Larry Johnson nearly faced a dicey situation.
Sure, the legendary Ohio State defensive line coach probably would have found a way to work through it. Nobody has ever gotten rich betting against him. Yet he could have had Tommy Togiai, Haskell Garrett and Antwuan Jackson walk out of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for the last time, leaving him a suddenly thin group of defensive tackles. He prefers to rotate three – or, at the very least, two – linemen at both the nose tackle and 3-technique spots, and had they all three gone pro, Johnson would have returned only two players at the position who played more than 25 snaps during the 2020 season.
Quasi-crisis averted.
Togiai left to pursue his NFL dreams. But Garrett and Jackson both opted to stay in school by utilizing the extra year of eligibility allowed to them by the NCAA. So instead of a questionable depth chart in the middle of the defensive line, the Buckeyes will feature a quartet of upperclassmen – Garrett, Jackson, Jerron Cage and Taron Vincent – to cause havoc in the interior.
“I wish Tommy nothing but the best,” head coach Ryan Day said. “Certainly I wish we had him back. But really excited that Haskell and Antwuan are back. I thought they played really well. That was, as you know, one of the concerns going into the season. Just, what is that going to look like in there?”
The concern was both real and warranted.
Ohio State lost DaVon Hamilton, Robert Landers and Jashon Cornell the prior year and had to turn to some guys without quite as much experience. Sound familiar? It’s sort of similar to what it would have been like if the Buckeyes saw Togiai, Garrett and Jackson all leave at once. Johnson figured out how to maximize what he had a year ago, so it’s difficult to imagine him not liking the group he has now.
Garrett, a senior last year unexpectedly back for his fifth season, headlines the crew.
“Haskell took the next step,” Day said. “I still think that Haskell's got a lot of area to grow. I mean, he really came on the scene quickly this year. Now, with another whole season of preparation, I think he can be one of the better inside defensive tackles in the country going into next year.”
His story, already well-documented, became even more remarkable when Day revealed he contracted COVID-19 early in the summer to temporarily sideline him from offseason work. The much-publicized shooting on Aug. 31 had people like defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs, who said he “would have thought season over, career over” when he first heard of the incident, assuming he wouldn’t play in the fall.
Instead, he turned in a 20-tackle, two-sack, one-pick six campaign that earned him second-team All-American honors from both the Associated Press and Sporting News.
“There was really no lead-up into the season for him. And then he still played the way he did. With a whole offseason…” said Day, his voice trailing off as he seemingly let his imagination run with the thought.
Vincent, entering his fourth-year junior season, should complement him at 3-technique.
Once described as a “battering ram,” he hasn’t experienced the meteoric rise some once predicted of him when he signed as a five-star recruit out of IMG Academy. Upperclassmen buried him on the depth chart as a true freshman, and just before he appeared destined for major playing time, his second season got wiped out with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Vincent finally got a whiff of the opportunities he desired in 2020, recording nine tackles and 1/2 of a sack in 150 defensive snaps. Johnson always wants pass-rushing from the 3-technique spot, so if Vincent stays healthy for a full offseason, he’s a potential breakout candidate in 2021.
Beside Vincent and Garrett, sixth-year Jackson and fifth-year Cage likely will see the majority of reps at nose tackle. Neither of them have turned in eye-popping Ohio State careers, but they should be solid – if possibly unspectacular – options with ample experience.
Cage started the national championship game due to Togiai’s absence. Jackson, several years removed from joining the Buckeyes out of Blinn College as the No. 1 junior college prospect, managed 11 tackles and a sack in 2020.
“Antwuan played much better this year,” Day said.
Ty Hamilton, a second-year from Pickerington, could factor into the equation with a full offseason after impressing in the preseason last year, and third-year Jaden McKenzie will fight for time, too. They’ll be joined by incoming freshmen Mike Hall and Tyliek Williams, and J.T. Tuimoloau could join them at some point if he chooses Ohio State.
“I think that we're going to have some good depth there,” Day said. “We've got to develop some of the younger guys that need to come on. Some guys who were injured there are going to have to step up. And then we'll have a couple young guys coming in here in the summer that hopefully can battle for some time.”
None of Ohio State’s four veterans at defensive tackle took the same – or even a remotely similar – path to this point. One is a returning All-American whose career took off despite getting shot, another is a sixth-year senior and former junior-college transfer, a third is a one-time five-star prospect who lost a season due to injury and a fourth is a redshirt senior from the state of Ohio.
Together, though, they’ll lead a position group that won’t have to rush the underclassmen along.
