Ohio State’s Tuimoloau returning for senior year

Defensive end JT Tuimoloau is returning to Ohio State.

Tuimoloau, the second-best defensive end in Mel Kiper, Jr.’s rankings for the 2024 NFL Draft, announced his return to Columbus for his senior season on social media on Friday.

“With heartfelt gratitude to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a sense of unfinished business and an unbreakable bond with my Buckeye brothers, I am standing firm in my decision to return,” Tuimoloau wrote.

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Tuimoloau played in all 13 games last season for the Buckeyes, recording 38 tackles (12 solo) with seven tackles for loss and five sacks. He was second on defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ unit with the seven TFLs and five sacks.

He becomes the third member of the Buckeye defensive line to decide to run it back for another year, after Tyleik Williams and Jack Sawyer previously disclosed their intentions to come back.

After beginning last season 11-0, the back-to-back losses to Michigan and Missouri provide built-in motivation for a group still seething over a third straight defeat at the hands of Michigan, which won the CFP national championship on Monday with a 34-13 victory over Washington.

Williams, Sawyer and Tuimoloau give Ryan Day, Knowles and the rest of the Buckeyes something to build around on defense in 2024 after ending last year first nationally in pass defense (145.9 YPG) and third in the FBS in total defense (265.4 YPG).