J.T. Tuimoloau faster, Jack Sawyer leaner: Both feeding off each other’s energy

COLUMBUS — J.T. Tuimoloau leapt and plucked a pass from Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford out of the air before it could reach wide receiver Parker Washington. Then Tuimoloau returned it 16 yards to the house, putting the finishing touches on a Week 9 Buckeyes comeback in Happy Valley and a defensive masterclass.

As Tuimoloau raced to the end zone palming the ball in one hand, Jack Sawyer was close on his heels.

Wind back the tape on that Penn State screen pass, and you’ll find Sawyer — who was lining up at the standup, hybrid defensive end/linebacker “JACK” position — flying through the heart of the trenches, untouched, with a clear path toward Clifford, albeit by design.

Sawyer made a habit of infiltrating the Nittany Lions’ backfield that day. He turned in a season-high five pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, something that Tuimoloau never did in a game last year. Sawyer hit that mark in just 31 defensive snaps at Penn State.

Sacks and takeaways don’t tell the whole story.

“They could triple-team J.T., and he would never get a sack the whole season,” longtime Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson said Wednesday. “Is he a bad player? No. It’s just the scheme.

“You got to have that guy or that guy or that guy that can change the game because you can’t double team everybody. Somebody’s gonna run free.”

Tuimoloau ran free that late October afternoon at Penn State. He was a game-wrecking star who was a catalyst for four Nittany Lion turnovers.

Johnson’s point is that Tuimoloau — while, yes, striving for more consistency — doesn’t need that kind of production every game to be effective. The same goes for Sawyer.

Together, though, they can be a force to be reckoned with, especially now that Sawyer has his hand back in the dirt as a full-time defensive end.

Factor in second-year breakout candidates Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry, and maybe even a resurgent Mitchell Melton back from injury, and opponents may just have to pick their poison against the Ohio State pass rush.

But there’s no question Tuimoloau and Sawyer are the headliners of that group in a prove-it year, their third with the program after signing with Ohio State as top-five overall prospects in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.

Both have shown flashes: Tuimoloau’s Penn State heroics, and Sawyer’s 2.5 sacks between Weeks 11 and 12 against Indiana and Maryland come to mind. Neither has delivered consistent pass rushing dominance.

Perhaps held back by the JACK last year, Sawyer has played only 502 career defensive snaps. Tuimoloau, meanwhile, was on the field for 503 defensive snaps in 2022 alone. Except, even with volume, Tuimoloau hasn’t always had the numbers to show for it. Sometimes, as Johnson alluded to, he’s absorbing blockers, but other times he’s simply not finishing.

Ohio State hasn’t had a defensive player finish with more than 5.5 sacks each of the last three seasons. And even if you’re looking at the team stats, which Johnson stresses are more significant, you notice a drop-off.

From 2017-19, Ohio State averaged 46.7 sacks per season. From 2021-22, the two most recent full seasons, the Buckeyes have posted a season average of 35 sacks. Ohio State did play only 13 games in both 2021 and 2022, as opposed to 14 games in 2017, 2018 and 2019, but the Buckeyes’ sacks per game average the last two years (2.77 in 2021 and 2.62 in 2022) has also paled in comparison to the former three-year window (3.21 in 2017, 2.93 in 2018 and 3.86 in 2019).

“A lot of us haven’t really had the career we thought we’d have the first two seasons,” Sawyer said. “I think it’s hard to come in on the defensive line and put up those huge numbers. I don’t think a lot of guys do that.

“So I just think, collectively as a D-Line, if we just put one foot in front of the other every day and try to get better every single day — before we know it, at the end of the season, we’ll look up and see all those numbers.”

Sawyer said he’s worked on his physique to regain his explosiveness and twitch after switching back from the JACK to defensive end. He still stands 6-foot-4, 265 pounds, but he said he’s trimmed 6-7% body fat this offseason.

Both he and Tuimoloau have worked on their first step, which comes from balance, flexibility and foot placement, according to Johnson.

“We’ve all been working on our first step as a collective, as a D-Line,” Sawyer said. “Because when you get so close to having a sack — last year, I think we were this close 20-something times — it’s just finding every little thing you can do to get better and to get to the quarterback faster.”

Sawyer described the 6-foot-4, 271-pound Tuimoloau as “strong” and “fast.” Tuimoloau noted that Sawyer is reading offenses better now that he’s played the JACK.

Johnson, however, isn’t interested in comparing their attributes.

“Our defensive scheme is based on guys doing the same thing, to be honest with you. So both those guys — J.T. has gotta to do the same thing as Jack, and vice versa. What we try to do is make sure their skill sets fit the defensive scheme rather than say, ‘Who’s got the better skill?’”

And, besides, when Tuimoloau was asked how he and Sawyer complement each other, he went in another direction.

“Energy,” Tuimoloau said. “I see him on that end, and we just feed off one another. When he’s hype, I’m hype. That’s just how the whole D-Line works.”

At its best, the Ohio State defensive line features a symbiotic relationship between its playmakers, inside and out.

With the luxury of depth, Tuimoloau and Sawyer have the chance to mutually benefit from not only one another, but, really, a collection of defensive ends and defensive tackles who know a thing or two about getting to the quarterback.

The opportunity is there. Year Three is the time to make it happen.

“It’s crazy that we’re here,” Tuimoloau said with a smile. “Freshman year felt like two weeks ago.”

Since, Tuimoloau and Sawyer have teased what could be. Fair or not, the expectations have been set by the standout Buckeyes defensive ends before them, namely Chase Young and Nick and Joey Bosa.

“I think when you come to a place like Ohio State, and you’re as competitive as we are, it’s hard not to look at those things and think about those things, think about what we can achieve and we can do,” Sawyer said.

“But, really, me and J.T., and really a lot of the guys on the defense talked right before summer. We just all came to the conclusion: We gotta focus on the day.”

Tuimoloau and Sawyer came in together at Ohio State. They have a chance to thrive in 2023.

Together.

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