STEELE CHAMBERS

Previously: Ohio State Offense

While Ohio State's offense has taken a statistical stepback, its defense has taken a huge step forward. By SP+, this is now the country's #1 defense, posing a massive test to the Michigan offense tomorrow. Get ready for a challenge:  

The Film: I charted the Penn State game when I was doing the Nittany Lions, but have also watched OSU's defense when I did Maryland and Purdue, in addition to a review of the Notre Dame tape. Just like on offense, lots of tape to run with here. 

Personnel: Click for big. 

Two familiar faces from last season return as the starting EDGE defenders for Ohio State, JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer. JTT was a starter last year, Sawyer a backup behind Zach Harrison, but both players are familiar and as juniors, have been around the block. The former 5*s have taken steps forward, still not described as NFL-level pass rushers but strong all-around players. Sawyer grades out better in the pass rushing department on PFF and drops into coverage a smidge more than JTT, who is perhaps best used as a crusher of tight ends and defeater of screens thrown at him. These two players log the vast majority of snaps at the EDGE spot but if they come off the field Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry will come on. They had some moments late in the game against PSU, but I do not expect them to see action much while a game is up for grabs. 

Ohio State lost the middling Taron Vincent off last year's defensive tackle spot, but returned the other three pieces from that positional group. Tyleik Williams has taken a step forward to have an excellent season, while the NT Ty Hamilton is a sharp run defender but not as strong in pass rush. That's where Michael Hall Jr. comes into play, who has been dealing with injury recently, so how healthy he will be for this game is a bit unknown. Hall is their best pure pass rusher at the DT position, with high-end burst, but sometimes that can put him in compromising spots for the run defense dimension. These three names soak up nearly all the snaps on the defensive interior, with a steep drop-off in usage to the likes of Jaden McKenzie and Hero Kanu. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: defense!]

DTR to LAX

Four-star NV QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Michigan's longtime top target at quarterback, took to Twitter last night to announce his commitment to UCLA.

The coaches already have two potential replacements lined up, and in fact have been telling quarterback prospects that they plan to take two in this cycle despite a relatively small projected class. Steve Lorenz says he's "as close as you can get" to putting in a crystal ball pick for four-star FL QB Joe Milton, who visited for the spring game.

The other option is three-star AZ QB Tyler Shough, who 247's Isaiah Hole reports received a visit from Pep Hamilton before Michigan took off for Italy. Shough has a visit to Ann Arbor set for mid-May and all of his crystal ball picks, including one from Steve Wiltfong, are for the Wolverines, though he recently picked up an Alabama offer. While Michigan missed out on DTR, they look set to land a quarterback in the relatively near future.

A similar situation is playing out at tight end. Four-star FL TE Will Mallory, a legacy prospect, chose Miami (YTM) over Michigan and several other blue-blood programs on Friday. Lorenz says Michigan remains in "excellent position" with four-star TX TE Mustapha Muhammad, a spring game visitor, and it looks like a M-OSU race for four-star NY TE Jeremy Ruckert; if the Wolverines can land both, they won't try to pick things back up with Mallory.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]