Better Know a Buckeye: Eli Lee is Ohio State’s Newest Hard-Hitting In-State Linebacker

Eli Lee joins a long lineage of in-state linebackers to eventually suit up for Ohio State – 31 since the 1999 class, to be exact. The Archbishop Hoban (Akron) product brings a wealth of hard-hitting experience to a Buckeye linebacker corps that has had its fair share of downhill bone-crushers from Northeast Ohio in years past.

How He Became a Buckeye

When Lee received an Ohio State offer in October 2023 after multiple trips to Columbus that summer, he did not yet hold a 247Sports composite ranking. The Buckeyes were also just the third Division I team to offer him, joining Iowa State and UMass. That said, James Laurinaitis and then-defensive coordinator Jim Knowles liked Lee's tape enough from his junior season to feel confident giving the linebacker an offer.

From that moment, it seemed like a matter of when, not if, Lee would commit to Ohio State. Less than three weeks after receiving an offer, the lifelong Buckeye fan made his childhood dream a reality and committed to OSU on October 25, 2023, becoming the fourth player to commit to Ohio State for the 2025 class.

It was the fifth straight class the Buckeyes have taken an in-state linebacker commit, with Lee joining Garrett Stover (2024), Arvell Reese (2023), C.J. Hicks (2022) and Reid Carrico (2021).

High School Years

Leading into his senior season, Lee was named the positional MVP for linebackers at the Under Armour Next camp in Columbus.

"It feels good," Lee told Eleven Warriors after the camp. "I've been working for this for a long time, within the past few years. I've done all types of stuff for linebackers and doing the seven-on-seven drills. It paid off." 

To conclude his high school career, Lee notched 119 tackles (19 for loss), 7.5 sacks, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one interception in his senior season at Hoban and was named the Division II Defensive Player of the Year in Ohio.

Immediate Impact

As an early enrollee, Lee was able to watch Ohio State's College Football Playoff run from the sidelines, allowing him to learn from former Ohio State middle linebacker Cody Simon and the rest of the Buckeyes’ leaders on their journey to a national championship. It also showed him just how much he can learn from Laurinaitis with the wealth of experience and knowledge the three-time All-American brings to his position group.

"Yeah, it's been great (learning from) Coach Laurinaitis," Lee said this spring. "I can't really learn from anyone better, he's been through it all, done it at the highest level. You just have to take in everything he says and just apply it to your brain.

"I mean it's crazy the way to think about it, as Laurinaitis is giving you tips on how to play linebacker. It's just like, I'm definitely going to be paying attention and locked in. I got to do what this guy tells me to because he knows how to get it done."

With a three-deep at linebacker filled with plenty of talent at the top, including Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese leading the charge heading into the fall, Lee's first year in Columbus will be about learning from the upperclassmen.

"I talk to Sonny and I do everything, but I just kind of like to watch and see how he does things and how the older guys do things to kind of replicate that and how they prepare. That's a part of being the young guy coming up," Lee said. "I just kind of like mentally see how the guys that have been through it do good at it. I need to be like that, so that's really my mindset."

That said, one thing the Hoban product has already learned early on as a Buckeye is that players at Ohio State's level of college football are much bigger, faster and stronger than he is used to. As such, he understands that his first season at OSU will likely be a developmental year.

"Everyone's just bigger, faster, stronger, the game's way faster," he said. "I mean that's definitely a thing everybody's got to get used to, it's coming up early, but I mean, yeah, it's been good competing."

Long-Term Impact

Assuming Lee takes a redshirt this year, he’ll look to begin climbing Ohio State’s linebacker depth chart next season before earning a bigger role in the Buckeyes’ defense as an upperclassman, likely at the Mike linebacker position.

Lee is the lowest-rated linebacker in Ohio State's 2025 class, so he’ll face plenty of competition to work his way up to a starting job, especially from recruiting classmates Riley Pettijohn and TJ Alford. But he has the type of hard-hitting, do-anything-for-you skill set that has allowed plenty of players to thrive in the middle of the Silver Bullets defense in the past. 

Whether it's laying the wood on an opposing ballcarrier or playing a role as a leader in the middle of OSU's defense, Lee will look to become a blue-collar linebacker that everyone learns to love by the end of his career in Columbus.

Player Comparison: Tommy Eichenberg

A linebacker with a nose for the football that represents Northeast Ohio while leading by example in the middle of the Buckeye defense. Sound familiar? It should, as Eichenberg did the same thing within the last five years.

During his five-year career at Ohio State, Eichenberg had 268 tackles (22 for loss), 3.5 sacks, two interceptions (one pick-six), five passes defended, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. A two-time All-Big Ten linebacker for the Buckeyes, Eichenberg earned Big Ten Linebacker of the Year honors in 2023 and was a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders.

Like Lee, Eichenberg wasn’t a heralded recruit when he arrived at Ohio State, but he ended up becoming one of the best linebackers in the country by the end of his time as a Buckeye despite a quiet start to his career. That gives Lee a great blueprint to follow as he looks to become Ohio State’s next standout linebacker from Northeast Ohio.