[shetuck]

CPD: Gholston loss bigger than you think, tackles must help fill the hole

More on yesterday's meeting with Coach Heacock.

Ohio State football: Gholston loss bigger than you think, tackles must help fill the hole

Posted by Doug Lesmerises
April 02, 2008 02:59AM

The Buckeyes are considering playing a 12-man front to replace Vernon Gholston.

To the forces that make the world go round - love, greed and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs - add four-man pressure.

Bugging the quarterback without blitzing. And though OSU defensive coordinator Jim Heacock likes to blitz, nothing beats a simple but effective rush.

... When I asked Heacock if he was happy with the pressure his defensive tackles applied last year, he said, "No." Quickly.

"I wasn't happy at all with the inside pressure," Heacock said.

[...]

"If you're going to be really good, you need four-man pressure," Heacock said. "And then it makes the blitz even better."

The two examples he used were the Super Bowl champion New York Giants and the Ohio State national champions of 2002. Two pretty good examples.

So while there's a lot to like about the 2008 Buckeyes, obviously, the tackles are a legit point of interest for the spring and preseason. And there aren't really other options. There isn't even a fifth tackle to rotate in with those guys. Freshmen Garrett Goebel, Shawntel Rowell and Willie Mobley will be here in the fall, but no one counts on true freshman to rush the passer from inside. So the four who were there last year must be better.