It’s no coincidence that Cade Stover and Mitchell Melton, two players expected to be in Jim Knowles’ linebacker room when the Buckeyes began spring camp, have both subsequently switched positions.
Each may have talents better suited for other positions, Stover moving to tight end and Melton to the defensive line, but the Buckeyes’ new defensive scheme – at least its base look – doesn’t externally appear to feature much space for a surplus of linebackers to see significant snap counts in 2022.
Even after the departure of the two aforementioned Buckeyes, plenty of questions remain about what role several linebackers will have on the Ohio State defense in the forthcoming season.