Ohio State football’s ‘surprise’ defensive line breakthrough four years in the making

COLUMBUS, Ohio — At some point, Ohio State football will re-introduce Mitchell Melton to its defensive front. The first unveiling could have come when Melton was a redshirt freshman, except he suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason camp. It might have happened last spring, except another lower-body injury took him down and wiped out another season. No surprise that Melton remains “really hungry” with the calendar plodding slowly toward August’s preseason camp. He is cleared for activities, per defensive line coach Larry Johnson. “We held him out in the spring for a reason, and he walked up to me in spring ball and said, ‘Thanks coach,’ ” Johnson said. “I said, ‘We need you healthy in August. I don’t need to see what you can do in the (spring).’ “I think that really helped him mentally, because he knew he wasn’t quite ready.” Melton, though, has been on the trajectory for ready on multiple occasions. He impressed in practice as a true freshman linebacker. After moving to the defensive line, he caught then-new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ eye as a possible fit for the hybrid jack position. Knowles pulled back considerably on the Jack during the spring, but expects to implement it again eventually. The Jack experiment with former five-star defensive end Jack Sawyer is over. Knowles has long pointed to Melton as being closer to his ideal for the job. “I saw a guy who has that short-space quickness,” Knowles said of Melton in last spring’s practices. “He has the ability to get off blocks. He can handle a lot from a scheme standpoint. You can put a lot on him. “And he plays with that kind of demeanor where we just always felt good when he was out on the field. It wasn’t very up and down.” Compliments from the coaching staff date back to Melton’s first, pandemic-shortened season in 2020. Johnson said his pass-rush skills stood out early. So did his relentlessness and ability to play fast from day one. Sawyer and J.T. Tumoloau project to start at defensive end. Second year ends Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson also might be locked into the rotation already. The jack, a stand-up defender who roams behind the back of the line. Knowles has always described that as a perfect fit for an imperfect player — the spot for someone too talented to stay on the sideline but not ideally suited for a conventional role. Melton once ranked among the nation’s top prospects at outside linebacker — a position OSU rarely utilizes anymore. Knowles took similar players and made them the Jack at previous stops, most recently Oklahoma State. That nice remains there for the tacking this fall. “He might be the surprise,” Johnson said of Melton. “I’m really looking forward to it.” After two years of disappointments, a pleasant surprise is overdue for Melton and the Buckeyes.