How Kenyatta Jackson, Qua Russaw and the rest of Ohio State’s defense graded vs. Iowa

Ohio StateOhio State defensive end Qua Russaw, right, celebrates after a sack during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Iowa City, Iowa.AP Photo/Charlie NeibergallBy Stephen Means, cleveland.comCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- Kenyatta Jackson challenged Ohio State’s defense to put forth a better effort against Iowa, then proceeded to back up those words by setting the tone on game day.The senior captain kicked off an eventual 31-14 win by getting a strip sack on the second play of the game. That would be his only tangible stat to go along with four pressures. But that’s all he needed to be OSU’s second-highest-graded player, with a Pro Football Focus grade of 82.5Here’s how the rest of the defense graded out:(PFF grades every player on every play and uses a scale of 0-100, with higher grades indicating better play. PFF has explained its grades this way: 100-90 elite; 89-85 Pro Bowler; 84-70 starter; 69-60 backup; 59-0 replaceable. In other words, it’s similar to how we would match up percentages with traditional letter grades in school.)NOTE: Snap counts in parentheses.DEFENSIVE ENDKenyatta Jackson: 82.5 (44)Qua Russaw: 75.5 (29)Zion Grady: 73.7 (23)Beau Atkinson: 68.1 (11)Epi Sitanilei: 59.2 (9)DEFENSIVE TACKLEJason Moore: 73.5 (23)John Walker: 64.9 (25)Will Smith Jr.: 63.1 (18)Eddrick Houston: 49.8 (38)James Smith: 40.5 (24)LINEBACKERRiley Pettijohn: 74.3 (27)Payton Pierce: 63.6 (37)Cincere Johnson: 61.6 (2)Christian Alliegro: 56.3 (46)TJ Alford: 54.4 (22)CORNERBACKCam Calhoun: 59.6 (22)Jermaine Mathews: 55.8 (58)Jordan Thomas: 49.0 (1)Devin Sanchez: 41.3 (56)SAFETYJaylen McClain: 82.5 (59)Simeon Caldwell: 71.8 (26)Earl Little: 65.7 (38)Leroy Roker: 60.9 (21)Stephen Means covers Ohio State football for Cleveland.com while also serving as the host of the Buckeye Talk podcast. Prior to covering the Buckeyes, he got experience working at the Akron Beacon Journal...