Ryan Day talks growth of Steele Chambers, outlook of Ohio State linebackers room

Steele Chambers is still fairly new to the linebacker position, but he’s already making the most of his opportunity. Heading into his junior season at Ohio State, Chambers – a former On3 Consensus four-star recruit who came to the Buckeyes as a running back – has been putting in work at the position throughout spring practices and is expected to play a big role on the defensive side of the ball in 2022.

Meeting with the media for a recent spring press conference, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was asked about Chambers and his entire linebackers room – and he discussed the growth of Chambers and how much depth the Buckeyes will have at the position for the upcoming season.

“He is,” Day said when asked if Chambers has been taking advantage of his opportunity. “Now we’ll play with three linebackers in the game, and we’ll also play with two linebackers in the game. There’s a lot of guys in there, so it’s been very competitive. I thought what Steele did last year was significant – not being able to have a whole year under his belt playing the position and now he’s got a whole spring with Jim coaching linebackers.

“Obviously, he’s grown. He was playing running back at this time last year, so he’s much further along than he was at this point last year – but that group has more experience than it’s had, and we have some good young guys who are stepping there, as well.”

Chambers – a 6-foot-1, 232-pound athlete – had a solid first season as a linebacker in 2021, as he registered 47 total tackles, five tackles-for-loss, a sack, forced fumble and an interception for the Buckeyes. His best game of the season came against Maryland on Oct. 9 – when Chambers tallied seven tackles, a tackle-for-loss and a sack to help lead Ohio State to a 66-17 win.

Now, coming into the 2022 campaign, Chambers should be able to make even more of an impact for the Buckeyes – who are scheduled to kickoff the season on Saturday, Sept. 3 against Notre Dame in Columbus.