Ohio State’s 2024 defense was already projected to be the best in the country before Caleb Downs committed to the Buckeyes. Now that the Freshman All-American safety from Alabama is transferring to Ohio State, the Buckeyes’ 2024 defense has the potential to be otherworldly.

Before Friday night, the two biggest question marks that lingered for Ohio State’s 2024 defense were the free safety position and the Will linebacker position. Downs’ commitment could address both of those positions, as he will immediately plug in as a starting safety while his addition alongside Lathan Ransom frees up Sonny Styles to move closer to the line of scrimmage and play LB.

On paper, those should be the final two puzzle pieces to round out an 11-man starting lineup on defense that is full of experienced and talented players who are all capable of being among the best in the entire country at their respective positions.

A closer look at how that starting lineup should stack up this fall:

DE: JACK SAWYER, JT TUIMOLOAU

Sawyer and Tuimoloau were both projected as potential early-round picks if they entered the 2024 NFL draft. Instead, both decided to stay at Ohio State for their senior seasons, giving the Buckeyes a tandem of senior defensive ends that should be the best in the country if they can consistently play up to their potential.

While Tuimoloau and Sawyer haven’t yet had quite the careers they were expected to have when they signed with Ohio State as the No. 4 and No. 5 overall prospects in the 2021 class, both of them have shown they are capable of playing at an All-American level. Sawyer was dominant down the stretch of the 2023 season, recording 7.5 tackles for loss with 4.5 sacks in Ohio State’s final three games alone, while Tuimoloau made some of the biggest plays of Ohio State’s biggest wins of the year against Notre Dame and Penn State.

If both of them can put it all together and play at that level throughout the 2024 season, Ohio State’s edge rush will be fearsome.