Kayden McDonald posted one of the best seasons ever by an Ohio State defensive tackle in 2025.
The Georgia native was a unanimous All-American for a reason. He finished with numbers rarely ever seen at the nose guard position: 65 tackles, nine tackles for loss, three sacks. He devoured space inside. Even as Miami found some success running the ball in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, McDonald plugged the middle as usual, picking up five tackles and a TFL.
Nose guards of that caliber are once-in-a-decade players. McDonald was that good in 2025. But Ohio State's taken some remaining major pieces of last year's defensive tackle room and paired them with two talented veteran transfers: Alabama's James Smith and UCF's John Walker. Put candidly, the Buckeyes have the pieces to reload, not downgrade weapons at defensive tackle.
But three of the defensive tackles on Ohio State's 2026 roster have started at least four games at the college level, and more have rotated onto the field. So no, there likely isn't a Kayden McDonald on the Buckeyes' roster for next season, but the room could be even deeper than a year ago.
James Smith
The centerpiece of Ohio State's new-look defensive tackle room comes from the heart of the South.
Smith was the No. 1 defensive tackle in the transfer portal after a three-year stint at Alabama. He collected 28 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks as a junior in 2025. He played 3-technique in the Crimson Tide's defense, packing plus size at that position at 6-foot-3, 297 pounds.
Alabama utilized Smith's athleticism in myriad ways, lining him up in different defensive line positions and mixing up what he did from down to down. He even dropped into pass coverage or played quarterback spy in a few looks. And yet, it still seems there's another gear he can get to. A five-star prospect in the recruiting class of 2023, Smith posted five tackles with a TFL in the Tide's last regular-season game at Auburn but one total tackle in the SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoff games.
A year with Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia could turn Smith into an elite anchor at defensive tackle.
John Walker
Mike Watters-Imagn Images
Replacing McDonald as a player is impossible. That's already been made clear. But the size he provided at nose guard was out there, even if 320-pound-plus bodies don't grow on trees. Enter John Walker.
Walker packs 324 pounds onto a 6-foot-4 frame and was a wrecking ball in his breakout season with UCF in 2025. Collecting 40 tackles from the nose guard position as he did is no small feat, even if it pales next to McDonald's 65 takedowns from last season. Walker added three TFLs, one sack and a forced fumble.
There's always so much work a quality nose guard does that doesn't show up on a stat sheet, however. Walker gave the Golden Knights a needed run plug on the inside, a highlight of a run defense that was otherwise middling. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 79 as a run defender, which would have been second in Ohio State's defensive tackle room in 2025 after McDonald led the entire nation at DT with a run-defense grade of 91.2.
Eddrick Houston
Houston's sophomore season was a journey.
Expected to emerge as a star after sliding inside from defensive end to 3-technique defensive tackle and starting alongside McDonald, an injury in preseason camp seemed to derail Houston's progress. He was inconsistent as a run defender early in the year and committed three penalties for 25 yards in his first four games, including a costly unsportsmanlike conduct foul at Washington in Ohio State's Big Ten opener.
After redshirt senior Tywone Malone Jr. overtook Houston for the starting 3-tech job in the Buckeyes' third game, Houston kept rotating with Malone and kept working. His production picked up as the season continued, collecting 21 tackles, four TFLs and three sacks in total. His best performance of the season came in the CFP quarterfinals at the Cotton Bowl – his first start over Malone when both were healthy since Week 2 – where he picked up five tackles and 1.5 sacks. If he can build on that momentum, he'll be hard to keep off the field.
Will Smith Jr.
The three-star prospect and son of a tragically late Ohio State legend proved he's more than just a great story in 2025. He served as a capable backup to McDonald at nose guard for much of the season, collecting 20 tackles in 223 snaps of action. His usage dipped in the Buckeyes' three biggest games of the season, however, as he played eight snaps or less against Michigan, Indiana and Miami. He's steadily improved each season he's been in Columbus, however, and at the very least will provide strong support to Walker.
Jason Moore
For the multitudes that left Ohio State via the transfer portal, Moore is a player who seemed a likely entrant heading into the offseason. The top-70 prospect in the recruiting class of 2023 hasn't lived up to that billing in his three-year Buckeye career to date, but he's sticking it out for his redshirt junior season in Columbus. Commendable. He's repped at both nose and 3-technique in his limited game action, with eight career tackles. But it was the spring of 2024 when Larry Johnson referred to Moore as the "ideal" 3-tech in Ohio State's defense – perhaps this is the year things finally click for the veteran out of Maryland.
James Smith, Walker, Houston and Will Smith give Ohio State a quartet of defensive tackles who were starters or major rotational players all season for their respective schools last campaign. Entering 2025, the Buckeyes' only DT with that level of experience from 2024 was McDonald, their top backup two years ago behind starters Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton.
There's no McDonald in Ohio State's 2026 defensive tackle room. There likely isn't one in any defensive tackle room in the country. But after Miami showed the value of DT depth by finding success on the ground late vs. OSU, it's comforting for the Scarlet and Gray to know they have experienced hands to fill out their full two-deep on the defensive interior.
