Jonathon Cooper preparing for breakout season in his senior year

“Cooper will never be the most talked about, the most glorified, the most hyped defensive end on Ohio State’s roster. He’s fine with that. He’ll just keep grinding and building off a 2018 campaign that saw him begin to grow into his four-star potential from when he was recruited.”

- Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row

The defensive end position at Ohio State has featured more than its fair share of stars in recent years, including such NFL talents as Joey and Nick Bosa, Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis and Jalyn Holmes, to name a few. It has been perhaps the most consistently solid areas of the Buckeyes’ defense for quite a while. Chase Young has been highly regarded as the next big name on the long list of star defensive ends at OSU, but the man playing on the opposite side of the D-line deserves some credit as well. That man is Jonathon Cooper.

Cooper, a senior out of Gahanna, Ohio, has never been the flashiest defensive lineman on Ohio State’s roster, and has long been overlooked with all of the superstars ahead of him on the depth chart. Last season, however, with the injury to Nick Bosa, Cooper finally got an opportunity to crack the starting lineup. Cooper came into his own given this chance, and by the end of the season he had accumulated 25 total tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.

Cooper is a veteran defensive end, and showed that he can provide tremendous value to the Ohio State defense, even while playing in a Buckeye scheme that was very much flawed throughout the entirety of 2018. Cooper will have an even greater opportunity to show out this season, starting opposite Chase Young in a much simpler and better designed system under new co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison. After taking a big step forward last season, Cooper should be geared up for an even better year in 2019.

Outside of his on-field contributions to the team, Cooper will serve an even bigger role as a leader in his fourth year at Ohio State. The Buckeyes defensive line has a bunch of young and upcoming stars waiting in the wings, including guys like Tyler Friday, Zach Harrison and Tyreke Smith. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson has already discussed how Cooper, and Young as well, has done a great job showing the younger players the ropes and making sure they understand what it means to play defensive end at Ohio State.

While Young will get all the hype this season as a likely first-round NFL prospect, get ready for Jonathon Cooper to serve a huge role on the Buckeyes’ defensive line both on and off the field in his last season in Columbus.

“For the average human being, 8,000 calories borders on too much food, almost four times the amount most doctors would recommend. But Petit-Frere says that much food does absolutely nothing to help the man fellow offensive lineman Wyatt Davis considers to be the community garbage disposal.”

- Stephen Means, Cleveland.com

It is easy for people to see the work that college athletes put in on the field. What many people don’t see is what goes on off the field, whether it be in practice, the weight room or the classroom. For sophomore offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere, some of the hardest work he’s putting in has been in the kitchen.

In order to put on the necessary weight to compete for a starting job along Ohio State’s offensive front, Petit-Frere has been consuming a diet consisting of nearly 8,000 calories a day. The five-star offensive tackle came to Columbus at 6-foot-6, 272 pounds. With the Buckeyes’ offensive line currently averaging just under 304 pounds, that weight was not going to cut it. By eating everything from fast food to vegetables, Petit-Frere has been able to up his weight to his current 295 pounds, but still has a little more work to be done.

Fortunately for Petit-Frere, the weight has he put on has been far more in the form of muscle than fat. In today’s version of college football, offensive lineman are far more athletic than ever before. Being big is not enough to get the job done anymore. You must also be athletic, which Petit-Frere has been able to maintain despite his enormous daily caloric intake. The former No. 7 overall player in the 2018 class is expected to be in the mix along the Ohio State front after only seeing the field briefly in four games a season ago.

Ohio State mens ice hockey was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon, but it is not all bad news for the Buckeyes as two-time captain Mason Jobst signed an entry-level NHL contract with the New York Islanders on Tuesday. The two-way contract begins in 2019-20 as Jobst will continue to chase his lifelong dream of playing in the NHL.

Jobst is an All-American and three-time All-Big Ten selection, accumulating 164 points in 150 games at Ohio State. This season, he finished with 17 goals and 36 points, finishing a finalist for Big Ten Player of the Year and earning First Team All-Big Ten accolades. Jobst led all 2018-19 skaters in career points, tying for first with 95 assists and third with 69 goals. Tying for 12th all-time in career points at Ohio State, his 164 were the most in school history since 1989.

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