Ohio State Football: Former Buckeye corner lands at LSU
The Ohio State football program is going through some changes in the secondary this offseason. J.K. Johnson has found a new home in the SEC.
The Ohio State football program and head coach Ryan Day have lost four secondary players to the transfer portal. J.K. Johnson, who started five games for the Buckeyes this past season has officially transferred to LSU.
The former top 50 national recruit in 2021, Johnson will reunite with his former high school coach, Robert Steeples, who currently coaches LSU cornerbacks for Brian Kelly. Johnson will also join former Buckeye corner, Sevyn Banks, who transferred to LSU last season.
It’s not a great sign that the Buckeyes are losing secondary players left and right. The biggest weakness of the team last season was within Ohio State’s secondary room. Johnson joins Jantzen Dunn (Kentucky), Jaylen Johnson (Memphis), and Lloyd McFarquhar as former secondary players who bolted Columbus after the 2022 season.
So far Ohio State has only brought in one player, Ja ‘Had Carter from Syracuse who is expected to slide right into a starting role at safety for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Carter, who played a ton of snaps in the slot last season for the Orange, will probably be taking over for Tanner McCalister who announced that he will be entering the NFL draft.
The Buckeyes will have more work to do if they want to be ready for next season. The need to add a starting caliber corner is strong now that Johnson defected for LSU. Johnson was expected to compete for a starting spot next season, so the Buckeyes are getting thin at corner.
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Right now, only Denzel Burke, Jordan Hancock, and Jayire Brown are the only corners with real game-time action on the roster. Ryan Turner saw a little mop-up duty in a few games. That doesn’t bold well for an Ohio State team that wants to get back to the College Football Playoffs in 2023.