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Football
Looking at Monday’s Depth Chart: Defense
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Buckeyes should be loaded on defense for the 2012 season, and it all starts up front with John Simon and Johnathan Hankins.

They were joined by Michael Bennett on the first-team defensive line Monday and the group looks to be one of the more formidable units in the Big Ten.

A lot is going to change before things kick off on Sept. 1, but we now have a better idea of what the Ohio State coaches are thinking about a few different spots in the two-deep. 

Check out our full Practice Insider on the Defense here.

LEO
54 John Simon (6-2, 260, Sr.)
88 Steve Miller (6-3, 255, So.)
8 Noah Spence (6-3, 240, Fr.)

* Meyer said Monday that Simon will be the Leo unless Nathan Williams is healthy. Both Miller and Spence looked good as backups. Mike Vrabel loved what he saw in Spence, but he was a little hard on Miller, who definitely looked like a guy who had been working out with Simon all summer.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
52 Johnathan Hankins (6-4, 317, Jr.)
93 Adam Bellamy (6-4, 292, rJr.)
92 Adolphus Washington (6-3, 289, Fr.)

* It looks like the staff has decided to try Bellamy as an inside guy, which will allow Michael Bennett to play outside at strongside end. The same goes for Washington, who has certainly has the frame to play inside at the 3-technique spot. He’s big. Not sloppy, just thick. Strong and thick with broad shoulders. Could play anywhere but nose.

NOSE TACKLE
53 Garrett Goebel (6-4, 285, rSr.)
51 Joel Hale (6-4, 295, So.)
72 Chris Carter (6-4, 358, rFr.)

* The Buckeyes have some options at nose tackle, but Goebel is still the anchor of this line in the middle.

STRONGSIDE END
63 Michael Bennett (6-3, 277, So.)
50 J.T. Moore (6-3, 250, rSo.)
95 Se’Von Pittman (6-3, 259, Fr.)

* Bennett was the first-team strongside end all spring and that’s where he was again Monday. Regardless of what the depth chart says, it seems like he is going to play a lot as a starter on the outside. It also looks like they are going to give Moore a try at strongside end after Leo didn’t quite work out for him last year.

WILL LB
10 Ryan Shazier (6-1, 226, So.)
5 Camren Williams (6-1, 225, Fr.)
25 David Perkins (6-2, 220, Fr.)

* Shazier is one of the two or three most important players on the defense, but it was interesting to see Williams with the twos and Perkins with the threes on day one. Perkins can fly, though, so keep an eye on him.

MIKE LB
36 Connor Crowell (6-1, 233, rFr.)
42 Luke Roberts (6-2, 230, Fr.)
48 Joe Burger (6-1, 225, Fr.)

* Projected starter Curtis Grant missed practice to be with his ailing grandfather back in Virginia. He is expected back Tuesday, but Crowell did a nice job filling in. Addition of Roberts and Burger gives them options at Mike.

SAM LB
6 Etienne Sabino (6-3, 237, rSr.)
59 Stewart Smith (6-3, 240, Sr.)
34 Jamal Marcus (6-2, 225, Fr.)

* Smith continues to be a guy who Luke Fickell seems to like, but that may get trumped by Meyer’s man-crush on Marcus. In the words of his head coach, he doesn’t know what’s up right now, but he goes hard from point A to point B.

CORNER
1 Bradley Roby (5-11, 185 rSo.)
9 Adam Griffin (5-8, 180, rSo.)
23 Tyvis Powell (6-3, 196, Fr.)

* Roby played only corner on Monday, and he was backed up by Archie’s kid Adam in the second group.

CORNER
7 Travis Howard (6-1, 196, rSr.)
12 Doran Grant (5-11, 188, So.)
18 Najee Murray (5-9, 178, Fr.)

* Expect to see Armani Reeves get some reps, but it was Najee Murray who slipped in and saw the most playing time between the two newcomers at corner Monday. Howard took all the snaps with the ones while Grant was with the twos.

SAFETY
2 Christian Bryant (5-10, 190, Jr.)
19 Orhian Johnson (6-3, 210, rSr.)
16 Zach Domicone (6-2, 216, Sr.)

* It was just good to see Domicone back running around and practicing after his knee injury. He is a guy who might have been their best special teams player (other than Nate Ebner) last year  before the injury.

SAFETY
4 C.J. Barnett (6-1, 202, rJr.)
3 Corey Brown (6-1, 197, rJr.)
21 Jamie Wood (6-1, 207, rJr.)

* The same goes for Wood, who had shoulder surgery back in January. Ron Tanner also saw a few reps at safety, along with freshman Devan Bogard.

Offensive Depth Chart Comments

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