Ohio State Football: Safety could be a problem going forward

The Ohio State football team’s starting safety, Josh Proctor, will unfortunately miss the remainder of the season with a broken leg.

The Ohio State defense already has a lot to figure out after their bad performance against Oregon. Proctor was one of the few defensive players that have performed this season.

Bryson Shaw has been the second-string free safety behind Proctor. When Shaw has played, he has not played very well, especially against Oregon. Several times Shaw was slow to react and took the wrong angle when trying to tackle opposing Ducks. Here’s one example where Shaw was frozen for some reason, leading to a wide-open tight end in the end zone.

Shaw can certainly improve and could surprise a lot of people. Still, other Buckeyes will get an opportunity to be the new starting free safety.

Possible Ohio State football members who could fill in for Proctor at free safety

Marcus Hooker is one Buckeye who could compete with Shaw. Hooker had some off-the-field issues during the offseason and has yet to see the field on defense. Hooker stepping in at free safety seems unlikely, and even when he did play at safety he underperformed.

A lot of hype surrounded Kourt Williams last offseason before he sustained an injury. Williams is currently playing the “bullet” position, but he could be moved back to safety. Ohio State needs the help at safety, Williams was excelling at safety last offseason, so why not move him back when there’s a desperate need at free safety?

Ryan Day was asked if they would possibly look at some position changes to find free safety help, Day said it is possible,

"“Sure, yeah we’re looking at all of that to try and make some adjustments. Losing Josh for the whole year kind of changes some things. Bryson’s had some good snaps in there, but we’re gonna have to take a look at, you know, what gives us the best chance moving forward. Maybe possibly trying some guys at different spots is kind of things we’re looking at.”"

Williams moving back to free safety would be one position change, although not a huge one. Williams competing with Shaw for free safety feels like the most likely scenario.

Ryan Watts could be another possible position change. This would be a significant move, Watts transitioning from cornerback to safety is not easy. Watts does have the ideal, rangy frame of a safety at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds.

Maybe Ronnie Hickman could move back to safety, he has experience at safety and has played some deep safety this season when playing bullet. This would only work if Ohio State feels comfortable with Craig Young at bullet going forward. At this point, who knows if the bullet position remains a staple on the Ohio State defense.

Moving Latham Ransom or Marcus Williamson out of cover safety and back to free safety should be in the cards too.

There are endless possibilities on who could fill in for Proctor at free safety. If Shaw was performing, this would be an easy answer. Shaw’s struggles last game have opened the door for other Buckeyes to compete for starting free safety. Having so much uncertainty at free safety is not good, especially when position changes might be required.

Changes were going to be made on defense no matter what after the Oregon game. The Proctor injury just makes things a lot more complicated. Finding a new starting free safety is a problem for the Ohio State football team.