Spring football is here.
After a roller coaster of a 2021 season, from the highest of highs at the Rose Bowl to the lowest of lows at home against Oregon and in Ann Arbor against Michigan, Ohio State is back on the practice field with high expectations once again.
In the weeks leading up to the spring game, we'll break down the roster, going position-by-position to see who's back for another season, who the Buckeyes lost and what the expectations will be heading into the Buckeyes' season opener Sept. 3 against Notre Dame.
Today, we take a look at the Ohio State cornerbacks.
Note: Ohio State cornerback Lejond Cavazos submitted his intention to transfer April 4.
2021 recap
With Shaun Wade leaving after the 2020 season, who would take over for him seemed like an easy fix: promoting both Cameron Brown, who spent most of the campaign out with an Achilles injury, and Sevyn Banks.
Instead, Denzel Burke came along and became one of the top freshman in the country on the outside.
Coming in as a the No. 11 cornerback in the 2021 class, the four-star out of Scottsdale, Arizona, Burke didn't allow a single touchdown all season, giving up 31 receptions on 64 targets for an average of 11.1 yards per reception and only 59 total yards-after-catch.
Sure, he only recorded one interception all season — one returned for a touchdown against Rutgers — and nine pass breakups in six different games. But Burke was targeted more than five times only once in his final 10 games of the season.
Brown also shined, allowing no touchdowns and a 38.2 reception percentage in his 280 passing snaps this season, jumping over him on the depth chart once healthy.
Despite the play of both Brown and Burke, Ohio State finished with the third-worst pass defense in the Big Ten, allowing 246.2 passing yards per game with quarterbacks completing 61.6 percent of their passes. The Buckeyes were one of five teams to allow 20 or more passing touchdowns this season, only give of which were allowed by cornerbacks: two by Banks and one each by Watts, Marcus Williamson and Lejond Cavazos.
2022 outlook
Departing: Demario McCall, Marcus Williamson, Sevyn Banks, Ryan Watts
Ohio State is losing a lot of its established depth heading into 2022.
Williamson is the only "starter" the Buckeyes are losing, establishing his position as the Buckeyes' starting cover safety a year ago after transitioning from cornerback.
But Williamson, along with Banks and Watts, who entered the transfer portal, and Demario McCall have all seen the field in some capacity at corner for extended periods of time, leaving Ohio State with 827 combined snaps compared to the 154 combined between the returning cornerbacks not named Burke or Brown.
Returning: Denzel Burke, Cameron Brown, Jordan Hancock, Lejond Cavazos, Jakailin Johnson, Lloyd McFarquhar
Behind Brown and Burke, Ohio State is a lot more inexperienced at cornerback.
Ohio State's leading returner in terms of reps is Cavazos: a former 2020 three-star safety out of IMG Academy, who played in eight games for the Buckeyes this season but played 112 snaps.
Jordan Hancock, one of Ohio State's main trophies in the 2021 recruiting class, played only 19 passing snaps all season, allowing two receptions on three targets for 13 yards, including 11 after the catch, while Jakailin Johnson, a former four-star prospect, saw the field in only one game in 2021.
Incoming: Jyaire Brown, Ryan Turner
Ohio State's new cornerbacks from the 2022 class match the trend of cornerbacks Ohio State has developed in the past few years.
Jyaire Brown is 6-foot, 180 pounds, showing a level of physicality at the line of scrimmage that will follow in the same trend as defensive backs that have come before him. While smaller at 5-foot-11, Ryan Turner has the speed to develop into something usable for the Buckeyes in the defensive backfield.
However, unlike a player like Burke and unlike four-star Terrance Brooks or five-star Jaheim Singletary, who both decommitted from Ohio State, the Buckeyes don't have a player who can step up and take the reins as a starting corner right away.
Projected Starters: Denzel Burke, Cameron Brown
Ohio State doesn't really need someone to step up and take the starting jobs at corner.
Both Burke and Brown are looking to improve upon the Buckeyes' struggles in the defensive backfield with a year's worth of starting experience under their belts.
With new cornerbacks coach and secondary coach Tim Walton in charge, Burke and Brown will try and take that next step, trying to become one of the best tandems in the Big Ten.
Spring Practice storyline to watch
Depth's the main issue here.
If Burke or Brown were to become unavailable at some point in 2022, Ohio State really doesn't have much of a safety net and would be forced to put a player out there who has potential but not much experience.
Will the Buckeyes be able to develop that level of experience and comfort in the spring to give them a bit of breathing room in a position with a lot of tradition attached to it heading into the fall?
