Studying Ohio State’s roster and depth chart, it’s clear to me the defensive line will be the strength of the 2009 Buckeyes.

The question is whether they will be just good up front, or if they can be great and emerge as one of the top units in the country.

The only bad news for the D-line thus far in preseason camp has been the ankle injury to junior end Cameron Heyward which was suffered in the jersey scrimmage last Saturday. However, head coach Jim Tressel thinks there is a good chance Heyward will be ready for the season opener against visiting Navy on Sept. 5.

Presuming Heyward will be OK – and that’s no sure thing because sprained ankles often have lingering effects long after players are medically cleared – I see a group with talent, experience and depth. That’s a pretty good recipe for success.

But are they elite?

Well, I don’t think they’re quite there yet. What needs to happen for them to prove me wrong?

Well, for starters, junior Thaddeus Gibson needs to develop into a game-changing defensive end much like Aaron Maybin did with Penn State last year. I’m not suggesting Gibson needs to achieve as much as Maybin did (which included 12 sacks, first-team All-American status and becoming the No. 11 overall pick of the NFL draft) but he needs to at least push for double-digit sacks and be disruptive all season.

The potential is certainly there for him to do so. As a first-year starter last year, he had five sacks to lead the team.

Maybin had four sacks in 2007 before his breakout season. Could Gibson be in store for a “he’s now a household name across the Big Ten” type of season? Stay tuned, but it’s going to be interesting to follow.

For the Buckeyes to be considered elite on the defensive line, they need to create more pressure on quarterbacks, period. In 2008, they finished 50^th in the country in sacks per game (2.1), tied with noted defensive juggernaut Notre Dame.

Yes, Notre Dame’s schedule was much weaker than OSU’s last year, but the point is Ohio State should collect more than 27 sacks in a given season with as much talent as they have up front.

And it’s not all up to the defensive ends. Gibson, Heyward and sophomore Nate Williams need to get their share of sacks and tackles-for-loss, but the defensive tackles also need to be disruptive.

There are no excuses for the veteran D-tackles this year. The top three players at the position – junior Dexter Larimore and seniors Doug Worthington and Todd Denlinger – are entering their third season in the rotation and they need to have their best seasons to date.

There’s no reason to think they won’t as they’ve all looked good during camp in the four practices (including the jersey scrimmage) that have been open to the media. But after a couple mediocre years from the tackles, it’s time for them to prove on the field that they can dominate the line of scrimmage and free up the ends and linebackers to make plays. Statistics aren’t important for defensive tackles as long as they are creating havoc (especially in OSU’s system), but if they can add a few sacks and TFLs, it’s a huge bonus.

I’m pretty high on Larimore. He’s one of the strongest players on the team and this could be a bit of a breakout year for him. He didn’t play as well as I thought he would last year after a strong freshman campaign, but I expect him to be one of the top tackles in the Big Ten this year.

As for Denlinger, get used to seeing him on the field a lot this year. In addition to rotating in at defensive tackle when Larimore and Worthington need a rest (Worthington can also slide down to DE and Heyward can play DT) Denlinger has been impressive a short-yardage tight end. When the Buckeyes need to go with power sets that require two tight ends, Denlinger is going to be out there along with Jake Ballard.

But this is a blog about defense, so let’s not get too far off the point.

Looking at the depth past the top six defensive linemen (and the top six are the aforementioned Denlinger, Heyward, Gibson, Larimore, Williams and Worthington), redshirt freshman Garrett Goebel is likely going to be in the two deep at defensive tackle. He is being pushed by true freshman John Simon, but defensive coordinator Jim Heacock usually likes to redshirt his DTs. And with so much experience ahead of him this year, Simon is going to have to be extremely impressive to play right away.

He’s looked good to me in the few times I’ve seen him go live this month (including the hoot-n-holler drill before the kick scrimmage and during the jersey scrimmage) and we all know the incredible stories of his accomplishments in the weight room. It’s not out of the question that Simon will play, but right now he’s the No. 5 defensive tackle, so they might want to save the year of eligibility. And they can always play him down the line if there is an injury to one of the guys ahead of him.

As for the final spot at defensive end on the two deep, I think it will go to sophomore Solomon Thomas, but he hasn’t done much that I’ve seen thus far in camp. He’s being pushed by seniors Rob Rose and Lawrence Wilson, but neither of them appear 100 percent ready to play football to me. Wilson probably has some lingering effects from his ACL injury (didn’t play in the jersey scrimmage) and Rose is in the coaches’ doghouse and is getting some of his reps with the third team (and some with the second team at both DE and DT).

Part of fielding an elite defensive line means having quality players to fill out the two deep and even third-teamers that can be counted on if there are injuries. Do the Buckeyes have that this year? Perhaps, but let’s wait to see how they look against Navy’s outstanding rushing offense – and more importantly USC’s stellar overall offense the following week – before we anoint them great.

Overall, there is a lot to be excited about on the defensive line if you are an Ohio State fan. However, the Buckeyes have spoiled their fan base during some of the Tressel years with excellent defensive fronts (2002 being the best) and it remains to be seen just how good the talented ’09 group will become.

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