Ryan Day identifies breakout candidates on Ohio State’s defense

The Ohio State defense could be poised for a big year as Jim Knowles settles in for his second season as coordinator. With plenty of production coming back, Ryan Day pointed to a few players who can break out.

Ohio State has 77% of its production coming back this year, according to ESPN — including last season’s tackles leader, Tommy Eichenberg, and sacks leader Jack Sawyer. The Buckeyes also return J.T. Tuimoloau, who’s already seen as a potential top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

But even beyond those names, Day told On3’s J.D. PicKell about more Buckeyes who could open some eyes in 2023, particularly in the trenches and at linebacker.

“It starts with the front,” Day said during an appearance on The Hard Count. “… Kenyatta Jackson had a nice offseason inside. Ty Hamilton, Mike Hall, Tyleik Williams. If we’re going to be good on defense, we’ve got to be good up front.

“But the three linebackers back of Tommy, Steele [Chambers] and Cody [Simon], there’s experience there, there’s maturity there, which is really good. And there’s great leadership. I’ve been very impressed with the leadership across the board on this team, but especially with that group.”

Ohio State made some big additions to its secondary, most notably bringing in Davison Igbinosun via the transfer portal. A former Ole Miss cornerback, he’s the No. 23-ranked transfer to hit the portal this cycle, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. The Buckeyes also added former Notre Dame athlete Lorenzo Styles and are converting him to defensive back.

Those additions, coupled with returning talent and others who might have flown under the radar last year, are why Day is so excited about his defense this year.

“On the outside in the back end, probably as much depth as we’ve had at corner since I can remember here at Ohio State with Denzel [Burke], and now Jordan [Hancock] has a full season,” Day said. “We’ve added Davison from Ole Miss. Lorenzo Styles came in, Jyaire Brown is back. We have some young guys that we’re very bullish on in Jermaine Matthews and Calvin Simpson-Hunt.

“And then, at safety, Sonny Styles comes back now after re-classifying and really playing as a senior in high school. He looks a lot different. We have Lathan [Ransom] coming back, Josh Proctor has some experience, Cam Martinez, Ja’had Carter came in from Syracuse. Like I said, I think we have good depth and we have some good experience. Now, it’s time to go put it on the field.”