Ohio State Football offers defensive tackle from transfer portal

Marley Cook, defensive tackle from Middle Tennessee State is currently in the transfer portal. The Ohio State football says that they are interested in him, and have even given him an offer. Cook says he’s going to visit both Miami and Ohio State.

Cook stands at 6’2 ft and weighs about 300 pounds. He can be described as a big defensive lineman who is still versatile. He can create pressure on the quarterback, causing the offense to scramble.

Cook could add more value to this Buckeye defense. In 2023 he was able to get 22 tackles, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.  He has started for two consecutive years at MTSU and has shown some promise. Adding him will make this Ohio State defense that much more scary.

The defensive line was a clear issue in The Game when the Buckeyes couldn’t stop the run. Ohio State wasn’t able to stop Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards from running down the clock on the final drive and that pretty much sealed the game. Quite frankly, they need to get tougher up front.

Losing a five-star recruit on the defensive line doesn’t help either. Perhaps Ohio State thinks Cook can give them a lift in the middle. At the very least, he could give them more depth up front. Jim Knowles has gotten away from playing a bunch of defensive linemen in the course of a game though.

I’m not sure how much Cook can actually help this team, but depth is never a bad thing. I’d like to see them go after some better players in the portal, but there aren’t a lot of those guys in there yet. After the season ends, more players from better teams will jump in.

We’ll see what happens with Cook in the coming days and weeks ahead.