The scariest four words in Ohio State football this season will be “injured starting defensive tackle…” which we’ve unfortunately already heard.
There’s no question that the spot on the roster that is the least deep is defensive tackle. OSU spent the spring hoping to land another transfer and did not, leaving only Eddrick Houston and Kaden McDonald as proven options at defensive tackle this season. And lo and behold, the first freaking day of practice saw Houston get dinged up and wear a knee brace for the next practice.
Fortunately, it appears to be a minor injury, but the depth chart at that position is scary thin. Observe after the two extremely solid starters:
Will Smith Jr., the son of a legend who hasn’t played much yet in his career.
Tywone Malone, the hyped transfer from Ole Miss, who hasn’t done much since focusing full-time on football in Columbus after playing both baseball and football in Oxford.
Jason Moore,. Holy cow, does he look the part. But we haven’t seen meaningful production or improvements this spring to have confidence in him.
Jarquez Carter, a true freshman who might end up being the top backup if none of the more experienced guys step up.
Eric Mensah, A redshirt freshman,who we haven’t seen a ton of yet.
Look, this is gonna be a trial by fire kind of position, too, considering that you typically rotate your defensive tackles. Particularly, a huge run stopper like McDonald, who thrived as the third defensive tackle last year and was a monster in short yardage. He’s gonna need a breather.
Losing either starter would be a catastrophe, considering that this is by far the most unproven group of backups at any position across the entire roster. And if teams can run the ball straight at you, it’s not a good sign for success. Frankly, I think Carter might end up being the most likely to emerge from that group because he looks like a total junk yard dog who is used to beating larger linemen inside coming out of high school. The others are bigger physical monsters, Carter just looks like a classic low center of gravity defensive tackle to me that thrives on causing chaos inside.
Regardless, thank goodness Houston isn’t severely injured. Talk about a first-day nightmare if he had been. The depth at this position is THE concern this year for Ohio State.
OK, now on to the Bucket!
**PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS: CLICK HERE TO FINISH BUCKET
**NON-PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS: GO HERE NOW TO GET A GREAT DEAL ON AN ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP!