Football
From Hunted to Hunter: Gibson Trades Playing QB for Hunting Them
By Brandon CastelSitting in the film room, his eyes were glued to the quarterback, studying his every move.
What did he do that made him great? What are his strengths? His weaknesses?
These are all questions that ran through the mind of a young Thaddeus Gibson, but not for the reason most would expect.
Today, he hunts quarterbacks for a living as one of the more feared defensive ends in the Big Ten, but ironically it wasn't long ago that Gibson dreamt of being one of the hunted instead of the hunters.
Thaddeus Gibson
Photo by Jim Davidson"Growing up I always wanted to be a quarterback," said the Ohio State junior, who was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week after his three-sack performance against Minnesota this past Saturday.
As a freshman at Euclid High School, just outside of Cleveland, Gibson weighed less than 200 pounds when he tried out for quarterback. Despite being one of the fastest players on the roster, Gibson could not beat out the guy in front of him and didn't take long for the coaching staff to realize his talents were better suited for the opposite side of the ball.
"They said that I was a better defensive player than I was a quarterback," said Gibson, who now weighs over 240 pounds.
"I had some sacks as a freshman and the last two games of the varsity season I was starting varsity at defensive end."
It felt good. Damn good.
While he wasn't able to play the position himself, Gibson now had the chance to punish all the players who were living out his dream of being a quarterback.
"I think it's a great position, and I think our quarterback is gonna hold that end of the deal and be one of the great quarterbacks that I wanted to be," he said of OSU sophomore Terrelle Pryor, the one quarterback he isn't out to get.
"I want (them) to see me coming. Whatever he wants to after that, whether it's run away or take it like a man, let's do it," Gibson said with a smile.
For most of this season, it has been the former instead of the latter. After six games, Gibson had only one official sack in the stat book (although he had plenty of takedowns in the backfield that could have been ruled as sacks).
That all changed Saturday as Gibson hunted down Minnesota quarterbacks Adam Weber and MarQueis Gray for a career-high three sacks. He now leads the team with 4.0 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss this season.
Back in the Film Room
Today, Gibson is still studying quarterbacks in the film room. He's still trying to figure out their strengths and weaknesses, but now it's about using it against them.
One of the first people into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center – sometimes as early as 6 a.m. – and one of the last out, Gibson also spends much of his time studying offensive tackles.
"That's the first thing I look at. The way their feet move, what hand do they like to jam with, all the little things that make a tackle," he said of his film study.
In fact, Gibson has to learn enough about the guy he will line up against Saturday to give a full scouting report to the rest of the defense the day before the game.
"Every Friday the defense as a unit gets together and we go through personnel. This week I'm assigned the right tackle (David Norman) and Cam (Heyward) is assigned the left tackle (Dwayne Barton), so I'll give a brief tutorial of what that guys all about."
As for what he looks for on film that makes a great offensive tackle, "Good feet and athleticism for sure," he said, "being able to stop and re-place and be able to get a hand on you."
Going against a worthy opponent such as Indiana left tackle Rodger Saffold (a native of Bedford, Ohio), who Gibson called one of the best, is an exciting challenge for the converted outside linebacker.
What doesn't excite him, or any other defensive lineman for that matter, is when an offensive lineman has to use too much hand to keep him from getting to the quarterback.
"Holding. Please stop holding. If I beat you, I beat you. If you got me, you got me, just please stop holding."
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