No position on Ohio State’s roster requires a more massive reload than the Buckeyes’ defensive line.
All four starters from their 2024 national championship team – defensive ends JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer plus defensive tackles Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton – are out of eligibility and off to the NFL. All four of them started multiple seasons in Columbus.
Four names emerged throughout last season as the next men up, but with four open position battles and C.J. Hicks moving to the edge from linebacker, there are myriad directions for the group to go in for 2025. Plus, under new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, Ohio State could use a mix of defensive fronts this year.
“Everybody gets confused that I'm a 4-3 guy, but really, you take a 4-3, you take an end and stand him up, you can slide to a 3-4 just like that, and that's a multiple defense without changing any personnel,” defensive line coach Larry Johnson said on Friday. “So it's a four-man front, but we can go to a three-man, a four-man, a five-man, six-man in a heartbeat with the guys on the field. So I think that we've been multiple. We keep saying it's a four-man front, but it can be an interchangeable four-man front.”
In Line to Start: Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Kayden McDonald, Eddrick Houston, Caden Curry
Coming off of 2024, it feels that this quartet is the next wave for Ohio State, but there will be challengers as they have varying levels of experience.
Of those in line to start, the most clear-cut is Jackson. It feels the last two seasons have built to this moment for him, and to a slightly lesser extent Curry, at defensive end. Jackson played 314 snaps in relief of Sawyer and Tuimoloau last season, the second-most of any non-starter on defense, trailing only the 319 snaps of backup cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. He was also the team’s third-most-used DE as a redshirt freshman in 2023.
Jackson picked up 16 tackles with three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 2024. Coming into his redshirt junior year, Johnson expects Jackson to take charge of the entire defensive line unit.
“He’s got to be our leader, first of all,” Johnson said. “That’s our role for him. He has not been in (a position) to be the leader, move the unit. And so far, he's done a great job of doing that. Now he's going to be the guy who's going to have to demonstrate the production for us and move the yardstick for us at defensive end. And I think he has a chance to do that. Now he’s gonna play 40, 50 plays (a game), we’ll see him more. And I think we'll see his talent come to the front.”
Spring Position Previews
Curry collected 22 tackles, 3.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks in 229 snaps last year, featured not only as a defensive end but as a three-technique defensive tackle in a few specialty pass rush packages. He and Jackson are both composite top-130 prospects from the recruiting class of 2022, and after spending three seasons each waiting behind more veteran players, now is their opportunity to chart their own legacy at Ohio State.
Entering his senior year, Curry’s clock is running thinner than Jackson, as he didn’t take a redshirt while his classmate did their first year. He’s always had the athletic tools and motor to be a stout wrecking ball at defensive end, now will be his chance to pay off that potential.
Speaking of athletic tools, there aren’t a lot of 325-pound defensive linemen with as much quickness as McDonald. He’s an obvious replacement for Hamilton at nose guard and was quietly one of Ohio State’s most important sub-package defenders in 2024, manning the middle of a legendary goal-line defense and making several key plays on memorable stands. He finished the year with 19 tackles and 1.5 TFLs.
Lastly, there’s Houston, the sophomore who overtook three more veteran players as a freshman to be Williams’ backup at the end of 2024 despite coming to Columbus as a five-star defensive end prospect. He made his first career start against Purdue in November and played 141 snaps, picking up seven tackles with two pass breakups.
Houston is the front-runner to start at 3-tech, assuming he stays on the interior, but some of the veterans he passed on the depth chart last season will make their own bids for that role.
Competing to Start: C.J. Hicks, Jason Moore, Tywone Malone
Like Curry and Jackson, Hicks is in his fourth year at Ohio State. Hicks, like Curry, is a senior with one opportunity to make a name for himself. But his path has been quite different.
At this time last offseason, Hicks was considered a candidate to start at linebacker alongside Cody Simon, but it became evident early in preseason camp that Sonny Styles would win their position battle. It wasn’t long before then-redshirt freshman Arvell Reese passed him on the linebacker depth chart, too.
Most five-star prospects like Hicks are expected to pop by the end of their third year with the Buckeyes. But there’s a good chance the best fit for his skill set has always been as a dedicated stand-up rush end, similar to the mold Will Anderson fit for Alabama en route to a fifth-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting in 2022. He flashed potential in that role with a two-sack performance at Northwestern in November.
Malone and Moore are two of the three above-mentioned defensive tackles that Houston passed on Ohio State’s depth chart in 2024, the other being Hero Kanu, who transferred to Texas after the season’s end. Johnson called Moore, a redshirt sophomore and top-70 prospect, the “ideal” three-tech for the Buckeyes’ defense last spring. He ultimately only saw the seventh-most snaps (57) at defensive tackle last year, though, making two tackles.
The fifth-year senior Malone, himself a four-star prospect and a transfer from Ole Miss, made his first career start over Kanu, Moore and Houston against Marshall last season but saw a total of just 22 snaps in Ohio State’s final seven games. He recorded eight tackles.
Either man could push Houston or even McDonald in a renewed position battle, though last season would indicate they are fighting from below them on the totem pole to start spring practice.
The Depth
Junior Logan George figures to be a rotational piece at defensive end after transferring in from FCS Idaho State. His stat line indicated a step up in competition was warranted – he had 57 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2024. His run defense and motor could make him a dependable early-down option if his game translates to the Big Ten.
“(I was) talking to his coach (who) was really, really raving about him as a player,” Johnson said of George. “And then once we sit down and met and talked, I felt like he fit our room. Creates crowds. Can rush. He plays hard. Everything you want to see, you've got to have, he has. And so I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.”
This year will also be a test to see if redshirt sophomore defensive end Joshua Mickens can start battling for reps and proving his pedigree as a top-120 prospect. Similarly, at defensive tackle, redshirt sophomore Buckeye legacy Will Smith Jr. and redshirt freshman Eric Mensah will try to make a few waves.
Three freshmen, defensive end Zion Grady and defensive tackles Jarquez Carter and Trajen Odom, are also now in the defensive line room as midyear enrollees. Defensive end Epi Sitanilei and defensive tackle Maxwell Roy will join them come summertime.
Freshman to Watch: Zion Grady
Grady is the crown jewel of Ohio State’s 2025 defensive line recruiting class. A former Alabama commit from Alabama, the Buckeyes held off heavy late pursuit from another in-state school, Auburn, to sign Grady, the No. 81 prospect and No. 9 defensive end in the 247Sports composite rankings.
In his junior season at Enterprise High School, Grady recorded 87 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, 22 quarterback hits, 11 sacks and an interception. As a sophomore, he racked up 108 tackles, 27 quarterback hits, 22 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three blocked field goals. The veterans in front of him might keep him from playing a major role in year one, but he’s a man to watch for Ohio State’s future.
