JD PicKell: Ohio State defense will play more aggressively in 2022

Ohio State was a good team in 2021, but by their standards, that was a disappointment. As Ryan Day has pointed out, a good season at Ohio State includes beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten, and winning a national championship. They weren’t able to accomplish any of those things, and it was largely due to having a disappointing defense.

On3’s J.D. PicKell explained why he thinks the Ohio State defense will be better and more aggressive in 2022 on The Hard Count.

“The question mark for, I think, the multitude of national outlets was what’s this defense going to look like?” J.D. PicKell said.

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The feeling at Ohio State was that the 2021 team wasted a national championship-caliber offense because of the defense. Now, a lot of those players are coming back. The Buckeyes can’t waste their offense again and need to show enough improvement on defense to accomplish their season goals.

“You go out and get the mad scientist of college football defenses in Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State. It’s a Cornell guy, worth mentioning. They’re really excited about what he’s going to bring to the table,” PicKell said.

The defense is feeling that excitement in Fall camp. It’s a different atmosphere than in previous seasons. Part of that excitement comes from having the opportunity to be aggressive on defense. Now, Ryan Day says they’re a top-10 defense and defensive-line coach Larry Johnson says Ohio State is 12-deep on the line.

“So, for this Ohio State defense to be making it a battle [in practice], and to push this offense to win some reps defensively, that should tell you, okay. We’re starting to get some momentum here.”