Ohio State football: Corners can be lockdown guys

The Ohio State football team didn’t have the best year from the secondary in 2020. It was a much-maligned unit that really cost the team a chance at winning a national championship. Alabama torched them up and down the field in the National Championship Game. 

In 2021 they were better at cornerback. Unfortunately, the safety position was terrible. Josh Proctor went down in the second game of the season and they didn’t have anyone else behind him to fill in for the single-high safety look that Kerry Coombs wanted to play. 

Denzel Burke showed out all of last year though. He showed as a true freshman that he is an absolute stud. He’s a shutdown corner that the Buckeyes haven’t had since Jeff Okudah. Burke can take away one entire side of the field because of how good he is. 

Cameron Brown on the other side of him is no slouch either. He started off the season slow because he was still recovering from an Achilles injury that he suffered in the opener of 2020 that made him miss the entire season. Once that he stronger, he got a lot better. 

This year, both corners have a chance to lockdown guys. Brown is the weaker of the two guys but can still cover in both man-to-man and zone defenses. He’s a guy that can sneak up on opposing offenses. He can bait quarterbacks into throwing this way with Burke being as good as he is already. 

Both starting corners will be a big part of the defense improving from a year ago. Ohio State has a real shot to win a national title as long as the defense is average. I think both corners will have good years.