Ohio State takes a hit to depth on defense after former highly touted player announces retirement from football

Ohio State is relatively healthy heading into fall camp outside of a couple of issues that have popped up . The latest is a hit to the defense and linebacker specifically.

Former four-star recruit Kourt Williams announced on Instagram that he would be retiring from football. Williams pointed to seven surgeries over the past five years as his reason for hanging it up. Williams has had four knee surgeries and three shoulder surgeries.

Williams came to Ohio State as a highly touted recruit and figured to be a linebacker that would play a big role for the Buckeyes down the road. Before his freshman season, Williams suffered an ACL injury that kept him out his freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, Williams had his biggest impact on Ohio State.

That year, Williams had 24 tackles and a sack for the Buckeyes in 11 games played. In 2022, Williams played in six games and his season ended early again due to a shoulder season. As a sophomore, it was just four tackles for the stat sheet. The 2022 season is when Williams made the switch from safety to linebacker.

The injury bug once again hit Williams ahead of the 2023 season. Expected to be a guy who could help the defense last season, Williams suffered another ACL injury that would derail the campaign. Even this spring, Williams was still recovering from the injury and was being passed up on the depth chart.

Ohio State now has 80 players on scholarship for the 2024 season and five stops to fill if they wish to. Those spots are usually awarded to walk-ons. At linebacker following the injury, the Buckeyes will be plenty fine with Cody Simon, Sonny Styles, C.J. Hicks, Gabe Powers, Arvell Reese, Payton Pierce and Garrett Stover manning the duties.

Related: Two key members of the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes named to major college football award watch list