Ohio State football: Who is this guy?

Who is this guy? We didn’t see him in the first two games and all of a sudden this number 10 is making plays all over the place against Tulsa. Making plays for a defense that needs more guys making plays. Who is this guy?

The answer is Cam Martinez. He’s the Ohio State football team’s backup to Lathan Ransom at the cover safety (the cover safety is responsible for the slot receiver) position who broke up three passes and returned an interception for a touchdown on Saturday.

Martinez was outstanding in coverage all day and as a result was named as the Buckeyes’ defensive player of the game. He was also graded as a champion by the coaching staff-one of just ten Buckeyes to do so this week. The redshirt freshman was simply superb against Tulsa.

The question now is how much will we see of Martinez going forward. When he was on the field he was not replacing Ransom at cover safety. Rather, they were on the field together in nickel packages. His playing time was predicated mostly on situations.

How often will those arise? While he did play 39 snaps (according to Eleven Warriors), Martinez was too productive to have his playing time dictated by the down, distance, and formation of the opponent. With the emergence of Denzel Burke and continued improvement of Cam Brown, the Buckeyes have two good cover cornerbacks.

Adding another quality pass defender to the secondary will allow the Ohio State football team’s defense to get more aggressive with blitzes. Based on what we saw in the last game, Martinez needs to be on the field more often than just situational packages.

Here is something else you need to know about Martinez: he’s from Michigan. Muskegon to be exact. As a quarterback for the Muskegon Big Red, he led his team to a state title and was named as Michigan’s player of the year by three different organizations.

He was twice MLive.com’s player of the year. The Buckeyes plucked the best player in the state right out of the backyard of their biggest rival. Just like Mike Weber, Damon Webb, and Michael Jordan it looks like Martinez is going to be another Michigan native who is going to be very productive for the Buckeyes.

So, now you know a bit about that number 10 who was making plays last Saturday. Let’s hope you get to know him a lot better in the next few weeks.