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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Evan Bachman

Ohio State football regular season defensive player-by-player PFF grades

After a heartbreaking loss to Michigan on Saturday, the Buckeyes ended the regular season 11-1. All hope for the season isn’t lost just yet as with some luck on conference championship Saturday the Buckeyes could still get a spot in the College Football Playoff, but the loss is certainly demoralizing for Buckeye nation.

With the regular season in the rearview mirror now is a good time to take a step back and evaluate the team.

This Ohio State team was built differently than recent Ohio State teams as they were led by an elite defense and good, but not great offense, as opposed to the other way around.

In just two seasons Jim Knowles has impressively led a defensive turnaround for the Buckeyes. In 2021, the season prior to Knowles’ arrive as coordinator, Ohio State had the No. 31 ranked scoring defense in the FBS allowing 22.8 points. This season, the Buckeyes have the second ranked scoring defense as they’ve allowed just 11.4 points per game.

This Ohio State defense is built a bit differently than past stellar Buckeye defenses as although this unit doesn’t have a blue-chip superstar like a Chase Young it does have very good depth.

In this article we dig deeper into that as we break down each defensive position group’s performance this season using Pro Football Focus grades for each player. Though not the ultimate measuring stick, PFF is a good tool because it grades every player on every play.

Interior Defensive Line

USA TODAY SMG

Starter: Tyleik Williams

PFF Grade | 81.0 (586 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 31 tackles, 20 assisted tackles, 21 pressures and 2 sacks on 307 pass rush snaps

Starter: Michael Hall Jr.

PFF Grade | 77.5 (368 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 14 tackles, 6 assisted tackles, 26 pressures and 2 sacks on 206 pass rush snaps

Other: Ty Hamilton

PFF Grade | 75.3 (326 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 20 tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 8 pressures and 1 sack on 165 pass rush snaps

Other: Hero Kanu

PFF Grade | 70.4 (81 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 8 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 3 pressures and 1 sack on 39 pass rush snaps

Other: Jaden McKenzie

PFF Grade | 65.5 (77 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 8 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 1 pressure on 43 pass rush snaps

Other: Tywone Malone

PFF Grade | 57.4 (47 snaps, 8 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 pressure on 21 pass rush snaps

Other: Kayden McDonald

PFF Grade | 63.6 (31 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 0 pressures on 14 pass rush snaps

Other: Jason Moore

PFF Grade | 62.0 (3 snaps, 1 game)
Stats | 0 tackles

Edge Rushers

USA TODAY SMG

Starter: J.T. Tuimoloau

PFF Grade | 77.0 (621 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 21 tackles, 9 assisted tackles, 35 pressures and 4 sacks on 313 pass rush snaps

Starter: Jack Sawyer

PFF Grade | 90.0 (549 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 28 tackles, 21 assisted tackles, 1 forced fumble, 30 pressures and 5 sacks on 262 pass rush snaps

Other: Kenyatta Jackson

PFF Grade | 63.1 (155 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 11 pressures and 2 sacks on 84 pass rush snaps

Other: Caden Curry

PFF Grade | 69.8 (155 snaps, 11 games)
Stats | 4 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 11 pressures and 1 sack on 97 pass rush snaps

Other: Mitchell Melton

PFF Grade | 77.5 (63 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 3 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 7 pressures and 1 sack on 37 pass rush snaps

Other: Omari Abor

PFF Grade | 72.7 (29 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 1 tackle, 2 assisted tackles, 0 pressures on 10 pass rush snaps

Other: Joshua Mickens

PFF Grade | 60.0 (1 snap, 1 game)
Stats | 0 tackles

Other: Bryce Prater

PFF Grade | 69.2 (1 snap, 1 game)
Stats | 1 tackle

Linebackers

USA TODAY SMG

Starter: Tommy Eichenberg

PFF Grade | 60.7 (607 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 57 tackles, 27 assisted tackles, 1 forced fumble, 11 pressures and 1 sack on 61 pass rush snaps

