After a heartbreaking loss to Michigan on Saturday, the Buckeyes ended the regular season 11-1. All hope for the season isn’t lost just yet as with some luck on conference championship Saturday the Buckeyes could still get a spot in the College Football Playoff, but the loss is certainly demoralizing for Buckeye nation.
With the regular season in the rearview mirror now is a good time to take a step back and evaluate the team.
This Ohio State team was built differently than recent Ohio State teams as they were led by an elite defense and good, but not great offense, as opposed to the other way around.
In just two seasons Jim Knowles has impressively led a defensive turnaround for the Buckeyes. In 2021, the season prior to Knowles’ arrive as coordinator, Ohio State had the No. 31 ranked scoring defense in the FBS allowing 22.8 points. This season, the Buckeyes have the second ranked scoring defense as they’ve allowed just 11.4 points per game.
This Ohio State defense is built a bit differently than past stellar Buckeye defenses as although this unit doesn’t have a blue-chip superstar like a Chase Young it does have very good depth.
In this article we dig deeper into that as we break down each defensive position group’s performance this season using Pro Football Focus grades for each player. Though not the ultimate measuring stick, PFF is a good tool because it grades every player on every play.
Interior Defensive Line
Starter: Tyleik Williams
PFF Grade | 81.0 (586 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 31 tackles, 20 assisted tackles, 21 pressures and 2 sacks on 307 pass rush snaps
Starter: Michael Hall Jr.
PFF Grade | 77.5 (368 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 14 tackles, 6 assisted tackles, 26 pressures and 2 sacks on 206 pass rush snaps
Other: Ty Hamilton
PFF Grade | 75.3 (326 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 20 tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 8 pressures and 1 sack on 165 pass rush snaps
Other: Hero Kanu
PFF Grade | 70.4 (81 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 8 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 3 pressures and 1 sack on 39 pass rush snaps
Other: Jaden McKenzie
PFF Grade | 65.5 (77 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 8 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 1 pressure on 43 pass rush snaps
Other: Tywone Malone
PFF Grade | 57.4 (47 snaps, 8 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 pressure on 21 pass rush snaps
Other: Kayden McDonald
PFF Grade | 63.6 (31 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 0 pressures on 14 pass rush snaps
Other: Jason Moore
PFF Grade | 62.0 (3 snaps, 1 game)
Stats | 0 tackles
Edge Rushers
Starter: J.T. Tuimoloau
PFF Grade | 77.0 (621 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 21 tackles, 9 assisted tackles, 35 pressures and 4 sacks on 313 pass rush snaps
Starter: Jack Sawyer
PFF Grade | 90.0 (549 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 28 tackles, 21 assisted tackles, 1 forced fumble, 30 pressures and 5 sacks on 262 pass rush snaps
Other: Kenyatta Jackson
PFF Grade | 63.1 (155 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 11 pressures and 2 sacks on 84 pass rush snaps
Other: Caden Curry
PFF Grade | 69.8 (155 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 4 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 11 pressures and 1 sack on 97 pass rush snaps
Other: Mitchell Melton
PFF Grade | 77.5 (63 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 7 pressures and 1 sack on 37 pass rush snaps
Other: Omari Abor
PFF Grade | 72.7 (29 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 1 tackle, 2 assisted tackles, 0 pressures on 10 pass rush snaps
Other: Joshua Mickens
PFF Grade | 60.0 (1 snap, 1 game)
Stats | 0 tackles
Other: Bryce Prater
PFF Grade | 69.2 (1 snap, 1 game)
Stats | 1 tackle
Linebackers
Starter: Tommy Eichenberg
PFF Grade | 60.7 (607 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 57 tackles, 27 assisted tackles, 1 forced fumble, 11 pressures and 1 sack on 61 pass rush snaps
Starter: Steele Chambers
PFF Grade | 67.3 (582 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 56 tackles, 29 assisted tackles, 2 pressures on 39 pass rush snaps
Other: Cody Simon
PFF Grade | 74.8 (301 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 32 tackles, 13 assisted tackles, 7 pressures on 20 pass rush snaps
Other: C.J. Hicks
PFF Grade | 63.2 (71 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 4 tackles, 3 assisted tackles
Other: Gabe Powers
PFF Grade | 79.7 (21 snaps, 3 games)
Stats | 2 tackles
Cornerbacks
Starter: Davison Igbinosun
PFF Grade | 71.0 (697 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 49 tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 1 pressure and 1 sack, 36 receptions allowed on 70 targets for 353 yards, 5 TD, and 3 PBU on 380 coverage snaps
Starter: Jordan Hancock
PFF Grade | 74.1 (541 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 34 tackles, 5 assisted tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 4 pressures and 1 sack, 21 receptions allowed on 41 targets for 228 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, and 2 PBU on 309 coverage snaps
Starter: Denzel Burke
PFF Grade | 79.1 (506 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 18 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 1 forced fumble, 23 receptions allowed on 45 targets for 266 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, and 7 PBU on 272 coverage snaps
Other: Jermaine Mathews Jr.
PFF Grade | 86.0 (191 snaps, 7 games)
Stats | 7 tackles, 1 assisted tackles, 4 receptions allowed on 16 targets for 34 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 PBU on 102 coverage snaps
Other: Jyaire Brown
PFF Grade | 67.1 (48 snaps, 4 games)
Stats | 1 tackle, 1 reception on 1 target for 8 yards on 19 coverage snaps
Other: Cameron Martinez
PFF Grade | 55.5 (28 snaps, 4 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 2 receptions allowed on 2 targets for 55 yards on 19 coverage snaps
Other: Ryan Turner
PFF Grade | 72.0 (27 snaps, 2 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 3 receptions on 3 targets for 8 yards on 12 coverage snaps
Other: Calvin Simpson-Hunt
PFF Grade | 61.3 (23 snaps, 2 games)
Stats | 1 tackle, 1 reception on 2 targets for 12 yards on 10 coverage snaps
Other: Lorenzo Styles Jr.
PFF Grade | 60.0 (1 snap, 1 game)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 targets on 1 coverage snap
Safeties
Starter: Josh Proctor
PFF Grade | 81.2 (552 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 35 tackles, 8 assisted tackles, 3 pressures, 14 receptions allowed on 29 targets for 136 yards, 1 INT, and 5 PBU on 298 coverage snaps
Starter: Lathan Ransom
PFF Grade | 74.0 (486 snaps, 8 games)
Stats | 26 tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 2 pressures, 1 forced fumble, 6 receptions allowed on 16 targets for 47 yards, 1 INT, and 1 PBU on 269 coverage snaps
Starter: Sonny Styles
PFF Grade | 76.0 (470 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 29 tackles, 17 assisted tackles, 5 pressures and 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 12 receptions allowed on 20 targets for 117 yards, 1 PBU on 198 coverage snaps
Other: Malik Hartford
PFF Grade | 65.5 (156 snaps, 8 games)
Stats | 8 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 3 receptions allowed on 6 targets for 5 yards, 1 PBU on 78 coverage snaps
Other: Ja’Had Carter
PFF Grade | 57.4 (124 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 5 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 2 receptions allowed on 2 targets for 23 yards on 56 coverage snaps
Other: Kye Stokes
PFF Grade | 52.5 (10 snaps, 3 games)
Stats | 0 tackles, 1 reception allowed on 1 target for 4 yards on 5 coverage snaps
