Having moved from linebacker to edge rusher, the runway is clear for the former five-star to have a major impact this season.
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I think it is safe to say that the first three seasons of C.J. Hicks’ Ohio State career have not gone as well as he, the coaching staff, or the fans would have hoped, or even anticipated. A five-star prospect coming out of Archbishop Alter High School in Dayton, Hicks’ athleticism made him the No. 7 player nationally in the 247Sports Composite Rankings, the No. 1 linebacker in the country, and the top-rated player in Ohio State’s class.
Unsurprisingly, the hype surrounding Hicks’ recruiting profile set the expectations exceptionally high amongst fans, but his passion for the program made him more than just your typical marquee recruit. Known as Captain Buckeye for the leadership role he took on in helping land the No. 4 class in the 2022 cycle, by the time Hicks arrived on campus, he was already bordering on legendary status across Columbus.
But things just haven’t panned out for Hicks yet. From the jump, he found himself buried in the linebacker rotation, and in the times when he did get defensive snaps, his natural ability popped, but he just never looked comfortable doing what was asked of him in Jim Knowles’ defense. After playing 82 defensive snaps in OSU’s first four games, Hicks only played 69 the rest of the season, picking up a total of 13 tackles.
Despite the objectively disappointing first three seasons in the program, Hicks remained true to his Captain Buckeye monicker and stuck with the Scarlet and Gray when nobody would have blamed him if he had opted to start fresh somewhere else.
With Knowles now the defensive coordinator for Penn State, Hicks has an opportunity to finally prove all of his high school accolades correct in Matt Patricia’s scheme. During the offseason, Hicks made the move from LB to defensive end. The thought was that if you put him in a position where the objective is a bit more straightforward, perhaps the hesitation that often seemed to handcuff him at linebacker wouldn’t be as much of a problem.
Hicks is now in the mix at stand-up edge rusher — a position that’s suddenly thin following the departures of Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau to the NFL. For a guy who was once the top linebacker in his class, this switch might seem like a gamble or a last-ditch effort — especially since he is not likely to be named a starter at DE — but given his 6-foot-3, 233-pound frame, lightning speed, and freakish explosion, it might just be the thing that finally unlocks the potential that has been promised for years.
The opportunity for Hicks to carve out a meaningful role on the team outside of special teams is real. The depth chart at defensive end has openings, especially in obvious passing situations. Hicks will likely rotate with guys like Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Caden Curry, and North Carolina transfer Beau Atkinson, but he offers something different that nobody else on the team can.
While not quite big enough to be a traditional, all-downs end, Hicks brings a blend of linebacker athleticism and raw edge rusher speed that could make him a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks and offensive tackles. We still aren’t really sure what Patricia’s defense is going to look like, or how he might maneuver the chess pieces that were left for him, but it is hard to imagine that someone with his history isn’t chomping at the bit to deploy Hicks on unsuspecting offenses.
If Hicks is able to settle into a role at end, and tune out all of the schematic minutia that seemed to hold him back at linebacker, he has the chance to not only rack up tackles, sacks, and hurries, but to finally make an impact on the team’s fortunes this fall.
While it is certainly not how anyone would have drawn it up, for the first time since arriving in Columbus, the runway is clear for C.J. Hicks to take off. He’s no longer just a former five-star with untapped potential; he is now a weapon that Ohio State is counting on to help lead a revamped defense following last year’s post-national championship exodus. If things break right, this season might just be remembered as the moment when Hicks’ Captain Buckeye nickname became about more than just his efforts as a recruiter.