Starter: Steele Chambers

PFF Grade | 67.3 (582 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 56 tackles, 29 assisted tackles, 2 pressures on 39 pass rush snaps

Other: Cody Simon

PFF Grade | 74.8 (301 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 32 tackles, 13 assisted tackles, 7 pressures on 20 pass rush snaps

Other: C.J. Hicks

PFF Grade | 63.2 (71 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 4 tackles, 3 assisted tackles

Other: Gabe Powers

PFF Grade | 79.7 (21 snaps, 3 games)
Stats | 2 tackles

Cornerbacks

USA TODAY SMG

Starter: Davison Igbinosun

PFF Grade | 71.0 (697 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 49 tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 1 pressure and 1 sack, 36 receptions allowed on 70 targets for 353 yards, 5 TD, and 3 PBU on 380 coverage snaps

Starter: Jordan Hancock

PFF Grade | 74.1 (541 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 34 tackles, 5 assisted tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 4 pressures and 1 sack, 21 receptions allowed on 41 targets for 228 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, and 2 PBU on 309 coverage snaps

Starter: Denzel Burke

PFF Grade | 79.1 (506 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 18 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 1 forced fumble, 23 receptions allowed on 45 targets for 266 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, and 7 PBU on 272 coverage snaps

Other: Jermaine Mathews Jr.

PFF Grade | 86.0 (191 snaps, 7 games)
Stats | 7 tackles, 1 assisted tackles, 4 receptions allowed on 16 targets for 34 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 PBU on 102 coverage snaps

Other: Jyaire Brown

PFF Grade | 67.1 (48 snaps, 4 games)
Stats | 1 tackle, 1 reception on 1 target for 8 yards on 19 coverage snaps

Other: Cameron Martinez

PFF Grade | 55.5 (28 snaps, 4 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 2 receptions allowed on 2 targets for 55 yards on 19 coverage snaps

Other: Ryan Turner

PFF Grade | 72.0 (27 snaps, 2 games)
Stats | 2 tackles, 3 receptions on 3 targets for 8 yards on 12 coverage snaps

Other: Calvin Simpson-Hunt

PFF Grade | 61.3 (23 snaps, 2 games)
Stats | 1 tackle, 1 reception on 2 targets for 12 yards on 10 coverage snaps

Other: Lorenzo Styles Jr.

PFF Grade | 60.0 (1 snap, 1 game)
Stats | 0 tackles, 0 targets on 1 coverage snap

Safeties

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Starter: Josh Proctor

PFF Grade | 81.2 (552 snaps, 10 games)
Stats | 35 tackles, 8 assisted tackles, 3 pressures, 14 receptions allowed on 29 targets for 136 yards, 1 INT, and 5 PBU on 298 coverage snaps

Starter: Lathan Ransom

PFF Grade | 74.0 (486 snaps, 8 games)
Stats | 26 tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 2 pressures, 1 forced fumble, 6 receptions allowed on 16 targets for 47 yards, 1 INT, and 1 PBU on 269 coverage snaps

Starter: Sonny Styles

PFF Grade | 76.0 (470 snaps, 12 games)
Stats | 29 tackles, 17 assisted tackles, 5 pressures and 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 12 receptions allowed on 20 targets for 117 yards, 1 PBU on 198 coverage snaps

Other: Malik Hartford

PFF Grade | 65.5 (156 snaps, 8 games)
Stats | 8 tackles, 1 assisted tackle, 3 receptions allowed on 6 targets for 5 yards, 1 PBU on 78 coverage snaps

Other: Ja’Had Carter

PFF Grade | 57.4 (124 snaps, 6 games)
Stats | 5 tackles, 3 assisted tackles, 2 receptions allowed on 2 targets for 23 yards on 56 coverage snaps

Other: Kye Stokes

PFF Grade | 52.5 (10 snaps, 3 games)
Stats | 0 tackles, 1 reception allowed on 1 target for 4 yards on 5 coverage snaps

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