In 2019, when Ryan Day hired Greg Mattison and Al Washington from Michigan to help fix the defense, the talk of the offseason for Ohio State was the “Bullet” position, a hybrid linebacker/safety that would both be able to play near the line of scrimmage but also drop back into coverage. In an ideal world, this player wouldn’t need to come off the field often because of his versatility. While in concept, this role wasn’t new — the Buckeyes have used a hybrid-like player before, as recently as Darron Lee on the 2014 national championship team, and other teams, using various names, have deployed a similar player in the past — it was expected to change the defense for the better. Three years on, the Scarlet and Gray haven’t used a true Bullet linebacker in a game. Despite coaches talking about it and recruiting for it, Ohio State continued to…
Continue Reading: Spring allowed Ohio State to experiment with the Bullet more and the Buckeyes liked what they saw
