It’s starting to feel as though Ohio State’s coaching staff sees a massive resurgence coming from this year’s defensive end group.
Last year the Buckeyes got just 4.5 sacks from Jack Sawyer with 3.5 each from JT Tuimoloau and Zach Harrison, the team’s main trio off the edge. Tuimoloau did put together one of the greatest defensive performances in team history against Penn State — he recorded six tackles with three tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble and fumble recovery, a pass deflection that led to an additional interception and a game-sealing touchdown — but as a whole, on the year, it felt as though something was left on the table.
In 2023, there’s a different aura to what defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is saying about Ohio State’s defensive ends.
“We have four ends there that I think are as good as anyone in the country,” Knowles said. “I think the depth there is fantastic.”
Those four he’s speaking of are Sawyer, Tuimoloau and the second-year duo of Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Caden Curry. It’s no secret that elite defensive line play is crucial for an elite defense, and the Buckeyes feel confident the quartet can be the building blocks of a ferocious front four.
“I feel like the rush has been strong,” Knowles said. “We’ve felt it. We’ve felt it and seen it during camp.”
It starts with the starting combo of Tuimoloau and Sawyer.
Sawyer said that one of the defensive line’s top focuses this camp has been its first step, feeling it can make the difference in terms of finishing plays they were close to making a year ago. Arriving at the quarterback a split-second faster can make a massive effect.
Tuimoloau echoed the sentiment. He actually feels it’s his biggest improvement from a season ago as he works to build more consistency in his production.
“I think my first step has evolved since my freshman year,” Tuimoloau said. “It can still be a little better, but that’s one of the small things I feel like I’ve gotten better at.”
A switch back from the hybrid defensive end/linebacker “Jack” position has Sawyer feeling much more “comfortable” heading into 2023 as well, something he and his coaches have spoken about dating back to spring practice.
“Jack is a defensive end,” defensive line coach Larry Johnson reiterated. “We thought we could make that happen (the switch to Jack), but I think he’s more happy now with his hand in the ground rushing from the end position. And Jack’s done a good job taking care of himself. He’s got his body weight down and he’s really trim, and he’s really doing some good things for us.”
Knowles also referred to Sawyer as “dominant” in Ohio State’s two most recent practices leading into the defensive signal caller’s Monday press conference.
As far as his physical retooling, “trim” for Sawyer meant losing six to seven percent of his body fat and becoming a leaner, stronger force to play downhill.
“This offseason I really wanted to trim up a little bit and lose some body fat, which I did,” Sawyer said. “Getting in shape more, getting my explosiveness back a little more and becoming a little more twitchy again. That was my focus this offseason.”
Sawyer and Tuimoloau have uplifted each other’s intensity throughout camp.
“I see him on the end and we just feed off one another,” Tuimoloau said. “When he’s hype, I’m hype. And that’s just how the whole D-line works.”
Johnson likes to roll his edge-setters throughout games to keep guys fresh as the year goes on, but it doesn’t feel like there will be much of a drop-off from starter to backup this campaign.
Jackson may be the top reason why. He’s been a wrecking ball throughout spring and fall during open practices, and it appears he’s doing more of the same when only the team is watching.
“He’s got a great first step. He jumps off the video,” Knowles said. “You can’t deny that he’s out there making plays and making life difficult for the offense.”
“KJ has been around as a freshman, he’s had a chance to sit back and watch guys develop, watch guys use our technique,” Johnson said. “Now when you’ve been around for a year, you get a chance to start doing it yourself. I think that’s what’s happening. It’s called development, and that’s what’s happened.”
Johnson said that Tuimoloau, Sawyer and Jackson all come from the same “tree” as defensive ends, sharing a lot of the same strengths at the position.
“The tree is pass rush, it’s hands, it’s hips, it’s feet, explosiveness, speed, all those things coming together,” Johnson said. “When you’re looking for a guy and when you recruit a guy, you’re looking to find those things.”
“I feel like the rush has been strong. We’ve felt it. We’ve felt it and seen it during camp.” – Jim Knowles
That only leaves Curry, who could be the most versatile of the bunch.
Ohio State saw him as a player who could be either a defensive end or a three-technique defensive tackle during his recruitment, and it seems that has come to fruition as he goes through his second season in the program.
“Caden’s going to play a lot,” Knowles said. “All along that front, I think he’s going to fit in different places. Maybe not on run downs, but you’ve got to be ready for this guy to do anything on pass downs because he plays hard and he’s hard to handle for the offense.”
Meshing all the individual talents together at defensive end is a matter of ensuring that they all play within their technique and the Buckeyes’ defensive scheme, Johnson said. Then the entire defensive line will make plays as a group.
“The other guy could be a renegade, all of a sudden he takes a spin move, gets inside, the ball is outside, now we’re in trouble,” Johnson said. “What we’re trying to do is make sure we understand that we are a unit, and as a unit we have to (pass) rush together, we have to stop the run together.”
Ohio State tests its new unit of defensive ends for the first time in a mere nine days when it hits the road to face Indiana.
