Safeties: Week 6

This week I am going back to the safeties to take a look at how things shook out. Since there are only two positions to look at, this should be fairly brief.

In my preseason breakdown, I predicted that we would be very good at safety this year, and for the most part I think that has happened… with a few interesting twists.

First I guess I will start with the easy part, senior captain Kurt Coleman. Coleman was expected to be a leader on the defense and one of the better players on the team this season, and so far he has been both. He hit a little speed bump last week, getting suspended by the Big Ten for the Indiana game following a late hit against Illinois, but other than that his play has been stellar and he should be back in full force this week… just in time to help slow down a seemingly powerful Wisconsin offense.

Despite missing the Indiana game, Coleman is second on the team in tackles with 29 and has an interception and an amazing 3 forced fumbles. While the team didn’t miss Coleman too much against Indiana, his ability to create turnovers and provide run support will be key against Wisconsin, needless to say it will be good to have him back.

Backing up Coleman is Orhian Johnson. Despite reading some positive reviews during the summer about Orhian, his impact has been minimal so far during the season. He has played in three games and has recorded 4 tackles.

At the other safety spot, returning starter Anderson Russell got burnt badly several times in the Navy game, and before too long was replaced by Jermale Hines as the starter. This move wasn’t a big surprise as several reports during the fall indicated that Hines was pressing for playing time.

So, even though the potential three year starter Anderson Russell has disappointed, he provides quality depth to say the least (he filled in admirably for Coleman in the Indiana game, recovering a fumble and hauling in an INT) while Hines has stepped in and played well as the new starter.

Hines in particular is someone to keep an eye on heading into the game tomorrow. I noticed against Indiana that Hines played very close to the line on some occasions, giving the Buckeyes what might as well have been four linebackers. I think we will see a lot of Hines in the box this weekend as well in order to stop the Wisconsin run game.

The run support that both Hines and Coleman provide will be a major factor in stopping Wisconsin this weekend, so they are both worth keeping an eye on (which is mostly why I decided to do safeties this week).

I wouldn’t be surprised if Coleman and Hines both ended up playing on Sundays at some point in the future, while Russell has a ton of experience and will still see the field in nickel situations most likely, providing Ohio State with lots of talent and experience at safety.

As I mentioned, Coleman is second on the team in tackles with 29, Hines clocks in at 4th with 19, and despite losing his starting job, Russell is sixth on the team with 17 tackles. The safeties have been very active this season and a major part of the Buckeyes success thus far on defense. That should continue, and it will be good.