Ohio State Football: Defensive recruiting still a concern

The Ohio State football team has had plenty of success recruiting on the offensive side of the ball since Ryan Day took over as head coach. He has a reputation for being able to develop all kinds of offensive talent. Unfortunately, the defensive side of the ball has lagged behind.

That issue continues to plague the Buckeyes even in this recruiting class. Despite having the best recruiting class in the country, they can’t seem to land any top defensive talent. They just lost another top defensive recruit today, losing Caleb Downs to Alabama.

Downs was the number one safety in the country. He was choosing between the Buckeyes and the Crimson Tide, and the Buckeyes lost out. It’s not the first time this cycle that Ohio State has lost out on a good defensive recruit. In fact, most of their great recruits are on offense.

If you look at the 2023 recruiting class right now, only three of the top nine recruits in the class are on the defensive side of the ball. None of them are linebackers either. Jim Knowles was brought in to help fix the defense. So far, his recruiting has left some things to be desired.

Of course, this is just year one of a revamped defensive coaching staff. He still has to instill his culture and show that he can improve this defense the way he did at Oklahoma State. Once he has that credibility, the recruits will follow too. They just need to see the defense improve from last year.

This isn’t something to panic about yet but is definitely something worth monitoring. The defense needs to be retooled after what’s happened the last two years. But if this trend continues, then the defense will be something to be worried about for years to come.