Kayden McDonald’s departure as a second-round NFL draft pick left a hole at defensive tackle that Ohio State couldn’t simply plug with a returning backup. So Matt Patricia and his staff went and found three new pieces instead, turning a position of need into one of the more compelling storylines of the offseason.

James Smith’s Fresh Start

James Smith arrived from Alabama as the No. 1-ranked defensive tackle in the transfer portal, and he’s wasted no time explaining what drew him to Columbus. “The intensity is different. Everything is so intentional,” Smith said of the adjustment from Tuscaloosa. “I feel like I needed a new start. Nothing against Bama. Great program. I just needed a fresh start.” Smith has spent fall camp working both the three-technique and nose tackle spots, a versatility Matt Patricia’s scheme is built to exploit. He’s also credited safety Caleb Downs, before his departure to the NFL, with helping him settle in quickly: “That’s like my brother. He never lies to me. If he’s telling me something, I know it’s true.”

Smith isn’t the only newcomer up front. John Walker transferred in from UCF, and Qua Russaw, another Alabama transfer, has been working as a standup edge rusher, giving Patricia a defensive front with size, experience and scheme versatility that would have been hard to build through recruiting alone in a single cycle.

The holdover anchoring the group is fifth-year defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr., who racked up 6.5 sacks in 2025 and remains the most proven pass rusher on the roster. Behind him, second-year ends Epi Sitanilei and Zion Grady are stepping into expanded roles under longtime defensive line coach Larry Johnson, part of what Patricia has described as a six-deep rotation at end rather than a two-man platoon. Sitanilei already delivered in the season opener, recording a sack in the 56-3 win over Ball State.

That structure, depth and rotation over a single dominant name, reflects exactly how Patricia has talked about building his defensive front all offseason. Rather than needing a standout superstar on the defensive line, the group is built to play to Johnson’s standard collectively, spreading the workload across six or seven bodies who can all win their one-on-one matchups often enough to keep a pass rush honest deep into games.

Setting Up for Arch Manning

It’s also a preview of how Ohio State will likely need to attack Texas in Week 2. With opposing offensive lines expected to slide protection toward Jackson all season, the four-man rush only holds up if Smith, Russaw, Walker, Sitanilei and Grady can all win individual reps rather than relying on pressure from one direction. Against Arch Manning’s mobility, that collective push may matter more than any single edge rusher’s sack total.

For a program that lost its entire projected defensive tackle rotation to the draft in back-to-back years, rebuilding through the portal has become as much a part of Matt Patricia‘s identity as anything he installs on the practice field. So far, it’s produced a defensive line with more pure talent depth than Ohio State has had in years.

Larry Johnson’s fingerprints are all over how quickly that depth has come together. Johnson has coached Ohio State’s defensive line since 2014 and built a reputation as one of the sport’s premier developers of interior and edge talent, which makes him uniquely suited to fold three new transfers into a returning rotation without losing the room’s culture in the process. Smith has already pointed to that structure as part of why the transition felt smoother than expected, crediting a level of intentionality in the day-to-day that he says he hadn’t experienced before arriving in Columbus.

BLOG 8 OF 10  |  SEASON PREVIEW: PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Why Year Three Is the Moment for Eddrick Houston on Matt Patricia’s Defense

Every defensive line rebuild needs a player who’s already spent two years absorbing the details before being asked to carry a starting role, and for Matt Patricia’s 2026 defense, that player is Eddrick Houston.

Houston arrived at Ohio State as the No. 26 overall prospect and the No. 7 defensive lineman in the 2024 class per 247Sports’ composite rankings, choosing the Buckeyes over Alabama, Georgia, USC and a list of other blue-blood programs. He was recruited as an edge rusher, but Ohio State’s staff added weight and moved him inside, and the Georgia native now plays as a three-technique pass rusher at 6-foot-3 and 292 pounds, still carrying the get-off and quickness that made him a coveted recruit in the first place.

A Clear Developmental Arc

The production has followed a clear developmental arc. Houston appeared in 12 games as a true freshman before breaking out as a true sophomore in 2025, when he posted 21 tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks across 13 games. It was enough to establish him as a rotational piece behind Kayden McDonald, but with McDonald now gone as a second-round NFL draft pick, Houston is positioned to become one of Ohio State’s primary interior linemen in 2026, working alongside Alabama transfer James Smith and UCF transfer John Walker in a retooled tackle rotation.

The timing lines up with a pattern that’s held across college football for years: the third season is typically when a player’s physical tools and scheme knowledge finally catch up to each other. “Year No. 3 is when the jump has to happen for players in college, or it typically just isn’t going to happen,” as one analysis of Houston’s outlook put it, framing 2026 as close to a defining season for his career trajectory.

That kind of developmental patience is consistent with how Matt Patricia has talked about coaching since his first spring in Columbus, when he emphasized simplifying complex concepts so players can execute at full speed rather than play hesitant while overthinking assignments. “I think the beauty of football, and definitely something I learned at New England, was take the extremely complex and let’s try to boil it down to maybe three to five things, really simple, so we can really detail that out as much as possible,” Patricia said during his introduction as defensive coordinator. For an interior lineman like Houston, whose job depends on reacting instantly rather than processing an entire scheme presnap, that philosophy is exactly what makes a Year 3 jump possible.

Why Year Three Matters

Houston’s path also reflects the larger story of Ohio State’s defensive tackle room in 2026: a mix of a homegrown developmental success story working alongside proven transfer talent, all fighting for reps in a rotation Patricia has built around collective strength rather than one clear headliner. If Houston takes the step his recruiting profile always suggested he could, he gives Matt Patricia‘s defensive front an interior presence that doesn’t have to lean entirely on newcomers to replace what Ohio State lost up front.

There’s also a competitive angle that should push Houston even further. James Smith arrived from Alabama with a five-star pedigree and immediate name recognition as the top defensive tackle in the transfer portal, and John Walker brought his own starting experience from UCF. Neither transfer is guaranteed a role over a homegrown player who already knows Patricia’s terminology and has a full offseason of reps in the scheme. If anything, that competition is exactly the environment Patricia has said he wants inside the room, one where snaps are earned week to week rather than handed out based on recruiting rankings or where a player transferred from.