Ohio State Football: Josh Proctor looking to bounce back

The Ohio State football team had an issue at safety last season. Josh Proctor was lost for the season to a nasty leg injury during the Oregon game. From then on, the Buckeyes had an issue with their one-deep safety look because Bryson Shaw wasn’t good enough.

Now, Proctor is back. He is healthy and he is looking to make a major impact. Whether or not he can remains to be seen. While he had been playing well before he got hurt, he didn’t play very well in 2020 on that much-maligned secondary. 2021 was supposed to be his bounce-back year.

Proctor is trying to make 2022 his bounce-back year now. With a new defensive system and some new players vying for time at safety, it’s not a given that Proctor will get the same amount of time he was promised coming into 2021. He has to fight for those snaps.

Jim Knowles will likely play at least two safeties at a time and sometimes three. Ronnie Hickman is locked in at one of those spots after leading the team in tackles last season. One would think that Tanner McCalister, the transfer from Oklahoma State, would also be one of those safeties.

That leaves one spot open. Proctor will battle five-star recruit Sonny Styles for that final spot. I can’t see Shaw getting into that equation. Styles isn’t taking part in Spring ball though so that gives Proctor an advantage. He’ll take anything he can get.

Proctor has only played 19 games in four years with the Ohio State football team. He’s not guaranteed to get any snaps. But with some good practices in the Spring, a strong Spring game, and good practices in the Fall, he might earn himself some solid playing time.

After that, it’s all about what he can do on game day.