As Ryan Day leaned over his lectern and sipped water to start a press conference on Tuesday, he fielded a question on Beau Atkinson, Ohio State’s most impactful spring transfer window acquisition.
“First off, I have to say to compliance, clear that we can talk to him, right Jerry?” Day asked Jerry Emig, Ohio State's associate director for communications.
Emig and Day got a thumbs-up from a team compliance staffer seated behind several rows of reporters.
"Okay, just making sure. Everyone saw that. We're on record," Day said as a slight grin crossed his face. It was clear that talking about the former North Carolina defensive end put Day in a jovial mood.
"We're very excited about adding Beau," Day said. "Had an opportunity to spend time with he and his family on their visit. You guys have seen some of the film. We think that it's a great addition to the room, somebody who has experience, has some real size and he's excited about being at Ohio State."
There are very good reasons for Ohio State and Day to be excited about Atkinson.
Atkinson anchored the Tar Heels' pass rush in 2024, collecting a team-high 7.5 sacks among 35 tackles. He had 12 tackles for loss in total. His pass-rushing efficiency numbers were solid, per Pro Football Focus, as he ranked third among North Carolina defensive linemen for total pressures (25) and pass-rush win rate (15.1%).
Those numbers stack up well among Ohio State's defensive end room. Atkinson and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. received a similar amount of pass rush snaps to each other in 2024 with Atkinson seeing 196 and Jackson seeing 186. Jackson logged 17 total pressures and a win rate of 12.1%. Caden Curry, Atkinson and Jackson's top competitor to start at defensive end, had 13 pressures and a win rate of 6.6% in a smaller sample size of 130 pass rush snaps.
Perhaps more impressively, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Atkinson was North Carolina's highest-graded run defender on the defensive line, with a run defense grade of 74.3 per PFF. It's not the elite level of JT Tuimoloau (87.3 in 2024) or Jack Sawyer (82.5), but it is ahead of where Jackson (65.6) and Curry (71.9) were graded last year.
PFF grades are never the end-all, be-all of a player evaluation, but combined with Atkinson's sack production, it paints a crisp picture of why he'll be an impact player in Columbus.
"Beau made it very clear that he wanted to play at the highest level," Day said. "He hit it off with Larry (Johnson), with coach (Matt) Patricia, and so I think it'll be a great addition to our room as we head into the summer."
Ohio State had a well-defined two-deep at defensive end exiting spring practice with Jackson, Curry, converted linebacker C.J. Hicks and Idaho State transfer Logan George. But it's clear Day felt that Atkinson was an upgrade to what the Buckeyes already have, and thus worth taking. The question now is, who will get reps, and how many will they receive?
There will certainly be some rotation as Ohio State embraces the grind of another potential 16-game season. Last season, Jackson received 314 snaps and Curry got 229 in relief of Sawyer and Tuimoloau. Mitchell Melton also saw meaningful action in his 150 snaps.
"We've always rolled guys," Day said. "I even think when I first got here in like, (2017), we had all those guys, Tyquan (Lewis), (Nick) Bosa. We used to roll those guys. And the more we can do that, especially with the length of the season, we're going to need to do that. I'm sure Larry wants to be able to do that. So that'll be important."
There's also a diverse array of skill sets sprinkled among the five defensive ends for Patricia to utilize in his first year as defensive coordinator. George joins Atkinson in having a strong run defense reputation, collecting 19.5 TFLs in 2024. Hicks is a stand-up edge rusher with elite physical tools that he's hoping finally propel him to a role in his senior year.
Atkinson, George and Curry have the versatility to play some defensive tackle, particularly in obvious passing downs. That could be relevant as DT depth concerns linger for Ohio State.
"I also think there are different skill sets of those guys that we can try to be creative," Day said. "And that's one of the reasons why Matt's here, is to find out what they do best and then get them on the field and do that. And I think that's exciting as we head into the summer to figure out what that looks like. Just like on offense, you try to put the guys in the right position to be successful."
In any case, Atkinson has given Ohio State more reason to be excited about its defensive end room.
