Manimal Debate: How Ohio State's Darron Lee Stacks Up to Former Buckeye Terror Ryan Shazier

By Eric Seger on July 1, 2015 at 8:35 am
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Darron Lee's recruiting story is well documented and well versed.

"You take a kid like Darron Lee — and that’s where Luke (Fickell) did such a great job recruiting him because I didn’t see it. But it’s not my job to see it, it’s his job to see it," Urban Meyer said on his call-in radio show in October. "He came to camp like three or four times. Here’s a quarterback from New Albany and it’s how do you — that’s where I give Coach Fickell a lot of credit because he did a great job, man."

Lee did play quarterback in high school for the Eagles before being listed as an athlete when he came to Ohio State as part of its 2013 recruiting class. Fickell saw something in him, though, and through some hardcore training with strength coach Mickey Marotti morphed into a horror for opposing offenses during his team's run at the 2014 College Football Playoff National Championship.

Shazier
Shazier's final game as a Buckeye was the Orange Bowl loss to Clemson.

The man he replaced at outside linebacker, Ryan Shazier, put forth a more than worthwhile three seasons as the heart and soul of the Buckeye defense prior to being taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 15th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Lee, before just a scrawny high school kid trying to make a name for himself, prophesied that he'd be the man the take over for the guy who amassed more than 300 tackles in his Buckeye career.

"I was like, 'Sure, buddy you are,'" All-American defensive end Joey Bosa said last season. "He was maybe 195 (pounds) coming out of high school playing quarterback, and he came in here as a safety or something and he played scout team linebacker and I just didn't believe him.

"All of a sudden, he comes in spring and he's killing people. He got huge, he's a fast physical guy, and he's going to be a special player."

Lee already is special, making waves for his athleticism on the edge and ability to wreak havoc in the backfield. He's fast enough to run down most ballcarriers, yet strong enough to take on blockers before making a play.

Just like Shazier.

A quick look at highlight videos on both players reveals stark similarities: Big hits, strong tackles, interceptions, forced fumbles and touchdowns. They're even similar in size: Shazier was listed at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds in college and Lee is 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds.

Comparing the numbers for the two outside linebackers look a little something like this:

Ryan Shazier G Tackles (solo) TFL Sacks INT PD QBH FF (Fr) TD
2011 13 57 (37) 5.0 3.0 0 0 0 2 (0) 0
2012 12 115 (70) 17.0 5.0 1 12 3 3 (0) 1
2013 14 143 (101) 22.5 6.0 0 4 6 4 (0) 0
Darron Lee    G Tackles (Solo) TFL Sacks INT PD QBH FF (FR) TD
2014 15 81 (54) 16.5 7.5 2 5 3 1 (2) 2

Lee burst onto the scene in 2014, earning a starting spot alongside Curtis Grant and Joshua Perry during spring practice. No one had really heard of him yet, but he made his presence felt early and often throughout the course of the year.

Shazier's tackle numbers dwarf those of Lee, save for his true freshman season. Lee had a redshirt year of training under Marotti and tutoring from Fickell before he earned the nod to be a starter, while Shazier tackled anything and everything his sophomore and junior seasons.

It's fair to say Shazier's numbers are a tad inflated due to necessity; Ohio State's defensive unit performed way better in 2014 (18th in total defense) than it did in either 2012 (34th) or 2013 (47th). The Buckeyes needed Shazier to be everywhere, and he was.

Lee also made a bunch of athletic and big time plays in huge games, making it easy to see the comparisons made between him and Shazier.


Shazier initially committed to Urban Meyer at Florida, but then rescinded his commitment when Ohio State's current coach called it quits for a year. The linebacker instead elected to sign with the Buckeyes and Fickell, who was head coach at the time.

A four-star recruit, Shazier's name was huge name in the class of 2011, while Lee's floated under the radar in 2013.

Both made huge plays during their Buckeye careers, and Lee has at least one more year at Ohio State to try and top his predecessor's numbers.

Maybe then we'll get a better idea on how they compare.

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