Ohio State Has Top-10 Linebacker Room For 2023

The Ohio State Buckeyes return both starting linebackers from a season ago in Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers.

Author:
Casey Smith
May 10, 2023 11:27 AM EDT

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Ohio State Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles came in last year and implemented his 4-2-5 defensive scheme.

Despite dropping a linebacker out of the defense, the unit's play was led by 2022 Second Team All-American Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers with Cody Simon and an emerging C.J. Hicks as reserves.

The Buckeyes' linebacking corps is getting its flowers as the seventh-best room in the country and third in the Big Ten, according to On3. Ohio State trails Clemson, Georgia, Penn State, Michigan, LSU and North Carolina's linebacker units.

"Tommy Eichenberg had the fourth-most tackles (120) of any linebacker in the Power 5 in 2022, and the senior returns as one of the better interior players in the country. For the second-straight season he’ll be paired with Steele Chambers, who was OSU’s second-leading stopper and is a better coverage ‘backer (two picks, multiple other PBUs)," On3's Jesse Simonton wrote. "The Buckeyes also have Cody Simon as a swing option who can play both the MIKE and WILL, while C.J. Hicks is another quality rotational player who got lots of snaps during the spring with Chambers out with an injury."

Knowles' two-linebacker system worked because both Eichenberg and Chambers had the speed to play sideline to sideline while being sound tacklers not just in between the tackles but in space as well.

Complementary to Eichenberg's 120, Chambers had the second-most tackles of any Buckeye last season with 77.

As both missed time in the spring recovering from injuries, Simon and Hicks both thrived, recording five and six tackles, respectively, in the spring game.

Hicks, a former top-10 recruit in the class of 2022, flashed the speed and athleticism to play in coverage, tying for a team-high two pass break-ups in Ohio State's spring game.

Behind those four, Gabe Powers is showing growth ahead of his sophomore season, while Mitchell Melton is in contention to play Knowles' coveted "Jack" position.