All Jamarco Jones could do was let out a laugh.
Ohio State’s senior left tackle didn’t really have another option when asked Thursday about the Buckeyes’ four dominant defensive ends, players Jones blocks — or attempts to block — on the practice field each and every day.
“Man,” he said with a giant smile. “We’ve got four defensive ends that can start anywhere in the country. It’s a battle every play.”
Jones isn’t wrong. Tyquan Lewis, Sam Hubbard, Jalyn Holmes and Nick Bosa are as talented a quartet as there is in all of college football and all four occupy the defensive end position for Ohio State. Having to block all four in practice is certainly a challenge, but it also helps Jones improve.
“It’s just keep battling, learning,” he said. “Each one brings something different to the table and if we can block these guys I think we can block anybody in the country.”
The rest of the college football world doesn’t have the fortune of going up against this type of elite defensive end talent day in and day out, however, and that’s a huge advantage for Ohio State. Head coach Urban Meyer said Tuesday he felt the Buckeyes would be “as good as anybody in America at defensive end” and the man in charge of developing that talent, Larry Johnson, agreed with that statement.
“I played with a lot of great individuals but I don’t think collectively there’s ever been this much talent at this position since I’ve been here. We have four guys that could start on any team in the country and we’re all playing together so it’s pretty amazing.”– Sam Hubbard
“As a collective group? Yeah, this is probably the most collective group [of talent] I’ve had in a long time and the ability with what they can do,” Johnson said. “They can play, they can start, I think, with anybody in the country.”
Lewis, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, led Ohio State with eight sacks a year ago. Bosa ranked second with five sacks while Hubbard notched 3.5 and Holmes registered two. All four played a similar number of snaps and that will once again be the plan this season with a few new wrinkles potentially in place to get everybody on the field.
“I played with a lot of great individuals but I don’t think collectively there’s ever been this much talent at this position since I’ve been here,” Hubbard said. “We have four guys that could start on any team in the country and we’re all playing together so it’s pretty amazing.”
Added Bosa: “We have so many good players it’s criminal not to have them on the field.”
One of the main points of emphasis this spring for Ohio State’s defensive line as a whole is its pass rush. Johnson felt his defensive line played well last season, but the sack totals weren’t exactly where he preferred.
“Yeah, we talked about that. Talked about the ability to get to the quarterback,” Johnson said. “I think that’s the most important thing. We deflected the ball, we got some knockdowns, some tipped balls, that’s all great. But at the end of the day, we gotta get the quarterback on his back. That’s been our goal going into spring ball.”
The majority of that falls on Ohio State’s four uber-talented defensive ends. And the way things sound as spring practice winds down, the Buckeyes appear confident they’ll be much improved in that department.
Perhaps that’s why Jones smiled Thursday when he was asked about trying to block the likes of Lewis, Hubbard, Holmes and Bosa each and every day in practice.
He might know exactly what lies ahead.
“That’s the key, to be the best ever,” Johnson said. “That’s a high expectation, to be the best ever. We’ve seen some great D-lines here at Ohio State University. If we can be close to our potential then there’s a chance that could happen, but again, we’ve gotta wait and see.”
