smith, Javontae Jean-Baptiste and Tyler Friday return this fall, comprising a position group not lacking in depth or top-tier talent. But those who have watched Ohio State play in the past decade certainly won’t overlook the edge rusher wearing No. 97.
“(Potter) has big shoes to fill,” Smith said through a giant smile, laughing as he spoke. “But I think he's fine. Nick, he did a lot for his program. I think he understands what he has to do. But I tell him don't worry about that stuff. It's just a number. You go out there and play your game. Just make sure you're good. Just play hard. Do the best you can do. We're not playing for Nick. We're playing for this unit. It's a brand, coach J said. We've got to play for this brand, and we've got to put on a show for everybody.
“Everybody's watching us, and everybody's expecting the Rushmen on the D-line to come out there and prove something to the other team. I think he just has to go out there and play his game, and he'll be fine.”
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