Ohio State Football: How to Revamp the Silver Bullet Defense in 2012

Anyone that saw Ohio State's defense last season saw that it was very un-Ohio State all last season.

A collective that was always stingy, opportunistic and aggressive over the previous few seasons suddenly looked porous and slow all season long.

The same defense that seemed almost impossible to run on for several years suddenly let opponents run all over them.

That in itself was truly inexplicable because Buckeye fans were used to seeing fantastic defenses year after year after year.

Then to see an average defense get worse and worse every week was among the most disturbing things last year brought.

That's where once again, having Urban Meyer helps. His presence more or less helps defensively just because former interim coach Luke Fickell can go back to focusing solely on defense like he did under Jim Tressel.

Adding former North Carolina defensive coordinator Everett Withers to the staff should help get this unit get back to the level it's supposed to be at.

However, the real improvement won't come until the personnel all over the defense improve, especially in the back seven.

The front four seems to be in great shape with seniors John Simon, Garrett Goebel and Nathan Williams leading the charge, along with an incredible group of freshman recruits on the line.

The linebacker corps last year was extremely disappointing. It looked slow, unaware and showed poor tackling fundamentals for most of the season.

Ryan Shazier, a true freshman last year, not only took a starting job in the middle of the season, but he really looked like the best linebacker on the team for a long time.

That alone is a huge problem.

Shazier will be a sophomore and should be able to add some more weight to his frame while hopefully keeping his speed intact.

Senior Etienne Sabino seems to be in much better shape this year and could be better with a year of starting experience.

The third linebacker spot remains an open competition with Storm Klein and Curtis Grant likely being the two favorites.

But if Urban Meyer is true to his style at Florida, don't discount talented freshman prospects David Perkins, Josh Perry or Camren Williams—all of whom are very athletic players that could have a similar impact that Shazier had last year.

In the secondary, Bradley Roby emerged very quickly as the top corner on the Buckeye defense over two more experienced corners—Travis Howard and Dominic Clarke.

Howard regressed last season after finishing 2010 very strong and Clarke was recently kicked off the team, meaning the No. 1 corner job is Roby's to lose.

Howard will likely be the No. 2 corner on the roster with Doran Grant and Christian Bryant competing for playing time behind those two.

That obviously will change if, as mentioned before, Meyer goes with pure talent over experience.

If Ohio State can solve its woes in the back seven and continue to get improved performance up front, this defense can get back to where it has been in the past.

This group should be able to click very quickly, possibly before the offense does due to a more established track record of success and proven playmakers on that side of the ball.

When the defense gets back to being the level that an Ohio State defense needs to play at, that is when the Buckeyes can start to get back to where they were before 2011.

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