As the 2024 college football season quickly approaches, it is time to look at the top players at each position in the Big Ten.
We continue our annual Ranking the Big Ten series with the outside linebackers. Ohio State and Penn State have a considerable presence.
Ranking the Big Ten: QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | C | DT
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1. JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
In the wake of back-to-back first-team All-Big Ten selections as a sophomore and junior, JT Tuimoloau returns for his senior campaign with Ohio State this fall.
The 6-foot-5, 269-pound defensive end has been a part of the Buckeye defense since his freshman year. Tuimoloau played in all 13 games during that season and followed that up with 13 starts as a sophomore. He logged a legendary defensive performance in a 44-31 win over Penn State in which he tallied three tackles for a loss, two sacks, and two interceptions while posting a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Last season he posted 32 tackles with four tackles for a loss and two sacks in 11 games. Tuimoloau also racked up 37 total pressures according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). He finished with a defensive grade of 74.5 as well as a 75.2 pass rushing grade and 70.0 run defense grade.
2. Nick Jackson, Iowa
Nick Jackson has a year of Big Ten football under his belt after transferring to Iowa from Virginia following the 2022 season.
His 2023 showing ended with third-team All-Big Ten recognition. Phil Steele projects Jackson as a first-team All-Big Ten honoree in 2024. Jackson’s 110 tackles last year tied for the fourth-most in the Big Ten. The Atlanta, Georgia, native tacked on eight tackles for a loss, four sacks and two forced fumbles for good measure.
PFF was very high on Jackson’s productive senior season. He logged career highs in his defensive (81.4), run defense (84.1) and tackling grades (88.6) while coming less than two points shy of setting a new high water mark for his pass rush grade (81.2). He totaled 27 pressures last year.
Jackson is entering his sixth year of college football and is likely set to be an integral piece of Iowa’s front seven this season.
3. Abdul Carter, Penn State
Last season, Abdul Carter checked in at No. 2 in our inside linebacker ranking. Carter, now listed as a defensive end, amassed 49 tackles including 5.5 for a loss, 4.5 sacks an interception and a forced fumble in 2023. The junior from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the conference’s coaches and second-team from the media.
Carter posted a career-high 90.3 pass rushing grade as a sophomore and tallied 20 pressures according to PFF.
He led his team in sacks as a freshman (6.5 sacks) and only took a back seat to redshirt senior Adisa Isaac’s meteoric rise last year (7.5 sacks). At 6-foot-3 and 259 pounds, Carter is an imposing figure on the edge with a strong chance to earn All-Big Ten recognition yet again.
4. Jack Sawyer, Ohio State
Jack Sawyer has played in all 39 games for the Buckeyes over the last three years. He enters the 2024 season with 19.5 tackles for a loss and 14 career sacks. The latter number is the most of any Ohio State player on the roster. Sawyer’s 2023 campaign featured 13 starts and 48 tackles and 24 solo stops which led all Buckeye linemen.
Big Ten coaches selected the Pickerington, Ohio, native for the third-teal All-Big Ten honors while the media placed him on the second team.
The former five-star and top high school player in the state of Ohio enters his senior season after setting career highs in tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks and forced fumbles last year. Sawyer’s defensive grade of 89.5 is the highest among returning Big Ten edge rushers and linebackers. His 37 pressures tied for the fifth-most in the conference among that same position group.
5. Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
Add another Nittany Lion pass rusher to the list in rising junior Dani Dennis-Sutton.
As a sophomore in 2023, the 6-foot-5, 272-pound defensive end made 26 tackles with six for a loss and 3.5 sacks. Dennis-Sutton posted a pair of forced fumbles and a fumble recovery as well. His 81.0 pass rushing grade puts him in the top ten returning Big Ten edge rushers for 2024.
Dennis-Sutton’s 30 pressures in 2023 are the most of any returning defensive end or outside linebacker in the freshman and sophomore classes.
Two years ago, the Millsboro, Delaware, native was a ESPN Freshman All-American. Last year he made the first three starts of his career and earned third-team All-Big Ten recognition from the conference’s coaches. Dennis-Sutton has bigger goals in his sights for 2024.
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