At all three levels of Ohio State’s defense, Kerry Coombs and Greg Mattison have to trust first-year starters. The mass exodus of NFL draftees in the offseason requires them to do so.
Yet at the second level, where the Buckeyes lost Malik Harrison yet return two starters – Pete Werner and Tuf Borland – to bolster a corps of seven upperclassman linebackers, head coach Ryan Day feels comfortable with the guys who position coach Al Washington has prepared.
“I would say, right now, that's probably the strength of the defense,” Ryan Day said. “But both of the other groups are working really hard – the D-line and the back end – and those units are getting stronger every day.