When Ohio State loses its eighth of its 11 defensive starters from the 2015 season — assuming that Vonn Bell joins so many of his teammates in declaring for the NFL Draft — it will lose 465 of the 687 tackles made by its starting lineup. It will take far less time to point out the few non-holes than the holes left behind by three defensive linemen, two linebackers, both safeties and a cornerback.
That’s 68% of the tackles from the starting lineup alone and 53% of the entire team’s tackles from 2015.
The exodus began with Tommy Schutt’s season-ending injury and Adolphus Washington making a bad decision and prematurely ending his own career. It continued on with the graduation of senior Joshua Perry. Then came Joey Bosa’s announcement, followed by Darron Lee, Tyvis Powell, and Eli Apple. The lone domino left to fall is Bell, and nearly everyone has him going pro.
In addition to all of those tackles lost from 2015, the Buckeyes lose nine of 12 interceptions (75%), 19.5 of 38 total sacks (51%), 50 of 83 total tackles for loss (60%), five of eight forced fumbles (63%), and three of nine fumble recoveries (33%).
The 2016 defense will have talent, to be sure. A month ago, Eric showed you what that might look like. But it’ll be the biggest coaching job of Luke Fickell’s career, with the help of new co-DC Greg Schiano, to get that raw group of new starters to gel and become a cohesive unit.
You might need to keep a game program handy to tell who everyone is for the first few weeks of the season. Up front, Tyquan Lewis is the lone returner on the defensive line, but it helps that Sam Hubbard, Michael Hill, Tracy Sprinkle and Donovan Munger got playing time in 2015. Jalyn Holmes has a couple years under his belt and will be able to provide experienced depth at defensive end.
Raekwon McMillan will have two brand new partners among the starting linebacking corps. Ohio State has gotten good linebacker play for the past two seasons, but prior to that there were a couple of shaky years with that area of the defense. We could see somewhat of a return to that in 2016 if the unit takes time to come together. Jerome Baker and Dante Booker will push for starting spots, but I’d really like to see Nick Conner fight his way into the lineup. You may recall his stellar 2015 Spring Game performance. After a couple of years of hiding younger talent on the bench, it would be nice to see Urban Meyer live by his “we don’t redshirt” credo and let some of the kids play.
Ohio State loses 465 of the 687 tackles made by its starting lineup.
I mean, they’re going to leave early anyway, so you might as well use them while they’re here.
In the secondary, and again, assuming Bell leaves, the safety spots will be an open competition. Malik Hooker, Erick Smith, Cam Burrows and Damon Webb will fight it out.
Across from returning starting corner Gareon Conley, Marshon Lattimore, Dez Ward and Eric Glover-Williams wait in the wings. Chances are good that more than one of those raw youngsters will have to play at some point during the season. Opposing teams will be all too happy to test them, so the new starters on the defensive line had better bring heat to bear on quarterbacks.
If you’re looking for good news, that’s where it starts. Lewis and Hubbard combined for 14.5 sacks in 2015 and McMillan had 1.5 sacks. Conley registered half a sack and backups Chris Worley and Holmes added a sack apiece. The Buckeyes have guys who can get to the quarterback. The trouble is, Joey Bosa was largely responsible for other guys getting those sacks, as he occupied multiple blockers on every play.
Enter…another Bosa. Nick may not get the same early reps that Joey did, coming off a knee injury. And there’s no telling how long it will take him to get up to speed the way his older brother did. He looks like a can’t-miss prospect coming out of high school, but until he shows it on the field, it’s not something that anyone should automatically count on.
If Little Bear can’t occupy multiple blockers, guys like Hubbard, Lewis, Hill or someone else will have to find a way to do it.
More good news: the team's leading tackler returns in McMillan, who posted 119 stops this season. On the other hand, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 are gone.
The mysteries waiting to take the field with the 2016 Ohio State defense remain to be solved. We’ve got just under eight months to talk about that.
