While there were many factors that led to Ohio State’s defensive struggles this past season, one that the Buckeyes often pointed to was their lack of experience on that side of the ball.
Ohio State had just one senior on defense last season, Dante Booker, who didn’t even see regular playing time at linebacker, playing only 77 total snaps on defense.
Not including Nick Bosa, Ohio State had only five returning starters on defense last season (Dre’Mont Jones, Tuf Borland, Damon Arnette, Kendall Sheffield and Jordan Fuller), and lost the majority of its leaders on defense from the previous season, including defensive ends Tyquan Lewis, Sam Hubbard and Jalyn Holmes, defensive tackle Tracy Sprinkle and linebacker Chris Worley, each of whom were captains in 2017.