The Ohio State Buckeyes have already added one linebacker through the transfer portal in DeaMonte Trayanum from Arizona State, and with new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles changing up the defensive scheme. it is not unrealistic for Ohio State to look for more second-level talent in the portal.
The Buckeyes are likely to run a 4-2-5 scheme and that should be a good thing considering how underwhelming the linebacker play has been in recent years, but those two backers will need to be aggressive and ready to move sideline to sideline. The list of talented linebackers in the portal is so large, I decided to split the list into two with this one focused on more inside/middle backer types. The following are the five best inside backers available in the portal as of today.