Ohio State Football: 3 Bold predictions on defense in 2021

By Alex Austin | Aug 19, 2021

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 28: Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Clemson Tigers is wrapped up by Zach Harrison #33 of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first half during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

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The Ohio State football team needs to get more sacks, and this defensive line is ready to show that they can. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports /

Ohio State has three players record more than seven sacks

In 2019, Ohio State had a ton of sacks but only had one player eclipse the seven sack mark. To be fair that was because Chase Young had enough sacks to be two players, but the fact remains that he was the only one over seven sacks.

Taking things back another year to 2018, the Buckeyes had two players above the seven sack mark, Chase Young and Dre’Mont Jones, but the third player (Nick Bosa) was held to four due to sitting out the year with an injury.

This year the defensive line is deep and highly talented across the board. I don’t see any one player taking complete control (a la Chase Young with 16.5 sacks) but I do see this team causing mayhem in the backfield.

Haskell Garrett will be a huge force inside and will be paired with a combination of Zach Harrison, Tyreke Smith, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste. This group is so talented that if a player is double-teamed, the rest of the line should be able to feast in their one-on-one matchups.

My guess would be Harrison, Garrett, and Smith all hit the seven-sack mark by the season’s end solidifying the claims that this is one of the best defensive lines ever.

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