How the Ohio State football team deals with inexperience at linebacker

The Ohio State football team should have one of the best defenses in the country. They were last year. No one had a better pass defense than Ohio State a year ago. They arguably got better in the offseason with the addition of Caleb Downs. That secondary is second to none.

With the addition of Downs, Sonny Styles has been moved to linebacker. With Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers now gone, Ohio State has to find some guys to take their spots. They don't have a lot of experience at that spot since those two locked down those spots for the last three years.

Styles is going to occupy one of those two spots. He's too talented to keep him off the field. His body was always close to a linebacker built anyway. Who is going to be the other guy next to him? It is likely going to start out as Cody Simon because he's the only linebacker who has played any snaps.

Simon is not as talented as C.J. Hicks though. Hicks, a former five-star recruit, is finally in line to get some significant playing time. Simon might start the season as the starter, but Hicks could end it as the starter depending on how things go. He's probably the linebacker with the most pure talent on the roster.

Linebacker is going to be the weakest unit on the defense, but that doesn't mean it's going to be a detriment to the rest of the unit. The defense as a whole is still going to be elite. The linebackers are going to get better as the season goes on too.

The Ohio State football program is not worried about the linebacker play. Quite frankly, the only unit the coaches should be worried about is the offensive line. That unit still has quite a few questions to answer.