JD Pickell: Josh Proctor is expected to contribute more on defense

Ohio State needs its defense to step up this football season. In 2021, the offense was nearly unstoppable, but the Buckeyes wound up missing the College Football Playoff simply because they couldn’t get stops on defense. Ryan Day and co. will need to bolster that side of the ball if OSU wants to avoid the same result as a season ago. For most, a Rose Bowl victory is the cap to a great season, not an underachievement. Not in Columbus.

So, safety will be a position of great importance. The Buckeyes gave up a slew of big plays last year. Long touchdowns on busted coverages. According to On3’s JD PicKell, a guy like Josh Proctor is someone who can step in and fill a hole on the Ohio State defense.

Over on the On3 YouTube channel, PicKell broke down Proctor’s upcoming senior season and predicted him to finally break into the rotation. You can watch PicKell’s comments right here or read him in full below.

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JD PicKell picks Josh Proctor as name to watch

“And that’s kind of the edge that is floating around practice right now. There’s a lot of guys that are excited about Josh Proctor, one of the safeties. A guy who was hurt last year in the Oregon game. They think he can be someone who contributes in a big way this coming year. He’s a guy that they’re really excited about. It’s a name to watch. They are going to ask a lot of the safeties this coming year.

“And so Josh Proctor, they think, is a guy that can finally put it together in terms of being healthy and being productive. So a guy to know there. Also Mike Hall on the defensive line. A guy they’re excited about. But all that’s to say they have these guys that are ready to prove it on the field. And that’s the edge we talked about at the beginning of this segment.”