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Football
Projected Spring Depth Chart: Defense
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — One of the interesting things to watch this spring is what a Luke Fickell/Everett Withers coached defense will look like.

Ohio State fans became accustomed to a certain style of defense under former defensive coordinator Jim Heacock. It is the same style Fickell was accustomed to as co-defensive coordinator, but there is no telling exactly how he and Withers will decide to tweak things under new head coach Urban Meyer.

Withers was a 4-3 guy at North Carolina and has already said the Buckeyes will continue to be a 4-3 team with an ability to play in the 3-4 using a hybrid “Leo” position. That could be filled by senior Nathan Williams, who told The-Ozone he will take a redshirt in order to return for his fifth season at Ohio State.

Williams is coming off knee surgery and likely won’t be ready to do much in the spring. It will be interesting to see how the Buckeyes handle their defensive line, especially now that Mike Vrabel is coaching that position group. Urban Meyer is going to want more speed up front, which means John Simon probably moves back over to strongside end, or even defensive tackle.

The Buckeyes will have some young kids—Steve Miller, J.T. Moore and Se’Von Pittman—competing for that spot in the spring, but they also have two guys coming in the fall—Adolphus Washington and Noah Spence—who could contribute early.

Here is an early look at what the defense might look like heading in to spring practice, especially with a couple of kids enrolling early at Ohio State.

Key Losses on Defense: Andrew Sweat, Tyler Moeller

STRONGSIDE DEFENSIVE END

54 John Simon (6-2, 270, Sr.)
93 Adam Bellamy (6-4, 302, rJr.)
86 Kenny Hayes (6-5, 240, rFr.)

NOSE TACKLE

53 Garrett Goebel (6-3, 290, rSr.)
51 Joel Hale (6-4, 305, So.)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

52 Johnathan Hankins (6-3, 335, Jr.)
63 Michael Bennett (6-3, 280, So.)
90 Darryl Baldwin (6-4, 290, rSo.) ~ Could be moved to offensive line
57 Chase Farris (6-6, 265, rFr.)

WEAKSIDE DEFENSIVE END (LEO)

88 Steve Miller (6-4, 245, So.)
50 J.T. Moore (6-1, 252, rSo.)
**Se’von Pittman (6-5, 245, Fr.)
+43 Nathan Williams (6-3, 255, rSr.) ~ Recovering from major knee surgery

WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER (WILL)

10 Ryan Shazier (6-2, 210, So.)
**Luke Roberts (6-2, 230, Fr.)

MIDDLE LINEBACKER (MIKE)

32 Storm Klein (6-2, 240, Sr.)
39 Jordan Whiting (6-1, 238, rJr.)
36 Connor Crowell (6-0, 220, rFr.)

STRONGSIDE LINEBACKER (SAM)

6 Etienne Sabino (6-3, 242, rSr.)
14 Curtis Grant (6-3, 225, So.)
*Josh Perry (6-4, 228, Fr.)

NICKEL BACK (STAR)

2 Christian Bryant (5-9, 190, Jr.)
3 Corey Brown (6-1, 189, rJr.)
+16 Zach Domicone (6-3, 211, rSr.) ~ Underwent ACL surgery in Jan.

WIDESIDE CORNERBACK

7 Travis Howard (6-1, 190, rSr.)
5 Dominic Clarke (5-10, 191, rJr.)
*Tyvis Powell (6-4, 185, Fr.)

SHORTSIDE CORNERBACK

25 Bradley Roby (5-11, 185 rSo.)
12 Doran Grant (5-11, 180, So.)
9 Adam Griffin (5-7, 180, rSo.)

RIGHT SAFETY

4 C.J. Barnett (6-0, 190, rJr.)
3 Corey Brown (6-1, 189, rJr.)
28 Ron Tanner (6-1, 190, rFr.)
+21 Jamie Wood (6-1, 200, rJr.) ~ Underwent shoulder surgery in Jan.

LEFT SAFETY

19 Orhian Johnson (6-2, 205, rSr.)
2 Christian Bryant (5-9, 190, Jr.)
17 Jeremy Cash (6-2, 190, So.) [has requested release from OSU for the purposes of transfer]

Key

*Class of 2012 member who enrolled in January
**Class of 2012 member expected to enroll in March
Returning Starter
+Unlikely to participate in spring practice because of injury

Projected Offensive Depth Chart

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