Dougie Smooth (image courtesy cleveland.com)

Even with arguably the heaviest rotation on the entire team the past two seasons, defensive tackle is still a bit of a question mark heading into the '09 season following the graduation of Nader Abdallah. Abdallah developed into an adequate run-stuffer in 2008, after spending a few seasons either injured our out of shape. With Cameron Heyward's move back outside, the question marks are proliferating. Early in the season last year, the defensive tackles were, to put it kindly, lackluster. Against Ohio and USC the run defense got shredded, but by the time the Texas game rolled around, the unit had solidified. Perhaps Texas isn't the best example, however: 

As most of you probably already know, Colt McCoy was the 'Horns' leading rusher on the season, and the Bucks held them to an astonishing 54 yards of 29 attempts. Of course, it could be argued that Texas didn't need to run the ball when McCoy was dicing the secondary to the tune of 414 yards. So what is a good example of the unit solidifying? How about Penn State? Ohio State held Penn State 90 yards below its average for the season in their October meeting, and when combining that with the unbelievable amounts of pressure Ohio State applied to Daryl Clark, I think it's safe to say the entire line had jelled by that point in time. But now, Nader Abdallah, the most consistent guy on that line, is gone. In his place will be Dexter Larimore, possibly the strongest guy on the team. Larimore hasn't quite found his way yet, but if he's ever going to become a star, the time is now.

His fellow nominal starter will be Doug Worthington, a converted DE who, just using the eyeball test, still appears out of place in the center of the Buckeye defensive front at 6'7" and 276 pounds. I always worry when I see him out there, because any opposing interior lineman worth his salt will know to get under his bads and escort him into the secondary. Worthington hasn't been Pat Massey levels of bad, but the potential is at least there, against the better offensive lines on the schedule (*cough* USC *cough*). At least he knows how to pose for badass pictures in the middle of a game.

Todd Denlinger will probably be the first guy off the bench once the rotation kicks in. This is Todd's senior year, and he's probably hoping for a Nader-style breakout season after three years of frustrating inconsistency. The fierce beard and piercing stare are quite impressive, but his numbers are not. In 27 career games, he has notched 24 tackles and one sack, against Wisconsin.

Garrett Goebel will be the next guy in. A touted recruit two years ago who redshirted last year, Garrett is also quite large at 6'5" and 280 pounds but more of a wide body than all but perhaps Larimore. This kid's the future, though; if anyone's poised to be the Nader Abdallah type who actually carves out a consistent niche for himself, it'll probably be him, 

A couple caveats: Both redshirt freshman Willie Mobley (seen here in the Pryor tat photo) and Cameron Heyward have the size and versatility to rotate between the inside and the outside, and the spring depth chart listed the oft-injured Mobley at DT. Mobley is basically a carbon copy of Heyward in terms of size and athleticism. I didn't include Mobley in the defensive end discussion, because I think -  assume, rather - that this is where he'll stick. Now that Shawntel Rowell is apparently an academic casualty, freshmen John Simon and Adam Bellamy are going to have to play bigger roles. Whether that means field time for any of them is up in the air, but my gut says yes. Big Ten teams will work this interior hard, because it's the closest thing the front seven will have to a weakness. Thus, guys will get tired out and fresh legs will be needed. Simon and/or Bellamy will probably see late-game and mop-up action, at the very least. Watch out for Simon though - word is he's a physical freak, but the disparity in the Rivals and Scout ratings (3-star to Rivals, 36th-best DT, 5-star to Scout, fifth best DT) are a tad troubling. Nevertheless, I'm optimistic for the future of both, as both are large, and most of all wide - not bamboo sticks like Worthington, who plays his heart out but can't overcome his physical limitations in his current position.

Overall, this should be a unit that is merely good. Not exceptional. The experience and depth simply aren't there for an elite unit, and there isn't an experienced, consistent run-stuffer in the entire crop. One could develop, but until that happens, this will be the area to watch when the other guys have the ball for at least the first few games of the season.