College Football: Top 50 players for 2017

Sam Hubbard has covered a lot of ground in his first two seasons on the field at Ohio State. He joined the Buckeyes in 2014 and has seen some time at safety, linebacker, defensive end and jack linebacker – a hybrid outside pass rusher. His versatility alone makes him one of the more athletic defensive players in the country although all reports say that he’ll stick at the defensive end position in 2017.

It’s a fair to note that Hubbard’s stat line took a dip last season. As a redshirt freshman in 2015 he registered 8.0 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks. While his numbers might have stagnated, the Buckeye defense continue on full-bore. Ohio State as a team averaged just under seven tackles for a loss per game in 2016, thriving at the line of scrimmage.

Ohio State allowed 143 plays of 10 yard or more in 2016. For reference, only seven programs in the country allowed fewer 10+ yard plays than the Buckeyes. Things like that happen when you have a defensive front that includes Hubbard, Alec James and Garrett Dooley. They were ferocious at all ends of the field. No Power-5 program allowed fewer plays of 40 yards or more than Ohio State.

While Hubbard isn’t chasing down wide receivers in the defensive secondary, his tenacity at the line is the table setter for the entire Ohio State defense. Hubbard was an honorable mention to the 2016 All Big Ten team. And that was following a season that didn’t stand out as being anything beyond the ordinary. That’s the floor. Hubbard can define his own ceiling in 2017.