Ohio State football: Most irreplaceable player on OSU roster

The Ohio State football team has a lot of valuable players on their roster for this season. Which one of them is the most irreplaceable?

Last season, this question would have been very easy. The answer would have been Justin Fields. Fields was the one player that Ohio State couldn’t afford to lose for any games last season. Now with him gone, the answer to that question has now changed.

The Ohio State football player that is most irreplaceable this season is Haskell Garrett. Garrett sets to tone up front on the defensive line. He was a Second-Team All-American last season and was probably the best overall defender that the Buckeyes had.

Ohio State’s defense is still not the strong point of this team. The secondary is still an issue. Although it should get better now that they have some experience back there, the tone still needs to be set by the defensive line. Garrett is the Buckeyes’ best defensive lineman.

Not only is he the best lineman overall, but he’s the best one in the middle. The middle is where Ohio State wrecked offenses a season ago. We saw how much the absence of Tommy Togiai hurt them in the National Championship, and he wasn’t even as good as Garrett.

If Garrett were to get hurt for any reason, Ohio State’s defense would be in serious trouble. It would be in enough trouble that they could possibly lose a game to a team with a decent offense. They have brand new linebackers too, so that would be a disaster.

Ohio State’s offense is good enough that they would be able to get by without someone like Chris Olave or Garrett Wilson because of how many weapons the entirety of the offense has at its disposal. The defense doesn’t have that many good players.

Hopefully, this is not a theory that needs to be tested at any point in 2021. It would be ideal if everyone stayed healthy and the Buckeyes could just play to their full potential.