In case you missed it, Ohio State redshirt sophomore linebacker Darron Lee announced late Saturday night his intentions to forgo his final two years of eligibility and enter the 2016 NFL Draft.
After redshirting his freshman season, Lee was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes at the Sam linebacker position and blossomed into a star. He recorded 80 tackles (16 for loss) with 6.5 sacks during Ohio State's national championship season and this year Lee had 66 tackles (11 for loss) and 4.5 sacks for the 12-1 Buckeyes.
Lee has the potential to be a late first-round selection come April, but could also wind up sliding to the second round. It's still very early and, at this point, tough to pinpoint exactly where he will fall.
"I feel it is in my best interest to take this next step in achieving my dream," Lee wrote on Twitter on Saturday night. "These have been some of the greatest years of my life here at Ohio State and I am blessed and honored to be a Buckeye for the rest of my life."
With Lee's departure, the Buckeyes have another rather large hole to fill at linebacker. Ohio State already had to replace starting Will linebacker Joshua Perry, who was a senior. The Buckeyes do, however, return their man in the middle in Raekwon McMillan.
It's expected junior-to-be Dante Booker will slide in and replace the departed Perry.
The battle for Lee's spot, though, may be a bit more interesting. The top options, right now, are current redshirt sophomore Chris Worley and true freshman Jerome Baker.
Worley, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder out of Cleveland, has mainly been a special teams contributor the last two seasons. He served as Lee's primary backup this year at the Sam spot and made 17 tackles with one sack in 11 appearances.
Baker, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound freshman and former highly-touted recruit from Cleveland, had his redshirt burned midway through the season and appeared in six games, primarily on special teams. Baker was credited with three tackles on the year.
He did get into the game at the outside linebacker position Nov. 14 in Ohio State's 28-3 win at Illinois. Lee was forced to briefly leave the game after suffering a minor injury before returning and Worley, Lee's backup, did not travel with the team to Champaign due to an injury himself.
The Buckeyes did have two other linebackers in their 2015 recruiting class in addition to Baker in Justin Hilliard and Nick Conner. Right now, though, Ohio State sees Hilliard as a candidate at the Will spot, while Conner seems like a fit in the middle. Conner, however, suffered a season-ending knee injury and it's unclear right now if he'll be ready to go come spring practice. Kyle Berger, another highly-touted recruit in the 2014 class, hasn't been healthy yet either for his time in Columbus and his status for spring is still uncertain.
So, the battle is likely to come down to Baker and Worley for that spot. Spring ball will be crucial for each in determining a winner.
The competition to replace Lee is just one of many interesting position battles that will be going on at Ohio State this spring.
