RJ Young Says Buckeyes Have Third Most-Improved Defense In College Football For 2023

The Ohio State Buckeyes will return five of their top-seven tacklers and both of their top sack leaders from 2022.

The Ohio State Buckeyes' defense was stout to begin defensive coordinator Jim Knowles' tenure, ranking in the top 10 early on in total defense.

However, that side of the ball can be pointed to as to why the Buckeyes got ran out of their own building against Michigan — granted the offense in the second half didn't hold its own — and why they didn't hoist the College Football Playoff national championship trophy in 2022-23.

Ohio State returns the majority of last year's starters, and Fox Sports' RJ Young named the Silver Bullets as the No. 3 most-improved defense for 2023. Young said the Buckeyes are "still searching for their 2019 form" and that head coach Ryan Day needs the unit to perform to silence the questions about his future at the helm.

"If you're looking at that defense, they gave up an average of 39.3 points per game to top-15 opponents last year," Young said on "The Number One College Football Show" June 1. "You gave up 45 to Michigan. You gave up 42 to Georgia. The offense wasn't there against Michigan to bail them out, and, of course, they came up just short of beating the eventual-national-champion Georgia in the College Football Playoff."

Young said Ohio State's defensive line will "absolutely be on their game" with their "Kung Fu, Karate hands," and he thinks the linebacking corps of Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers is good.

However, Young still has some questions for the Buckeyes' defense, pointing to their 45-23 loss to the Wolverines.

"I also think it's a front seven that gave up 216 yards to Donovan Edwards on the ground, and that just can't happen. You can't get run on like this by a team that wants to run the football also in Michigan," Young said. "They were also able to throw on them, and that's where I get to Jordan Hancock needs to have a year. Sonny Styles needs to announce himself. But you're talking about a defense and a secondary that gave up 371 pass yards, three CDs to Penn State. They gave up 263, including 160 receiving yards to Cornelius Johnson, and three pass TDs to Michigan. 

"Of course, they gave up 398 pass yards and three passing TDs to Georgia. And this is the one that got me, including three catches for 129 and a TD to Arian Smith. Now, Arian Smith is a great player, but he's also a dude that caught all of three passes all of 2022 before that game. You can't have that at your corner and safety spots."

Ohio State's defense was top 25 in both total and scoring defense, allowing 321.5 yards and 21 points per game last season.

The Buckeyes were sixth in the Big Ten in pass defense last season, giving up 200.5 pass yards per game. They dipped into the transfer portal, bringing in cornerback Davison Igbinosun and safety Ja'Had Carter who both have a chance to crack the starting lineup in 2023.

"You have to have guys that can play man-to-man, that can play that bump-and-run," Young said. "You've got to have an eraser in the middle of the field that is your safety. I think that 4-2-5 can be great, but they've got some work to do. And it's all down to those corners and those safeties."

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