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Football
Projecting the Spring Depth Chart: Defense
By Brandon Castel

While Jim Tressel’s offense hasn’t always been a thing of beauty during his time at Ohio State, it is hard to find fault with the other side of the ball during his nine-year tenure in Columbus.

The Buckeyes have gone 94-21 since Tressel took over for John Cooper in 2001, including a 59-13 record in Big Ten play. Only twice (2001, 2004) have they lost more than two games in conference play, and only one other time (2003) have they lost more than one game in the Big Ten.

They enter the 2010 season on the heels of five straight Big Ten titles and the one constant throughout the years has been stout play from the OSU defense. The Buckeyes were No. 5 in the country in total and scoring defense last season thanks to the strong play of their deep, talented defensive line.

Defensive coordinator Jim Heacock must replace four important names from that d-line along with both safety spots. Here’s a projected look at how the Buckeyes will begin to reload on the defensive side of the ball.

Key losses: DE Thad Gibson, S Kurt Coleman, DT Doug Worthington, LB Austin Spitler, DT Todd Denlinger, S Anderson Russell, DE Lawrence Wilson

Early enrollees: None

STRONGSIDE DEFENSIVE END

97 Cameron Heyward (6-5, 288, Sr.)

94 Keith Wells (6-5, 260, rSo.)

91 Melvin Fellows (6-5, 249, rFr.)

LEO DEFENSIVE END

43 Nathan Williams (6-3, 260, Jr.)

98 Solomon Thomas (6-5, 226, rJr.)

55 Jonathan Newsome (6-3, 219, So.)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

72 Dexter Larimore (6-2, 310, Sr.)

95 Don Matheny (6-0, 310, Sr.)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

54 John Simon (6-2, 270, So.)

53 Garrett Goebel (6-3, 290, rSo.)

93 Adam Bellamy (6-4, 295, rFr.)

WILL LINEBACKER

51 Ross Homan (6-0, 227, Sr.)

42 Andrew Sweat (6-2, 238, Jr.)

MIKE LINEBACKER

36 Brian Rolle (5-11, 218, Sr.)

32 Storm Klein (6-2, 230, So.)

39 Jordan Whiting (6-1, 238, rFr.)

SAM LINEBACKER

6 Etienne Sabino (6-3, 240, Jr.)

11 Dorian Bell (6-1, 230, rFr.)

55 Jonathan Newsome (6-3, 219, So.)

CORNERBACK

5 Chimdi Chekwa (6-0, 190, Sr.)

30 Donnie Evege (5-11, 180, rJr.)

28 Dominic Clarke (5-11, 191, rFr.)

CORNERBACK

10 Devon Torrence (6-1, 200, Sr.)

18 Travis Howard (6-0, 190, rSo.)

3 Corey Brown (6-0, 189, rFr.)

FREE SAFETY

19 Orhian Johnson (6-2, 200, rSo.)

8 Aaron Gant (6-0, 206, Sr.)

14 C.J. Barnett (6-0, 190, So.)

STRONG SAFETY

7 Jermale Hines (6-1, 216, Sr.)

15 Nate Oliver (6-0, 215, Jr.)

16 Zach Domicone (6-3, 211, rSo.)

STAR

26 Tyler Moeller (6-0, 210, Sr.)

15 Nate Oliver (6-0, 215, Jr.)

KICKER

23 Devin Barclay (5-11, 204, Sr.)

17 Ben Buchanan (6-0, 195, rSo.)

PUNTER

17 Ben Buchanan (6-0, 195, rSo.)

39 Derek Erwin (5-11, 203, rSo.)

Bold returning starter

^ Early enrollee

 

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