Ohio State football: Three most important players for 2021

Sevyn Banks struggled mightily last season for the Ohio State football team. He seemed to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time in multiple games last season. He got abused by Michael Penix and IU last season in a game that ended up being way closer than it should have.

After that struggle, the Buckeyes lose their best defensive back from a year ago in Shaun Wade. While Wade didn’t play up to expectations, he was still the best one Ohio State had. Now, they are down to Banks and Josh Proctor as guys who played significant snaps last season.

Banks will likely be the number one corner this season. He has to show major improvement from last year if the secondary is to improve as a whole unit. The problem last year is that the Buckeyes didn’t have a true shutdown corner. Banks has the talent to turn into that.

Banks has all of the physical tools that you would want in a cornerback. He just has to put it all together mentally and actually trust his technique while he is out there on the field. Doing so will allow Ohio State to take away one whole side of the field.

If Banks is able to show that sort of improvement, the secondary will be elevated immensely from last season. Even if he is the only one to improve back there, the secondary will go from being bad to being average. Ohio State would have beaten Bama with just an average secondary last season.

The next player on this list is someone who can help the secondary as a whole by putting pressure on the quarterback.