By Jason Lloyd (LindysSports.com) -

Cameron Heyward started as a freshman at Ohio State. He has dominated at times in his three years on the defensive line, but he
bypassed the chance to be a high pick in the NFL Draft to return to the Buckeyes for one reason.

Call it a No. 1 reason.

“I’m definitely happy with what I’ve done so far, but I’m not satisfied,” Heyward said. “I still want a national championship. I think everyone on this team does. We’ve been there before, but there’s still a lot to accomplish.”

The son of the late NFL player Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, Cameron begins his senior year following in his father’s footsteps. Craig was an All-American running back at Pitt before becoming a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 1988.

Cameron was a Lombardi Award nominee last season and is a strong candidate to finish this year as an All-American. If all goes as expected, he’s a likely first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Heyward’s mix of speed and strength makes him the latest in a long line of great Ohio State defensive ends.

He started as a freshman on the Ohio State team that lost to LSU in the national championship game three years ago, ironically on the same field where his father starred. He celebrated that week by walking around New Orleans with a T-shirt donning his father’s face. Craig Heyward had died of a brain tumor two years earlier.

Since then, Cameron has become the latest in a long line of big-time defensive linemen the school has produced, following recent players such as Mike Vrabel, Will Smith, Dan “Big Daddy” Wilkinson and Vernon Gholston.

Defensive coordinator Jim Heacock, who previously served as the team’s defensive line coach for nine seasons, was addressing a group of high school coaches this spring when he pointed to a group of defensive linemen huddled together and declared: “I want to go on the record and say that this will be the best defensive line to ever play at Ohio State.”

Heyward led the defense with 6.5 sacks last season and ranked second with nine tackles for loss. He has experience at tackle in college, but settled in nicely last season at end.

Other defensive ends have been faster around the edge, but Heyward’s strength is his ability to overmatch opposing tackles and collapse the pocket. He has 12 career sacks in 33 starts, but Heacock is expecting more from him as a senior.

“Coach Tressel does a great job with our seniors and ‘When it’s your time, you have to step up,’” Heacock said.

“Cam’s done a good job of playing and working hard and doing all those things, but now he realizes with all the seniors gone, now it’s his turn. He’s got to step up and do the things that Coach Tressel expects him to do.”

He’ll have help in returning tackle Dexter Larimore, who will be a three-year starter. The rest of the rotation will be made up of first-time starters. The Buckeyes like to rotate about eight linemen throughout a game, but this season they will have to do it with youth.
Heyward will need help from his teammates in order to avoid constant double teams, something he avoided last season with the presence of Thad Gibson on the other end. With Gibson gone to the NFL, Heyward is looking for more help up front.

“I have to be more vocal,” he said. “We have a lot of young guys on the team, but it’s time for them to step up. We have a lot of boys, but it’s time to be men.”

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