Buckeyes star linebacker Tommy Eichenberg recognized as Bednarik Award semifinalist
COLUMBUS — Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg is third in the Big Ten in total tackles (72) this season — already a career high.
Tuesday the fourth-year defender was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given annually to college football’s most outstanding defensive player.
The last Buckeyes star to win the award was defensive end Chase Young in 2019. That season, Young was a game-wrecker, registering 21 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks and a whopping seven forced fumbles.
Tommy Eichenberg isn’t putting up those kinds of numbers, but he has been a big part of a much-improved Ohio State defense. Under first-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, the Buckeyes are allowing just 16.9 points per game—5.9 fewer points per game than they conceded in 2021 — which is good for 10th in the FBS.
Through eight games, Eichenberg has registered the top Pro Football Focus defensive grade (86.9) on the team. He’s already played four more snaps than he lined up for all last season, and he’s proven to be a significant help in the pass rushing department, too. Eichenberg’s 15 pressures are third on the team, per PFF. Plus, his 2.5 sacks are fourth among all Buckeyes in 2022.
He also nabbed a pick-six that effectively put the game out of reach against a low-scoring Iowa team two weeks ago.
Tommy Eichenberg has mounted at least 14 tackles twice this season, including this past weekend at Penn State, where he piled up 15, and 10 of those were solos.
Perhaps most notably, Eichenberg is one of the best run defending linebackers in the country. Of players at his position with 100 or more run defense snaps, Eichenberg has the sixth-highest PFF run defense grade (88.5). What’s more, his average depth of tackle is a mere 1.8 yards, which is tied for 12th among that same group of qualifying linebackers, per PFF.
Here’s the complete list of Bednarik Award semifinalists:
Alabama LB Will Anderson Jr.
Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
Arkansas LB Drew Sanders
Cincinnati LB Ivan Pace Jr.
Clemson DT Tyler Davis
Georgia S Christopher Smith
Illinois DT Jer’Zhan Newton
Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon
Iowa LB Jack Campbell
Kansas State DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah
Michigan DE Mike Morris
Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes
Ohio State LB Tommy Eichenberg
Old Dominion LB Jason Henderson
Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.
Pitt DT Calijah Kancey
Texas Tech LB Tyree Wilson
USC DT Tuli Tuipulotu
Utah CB Clark Phillips III
Wisconsin S John Torchio
