Last year, as OSU athletes prepared for fall camp, one of its DLs was counting on it to be his breakthrough season. However, on the very first day of the camp, he suffered a glaring knee injury. Although it was not diagnosed as a season-ending injury, it still came at the worst possible time. OSU had to face the then-preseason natty favorites, Texas, and Ryan Day needed him at 100%.

When Ryan Day recruited Eddrick Houston, he was a defensive end, but Day moved him to defensive tackle during his freshman year. Last year, he was slated to pair up with Kayden McDonald and finally have his moment under the sun. He played 39 snaps in Week 1, but he didn’t look 100 percent. Gradually, his snap count dropped, and Tywone Malone took his role. This year, though, he plans to make a strong comeback.

“Mentally, as you come in, I was thinking, this is my year; I gotta go,” Houston said to Eleven Warriors on July 25. “And then we had that last. That’s my last play of the whole practice, too, and I went out with a knee injury. So yeah, that kind of took a toll on me there because I was thinking, like, ‘This is my year; I’m about to put on a football campaign.'”

After the Texas game, Ryan Day temporarily handed his starting role to Tywone Malone. And by Week 7 against Illinois, he was held out entirely. However, instead of letting that setback diminish his desire, he turned it into an advantage. Over the course of the second half of the season, Houston climbed his way back to become a regular starter for his team. He notched 3 tackles against PSU, 2 against UCLA, and also played meaningful snaps against Indiana.

“I mean, I love this season,” Houston said about his hopes for 2026. “I just picked it up all the way through the [2025] season. So I feel like I am getting to 100 percent. With the type of injury I had, I cannot tell y’all, but the type of injury I had, I was pretty hurt.”

Houston’s best game last year came against national finalists Miami in the playoffs. Despite Ohio State losing 24-14, Houston remained dominant on defense. He not only logged 5 tackles but also recorded 1.5 sacks, showing extreme physicality and dominance to stop IU’s offense. Those performances reminded many of why Ryan Day recruited him in the first place as the nation’s 33rd overall recruit in the 2024 class.

Eddrick Houston opens up about learning from his 2025 setbacks

This year, Kayden McDonald is no longer with the team, nor is Tywone Malone Jr., as both have moved on to the NFL. To address their departures, Ryan Day brought in James Smith from Alabama, who comes off a 2025 season with 28 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Nevertheless, Houston isn’t minding the competition and is aiming to double his physicality, perseverance, and hard work from the 2025 season. After all, he has learned a lot since his 2025 setback.

“I would say God always has a plan, because as I said, I put it up towards the end; maybe God was trying to tell me that year wasn’t mine,” Houston said. “Maybe that was a sign from God. To let me know, just to relax, come to myself, get better, and develop at a position because I just moved there, and this year that’s good.”

Eddrick Houston has played defensive end for much of his high school career. In his junior season, he had 64 tackles and 10 sacks. In the 2023 season, he notched 45 tackles and 5 sacks as he led Buford High to an impressive 11-2 record. Now, coming to Ohio State, he had to move inside the line and learn major techniques. That’s also not easy when you have a glaring knee injury to recover from.

Coach Larry Johnson said that Houston is “doing well” in his new position. According to Johnson, the team “threw” Eddrick into his new position last year without giving him much experience. But this year, he has a full offseason under his belt, and those injury issues have also waned. All signs now point to a dominant season from the 6’3″ and 292 lbs OSU junior.