Despite replacing 12 starters from its 2025 team, Ohio State didn’t have too many questions about who would start in its season-opener against Ball State. However, true freshman defensive back Jay Timmons, sophomore defensive end Zion Grady and sophomore linebacker TJ Alford each appeared on the defense’s first drive against the Cardinals.
The Buckeyes initially were in a 4-3 defense on the first play with Alford lining up next to junior linebacker Payton Pierce and Grady lining up on the scrimmage. Timmons made his first appearance on third down when the Buckeyes went to a nickel defense.
It is very rare for true freshmen to make an immediate impact at Ohio State, but Timmons has received plenty of praise in training camp. He was the No. 25 overall recruit in the country, the No. 4 cornerback and the No. 1 player out of Pennsylvania in last year’s class.
Grady’s place among the starting defense was also somewhat surprising considering he had only earned limited playing time as a freshman last year.
Grady only appeared in 10 games, but finished last year with 13 total tackles, including two for loss and one sack.
Like Timmons, Grady has plenty of talent. The 6-4, 262-pound defensive lineman was ranked as the No. 81 player in the country, the No. 9 edge and the No. 5 player from the state of Alabama.
Grady wasn’t talked about as much as some of the other young talented players on the roster, but he clearly did enough in the offseason to impress the Buckeye coaching staff.
It is unclear how much the Buckeyes will operate with a 4-3 defense, but it seems that Alford will be the first linebacker off the bench when three linebackers are in the game.
Alford was a top-150 recruit out of high school, who appeared in 11 games last year and made six total tackles.
