Ohio State football: Meet the Adjuster

Big Ten Media Days usually yield few things that really get your attention towards the Ohio State football team. Year after year it is the same thing. Reporters ask the same questions. Players give the same answers. Oh sure, every now and then a few players, who beat their biggest rival for the first time in ten years, shoot their mouth off WAY too much.

However, from a pure football x’s and o’s standpoint, you rarely get much, if anything at all. When you do get one of those nuggets, it is usually something that flies under the radar. That is the case with something Ohio State’s Ronnie Hickman said last week at the conference’s annual get-together in Indianapolis.

While talking about the new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ scheme, Hickman mentioned he would be playing the adjuster position. The adjuster is what Knowles calls the free safety because that guy is in charge of moving his teammates around and getting them lined up properly based on the offensive formation. Hence, the adjuster name. I think just about everyone expected Josh Proctor to assume that role since he was the starter at free safety before suffering a season-ending injury last year.

I really like the idea of Hickman moving into this role. As I detailed in an article back in June (read that here), the Ohio State football team has struggled at free safety since the departure of Jordan Fuller. Hickman played the hybrid bullet position and was one of the two most productive players on the OSU defense last year, along with Denzel Burke.

He led the team in tackles despite being just 195 pounds and having to line up near the line of scrimmage in the box quite often. I think Hickman can be the upgrade I’ve been hoping for at this position.

When talking about the new version of this defense at Media Day, Hickman said Knowles wants to make things as simple as possible, while still allowing his team to combat what the offense is doing. The idea is to turn his athletes loose and let them fly around the field,

"“He wants us to be able to play fast. That’s one of his biggest things. He wants us to play fast. And by playing fast, you’ve got to know the offense and you’ve got to know what to look at. He wants us to look at the right things and by doing that it allows us to play faster and make plays. We’re athletes at the end of the day and he knows that, so he wants us to use our athletic ability to make those plays.”"

If Hickman can be as productive as the adjuster as he was as the bullet, it will be a sizeable upgrade for a defense in need of upgrades. The news of his move made my ears perk up and is one I’m looking forward to seeing in action.