The Ohio State football team had the best defense in the country in 2024. It's the biggest reason why they ended the season with a national championship. Their defense led the nation in points allowed, total yards allowed, and passing yards allowed. They were excellent.
A big reason why they were able to lead the nation in passing yards allowed is because of how good the secondary was. They had a veteran group of guys who had played a lot of football. That also means that the Buckeyes are losing three of them to the NFL.
Lathan Ransom, Denzel Burke, and Jordan Hancock are out of eligibility and will head to the NFL. Caleb Downs is not eligible to declare for the draft yet, so he gets to stay. The Buckeyes will also get back starting cornerback Davison Igbinosun because he has decided to return.
Ohio State football player Davison Igbinosun will return to Ohio State
Igbinosun was by far the most physical corner that the Buckeyes had on the team. His physicality is part of the reason why he allowed so few passing yards in his direction. It also allowed him to be the most penalized defensive back in the country by far, getting called for 16 penalties this year.
Having him back allows the secondary to at least have a little bit of continuity. Having him and Downs back gives the Buckeyes some familiarity in the secondary. He needs to work on not committing as many penalties as he did this past year, though.
As far as his future is concerned, Igbinosun made the right decision to come back. He wasn't going to be a high draft pick this season. He needs to show NFL teams that he can defend without committing so many penalties in coverage. If he can do that, he'll improve his draft stock in 2025.