Ohio State Football: What to expect from Shaun Wade in 2020

Shaun Wade in the slot

Shaun Wade’s freshman season laid the foundation for his possible breakout season in 2020. In 2018, according to Pro Football Focus, Wade played 294 snaps in coverage, was thrown at 61 times and allowed a mere 30 receptions. Opposing quarterback’s passer rating when targeting Wade was 65.8.

Wade is a lengthy corner with great size and high-end speed. The only reason Wade played on the inside is because of the depth at the corner position in ’18 and ’19.

Wade plays fast and always seems to be in the right place on any given play. Considering that many slot corners in college, or at the pro level, are anywhere between the height of 5-8 to 5-11, Wade in contrast is 6-1 and is a big slot corner.

Having to cover the quick and shifty receivers, though, didn’t seem to be much of a problem. Because Wade had the size advantage on the inside against many of his opponents, he played with a physical presence in off-coverage. Now, in his transition to the outside, Wade must improve his physicality in press coverage, but he has time to fit that skill into his game.

All Buckeye fans remember the infamous ejection of Wade in the 2019 College Football Playoff semifinals against Clemson. Wade was a disguised blitzer who came late out of the slot position to lay a big hit on Tiger quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Despite Wade’s controversial ejection, it was a well designed corner blitz, that with another group of referees might have been ruled a clean hit. It could have been a game changing play for the Buckeyes, but instead it took Wade out of the game and gave Clemson the momentum.

Now, in that particular play from the playoffs and many others, as a blitzer, Wade always seems to breakthrough for some disruption. Not only did Wade disrupt the passing game near the line of scrimmage, but he was also called upon to come up and play the run. Wade is a good tackler in space which shows up if he ever fell behind in coverage, but also shows up when tackling ball carriers off the edge.

Wade was tasked with being the versatile defender in ’18 and ’19 and he produced some great plays on tape. He was a big, physical slot corner with good open field tackling, but how is his transition to the outside going to turn out?

Let’s take an early peak at what his play might look like.