Tag: J.T. Tuimoloau

One Ohio State football star not on roster in ‘College Football 25’

Shall we start a movement? #GoBucks

You made it college football video game fans. If you invested in an early access release, Monday is the day that you can play “College Football 25,” EA Sports first release of its college football fanchise in eleven years.

We’ve alreay received a lot of news and video surrounding the release, like Ohio State coming in as the No. 2 rated overall team, possessing the top defense, a top five defense in the game, and eight players ranked in the top 100 of the game, leading all programs.

There’s sure to be more reveals as the game gets turned on across the world today (ahem, 4 p.m. ET), but there’s other things leaking out as well. In fact, we now know there’s a reson that defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau wasn’t one of those players ranked in the top 100, and it has everything to do with him not opting in thanks to reporting from Eleven Warriors. According to reports players that agreed to be part of the game received $600 and a free copy of the game, but it appears Tuimoloau decided against it.

J.T.T. isn’t the only scholarship player reportedly not on the roster in the game right now. Others include wide receiver Mylan Graham, wide receiver/tight end Damarion Witten, offensive linemen Ian Moore, Gabe VanSickle and Miles Walker, defensive ends Eddrick Houston and Dominic Kirks, defensive tackle Will Smith Jr., linebacker Garrett Stover and punter Nick McLarty.

Even without Tuimoloau, you should be able to wreak havoc with the OSU defense and make a run at a Big Ten championship by vanquishing the Maize and Blue pride, and making a run at the College Football Playoff. I know we will.

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Ohio State ranks third in CBS Sports defensive front seven rankings

Ohio State ranks third in CBS Sports defensive front seven rankings #GoBucks

The good people over at CBS Sports are continuing to release their positional group rankings and one of the recent posts come from David Cobb in regard to defensive front sevens. It should come as no surprise that Ohio State was not No. 1 on this list, but landing at third is an honor in its own right. It needs to be noted that the defensive front seven includes both the defensive line and linebackers. The Buckeyes will be breaking in new starters on the second level of the defense and that likely held them back on this list.

Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, and Tyleik Williams are All-American candidates on the defensive line, but it is understandable to deduct points due to the inexperience at linebacker. Most expect C.J. Hicks to immediately become a star, but the wait and see attitude is fair.

The Georgia Bulldogs were the top selection on the list, which makes sense considering their plethora of future NFL talent on their defense. The Michigan Wolverines landed second on the list. Michigan has a few studs that Ohio State fabs are extremely familiar with like Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant.

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2025 NFL Draft first impression: J.T. Tuimoloau, EDGE, Ohio State

Tuimoloau has shown he can dominate in some situations, but there is room for more development in the 2024 college season

Ohio State EDGE J.T. Tuimoloau is regarded as one of the top pass-rushing prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft as the 2024 college season approaches. His return to the Buckeyes after being considered a top-50 type of prospect in the 2024 draft is a solid starting point for the intriguing Tuimoloau.

In the seven Ohio State games I studied to get a handle on Tuimoloau, I saw an impressive power-to-speed rusher with a nice, low burst off the snap. There is some nice lower-body power and leg drive that allows him to stun a blocker who gets too tall in his stance. Witness his feature game…

Tuimoloau definitely made a huge impression against Penn State back in 2022. He dominated future first-round offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, exposing Fashanu’s lack of instincts and too-tall recovery technique. As bad as Tuimoloau made Fashanu look, he destroyed all other Nittany Lions even more.

The 2023 rematch also went in Tuimoloau’s favor, and it showcased his ability to attack from multiple alignments and angles. Left or right, standing up or stacked tight and low, he’s capable of getting into the pads of the blocker and establishing the initial advantage very well.

Yet when Tuimoloau squared off against 2024 first-rounder Joe Alt and Notre Dame, he had exactly one win on the day. His high hand placement and lack of secondary hand usage after the initial contact made Tuimoloau a little too easy for Alt to completely negate as a pass rusher. In that same game, when No. 44 tried the other side, he did find some success by winning easier with an initial burst and bull-rushing drive.

Another asset to his game that stood out is Tuimoloau’s ball awareness. He’s very good at recognizing where the ball is and where it’s going. There is some comfort in his ability to sniff out a backside cut or a screen coming his way. Above-average power behind his pads and good wrap technique make Tuimoloau a plus tackler, too.

Continued development of his hand usage after initial contact and more countermoves to get off a block would be the biggest step Tuimoloau can take in 2024 to ensure he’s a high pick in 2025. Right now, he’s a promising power-type player with upside but some frustrating traits that would have kept him in the third- or fourth-round grade range had he come out in 2024.

Three Ohio State football players make Lott Impact watch list

The first of many watch lists, and likely the first of a many Ohio State players appearing on them. #GoBucks

We’re not quite in the middle of college football watch list season, but we’ll start to get some of them trickle out as we get deeper into summer. The first of those came on Thursday with the release of the 2024 Lott Impact watch list, and Ohio State is the only team with three players appearing on it.

The Lott trophy has been around since 2004 and goes to the defensive player who makes the biggest impact for the team both on and off the field based on the acronym IMPACT (Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity).

For the Buckeyes, the trio appearing among the 42 names are senior cornerback Denzel Burke, sophomore safety Caleb Downs, and senior defensive end JT Tuimoloau.

