Coming into this season, one of the biggest questions about this Ohio State defense is how James Laurinaitis will replace the production of Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese at the linebacker position. Given that these were two top-10 picks in last year's NFL Draft. Now, I understand it is early, but it seems like year 2 linebacker Riley Pettijohn is OSU's best possible replacement option right now, and he showed why in Ohio State's loss to Texas.
Against Texas, Pettijohn played the most snaps of his career (37) and tied team highs in both tackles for loss and sacks, with 1.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack. He did this while playing some of his snaps in the box and others in a hybrid outside linebacker/edge role.
While I understand his stats may not have been the most eye-popping, his actual tape was. His physical traits shined, and his athleticism showed he belonged on the field and could make an impact in a big game and against a team as talented as Texas.
This was something that, from my perspective, a lot of the other linebackers didn't show, namely Payton Pierce, who failed to really make an impactful imprint on this game like many would expect him to, given the expectations of him coming into this season.
In all honesty, in the 37 snaps he played, he did look similar to the way Arvell Reese did in 2024 before his breakout campaign in 2025. He looked like a linebacker who still needs a little overall refinement in his toolkit, but he has the natural athletic ability, instinct, and physicality the Buckeyes were sorely missing in this past week's games, especially at linebacker.
Luckily, Ohio State fans and outsiders aren't the only ones who think Pettijohn needs to play more, as Head Coach Ryan Day shared this sentiment when talking to the media Tuesday afternoon. He said, "Riley will continue to play more," while also raving about his ability: "he is a unique player that has the uncanny ability to slip blocks and make plays, and the more he plays, the better he is going to be."
This, to me, is huge, as this loss makes it abundantly clear that this defense needs more juice, and having Riley Pettijohn's role increase can bring the exact type of juice, energy, and athleticism needed to improve the overall play of this unit as the Buckeyes look to start conference play next week.
Luckily for Ohio State, Pettijohn wasn't the only young player to shine as a freshman. Jay Timmons and Khary Wilder also impressed. Timmons continues to show why he is OSU's starting nickel, and Khary Wilder made an impact in limited opportunities last week, pressuring Arch Manning on almost all of his snaps.
This defense needs to improve, as the Buckeyes' margin for error has shrunk dramatically, and a youth movement may be just the thing to do that.
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