With 16 starting jobs up for grabs there's no shortage of holes to fill as Urban Meyer prepares his team for the 2016 season.
Quarterback is the unquestioned most important position on a collegiate field but from there, the next most important position group is often a matter of opinion.
The offensive and defensive lines are crucial to any team's success and if you're not in the camp citing one of those as the second-most important then there's a chance you might point to the two safeties considering they are counted on to provide a security blanket against both the run and pass.
Now that Vonn Bell and Tyvis Powell have moved on to the next level, Meyer and Greg Schiano have the unenviable task of replacing a duo that racked up 370 tackles, 17 interceptions and 77 games played.
How big of a challenge might that be compared to each previous season of the Urban Meyer era? Let's take a trip down memory lane.
2012
Looking to pick the program up off the mat after the 2011 squad lost seven of 13 games, Meyer inherited a trio of returning performers at safety in Christian Bryant, Orhian Johnson and C.J. Barnett.
Barnett and Bryant were the true starting safeties though Johnson (along with snaps at nickel) saw time among the back two due to injury costing Barnett three games.
Bryant turned in a solid campaign ranking as the squad's second-leading tackler (70) while placing sixth in the league with 13 passes defensed on the way to 2nd-team All-B1G honors.
Barnett, despite missing those three games, still ranked fourth with 56 stops along with two interceptions and eight passes defensed, good for an All-B1G honorable mention nod.
Johnson started eight games but simply wasn't on the same level as his fellow backline mates totaling 39 stops with nine passes defensed.
Undefeated though far from dominant, the 2012 defense ranked just 78th against the pass (243.5 ypg) and 31st in scoring defense (22.8 ppg).
2013
With Barnett and Bryant back for a third year as the starting safety tandem along with Bradley Roby at corner big things were expected from the secondary in particular and the defense as a whole.
Under the positional leadership of Everett Withers and largely transitioning from a cover four to cover three, the secondary struggled limiting big plays (youthful d-line and linebackers didn't help) and the group's effectiveness only got worse when Bryant broke his ankle late in game five, a 31-24 win over Wisconsin.
The loss of Bryant forced Pitt Brown into a more prominent role and while he did rack up 55 stops and 13 passes defensed, he was exposed far too often.
For his part, Barnett missed one game but still placed second on the team with 84 tackles along with nine passes defensed.
After a 12-0 start followed by back-to-back losses to Michigan State and Clemson, the 2013 Buckeye defense finished 112th in the land against the pass (268.0 ypg), 9th in rushing defense (109.4) and 28th in scoring at 22.6.
2014
The 2014 season marked a new beginning at safety as Vonn Bell and Tyvis Powell took over the starting gigs.
Bell turned in a truly outstanding season racking up 92 tackles – the most by a Buckeye safety since Mike Doss went for 107 in 2002 – and he didn't even start in the season opener after missing spring ball due to injury and failing to put a stranglehold on the role in fall camp.
The surest tackler since Doss, Bell was also solid in coverage (12 passes defensed) and had a penchant for the big play which came into focus as he picked off six passes over the final six games of Ohio State's magical run to the national championship.
Powell, though not on the same level as Bell, still tallied 76 stops, good for fourth-most on the team and with four picks, he and Bell combined for the most interceptions by a Buckeye safety duo since Chico Nelson and Roger Harper also went for 10 back in 1992.
With Bell and Powell setting the tone the 2014 Buckeye defense ranked fifth in the land with 33 forced turnovers and improved to 29th in pass defense (201.1 ypg).
2015
Back for what proved to be one final season together, Bell and Powell anchored the backline of the 2015 defense and both finished in the top five on the team in tackles with Bell earning 1st-Team All-American honors and a spot in Buckeye Grove.
For his part, Powell earned All-B1G honorable mention accolades before both players declared for the 2016 NFL Draft.
Now, Meyer and Schiano are less than 80 days away from running out a pair of shiny new starters charged with manning the last line of Ohio State's defense.
Redshirt sophomore Malik Hooker parlayed a strong spring camp capped with two picks in the spring game into a starting gig heading into fall camp. Hooker has the size (6'2", 205 lbs) required of the position but the fact he has zero collegiate game snaps under his belt is cause for pause.
Alongside Hooker, junior Damon Webb likely enters fall camp as the man to beat though his spot is far from secure. Webb, a cornerback out of high school and a spot-duty nickel performer for the Buckeyes lost a month and half of game action last season due to suspension at least has some game experience.
Other candidates include Erick Smith who missed spring drills due to continued recovery from a torn ACL, Cam Burrows who has also been hampered by injury and Erick Glover-Williams, who like Webb, is also a converted corner.
Despite the talent, throw all those factors in a pot and you get a recipe for some level of concern. Can Schiano develop a starting duo capable of not only supporting the run but keeping opposing quarterbacks from taking advantage of their inexperience over the top? The first answers arrive in 79 days.
