Bucknuts Morning 5

The Little Animal got a big promotion. James Laurinaitis is now Ohio State's linebackers coach after serving as a grad assistant in 2023. Now, to be clear, Laurinaitis basically ran the LB room last season, but now he's a full-fledged position coach. How will this impact the Buckeyes on the field? What about on the recruiting front? What we also find interesting is that Ohio State's defense is shaping up to be elite in 2024. You could of course argue Jim Knowles' unit was elite in 2023 as the Buckeyes finished No. 3 in the country in total defense and No. 2 in scoring defense. Outstanding numbers? Definitely. Skewed just a bit because of an historically bad offensive season for many Big Ten teams? Sure. (The four-best defenses in the country last year were Big Ten teams, including Penn State, Michigan and Iowa.) But it was still an outstanding defense. However, we have little doubt the 2024 defense will be even better. The one area of possible concern is at linebacker, but the Buckeyes do have talent there ..