Every day from now until the start of the season, Land-Grant Holy Land presents Ohio State Football players to keep an eye on this season. Check out all our “Player in focus” article to prepare for the season opener against Akron.
There are a lot of different storylines and players to keep an eye on for the Buckeyes as the season begins, but there is an argument to be made for keeping an eye on the linebacker group, and CJ Hicks in particular.
Hicks was a promising junior out of Archbishop Alter High School in Dayton, Ohio, and was the second-best linebacker in the country, the second-best player in the state of Ohio behind Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, and the 10th-best player nationally.
Allen Trieu of 247 Sports predicted that Hicks would be a first-round pick and compared him to Fred Warner. Trieu said the following about Hicks as a high school senior:
“A big defender who put on a fair amount of weight between his sophomore and junior years. He is developing more into a true linebacker but still shows the athleticism to play all over the field, including in open space, and has even returned punts and played running back despite his size. An excellent blitzer with the explosive ability to close gaps or come off the side. Additional strength was evident on his recent film. He has good ball skills, which he shows on offense, and he should be a great coverage linebacker at the next level.”
However, in his first two seasons, in which he played in 25 games for the Buckeyes, he was only able to record nine solo tackles, five assists and one tackle for a loss. Now that his junior season is approaching, he is ready for a bigger role and everyone on the team has something good to say about Hicks.
“I think CJ is a much better football player compared to last fall,” said position coach James Laurinaitis.
“Physically, he’s got nothing wrong, I think he’s getting better in the film room and learning and doing all the little things that nobody really sees. I think that’s where he’s gotten better. That’s 100 percent going to pay off for him in the long run,” said linebacker Cody Simon.
However, with safety Sonny Styles moving to the linebacker position following Caleb Downs’ transfer from Alabama to Ohio State, it could be either Styles or Hicks who gets the nod to play alongside Cody Simon at Will. Hicks took most of the first-team duties at linebacker to Will in the spring game, but defensive coordinator Jim Knowles hasn’t ruled out the possibility of all three playing together or some combination of the three.
“If you get in a three-linebacker package, Sonny, Cody and CJ, you’re pretty good,” Knowles said. “But you can’t have just one guy. So if Sonny’s not there as Sam, CJ has to know how to play as well so you can put Gabe (Powers) as Mike and Cody can play Will and you still have a great lineup. So CJ has to know how to play both positions.”
I think most people agree: When you have athletes like Styles and Hicks on the roster, you just have to put them on the field and deal with it later. And if Hicks is the starter for the Wills, you can expect him to be a star on defense. If not, he’ll still carve out a role for himself.
