The Ohio State football team has righted the ship on defense since the loss to Oregon. That game was by far the worst game of the season for the unit. Since then, the Buckeyes have been an elite unit on defense. They are one of the best defenses in the country again.
While the Ohio State Buckeyes have a lot of talent, one player is unhappy with how he's being used on defense. C.J. Hicks came into the program as a five-star recruit with a lot of promise. Unfortunately, he has played poorly. Even this season when he was given more opportunities, he hasn't been able to make plays.
Hicks seems to think that it's not his fault that his play hasn't been up to the standard set for him. He seems to think that it's actually the coaches who haven't been able to set him up to have success. Prior to the game against the Purdue Boilermakers, he said as much.
C.J. Hicks is not happy with how the Ohio State football team is using him
There was a clip on social media circulating from a member of the Eleven Warriors staff that he has since taken down. Unfortunately, I can't share the video with you because of that. But you can hear someone from that outlet ask Hicks what he thinks about the defense.
Hicks said, "I fu***** wish they'd play me on the edge." in response to that question. He obviously has very strong feelings about how he is being used by Jim Knowles. Hicks then went out against Purdue and had another poor showing and Arvell Resse was used more often when the first-team defense was out there.
Hicks has not played up to his high school billing. He will likely end up transferring at the end of the season. That's just fine with the Buckeyes because of the talent they have coming in next season. It's disappointing that things worked out this way.
I wonder if the coaching staff heard those comments. If they did, I wouldn't be shocked if there's some sort of retribution for them.