Ohio State football well represented in ESPN’s list of eighty best defenders of the 2000s

ESPN put together a list of the best eighty defenders in the college game from the 2000s and Ohio State football is well represented.

No. 17 – Jame Laurinaitis, linebacker (2005-2008)

Trio of Ohio State players on ballot for 2021 College Football HOF
Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

What Connelly Says about Doss

“Laurinaitis recorded between 115-130 tackles, between 7-8.5 TFLs, between 3-4 sacks and between 2-5 INTs each year from 2006-08, earning consensus All-America honors each year and winning the Nagurski Trophy one year, the Butkus the next and the Ronnie Lott Trophy the next.”

What We Say

Laurinaitis surprised everyone by getting on the field as a freshman and never looked back. Not too many guys can say they were consensus All-Americans every year they played. He seemed to always be in the right place with a nose for the ball and toughness that you think of from a throw-back middle linebacker.

NEXT … A Heisman finalist at defensive end