Ohio State Football: How will the nose guard position shake out?

The Ohio State football team lost a really good nose guard. Can they replace him?

Last season, the Ohio State football team had a very good nose guard in Tommy Togiai. After Togiai declared for the draft, the Buckeyes had a hole to fill at the 1-tech position, also known as the nose, on the defensive line.

Throughout the offseason, there has been debate about what Ohio State will do with the nose position this season. Both Haskell Garrett and Taron Vincent are the projected starters at defensive tackle, but both traditionally played 3-tech.

The role for someone playing 3-tech versus nose is a huge difference. Defensive tackles at the 1-tech are tasked with basically eating up blocks. Nose guards want to free up the rest of the defensive line and give them one-on-one matchups.

Meanwhile, the 3-tech is the pass-rushing defensive tackle. Defensive tackles playing 3-tech typically are lighter than nose guards, have more bend when rushing the passer, and overall more mobile than nose guards.

Now that the difference between nose and 3-tech is clear, it’s understandable why Garrett or Vincent moving to 1-tech will be a huge change for them. Garrett played some nose guard in the National Championship game versus Alabama when Togiai missed the game, it did not go so well. Garrett wreaked havoc last season playing 3-tech, so moving him to 1-tech where he cannot make as much noise seems unattractive.

Vincent is a talented player as well that flashed at times last year. Moving him to nose could take away from his potential impact. No matter what, Garrett or Vincent will have to play some 1-tech.

The Ohio State football team’s plan for nose

This is the discussion that’s been going on about nose guard all offseason. Recently, Larry Johnson, Ohio State’s Defensive Line Coach, revealed the Buckeyes’ plan for nose,

"“We’re training to have guys play both positions, so instead of having two players you gain four players. So both guys can play nose, both guys can play 3-technique. So that gives us more depth, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’ll train other guys like that, because they’re veterans they can probably handle the playbook, and so far they’ve done really good. And Taron’s the same way, Taron can play 3-tech and nose guard.”"

Rotating several defensive tackles at the 1-tech seems to be the plan for Ohio State this season. Not only will Garrett and Vincent play some nose, but other tackles like Antwuan Jackson Jr. and Jerron Cage will see time here. This could be a good thing, this way guys like Garrett and Vincent can still play some 3-tech and cause headaches for opposing teams.

Football players being versatile and being able to play multiple positions is usually a huge benefit. For example, the offensive line has plenty of versatile players with former offensive tackles Thayer Munford and Paris Johnson Jr. trying out offensive guard.

As Johnson said, the interior of the defensive line will have even more depth if all defensive tackles can play either 1-tech or 3-tech. Ohio State might have shifted to this approach since they struggled to find someone to play 1-tech against Alabama last year when Togiai was out. This should only benefit the Ohio State football team going forward.