Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to
the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides on one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
Today’s Question: What Buckeye are you most thankful for this holiday?
Jami’s Take: Caleb Downs
Ohio State’s defense has looked spectacular all season under new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. From Arvell Reese to Caden Curry and beyond, so many defensive players have been big playmakers for the Buckeyes this season, and there’s no doubt that defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s innovative NFL play-calling has been a great fit for the program.
All of that surely contributes to Silver Bullets’ status as the No. 1 defense in the country, something I’m very grateful for this year, particularly during Rivalry Week. With the top scoring, passing, and total defense and the No. 2 rushing defense behind only Texas Tech, the Buckeye defense is poised to play a big role in containing Michigan’s ground game, something vital to a win in Ann Arbor Saturday (the team with more rushing yards has won the last 23 matchups between Ohio State and the Wolverines).
If I’m counting Matt Patricia’s defense among my blessings this year, then surely I have to acknowledge the player who, in my opinion, has served as its bedrock: safety Caleb Downs. And I guess if we’re counting our blessings, I’m also grateful Nick Saban retired as head coach at Alabama so we could nab Downs in the transfer portal.
Downs is not just the best defensive player on the best defense in the country—he’s widely considered the best defensive player in the country. With 49 total tackles on the season (32 solo, five for loss), a sack, a pass breakup, and two interceptions, Downs has impressive numbers.
His impact goes far beyond stats, though. With most of Ohio State’s national championship defense departing for the NFL (eight defenders were selected in the 2024 NFL Draft) and a defensive coordinator who jumped ship for Penn State, Downs and his fellow returners needed to step up as leaders to ensure the defense didn’t see a drastic dropoff. They somehow got even better. And of course, this inexplicable improvement (HOW did they get better?) is a team effort, but as a leader, surely Downs plays a role in this.
Downs has spoken about how his curiosity about the world fuels his approach to football. As fans, we can see it in the way he understands his role, supports his team, and doesn’t need to showboat on the field. This is not to imply he doesn’t have a whole highlight reel of impressive plays (he certainly does), but that he’s out for the team rather than himself. He understands his role, the inner workings of each play, and he executes his role flawlessly—whether he’s the guy making the big tackle or the guy in the background with a different job to play.
All of this has paid off for Downs. It is assumed he will go pro at the end of this season, and he could very well be the first safety taken in the top 10 since 2017, when the New York Jets took LSU’s Jamal Adams sixth overall. Just this week, he’s been named a finalist for four national awards—the Thorpe Award for the nation’s best defensive back (for which he was also a finalist in 2024); the LOTT Impact Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in the country for their combination of athletic ability, academics and character off the field; and both the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the two major awards for defensive player of the year.
But it’s paid off for the Buckeyes too—and for the city of Columbus. Along with his father, former NFL running back Gary Downs, and his brother Josh Downs (currently a wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts), Caleb helped to found the Trust Downs Foundation, dedicated to combating homelessness in their communities. He spent the Monday of Rivalry Week handing out Thanksgiving turkeys for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to help fight food insecurity. That kind of well-rounded care—about your performance, your team, and the community around you—is part of what makes him such an asset to this team and such an inspiration to the people around him.
There’s no doubt the defense and the Buckeyes as a whole are better because of Downs’ talent and leadership. I’m especially grateful for the ways he has helped the defense maintain its standards of excellence. But when the community is also better for your presence, that’s something to be especially thankful for this year.
Matt’s Take: Lorenzo Styles Jr.
Now, I would never accuse my dear friend Jami of taking the easy way out, especially when she has highlighted so much of Caleb Downs’ admirable efforts off the field as well as on, but Caleb Downs is such an obvious choice. You mean to tell me that you are going to go out on a limb and pick the best defensive player in college football? Wow, great analysis there, Jami!
I am going to go with a bit of a more under-the-radar selection. While Lorenzo Styles Jr. is a starter in the secondary, like Downs, he did not come into this season with nearly as much fanfare, and to be honest, there were points in the season when portions of the fanbase were calling for him to be replaced in the starting lineup. But I, for one, am thankful that that never happened.
A converted wide receiver, the elder Styles brother transferred back home to Columbus from Notre Dame with no guarantee that he would ever see the field. His younger brother Sonny was the high-value prospect, while Lorenzo hadn’t been a recruiting priority for the Buckeyes.
But Lorenzo has worked his tail off since arriving on campus and has gone from a depth, role-player piece to someone invaluable in the Buckeyes’ record-setting defense. He isn’t the best player in the Silver Bullets, and his numbers aren’t going to pop off the charts, but he is a solid contributor who fills a hole where experience is severely lacking. And other than one very obviously blown tackle early in the season, it has been difficult to find fault in what the nickleback has done on defense.
Then, you have his contributions on special teams. A fixture in the return game all season, the elder Styles snapped a 15-year streak curse that hadn’t seen Ohio State return a kickoff for a touchdown since Jordan Hall did it against Michigan in 2010. Oddly, much like the early-season criticism of Lorenzo, many fans (myself included) were extremely concerned with the Buckeye special teams in the first half of the campaign, but they have clearly tightened things up during the back half of the fall, in no small part to Lorenzo’s steadiness and competence.
But another reason that I am thankful for Lorenzo Styles Jr. is the fact that, while he is the older brother, he is the far less heralded of the two. Despite being way smarter, stronger, athletic, funny, and attractive than my younger brother, I have always had an affection for the “other brothers.” Andre Wesson is one of my favorite basketball Buckeyes in recent memory.
Lorenzo and Andre might not have had all of the physical gifts that their younger brothers had, but they worked, they grinded, they did the little things that role players need to do in order to become contributors. I respect the hell out of those types of players, especially when there is a certain amount of humbling themselves that they have to do to play alongside their brothers.
And then, if you need another reason to be thankful for either Styles brother, leave it to Tom Rinaldi to get the emotions flowing.
