Best-case, worst-case scenarios for Buckeyes cornerback room
COLUMBUS — Lettermen Row is beginning to wrap up Cornerbacks Week with the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Ohio State secondary. Let’s dive in.
Ohio State best-case scenario
Can Denzel Burke and Davison Igbinosun both take major steps forward this season? Both were so, so good for the Buckeyes a season ago, and a step forward could bring some hardware back to Columbus this winter. One of them could win the Thorpe Award for the country’s best defensive back if they get better and build off of what they did last year. That’s the best-case scenario, along with another stellar season from Jordan Hancock at the nickel position.
And while the three starters are still dominating and making life difficult for opposing passing attacks, second-year cornerback Jermaine Mathews adds another elite, shut-down corner to the rotation and becomes another key piece of the defense. Behind him, Calvin Simpson-Hunt continues to show improvement in Year Two while all three freshman cornerbacks, led by borderline five-star prospect Aaron Scott Jr., begin to flash a glimpse of what this secondary will look like for years to come.
The Buckeyes had the best pass defense in the country last fall. The expectation should be to duplicate that effort — and even improve on it — this upcoming season.
Worst-case scenario for Buckeyes
It’s really all about complacency. The worst-case scenario for the Ohio State cornerbacks room involves a lack of a step forward from senior leader Denzel Burke and junior starter Davison Igbinosun, as well as senior nickel Jordan Hancock. But even if they stay at the same level they were at last year — when they made up the top-ranked pass defense in college football — this secondary is still going to be very good.
The other way this scenario could play out for the Buckeyes? Well, it involves injuries to multiple starters and young cornerbacks such as Jermaine Mathews — even with how good he was as a freshman — Calvin Simpson-Hunt and Aaron Scott being thrust into roles they may or may not be ready for. The cornerback play trickles to the safety room and impacts those stars, as well as those up front on the defensive line.
A ‘worst-case scenario’ is insanely difficult to even game out for Tim Walton and the Ohio State cornerback room. That’s a testament to what Walton has built and the talent he has stocked the room with in just a couple years since he took it over.
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