Don't Expect Drop-off: Analyzing the Achilles Heel of a National Championship Contender

Anthony Schlegel, the starting middle linebacker last season at Ohio State, was drafted in the third round by the New York Jets. Their scouting report on Schlegel included a footnote regarding his favorite pastime: hunting wild boar with knives. When the boar hunter is the last player drafted from a linebacker squad, a drop-off is typically expected. The little exposure Ohio State football gets from TV, magazine, and other nationally circulated media vehicles splatters a stat the experts say is the Achilles’ heel of the Buckeyes: the defense returns only two starters. Frankly, these "truths" are largely exaggerated in all the wrong places.

This year’s drop-off won’t be significant. How can it be when the defense returns 20 letterwinners? With that many guys coming back, there should accidentally be some guys with halfway decent stuff, right?

The two "returning starters," as the many preseason magazines say, are DT Quinn Pitcock and DT David Patterson. Both players are gifted, but get help from DE Jay Richardson. Richardson received considerable playing time last year, making his way in and out of the rotation with Patterson and then-senior Mike Kudla. CBs Malcom Jenkins and Jamario O’Neal also received extensive playing time last season, showing the capability to run with, and shutdown, the Big Ten’s best receivers including Indiana’s James Hardy, Penn
State’s Derrick Williams, and Michigan’s Steve Breaston. I don’t see why anyone doubts either of them, especially Jenkins. Sure, Jenkins will only be 18 years old when taking the field as the number one corner this season, but his skills rival those of NFL veterans. The age is a factor, but so are gametime situations. While former starter, and first round draft pick, Ashton Youboty was known for getting called for back-breaking pass interference calls on third-and-longs, Jenkins did nothing but shut down his guy on every crucial play. Experience also gets brought into the Buckeyes’ defensive fold via FS Brandon Mitchell, a fifth-year Senior who played Nickelback last season. Are you counting the "non-starters?"

Filling Schlegel’s void will be John Kerr, a transfer from Indiana. Kerr played Hoosier football, leading the team in tackles, his freshmen year before transferring to OSU. Marcus Freeman returns from injury this year with a vengeance. Freeman, who was the fourth linebacker on the depth chart, behind first round picks A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter and third round pick Schlegel, was being hyped as the next big Buckeye linebacker before becoming injured midway through the season. James Laurinatis filled in for an injured
Carpenter last season, showing a nose for the ball in games against Notre Dame and Michigan. Mike D’Andrea, a reserve linebacker, held the starting MLB job before becoming injured and having to give it up to Schlegel. Buckeye fans: avoid the trap of circling the Texas game as the make-or-break early match-up for the Buckeyes. Stopping Northern Illinois, led by RB Garrett Wolfe and QB Phil Horvath will be what breaks in Ohio State’s defense. Wolfe looks like this year’s best Mid-Major bid for the Heisman trophy. On paper, and thanks to the ESPN color men, the Huskies offense has the talent to burn OSU’s "young" defense three-shades-of-purple. However, the odds of such an outcome are highly unlikely. Of the 9 alleged "first-year starters" only two, Freeman, due to injury, and DE Lawrence Smith, has never received significant playing time. Already, Smith is being hailed as the next former All-American Buckeye Will Smith. At 6’ 6" and 270 lbs. Smith has the frame. All he needs is the experience, something which he will likely be eased into thanks to the… dare I say it… experience (!) and talent surrounding him.

While dissecting the Buckeye defense, it would only be fair to examine that of the team they’re playing. In this case: NIU. This is, quite frankly, a defense which is good enough for the MAC, but simply cannot keep up with the speed of Ohio State. The Huskies bring back seven starters on Defense, including three who managed to fandangle the country’s 65th ranked pass defense, an effect-number, caused by a lack of speed at the cornerback positions. And honestly, when you throw Joe-Somebody on a Teddy Ginn Jr., you know that Troy Smith will be looking to go deep.

Analyze your defenses, kids. Sure, the Bucks defense isn’t all-that-and-a-bag-of-Doritos on paper. But is it Northern Illinois’ defense? No. And Northern Illinois is a pretty good team. All in all, the Buckeye Defense will be fine, potentially better than last year, without Mr. Youboty spotting opposing offenses 15 yards once or twice a game. The Bucks should walk away with an Opening Day victory, and Coach Jim Tressel should walk away with plenty of game tape to prep his defense for a trip to Austin.

by Cory Spicer
BigTen-fans.com Staff Writer