Ohio State Football: Cornerback situation will be a ‘Battle of the Stars’
With the talented players who came to Ohio State with far different recruiting rankings, the cornerback situation for the Buckeyes will be decided by a ‘Battle of the Stars’.
Competition in the Ohio State cornerback unit will really heat up now that fall camp has begun and it will be a ‘Battle of the Stars’. Players will be fighting for the one open starting position, and talented young players will be battling for spots in the two deep rotation.
One player who was a 5 star corner in high school is going toe to toe with a guy who was ranked as a 3 star. It’s hard to say exactly how things will play out there, but you can be sure the latter will be a part of the mix.
Damon Arnette was a 3 star recruit in the 2015 class. He finished the Ohio State spring practices as the leader in the clubhouse to start at corner opposite Denzel Ward, a former 4 star recruit who is essentially a returning starter. Right on Arnette’s heels is a former 5 star recruit in the same class, Kendall Sheffield.
Arnette got his feet wet in the defensive backfield last season as a redshirt freshman. The coaching staff has raved about the progress he made in winter conditioning and during spring practices.
This spring, Sheffield proved to the Ohio State coaching staff why he was a 5 star recruit in high school. After redshirting his freshman year at Alabama, Sheffield transferred to Blinn College where he played one season and was ranked as the No. 1 JUCO corner in the country.
It will be a battle between Arnette and Sheffield to see who starts at corner, but both will probably be in the nickel package most of the time.
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But don’t think either of those two players can rest on their laurels. Urban Meyer didn’t recruit Jeffrey Okudah and Shaun Wade, the top two corners in the country, to sit on the bench and watch others play.
The two impressed everyone with their play in the spring as early enrollees. Each had rough starts in the Ohio State Spring Game, but settled down and played well in the second half after getting over their jitters. You can expect these 5 star recruits to vie for playing time at corner.
Two 4 star recruits, Marcus Williamson and Amir Riep, will be attempting to make their mark in fall camp as well. Williamson has the upper hand of the two because he impressed the coaching staff in the spring as an early enrollee. But Riep is also extremely talented so don’t count him out just yet.
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How the cornerback situation plays out will be one of the more interesting things to follow as the Buckeyes prepare for the start of the season. With the amount of talented players in the unit, whether ranked as 3, 4 or 5 star recruits coming out of high school, there will be plenty of competition during fall camp. It is setting up to be a terrific “Battle of the Stars”.