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Football
Six Questions on the Ohio State Defense that Fall Camp Will Try to Answer
By Tony Gerdeman

For the last decade or so, the questions surrounding the Ohio State defense have always had fairly pleasant answers. Wherever there were doubts, there was always somebody else in line ready to make an impact.

The goal of this preseason is to find out if that standard still holds true. And if it doesn't, how can they work around it.

But fall camp isn't just about answering questions. Sometimes it's about asking different questions in order to get better answers.

After all, if you don't like an answer, ask a different question.

But we don't need to get that deep into things on just the second day of practice. Right now, these six basic questions should suffice.

John Simon
Photo by Dan Harker

1. How do you replace Cameron Heyward?
Likely with quantity as well as quality. John Simon will get the first crack at filling Heyward's vacated spot, and while we haven't seen everything he can do, it might be a little much to expect him to command as much attention as Heyward did, and it's not like Heyward was a pass-rushing demon. He only had 3.5 sacks last year, but he was a guy that commanded two blockers and freed up his teammates. Can the Buckeyes get that same type of impact from the current crop of defensive linemen, or will the coaches have to adjust some things in order to create consistent havoc? Along with Simon, we have also seen effective play from the likes of Adam Bellamy. There could be more rotating this year as coaches look for the right combination to give them the impact that they got last year.

Jonathan Hankins
Photo by Dan Harker

2. Are the young defensive linemen ready to provide depth?
The Buckeyes have seven defensive linemen who have never taken a snap yet. Five true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen will be run through the gauntlet to determine who exactly will be able to help this defense. Along with those seven, there are also the likes of Melvin Fellows and Garrett Goebel who will be given more snaps than they've ever had before. Sophomores Johnathan Hankins and Adam Bellamy definitely need to be mentioned as they will both be very important pieces to a defensive line that needs to be more than five or six deep. It will take a handful of those untested players to make this unit a deep one.

Storm Klein
Photo by Jim Davidson

3. Who is going to be the middle linebacker?

Etienne Sabino had the job all spring, and then on the first day of fall camp, there was a finally healthy Storm Klein repping at first team middle linebacker. It's hard to believe that the job has already been lost, but this exact scenario has happened to Sabino before. Last spring, he locked down the strongside linebacker spot while Andrew Sweat was out with an injury, but once fall camp rolled around, Sweat grabbed the job and never let it go, forcing a Sabino redshirt. The eventual winner of this spot will go on to make many plays. The loser will probably be banished to the land of the strongside linebacker, which as Andrew Sweat will tell you, is like going to a Chinese buffet and only having soup.

Tyler Moeller
Photo by Jim Davidson

4. How much is the strongside linebacker going to play?
Talking to various defensive players over the last month, to a man they all said that this Ohio State defense is better when Tyler Moeller is on the field, and when he is on the field, the strongside linebacker is not. After seeing Moeller on the practice field on day one, it's clear that he is once again going to be a disruptor. If it was a decision based on Moeller's play alone, then the strongside linebacker is going to play very sparingly this season. However, it's not just a Moeller decision. If the eventual winner of the strongside spot deserves to play, then they'll find room for him. That may mean dropping a defensive lineman on passing downs and allowing the Sam to blitz more. Even if the eventual strongside linebacker loses the middle linebacker spot, they will still have all of camp to show that they deserve to be one-eleventh of this defense.

C. J. Barnett
Photo by Dan Harker

5. Which two safeties will win starting jobs?
C.J. Barnett has appeared to step right back into his starting safety role despite missing most of last season with an injury. If he has already emphatically staked his claim, then it would seem that the only contest for a starting spot is between Orhian Johnson and Christian Bryant. Many people outside of the program have expected Bryant to eventually win this battle, but Johnson earned invaluable experience last season stepping in for Barnett and starting eleven games. It would appear to be a match between the experience and savvy of Johnson and the raw talent and ability of Bryant.

Dominic Clarke
Photo by Jim Davidson

6. Will three cornerbacks earn significant playing time?
Travis Howard has had one cornerback spot locked down since the clock struck zeroes at the Sugar Bowl last year, but one of the more interesting battles during the spring, and now into fall camp, has been the battle for the other cornerback spot between Bradley Roby and Dominic Clarke. Both have shown enough ability to start, which likely also means that both are too good to just sit. If we're going to consider Tyler Moeller a linebacker - and for the purposes of this current discussion, let's do just that - will the "loser" of the battle between Clarke and Roby then become the nickel back? But then we must also consider Christian Bryant, who is backing up both Orhian Johnson and Tyler Moeller at the moment. There are a few directions for the Buckeyes to go in, and fall camp will hopefully give them the proper guidance.

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