1. Joey Bosa
Bosa has the unique combination of team and individual accolades that the rest of the defensive ends of the 21st Century don’t. He played on winning teams and racked up individual stats and records better than anyone else on this list.
He also did it while starting out as a bit of an unknown. In three years, Bosa would make 148 tackles, 55 of them for a loss and 26 of them sacks, and he forced five fumbles. Joey Bosa was a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time All-American, and a 2014 National Champion.
2. Will Smith
Smith is so much like Bosa in his individual skill, accolades, and team success that the two are almost interchangeable at the top. Will Smith was Ohio State’s top pass rusher during his time as a Buckeye. He made his living behind the line of scrimmage. He had 155 tackles, 20 sacks, and 41.5 tackles for a loss. He was a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, an All-American, and a 2002 National Champion.
3. Chase Young
Young had video game numbers at Ohio State. He had only 99 tackles at Ohio State but nearly half of them (46) were for a loss, including 30.5 sacks. That mark is the second all-time in Buckeye history behind only Mike Vrabel’s 36.
Young’s 16.5 sacks in his final season are the single-season Ohio State record. He would have had more had the NCAA not screwed him out of two games because *gasps* paid for his girlfriend to go to the Rose Bowl! Still, Young was an All-American, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and overall Big Ten Player of the Year.
He won the Hendricks Award for best defensive end and the Nagurski and Bednarik Awards for national defensive player of the year. Chase Young was also rightly a Heisman Finalist.
4. John Simon
John Simon had 154 tackles, 44 tackles for a loss, and 20.5 sacks. Simon was another All-American and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He was very like his offensive counterpart, Braxton Miller. They both were very versatile, but most importantly, they both stuck around and were leaders during a tough time for Ohio State. The reason the bridge between the Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer Eras went as well as it did is because of the leadership and heart of players like John Simon.