Ohio State Buckeyes: More experience, practice time should help defense in quest to regain form

Chief among those is personnel.

After having to replace three starters from a stellar secondary and three more from a ferocious front four a year ago, Ohio State is looking at the return of most of the players who played key roles in both of those areas this year.

On the other hand, the linebacking corps is expected to lose its top four players, a group that was leaned upon heavily because of the coaching staff’s trust in it and the relative youth everywhere else.

On the bright side, linebackers coach Al Washington has three rising seniors — K’Vaughn Pope, Dallas Gant and Teradja Mitchell — to turn to, so he does not face a complete reboot there.

Of course, being better on defense is more than a matter of just getting older.

Some of the returning players contributed to the disappointment of the 2020 defense and will need to play better for the unit to regain its form in ’21.

If they don’t, the Ohio State roster almost always has another highly-regarded prospect pushing for playing time.

In the secondary, Lejond Cavazos, Ryan Watts, Cam Martinez, Ronnie Hickman, Bryson Shaw and Lathan Ransom should all be candidates to push veterans Josh Proctor, Marcus Hooker, Tyreke Johnson, Sevyn Banks and Marcus Williamson.

Cam Brown could also bolster the cornerback room if/when he is able to return from an injury that ended his 2020 season prematurely.

Ransom, who like Cavazos, Watts and Martinez signed last winter with hopes of getting on the field right away, had an expanding role as nickel back late in the season so he could have a head start on some of the other youngsters for ’21.

“I think those are the kids that probably suffer the most from the structure of the way summer went and a shorter season and all those kind of things,” Coombs said prior to the National Championship Game.

Up front, defensive line coach Larry Johnson got big news this week with the news All-American tackle Haskell Garrett and reserve tackle Antwuan Jackson are taking advantage of the NCAA’s granting of an extra year of eligibility because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Though losing standout tackle Tommy Togiai early to the draft stings, Johnson has big-time building blocks inside with that pair along with senior Jarron Cage, who started the national championship game at nose tackle when Togiai was unavailable, and former five-star prospect Taron Vincent.

At end, Johnson can start with Tyreke Smith — who passed on the chance to go pro early — and fellow upperclassmen Zach Harrison, Tyler Friday and Javontae Jean-Baptiste.

They have all played significant snaps, but none have consistently shown the game-wrecking ability of predecessors Chase Young and the Bosa brothers (Joey and Nick). That leaves the door open to the possibility a newcomer such as Jack Sawyer of Pickerington North could move up the depth chart once he makes the short move to Columbus.

Then there is the matter of strategy.

While the Jimmys and the Joes remain more important than the Xs and the Os, Coombs and company are also likely to have much greater opportunity to rethink the schemes that served them well in 2019 (when Jeff Hafley was co-defensive coordinator and Coombs was in the NFL) but faltered this past season.

The combination of new faces and new tactics could give the Buckeyes a different look on defense in 2021, and in both cases having the normal amount of practice time should help immensely.

Veterans and newcomers alike lost valuable opportunities to improve last year when the pandemic wiped out most of spring practice and altered the offseason program and training camp.

Then when the season finally began in late October, it was a disjointed mess with multiple games being canceled and many players in and out of practice and games because of COVID-19 protocols.

While the impact of the pandemic on daily life and college athletics — along with everything else — has proven to be unpredictable over the past year, some semblance of normalcy could go a long way toward Ohio State getting back to playing the type of defense it has been known for more often than not over the past 25 years.

Garrett and Jackson announced Tuesday each will accept the opportunity to stay in school for another year, joining Williamson and offensive tackle Thayer Munford in making that decision.

Garrett, a four-star recruit coming out of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman in 2017 had 20 tackles in 2020, including four for loss and two sacks. He has been Pro Football Focus’ top-graded defensive tackle in the Big Ten each of the past two seasons.

Jackson, who received a degree in human development and family science almost two years ago, was one of the top prospects in the 2016 recruiting class when he chose Auburn over Ohio State and others.

The Ellenwood, Ga., native transferred to Blinn Junior College after a season then chose Ohio State to continue his career at the FBS level in 2018 and has played 24 games for the Buckeyes with 25 total tackles.

He had a season-high five tackles, including a sack, against Alabama when Togiai was unavailable.

Togiai, a junior, announced Monday he is entering the NFL Draft with a year of eligibility remaining.