There’s an old football adage that the biggest jump a football player will make happens between his freshman and sophomore seasons.
This has also born a similar saying that the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.
When you ask a coach about the biggest gains from one season to the next, he will tell you that it depends on what that player was doing the previous season and what they plan on doing during the offseason.
“I think it varies, but the common adage may be between year one and two,” Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said this spring. “And I certainly think there’s a lot of truth in that. I think a lot of times it stems from what takes place over that calendar year.”
If a player isn’t involved, then he’s going to have to find a different way to benefit from his freshman season. If he is just letting his first year pass him by, a jump in his second season is going to be more difficult to achieve.
However, for the players who maybe only see time on special teams, there are tremendous benefits in simply regularly being involved on the field, even if it’s not on offense or defense.
“For some guys, the benefit of playing on special teams or something like that, to get on the field and be in the arena, you get a feel for a game day and what that can then lead to the following year,” Grinch said. “So if that was your role as a freshman, that can lead to a comfort level going into year two where you have a chance at that point to see your role expand.”
The Buckeyes saw that comfort level in the secondary last season with safety Jordan Fuller, who stepped in as a true sophomore to win a job. They may see it at the other safety this year as well with Isaiah Pryor, Brendon White, or Amir Riep. And they will certainly see it at cornerback with the likes of Jeff Okudah, Shaun Wade, and Marcus Williamson.
Making waves in the secondary in year two isn’t unheard of, or even all that unusual. Even at linebacker, Tuf Borland emerged as a starter last season as a redshirt freshman, and Jerome Baker did the same a year earlier as a true sophomore. This year, the same is being hoped for of sophomores Baron Browning and Pete Werner.
On the defensive line, however, things can sometimes take a little bit longer.
That’s why when asked where the biggest jump occurs on the front four, Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson had a different answer.
“It’s [year] two to three is really the biggest jump,” he said. “First year, you are trying to learn the system and learn how we do it. Second, you go and play with those techniques, and third year, you are trying to improve that much, each time he walks on the field.
“You have a guy like Nick [Bosa] who has some elite skill sets, but at the same time, there is so much room for improvement. Those improvements are just that small. Your job as a coach is to find the moments where you can improve that much. Every day is like that and Nick has taken that to heart.”
And if Larry Johnson is looking for an even bigger jump out of Nick Bosa than we saw a year ago, then consider this a warning to opposing offenses.
Like players, improvements come in all shapes and sizes, and the requirements for those improvements are different as well. As Grinch said this spring, it is very specific to the individual.
However, the more they are able to do in a given year, the more they should be able to capitalize on it the following year.