Ohio State football: The time is now for Jerron Cage

The Ohio State football team has plenty of great defensive linemen. Jerron Cage is trying to emerge as one who is firmly in the rotation.

With the Steelers having closed the gap to just four points and having all the momentum as the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLV began, Green Bay linebackers coach Kevin Greene told Clay Matthews, “It is time! It is time.”

On the next play, Matthews forced a fumble that made a large impact on the game. Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson could say the same to nose tackle Jerron Cage. It is time for Cage to make an impact on the Buckeye defense. It is time.

Cage came to the Buckeyes as a four-star recruit in their 2017 class from Cincinnati’s Winton Woods High School. After redshirting his freshman year, he appeared in three games in 2018. In 2019 he saw playing time in eleven of fourteen games, mostly in mop-up situations.

Last season he not only played in every game, but he was also used in spot situations with the first-team defense. When Tommy Togiai was unavailable for the national championship game due to COVID, Cage made his first career start.

Johnson says he wants the nose tackle to knock the line of scrimmage backward. Cage says the job is to be disruptive. He did neither against Alabama. Too often he looked slow coming off the ball and made little penetration.

When double-teamed he would often lose his feet and go to a knee. Ideally, you want him to stay up and maintaining leverage. In all fairness, Cage had to deal with Crimson Tide center Landon Dickenson, who won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center.

But, you still expect an Ohio State defensive lineman, who is being taught by college football’s best coach at that position, to win his share of battles.  Unfortunately, Cage wasn’t much of a factor all night.

For the redshirt senior to make an impact this fall, he obviously has work to do. So far this spring, Johnson is pleased, “Jerron Cage is having the best spring he’s had since he’s been here.” That’s great to hear because the Ohio State football team needs him to be disruptive in the middle. When you’re 310 pounds like Cage, you can be a lot of disruptive.

Davon Hamilton, B.B. Landers, and Tommy Togiai all constantly created issues for opposing offenses. Johnson said the guy at this position needs to be powerful and quick. All three of those I mentioned possessed power and quickness. Cage is powerful, but he certainly needs to be quicker and credits Kenny Parker, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Director, with teaching him how to get stronger and quicker at the little things.

While all involved were asked to sacrifice and maintain distance from their families during the pandemic in hopes of having a 2020 season, Cage may have sacrificed more than some. His son was born in June and he went long stretches without having any contact with him.

He credits his fellow defensive linemen for helping him through that difficult time. If you listen to Cage talk about the defensive line group, it is obvious the love he has for his teammates and is thankful for their help in getting him through not just the time away from his infant son, but those bouts of self-doubt he had in his first few years with the Ohio State football team as well.

Cage said he’d see those ahead of him on the depth chart move on each year and wonder if it was time for his chance. He no longer has to wonder. For Jerron Cage, it is time. It is time.