Jim Knowles Discusses Ohio State Defense Rounding Into Form

COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles met with reporters following practice on Thursday. He answered questions about his defense, including depth charts, the linebackers, question marks, exclamation points, and much more. The highlights of everything that was said can be found below.

+ How is the helmet communication come into play for the defense? They’re gonna have to see how it goes and how offenses change because of it. It starts with the Mike linebacker. But they’ll have other guys prepared as well. You want to have veteran guys with it.

+ Practice is a battle every day. It’s back and forth. Everybody is challenging each other and trying to get better.

+ Arvell Reese can help in the linebacker room. He has made great strides since he’s been here. When he’s on the attack and playing downhill, he’s as good as anybody. He makes plays. He’s constantly getting better at that.

+ They have not done much with Sonny Styles and CJ Hicks getting a look at Mike. They want the Will and Mike to be interchangeable but those two also play Sam, so it’s not something they’ve done much of because they don’t want to put too much on them right now.

+ Will Howard has been very accurate.

+ Questions right now include safety depth. They feel good about the starters. Malik Hartford and Jaylen McClain are behind them and they are still learning and being challenged.

+ Do you feel better about the nickel spot? Having Lorenzo Styles, Jr. back has upped the level of the second defense.

+ What makes Chip Kelly’s offense difficult to defend? All kinds of things. Very talented in the run game. Keeps you off balance with the calls. The QBs are making adjustments as they learn. Every defense has holes and he’s good at finding them.

+ Who is making the most noise in the second wave of defensive linemen? Kayden McDonald show up all the time. Caden Curry, Mitchell Melton, and Kenyatta Jackson can all play. He has no problem with any of them in the game. Hero Kanu is flashing. “I think we have a strong second unit there.”

+ How good do you feel about this defense right now? “I never feel good. There’s just constant adjustments to formations and learning and getting the checks right.” They are putting more stress on the players to be ready for more formations. “I feel good about our players.” Now they’re just trying to create more plays as a group.

+ For a young guy, Eddrick Houston flashes. He’s strong at the point of attack. “I could definitely see him in there.”

+ This defense has a great attitude. They can be pushed and pushed.

+ How much have you been freed up to be creative since you don’t have a position room? He can move around from room to room to see how things are being implemented. The creativity happens during the summer to look for some new ideas. You don’t want to be creative week to week. You want to have it all in the can and just pull from it.

+ Do the helmet comms give you any advantage? “I don’t know yet.” Depends on how the offense plays it. He’s not been talking a lot. He’s letting the players handle it right now because he wants to see what they know.

+ Does having a four-down front limit what he can do? “I don’t think it’s restrictive at all, it’s just what we do.” You work with what you do.

+ Malik Hartford is growing with confidence because you’ve got to be able to manage the back end. He’s got the talent, just needs reps and confidence.

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