Ohio State’s defense returns eight starters this season, which means Ryan Day and Jim Knowles should have a good idea of how the Silver Bullets will look in 2024.
Still, if there are questions associated with the Buckeyes' defense, chances are those questions would be directed toward the linebacker position.
On Wednesday, Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis and five of his players –Cody Simon, Sonny Styles, C.J. Hicks, Arvell Reese and Gabe Powers – participated in interview sessions on the indoor practice field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Among the topics discussed, Laurinaitis called Simon the “unquestioned leader” of the Ohio State linebacker room, Stlyes said playing safety for two years has helped him in his transition to linebacker and Hicks shared his desire to generate more sacks and tackles for loss this year.
James Laurinaitis
“He’s the unquestioned leader of the group. He’s the leader of the defense. Gets everybody lined up.”– James Laurinaitis on Cody Simon
- On his depth at linebacker: “If you earn the right to play, you’ll play, you’ll rotate.” Laurinaitis said he expects the rotation to be “constantly fluid” based on performance.
- Laurinaitis said Sonny Styles “wants to be great” and that shows in his approach to the game. “He doesn’t just ask a question about like what am I supposed to do, he wants to understand why.”
- Laurinaitis said C.J. Hicks is “probably the best blitzer in our room,” though Arvell Reese and Styles could both have an argument against that.
- On Gabe Powers: “I think Gabe Powers has gotten a lot more confident,” Saying he wants his Mike linebackers to be a “general on the field,” Laurinaitis said Powers is “starting to kind of get more comfortable in that role of speaking up, being loud, demonstrative.”
- Freshman linebacker Payton Pierce has been taking reps at both Will and Mike linebacker. Asked if Pierce was behind after missing spring practices due to injury, Laurinaitis said Pierce is “not behind at all.”
- Laurinaitis said he expects Garrett Stover to earn playing time on special teams as a freshman with how athletic he is.
Cody Simon
“I mean for me, it was a little bit frustrating because I know Tommy (Eichenberg) was a great player, and for me, I wanna be on that field, but we’re a team. And the most important thing is what happens at the end of the game. So for us, it’s really about being selfless. He’s been the perfect teammate and has been so good about that.”– Simon on relating to C.J. Hicks’ situation last year of having to wait your turn to see the field.
- Simon said he was flattered James Laurinaitis called him the most complete linebacker on the roster, but pushed back and said you can never be perfect in linebacker development and is still pushing himself to be better in fall camp.
- Simon said Sonny Styles and C.J. Hicks are “doing really well” and “playing their tails off” at the Will position right now and that he’s excited to play alongside whoever is out there.
- Simon said Ohio State has some “athletic freaks” in the linebacker room, including Styles, Hicks and Arvell Reese.
Sonny Styles
“I gained about 10 pounds and I actually got faster. Like all my times went up. My max speed went up. So I got faster, I got stronger and I got heavier.”– Sonny Styles on his offseason transformation
- On how playing safety previously can help him at linebacker: “I think playing safety for the first two years definitely helped in terms of like the way I'm able to move, being able to cover, having a pretty solid feel of zone drops. And then in the overall picture of the defense, I feel like I got a pretty good understanding of what everyone's doing.”
- On covering primarily tight ends and running backs rather than receivers: “It definitely fits me pretty well. I didn't really like guarding a bunch of guys who are running 4.3s, but yeah, no disrespect to like tight ends, you know there's some good tight ends out there. It fits my capabilities well, because I feel like I'm gonna be able to run probably faster than them or just as fast and be just as strong.”
- Even while playing safety, Styles got to know a lot about the Will linebacker position. “I kind of had a pretty good understanding for the Will. When I was playing Bandit, a lot of my fits were off the Will or my job description would be off the wheel. So I kind of knew what the Will was doing a little bit. I didn't know as much about the D-line, so when I moved the Will, it was more so just figuring out the D-line.”
- On freshmen Payton Pierce and Garrett Stover at linebacker: “I think both the young guys, Stover and Pierce, are doing great. Stover's a super, super athletic guy. Payton, he's just a great football player.”
C.J. Hicks
“Sonny and I both talk about it a lot. We don’t care who starts as long as both of us are eating. He can start, I go in, I can start, he goes in. As long as we’re both making plays, that’s all that matters to us.” – Hicks on competing with Sonny Styles at Will linebacker
- Hicks appreciated Cody Simon’s assessment that he’s the best blitzer on the team and said it’s one of his strong suits.
- Hicks says with the athletic linebackers Ohio State has the Buckeyes should be able to generate more sacks and more tackles for losses.
- Hicks says he’s confident in his abilities and expects to have a big year for Ohio State and force multiple negative plays for offenses.
Arvell Reese
“It’s an honor because I’m in the same position that they were once in. It’s something that I want to carry on.”– Arvell Reese on the history of Glenville players succeeding at Ohio State
- After starting his Ohio State career as an edge defender during last year’s fall camp, Reese says he felt fully comfortable as a linebacker midway through this spring. He says he likes playing Mike linebacker “a little bit more than edge.”
- What he thinks he brings to the defense: “I’m a sideline-to-sideline type of linebacker. I’m fast and I’m good with getting off of blocks.”
- Reese said he struggled with being a vocal linebacker during his high school career, but he’s learned how to become loud and confident since arriving at Ohio State.
- Reese said he’s learned a lot about how to play Mike linebacker just from watching Cody Simon and Tommy Eichenberg.
Gabe Powers
“I chose here. I don't want to be anywhere else. I want to be here.”– Gabe Powers on whether he considered transferring
- On how his preseason camp is going: “There's a lot more expected of me, a lot more expectations, but it's going great right now. We're only six practices in, so we’ve got a lot more. We'll see as it goes on.
- Powers said he feels a huge improvement from where he was at this time a year ago. “Very different. The game's slowing down a lot for me. When you get there, the game's so (from) high school to college, it's fast, really fast. But once you understand the defense, it all slows down. So, it's a huge difference.”
- On Laurinaitis: “He's been an amazing coach. He obviously knows the game, he's played. One of the greatest to ever do it, if not the greatest. So bringing that aspect to it, he understands linebacker play and how fits work and everything like that.”
