Ohio State football: Former 5-star needs to step-up in 2023
The Ohio State football team needs certain players to step up in 2023. Edge rusher Jack Sawyer will be one of them.
The Ohio State football team’s offseason is underway as spring practices will start right around the corner on March 7th. The Buckeye defense will be expected to have a better season in 2023 as it will be year number two in implementing Jim Knowles’ system.
One player who will need to have a big impact on next season is former five-star and Columbus native Jack Sawyer. Sawyer was caught in between a bit last season as coaches asked him to learn a new position, ironically named the “Jack.” Sawyer spent his high school days at Pickerington North and his first year on campus at Ohio State with his hand on the ground as a traditional end. The “Jack” requires Sawyer to stand, almost like an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.
However, his play at the position left more to be desired as his snap counts consistently dropped as the season went along in 2022. I thought Knowles would unleash Sawyer during the Peach Bowl but he only saw 16 snaps on defense during the game.
I’m not sure what Buckeye coaches want to do with Sawyer moving forward but they need to figure it out this offseason. With Javontae Jean-Baptiste transferring to Notre Dame and Tyler Friday and Zach Harrison moving on, there’s no real competition at defensive end for JT Tuimoloau and Sawyer. Sawyer is too talented for Ohio State coaches to keep working at different positions. They need to pick a spot for him and let him flourish.
We’ve seen it before, most memorably with Shaun Wade. Wade was one of the best slot corners in all of college football and the following season they moved him outside and he struggled mightily. Let these kids play where they feel comfortable and get out of the way.
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Now I don’t know where Jack Sawyer prefers to play. Maybe he likes standing up and doing other things outside of rushing the passer. But wherever they decide to line Jack up next fall he needs to have a major impact on this defense, or we can see inconsistent results like we did in 2022.