Ohio State Football: Most important player on defense

In 2020, we saw the Ohio State football team carried by the offense make it to the National Championship Game. The defense was bad, mainly the secondary. It eventually caught up to them against Alabama when the Buckeyes got smoked in that final game.

Last season, the offense carried a poor secondary yet again. This time though, they weren’t quite good enough to make it to the College Football Playoff. This year, the offense will likely carry the Buckeyes again, but not quite to the same extent as the last two seasons.

The defense will be better, but it’s unclear just how much better. One player is going to determine the ceiling of this Ohio State football team. That player is Zach Harrison. It’s his final season with the team and it’s his last chance to make a true impact on the defense.

As a former five-star recruit, Harrison had a lot of expectations when he arrived in Columbus. He’s a local kid so a lot of Ohio State fans had seen him play before he stepped on campus. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been as good as he was when he was in high school.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the talent to be great. As a senior this year, he has the opportunity to make the defense a lot better if he can get to the quarterback. Harrison has the physical skill to get double-digit sacks, he just hasn’t come close to that number yet.

If Harrison does reach that threshold, then the Buckeyes are going to play for a national title. Him getting to that mark means that the Buckeye defense is putting enough pressure on the quarterback to make mistakes, meaning more turnovers and bad plays from the offense.

I don’t have faith that Harrison can reach that mark, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I would love to see him try.