Ohio State Football: Three ways to fix the defensive line
By Ryan Stano
One thing that has been abundantly clear so far in this young season is that the older players haven’t done their jobs. Besides Haskell Garrett, the rest of the experienced defensive linemen haven’t been able to make plays behind the line of scrimmage in the pass or the run game.
J.T. Tuimoloau needs to be one of the starting defensive ends. His snap count has been increasing as each game has gone along, and he has been productive in those games. Although he only had two tackles last game, he has gotten push that has led to other players getting sacks.
Jack Sawyer also needs more snaps. He got himself a sack against Akron and has been playing better. Although he hasn’t gotten as much time as JTT, his playing time should increase as well. He’s trending towards earning a starting spot too.
Tyliek Williams has been a monster in the last couple of games, recording 9 tackles and 3 sacks in the last two games, including a 6 tackle game against Akron. The kid should start at defensive tackle right next to Garrett, who had 3 sacks against Akron too.
The rest of the teams Ohio State plays are much more talented than the Zips and have better offensive lines. But these young kids have shown that they can produce when the older defensive linemen haven’t. They should be rewarded with more playing time as a result.
The second way to improve the defensive line has to deal with the number of players the Buckeyes send at the quarterback in passing situations.