COLUMBUS, Ohio- As Denzel Ward walked across the stage in Arlington, Texas as the newest Cleveland Brown, being named as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Ohio State added another player to the list of cornerbacks at the pro level. In the Urban Meyer-era, the Buckeyes have watched seven defensive backs make the jump to the next level, including five first round picks.
Returning to the Ohio State coaching staff after stints at Arkansas, Purdue and Temple, Taver Johnson is inheriting a cornerback position group that has that first round expectation year in and year out.
The players that have come before defines where the position is currently at. As he prepares for his first season with the Buckeyes since the 2011 season, Johnson is already embracing that philosophy, placing photos of former Ohio State players and current NFL players such as Gareon Conley and Malcolm Jenkins prominently in their meeting space.
However, those former players still help ensure that their former position room is still generating pros.
“They just don't see them once they leave in the draft and on Sundays, those guys come back, and they work with those guys, they talk to them, they have them understand the expectation that everyone has to live up to, especially myself,” Johnson said. “Having that right in front of us, that makes us go to work.”
Even with the support of those who have come before, Johnson is still trying to solidify the future success of the Ohio State secondary.
“Any time you lose a first-rounder you are going to be worried,” Johnson said. “I tell you guys all the time, I don't have any hair (laugh) so that makes it tough. The good thing is that both of those guys, Damon as well as Kendall, they have game experience and you cannot take that away.”
With significant playing time last season, Johnson said that both Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield have become the established starters at corner, crediting, not only their in-game experience from the 2017 season, but their ability to get better throughout spring practice.
With a position group that has lost at least one player to the NFL in the past three drafts, Johnson’s job is not only to ensure the short-term success of his position, but to instill the expectation of the position moving forward. So, with players like Tyreke Johnson, Sevyn Banks and Josh Proctor coming into the Ohio State program, the cornerbacks’ coach has to teach newcomers the art of press-man coverage.
With the majority of cornerbacks coming from high school programs that specialized in zone or the bail technique, Johnson said that the shift in approach is a bit of a learning curve for most.
“There is a lot of technique involved, there is a lot of just detailed things and work that goes into it,” Johnson said. “To be honest with you, it is one of those things where you could get bored if you are not paying attention because you are doing the same thing over and over again. It only takes that one time to change a game.”
When he is out recruiting corners to replace players like Ward or eventually Sheffield and Arnette, Johnson is up front about the shift in playing style, saying it will be more difficult than whatever they experienced before.
However, it takes that sort of detail to be successful.
“A lot of times we talk about playing corner is a lot like playing quarterback,” Johnson said. “Because of that deal, we have to make sure that the consistency of it and teaching the guys the right things and having them understand just how important all the details even in our life is.”
Looking at the players that have come before, including the one who just joined the Browns in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the shift in approach and mentality has worked in the past.
