Ohio State football: Three most important players for 2021
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football team wasn’t great at getting to the quarterback last season in terms of sacks. Harrison was the main culprit at this. He led the nation in pressures, but that only transferred into two sacks a year ago. He simply wasn’t good enough.
Being a former five-star recruit means that Harrison has a lot to live up to in terms of expectations. He was expected to come in and be the next Chase Young. While no one can be as dominant as he was, Harrison was at least supposed to be as good as one of the Bosa brothers.
So far, that has not been the case. In fact, he has been far from it. But Harrison was a five-star recruit for a reason. He still has immense talent and physical traits that make him the prime candidate to help the defensive line be more menacing to quarterbacks.
Harrison has to step up his production this season. Getting double-digit sacks might be asking a little bit too much, but I think 8.5 sacks isn’t. When someone has as much talent as he possesses, 8.5 sacks should be the floor for his production.
Having Harrison get 8.5 sacks or more helps the secondary too. When quarterbacks get happy feet in the pocket because of constant pressure, they turn the ball over. That’s when the secondary can capitalize and create turnovers. Creating turnovers is always better.
The last person on this list might be the most important player on this list.