Buckeyes land commitment from former Ole Miss defensive tackle Tywone Malone

COLUMBUS — Help is on the way for the Ohio State defensive line: former Ole Miss defensive tackle Tywone Malone has committed to the Buckeyes out of the transfer portal.

Malone chose the Buckeyes after visiting the program two weekends ago. He announced the decision on social media.

He’ll have multiple years of eligibility with the Buckeyes.

Malone is the third transfer portal addition for the Buckeyes since that clearly successful weekend of visits, which also includes former Notre Dame wide receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr. and former San Diego State offensive tackle Josh Simmons. All three are now Buckeyes players.

After a heavily-contested recruitment, Tywone Malone chose Ole Miss over the Buckeyes and other top contenders. The four-star prospect from Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey had plans of being a two-sport athlete in college, and Ole Miss allowed him the chance to play both football and baseball.

He was the No. 86 prospect in the country, according to the On3 Consensus rankings. He was the No. 11 defensive tackle in America coming out of high school, as well as the top-ranked player in New Jersey.

In his two seasons at Ole Miss, Malone racked up 13 total tackles, including two sacks and two pass deflections.

But after he entered the transfer portal following spring ball, the Buckeyes jumped back in on his recruitment for a second time, this time with football as the only focus. That allowed them to make a solid pitch to Malone, who chose to continue his career at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes built up their defensive tackle room this spring, but it was still lacking the traditional depth legendary defensive line coach Larry Johnson likes to deploy.

“As a unit, we’re all climbing this year,” senior defensive tackle Ty Hamilton said in the spring. “Even the young guys coming from the bottom, they’re starting to rise as well. We’re all like starting to come together as a unit. We’re playing at the same level as each other.”

Add Tywone Malone into that mix. After two seasons at Ole Miss, the coveted transfer portal defensive tackle has picked Ohio State.

Updated projected Ohio State defensive tackle depth chart after addition of Tywone Malone

Projected starters: Ty Hamilton, Mike Hall, Tyleik Williams

The addition of Tywone Malone doesn’t shake up the top of the Ohio State defensive tackle pecking order.  Mike Hall is already gaining first-round buzz ahead of a pivotal junior season. He dominated the Buckeyes offensive line this spring. As did Ty Hamilton, who started multiple games for the Buckeyes in each of the last two seasons. That pair, joined also by Tyleik Williams, has a chance to clog gaps and become a disruptive combo for the Buckeyes defensive line. Any of the three interior guys could be starters, depending on personnel and opponent. But Malone will be a factor

Key rotational pieces: Tywone Malone, Hero Kanu, Jaden McKenzie

This was the biggest question mark on the defense — until Tywone Malone chose the Buckeyes. Larry Johnson loves deploying deep rotations on his defensive lines, but the depth of experienced players just wasn’t there as of mid-April, even after spring practice. That changes now as Tywone Malone can slide into the rotation and provide a nice boost to a unit that needs it. He’ll headline the group.

Other than Malone, Hero Kanu has bulked up and could be in line to earn more snaps after a productive spring. Jaden McKenzie has been at Ohio State for a few years but hasn’t pushed for playing time yet, even after another spring. Two true freshmen are arriving in the summer so it’s hard to see them earning meaningful minutes with little build up.