Ohio State Buckeyes: Defensive linemen thankful for health, experience

Here’s a sampling:

For Ohio State defensive tackle Taron Vincent, the play’s the thing.

No, he’s not a theater major, and he wasn’t quoting Shakespearean. The fifth-year senior is just happy being able to play after an injury-plagued first two seasons in Columbus.

He finally got on the field for an extended period of time last fall and responded with 23 tackles, including 3.5 for loss.

Now he is looking forward to building on that and showing more of whey he was a five-star recruit coming out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

“Just confident in staying healthy, being healthy and being able to keep playing,” Vincent said of his mindset this spring. “I was hurt my first two years so this is just my third year actually playing football, so it just brings confidence the more and more I get to play.”

Vincent played in 12 of 13 games last season and saved his best for last, notching a season-high six stops in the Rose Bowl against Utah.

Vincent did not have many visitors to begin the media session, though reporters did eventually make their way over to his table...

He was a bit lonely at first because many showed more interest in talking to Tyleik Williams, an understudy to Vincent who made a lot out of limited action last season as a true freshman.

Williams had 16 tackles, but 6.5 were for loss and five were sacks.

An extra 45 pounds or so he put on during the COVID-19 pandemic made him look like a nose tackle last season, but he prefers to play the other tackle spot — called “3-technique” — which lends itself to more of a playmaker than a gap stuffer.

One of Williams’ classmates, Jack Sawyer, also drew a crowd when it was his turn.

That is not unusual because the Pickerington native was the highest-rated player in the 2021 recruiting class, and he is seen as someone who could play a new hybrid defensive end/linebacker role in the defense being installed this spring by coordinator Jim Knowles.

Sawyer was coy about the latter, but he did acknowledge he hopes to have a much bigger impact this season than last when he gave glimpses of what he can do as an athletic edge rusher.

The third true freshman to make an impact up front last season was probably the least likely.

That’s not because J.T. Tuimoloau lacked the ability but rather because the nation’s top-ranked recruit did not arrive on campus until the end of the summer.

He proved to be not only physically ready but mentally, too, something he credited to his father and grandfather.

“I would go to regular high school games and think I was just there to have fun and my grandpa would pull me aside and quiz me on every defense a team runs and tells me the reason they’re running it,” he said. “So coming here and learning from (defensive line coach Larry Johnson) and the defensive staff and learning from the older guys as well, those aspects of my life and those role models just helped me get acclimated quickly.”