Pro Football Focus has released its 2024 all-returning defense and only one Ohio State player made the team and even he is an incoming transfer. The list feels a bit odd considering the massive amount of talent Ohio State has returning, but that may be just my bias.
Caleb Downs is the lone Buckeye to make the team and that makes sense after the true freshman earned All-American honors from PFF after starting for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Downs finished the season with an 88.9 coverage grade, which was the fourth amongst all FBS safeties.
Other Buckeyes who could have made a claim on this list are defensive end, J.T. Tuimoloau, and cornerback, Denzel Burke. Tuimoloau ended last season with an unspectacular PFF grade of 76.9 and that likely played a role in his omission, but anyone who watched his play last season knows he is elite.
Denzel Burke actually made PFF’s top ten returning cornerbacks list at number seven and finished with an incredible catch allowance rate of 19.1% of his targets while in single coverage, but that was apparently not good enough for their all-returning Team.
PFF’s 2024 All Returning Team: Defense⭐️ pic.twitter.com/piZFu9C9Hf
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 30, 2024