Burke had a bounce back year last season after a sophomore season in which he didn’t quite live up to what we saw during his freshman campaign. He’ll be on the shortlist of the best corners, not only in the Big Ten, but in the country.

As a freshman, Downs was one of the best defensive backs in the country at Alabama and made the difficult decision to transfer to Ohio State when Nick Saban retired. He should be a significant difference maker for OSU this fall.

Tuimoloau surprised many by coming back for his senior season. He was one of the most coveted prospects in the country when he committed to Ohio State back in 2021. He has dominated games at times and will be a part of one of the best defensive end tandems in the country, opposite fellow edge rusher Jack Sawyer.

Former linebacker and current assistant coach James Laurinaitis is the only Ohio State player to have won the Lott Trophy. He did it back in that ridiculous 2008 campaign.

We’ll continue to bring you that multitude of OSU players sure to be on preseason watch lists as things get closer and closer to the start of the 2024 season.

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Michigan football player takes jab at Ohio State

Michigan football player takes jab at Ohio State #GoBucks

Jesse Simonton of On3 has released his 2024 defensive line/edge rankings, where he ranks his top ten units in the country in that category. Unsurprisingly, the Ohio State unit was ranked first in the country. Most expected this unit to be ranked this high considering the return of three very likely high draft picks in Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, and Tyleik Williams, but as expected someone associated with The Team Up North was not happy.

Mason Graham is an absolute beast, it needs to be said that he is also a likely early round draft pick next year, but I don’t think anyone outside the Michigan fandom would disagree with its ranking. Graham was clearly in disbelief as he responded on X (previously Twitter) with two humorous emojis.

Buy hey, the Wolverines are the national champions and have taken Ohio State behind the shed three years in a row. So, you can kind understand why he feels disrespected. Hopefully in November, the Buckeyes can prove these rankings right.

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Ohio State lands nine players on PFF top ten positional rankings

Ohio State lands nine players on PFF top ten positional rankings #GoBucks

Pro Football Focus (PFF) has been releasing their top ten positional rankings for returning players and Ohio State leads the way with nine players making an appearance on their respective positional list.

Of the ten running backs ranked, two Buckeyes make the list with both Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson making the cut. Henderson finished last season with a PFF receiving grade of 73.6, which led all Big Ten backs. Judkins leads all current Power Five backs with 2,726 rushing yards since 2022.

Emeka Egbuka also made his positional list at wide receiver and will have an opportunity to be the number-one option in Columbus after the departure of Marvin Harrison Jr. Donovan Jackson is the lone offensive lineman to make his positional list.

Both Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau made the top ten list for the edge defenders and it makes sense considering Sawyer was the only edge last season to earn grades 85 or higher as both a pass-rusher and run-defender. Tuimoloau is fourth among Big Ten edge defenders the last two seasons with 69 pressures. Tyleik Williams also made his positional list after tallying 26 run-defense stops, which was second among Big Ten defensive tackles.

Denzel Burke also made the cut after forcing 10 incompletions this past season, which was 20th among Power Five cornerbacks. Caleb Downs was also the number one returning safety according to PFF.

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PFF lists one Ohio State football player on All-Returning defense

PFF lists one Buckeye on 2024 All-Returning defense #GoBucks

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.

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ESPN names two Ohio State pass-rushers as top ten players in the country

The Buckeyes have an elite pair of defensive end

When Ohio State football found out that both starting defensive ends, [autotag]Jack Sawyer[/autotag] and [autotag]J.T. Tuimoloau[/autotag] were returning, it was viewed as a massive win for head coach Ryan Day.

ESPN is backing up that notion as they looked at the top ten returning pass-rushers and both Buckeyes made their list. Sawyer checked in a No. 4, as Chris Low noted that he “has the burst, size, and skills to reach double digit sacks in 2024 on an Ohio State defensive line that will be loaded.”

That sounds good to us, but what about Tuimoloau? The other former 5-star came in a few spots lower at No. 8. Again Low broke down the seniors game,  as “he has the strength and power to overwhelm opposing offensive tackles.”

The expectations are in the statosphere for both Buckeyes, and they should produce this coming fall.

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Ohio State football’s J.T. Tuimoloau has found the perfect NIL deal

This is perfect for Tuimoloau

There is an art to making good name, image and likeness deals and it looks like Ohio State defensive end, [autotag]J.T. Tuimoloau,[/autotag] has found one.

The senior lineman surprised many when he opted to return to Columbus for another season, spurring the NFL. Like another Polynesian, Troy Polamalu, Tuimoloau has hair that is unforgettable.

Playing off that trait like Polamalu, the current Buckeye announced a NIL partnership with a shampoo company. It’s a perfect deal for Tuimoloau, as he luscious locks adorn the label. Many other players have had similar deals, but none quite as exceptional as the one the star Ohio State defensive end signed.

You can support Tuimoloau’s newest adventure at local Giant Eagle stores if you so desire.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.

Top players who opted to return to college instead of entering the 2024 NFL draft

Top players who opted to return to college instead of entering the 2024 NFL draft

Most of the time when college players make an announcement about their eligibility and the NFL draft, it’s them declaring they’re leaving school and entering the professional ranks. But not everyone leaves early, not even when projected as a potential first round pick.

There are a few college players who opted to stay in the college ranks instead of declaring for the 2024 NFL draft. Here are some of the bigger names who opted to stay in school.