Ohio State's defensive tackle depth for next season took a bit of a hit on Friday.
Rising redshirt junior defensive tackle Hero Kanu has entered the transfer portal, looking for a new destination for his final two years of college football.
Ohio State defensive lineman Hero Kanu has entered the transfer portal, @chris_hummer and I have learned for @cbssports/@247Sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 25, 2025
Was a Class of 2022 top-120 overall recruit. Posted 14 tackles the last two years.https://t.co/10Sz3YxlzO pic.twitter.com/Z7vFyusYcC
Kanu entered Columbus as a raw prospect with great athletic upside, ranked 129th overall and 19th among defensive linemen in the 247Sports composite for the recruiting class of 2022. Born and raised in Germany where he played soccer before finding football, Kanu moved to America for his senior year of high school, playing for Santa Margarita Catholic in California.
After redshirting as a freshman and playing sparingly in his second year, Kanu found a touch of rotational work this past season but still played just 123 snaps in 2024. That was fifth-most among Buckeye defensive tackles, as freshman Eddrick Houston passed Kanu on the depth chart as the season progressed.
Kanu closes his Ohio State career with 14 tackles and one sack. He'll have two years of eligibility remaining at his next stop.
With the departure of senior starters Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams, the Buckeyes are in an interesting spot at defensive tackle for 2025. Rising junior Kayden McDonald seems the frontrunner to start at nose guard after receiving the third-most snaps among Ohio State's interior defensive linemen, and Houston's late-season surge suggests he could start at three-technique. But there will be competition from redshirt sophomore Jason Moore and redshirt senior Tywone Malone.
Redshirt sophomore Will Smith Jr. and redshirt freshman Eric Mensah round out the current list of returning players at defensive tackle for the Buckeyes. A trio of four-star prospects will arrive as freshmen, those being Jarquez Carter, Trajen Odom and Maxwell Roy.
