Ohio ended its season with success, winning the 2024 Mid-American Conference title game in Detroit, Michigan, before winning the Cure Bowl to end its season. The 11-win campaign was one of the best in the history of the program, and one of the biggest reasons for its success was a stout defense.
The Bobcats boasted the best defense in the MAC, and the heartbeat of that unit was the defensive line. Loaded with experience, talent and leadership the front four for Ohio wrecked shop last season en route to the first 11-win season in Ohio history.
Following another hectic offseason, that unit looks much different, so let's take a look at Ohio’s defensive line for this upcoming season:
Who’s gone
Ohio lost all of its defensive lineman with starting experience last season, starting with the biggest name in defensive end Bradley Weaver. In his first year as a captain, Weaver had 8 ½ sacks and 15 tackles for loss on the season. He was named the defensive MVP of the MAC title game and he took that success and turned it into a move to Big Ten school and 2025 Ohio opponent, Rutgers.
The two guys on the other side of the line of Weaver were Ben McNaboe and Marcel Walker-Burgess. Both were graduate transfers playing their last year of college football when they joined Ohio and they went out on a bang, with McNaboe putting up 46 tackles, four sacks, 7 ½ tackles for loss and an interception while Walker-Burgess had 56 tackles, six sacks and an interception as well.
This offseason Ohio took a huge blow during the spring transfer portal window when both returning senior defensive tackles left in the portal.
Cam Rice was the first to go as he left for Maryland, and Bralen Henderson was next as he left for Missouri. Both of them will be playing in some very high-level games this year in the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference but they both had great years in their last year in the MAC.
Henderson had 26 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack while Rice had 30 tackles, 8 ½ tackles for loss and three sacks on the season. The other key interior guy last season was CJ Doggette, who put up 32 tackles, seven tackles for loss and three sacks after transferring from Cincinnati. He left in the winter portal window to transfer to Florida Atlantic.
Who’s back
All of the outgoing bodies on the defensive leaves very few returning players and experience on the defensive front. The most tenured player returning for Ohio is redshirt senior defensive end Kaci Seegars. He played in 12 games last year and went for 12 tackles and 4 ½ tackles for loss in a rotational role.
Other less experienced guys coming back are redshirt sophomore defensive tackles Austin Mitchell and RJ Keuchler, along with defensive end Walter Bob Jr.
This unit saw by far the most turnover from last year, leaving defensive coordinator John Hauser with very few returners up front.
Who’s new
To address the exodus of players leaving on the defensive line, Ohio hit the portal to bring in some new faces. It added Anas Luqman from Arkansas Pine Bluff and he appears to have a starting spot locked down as a defensive end.
Ohio shopped from inside the MAC as well with the addition of Pius Odjugo from Central Michigan. It added former SEC player in defensive end Evan Herrmann from Vanderbilt, and it also acquired redshirt sophomore defensive end Joseph Marsh from Boise State.
Ohio also added a few more interior guys in the portal as well in defensive tackle Nehemiah Dukes from Youngstown State and defensive tackle Derek Reagans from the City College of San Francisco.
With all of these new bodies, the defensive coaching staff will have its work cut out for it when trying to narrow a rotation of solid, dependable players to play on Saturdays. As fall camp keeps progressing, the staff is likely to have a better idea of who will get significant playing time but it would not be surprising to see it trying out different players in the early weeks of the regular season as well.
