Ohio State Football needs a Dude in the secondary

Do you remember the days of the 2010s? Back in the Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer eras? During those times, the Ohio State football program always had at least one Dude in the secondary. Malcolm Jenkins, Bradley Roby, Eli Apple, Malik Hooker, Denzel Ward, Jeff Okudah. Those were all Dudes.

Look at the secondary that the Buckeyes currently have on their roster. Where are the Dudes? Since 2019, who has been a Dude in the secondary? Where has been the guy that will shut down an entire side of the field because teams don’t want to throw at him?

Denzel Burke had a brief moment of possibly becoming a Dude during his freshman season in 2021. He kept making play after play at corner. The safeties sucked so that’s why the team didn’t make the College Football Playoff. But at least Burke showed some potential.

That potential did not manifest itself last season. Burke regressed in a major way and the corners were the new liability on the team. The safeties were actually pretty decent until the last two games of the year when they got exposed again. They got exposed because none of them are Dudes.

It’s time the Ohio State football program had a Dude in the secondary again. Jim Knowles needs to get on the recruiting trail and bring in a Dude. Tim Walton and Perry Eliano need to bring in a Dude. Those are the guys in charge of the secondary, and so far the results aren’t promising.

This year brings the same cast of characters back at corner plus a good transfer. Maybe that transfer ends up being the Dude. Maybe Lathan Ransom stops falling down when someone runs a go route at him. Who knows? But until the Buckeyes get a Dude, they have to be magnificent on offense to win big games.