Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes top Phil Steele's ranking of defensive line units
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Ohio State is Phil Steele’s top defensive line group
Ohio State has the best defensive line in college football. At least, that’s what college football preseason magazine legend Phil Steele believes about the Buckeyes.
Yes, Steele has the Buckeyes as the top defensive line in college football because of its talent and experience.
Edge rushers J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer anchor a unit that also features defensive ends Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry, as well as Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton on the interior. Several other budding stars look to take their place in the coming seasons.
The Buckeyes topped Penn State, Utah, Michigan and Nebraska, which rounded out the top five. Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ole Miss finished the top 10. Iowa is at No. 13 and Oregon is at No. 23; they’re the other two Big Ten teams ranked outside the top 10.
Ohio State defensive target Justin Hill commits to Alabama
In a stunner, four-star Cincinnati (Ohio) Winton Woods EDGE Justin Hill committed to Alabama over Ohio State on Wednesday. The No. 48 overall prospect and No. 6 EDGE in the On3 Industry Rankings chose the Crimson Tide over Oregon and USC as well.
Ohio State made a large push for Hill throughout his recruitment, which started in March 2023 when the Buckeyes offered him. The Buckeyes had two large moments throughout Hill’s recruitment. The first was in May when Jim Knowles, James Laurinaitis, Larry Johnson and Tim Walton all visited Winton Woods and sat down with Hill to showcase the JACK position and why it would be a thing once he got on campus.
The second big moment was his official visit where it was a full weekend of meetings, clips of the position, time with Laurinaitis seeing linebacker development, time with Johnson on pass rush development and of course, being around commits.
But Alabama was always in main contender to Ohio State. He has ties to the state as he has family that lives there. But it’s more than just family too. He was initially recruited by Nick Saban, but when he retired, Kalen DeBoer’s staff didn’t miss a beat.
READ: Three thoughts as Justin Hill commits to Alabama over Ohio State
Where does Phil Steele see Buckeyes offensive position groups?
College football preseason magazine legend Phil Steele has released his magazine to stores. And he clearly loves Ohio State this season.
Steele has the Buckeyes littered through his top position group rankings in college football, on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
Lettermen Row has a breakdown of where Steele ranks the Buckeyes offensive position groups compared to others across college football. Let’s break those rankings down with our own take on Steele’s rankings.
Quarterback
Phil Steele’s take: Ohio State at No. 19
Lettermen Row’s take: Phil, what are we doing here? I didn’t expect Ohio State to be in the top two or three because Will Howard is being doubted by nearly every national talking heads — despite having as many conference title wins as Quinn Ewers and more than Carson Beck or Dillon Gabriel. But No. 19? Steele has the Ohio State quarterback room, which features Howard, Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz, Air Noland and five-star sensation Julian Sayin, behind Penn State, Colorado, Utah, SMU, Western Kentucky, Memphis, Georgia Tech, Miami and Liberty — among others. Is anyone taking those quarterback rooms as a whole over what the Buckeyes have? We sure wouldn’t. Steele is pretty good with his positional rankings every year. His quarterback ranking simply doesn’t make any sense, though.
READ MORE: Breaking down where Buckeyes land in Phil Steele offensive position group rankings
Counting Down
Buckeyes vs. Akron: 58 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 149 days
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