On The Move To Defensive Tackle, Eddrick Houston Has 'A Very Bright Future Ahead Of Him'

Freshman Eddrick Houston came to Ohio State this year as a five-star defensive end with great size (6-3 270) and elite athleticism. He also came into a room that was already five deep with veterans whose presence was going to limit his opportunity to play this season.

The Buckeyes returned starters JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, as well as primary backups Kenyatta Jackson, Caden Curry, and Mitchell Melton. All five are at least third-year players at this point, meaning there’s not a lot of room for a true freshman like Houston.

Still, Eddrick Houston saw action in the first two games of the season, then didn’t play against Marshall. He played five total snaps against Michigan State and Iowa, then didn’t see the field against Oregon.

He was finally back on the field two weeks later against Nebraska, but this time he was playing defensive tackle. He played five snaps against the Cornhuskers, then was on the field for six snaps at defensive tackle this past weekend in the win over Penn State.

The move certainly isn’t unprecedented. Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson likes taking big defensive ends and turning them into pass-rushing three-technique defensive tackles. He’s done it throughout his career.

The best example of it in his time with the Buckeyes was Dre’Mont Jones, who redshirted as a true freshman defensive end in 2015 and quickly grew into a defensive tackle. Jones was a Freshman All-American in 2016, then a First-Team All-Big Ten selection as a redshirt sophomore and redshirt junior.

If the Buckeyes can get the same kind of impact from Eddrick Houston down the road, then this move makes plenty of sense.

So what made him the right guy to make the move this time and what did the coaches see in him to think that this was the right call?

“Yeah, well, he’s got a very bright future ahead of him,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said on Tuesday. “I think he’s going to be a really good football player. Hasn’t played a lot inside, so he’s learning that position. I think that when you look at how he projects out, we got one here, now. He’s got to keep growing. He’s got to keep learning from Ty [Hamilton] and Tyleik [Williams], and the intricacies of playing inside, because it is different than playing on the edge. But he has the size, the power, the strength, the toughness to play inside for us.”

Late in the game against Penn State, Houston was able to showcase that power at the point of attack. When starter Tyleik Williams went down, it was Houston who was inserted into the game. Even though he’s only been playing the position for a matter of weeks, what the coaches have seen has been enough to want to get him on the field more and more.

Williams is now “day to day” per Day, which means this week’s matchup against Purdue could be Houston’s best opportunity yet to show everyone a glimpse of his very bright future.

And it’s a future that he believes suits him. As with any position move under Ryan Day, the coaches can suggest it, but if the player doesn’t want it, it doesn’t happen. If the player’s heart isn’t into it, the necessary results just won’t be there.

That isn’t the case here with Eddrick Houston.

“He really embraced it,” Day said. “I think he sees what this could be for him. Maybe down the road we would move him back outside, but I think he realizes when you go from being a very athletic and strong defensive end and now moving inside, now you become elite as a three technique, because you have that speed and quickness, and he does have the power to hold the point of attack.”