2024 Ohio State Freshman Class Report: Defensive End Dominic Kirks

This is the second installment in a series where Buckeye Huddle looks back on each member of Ohio State’s 2024 signing class and the impact they had in their first season, as well as the impact they could have during the upcoming 2025 season. Up next is defensive end Dominic Kirks.

As a senior at Riverside High School in Painesville, Ohio, Dominic Kirks (6-4 255) posted 86 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, and an interception. He was named First-Team All-District and Second-Team All-State.

Kirks was a four-star prospect who was ranked the No. 24 defensive lineman in the 2024 recruiting class and the No. 163 player overall per 247Sports’ composite rankings. They also listed him as the No. 8 prospect in the state of Ohio. He signed with Ohio State over offers from Washington, Wisconsin, USC, Iowa, Michigan State, and others.

2024 Season

Dominic Kirks played in just three games as a true freshman, posting one tackle on the season. He played in blowout wins over Akron, Marshall, and Purdue. His performance was not that unusual for the 2024 signing class given the immense veteran nature of last year’s Ohio State football team.

The Buckeyes had five veteran edge rushers last year, so playing time for a young defensive end was going to be difficult to find. The good news is that Kirks was able to learn from teammates Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau on what the job requires. He also learned from backups Kenyatta Jackson, Caden Curry, and Mitchell Melton that patience is necessary as well.

So Now What For Dominic Kirks?

The Buckeyes lost three defensive ends from last season, which means everybody from last year’s team just got a lot closer to playing time. Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry are both fourth-year players and expected to be the starting defensive ends this season.

Redshirt sophomore Joshua Mickens played 25 snaps last season. Dominic Kirks played seven snaps. Together, they represent the most-experienced OSU defensive ends behind Curry and Jackson. That number does not count senior linebacker CJ Hicks, who could be making the move to pass rusher this spring.

Defensive line coach Larry Johnson signed blue chippers Zion Grady and Epi Sitanilei, as well as Idaho State transfer Logan George.

This spring will be an important opportunity for Kirks to show what he learned last year. This will also be his first chance to stay ahead of the incoming freshmen and perhaps move to the front of the line behind the veterans.

This is also supposing that he doesn’t end up moving inside to defensive tackle, which is something that Larry Johnson has done over the years with bigger defensive ends like Kirks.

OT Ian Moore

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