Five Questions as Buckeyes put together potentially dominant defensive line

The summer offseason is in full swing, and Lettermen Row is trying to survive it with our annual Position Week breakdowns. By the time all nine units and coaching staff at Ohio State have been covered, training camp and media days will nearly have arrived, and the return of football in the Horseshoe will be just around the corner. We’re continuing with our sixth positional week — and first on the defensive side — with a unit primed for a breakout season: the Buckeyes defensive line.

COLUMBUS — The expectations along the Ohio State defensive line will not move.

No matter that in each of the last two seasons, the Buckeyes haven’t had the dominant defensive lines everyone was so used to for so long.

The Buckeyes have been good, not great at defensive end and tackle. They’ve been talented, sure. But the number of sacks — and overall production — has gone down from the record-setting 2019 campaign, and it needs to move back in the right direction.

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson, a legend for what he has been able to do with the Buckeyes unit for a decade, saw plenty of progress in spring ball, but he firmly believes there’s more work to do for the line to be great, not just good.

“We’re not where I want them to be right now,” Johnson said in late May. “I think we’re getting close. I thought we had some good moments in spring football. I thought our guys played hard, and that’s what you want them to do: play hard. Our technique is much better on videotape this spring. Now I just want to get the group to come together and play for each other.”

Lettermen Row is kicking off its sixth position week of the summer, and first on the defensive side of the ball, with five questions for the defensive line unit, a group that is oozing with talent. Let’s dive in.

How good can J.T. Tuimoloau be for Buckeyes?

The flash of brilliance will always stand out, no matter how good J.T. Tuimoloau is for the rest of his career. Unless he has an entire season filled with a forced fumble, three tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, a touchdown and a pass deflection, his performance at Penn State will forever be remembered as his finest moment. Could he do that for an entire year? That’ll be hard to do, but the All-American potential is certainly there for Tuimoloau. He was second on the roster in tackles for loss and was one of the leaders of the defensive line unit. He enters this fall as the clear-cut leader of defensive ends, and he’ll need to back that up with his performance. Tuimoloau has the highest ceiling of any defender on the entire Buckeyes roster. That territory comes with massive expectations. He has a chance to meet them — or even exceed them.

Can healthy Michael Hall put together All-American season on interior?

Mike Hall busted through the Notre Dame offensive line so easily last September, leading to heightened expectations for the rest of the season. But he battled through injuries all year, dampening the coming-out party that could have been. It has seen a resurgence this offseason, as Hall’s name popped up across multiple trustworthy too-early NFL mock drafts as a potential first-round pick and All-American candidate. Can he live up to the hype? Hall was doing just that early last fall before the injury, and even when he was hurt, he totaled 2.5 sacks in a win over Michigan State despite playing fewer than 10 snaps. If that’s the production Ohio State receives from Hall, the third-year defensive tackle will be in line for All-American status. It all hinges on his health, however. If healthy, watch out for Mike Hall.

Will Jack Sawyer give Ohio State dominant edge duo?

Ohio State toyed with using Jack Sawyer as a hybrid edge defender a year ago, and it was met with mixed results. He had 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last season, but both he and the Buckeyes feel like they left meat on the bone. He transitioned back to a traditional defensive end role this offseason, where he’ll line up on the opposite side of Tuimoloau. That five-star duo has been waiting for its chance to be in the starting lineup together since Tuimoloau picked Ohio State in the summer of 2021. Now they can do that. With a returning group on the interior and Tuimoloau on the other side, Sawyer should see favorable matchups throughout the year, giving him a chance to shine as a game-wrecking difference-maker. His time to become the five-star player he was billed to be is now.

Who will step up, contribute behind starting defensive line?

Ohio State already has a good idea of who will take the field first when the Buckeyes take on Indiana in early September. The starting lineup will feature Tuimoloau, Sawyer and any mix of Hall, Williams and Hamilton. Beyond the expected first-team lineup, Ohio State has plenty to sort out as potential contributors. Whether newcomer Tywone Malone and second-year tackle Hero Kanu make an early impact this fall on the interior will help decide the ceiling of the defensive tackle spot. And whether any of the trio of second-year defensive ends, Caden Curry, Omari Abor, Kenyatta Jackson, will determine if the Buckeyes will reach another level on the edge. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson loves deploying a bigger rotation. He won’t back down from doing that this upcoming season. All of those factors together mean the second-team defensive line and potential depth pieces will be the primary deciding factor in how good this line can be.

Will Buckeyes close, land elite defensive ends in 2024 recruiting cycle?

Ohio State took massive swings — and misses — on five-star defensive end targets in the class of 2023. Yes, the Buckeyes still landed commitments from talented prospects along the defensive line, but the class was underwhelming compared to the talent that could have chosen the Buckeyes.

That did not deter Ohio State from yet again stepping up to the recruiting plate ready to swing again in 2024. The Buckeyes are in the fight for five-star defensive linemen Justin Scott and Eddrick Houston, along with four-star Nigel Smith. They’re also in the battle for five-star EDGE Dylan Stewart — they’re even considered the favorite for Stewart, On3’s top-ranked player — and four-star EDGE Marquis Lightfoot. Ohio State needs another influx of defensive end talent, given the five-star talents that could be off to the NFL after this season. The Buckeyes didn’t land a five-star defensive end talent last cycle. That can’t happen again in 2024. Don’t expect it to be the case.

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