Last week against Oregon State, the Buckeye safeties did not have their best games. Sophomore Isaiah Pryor and redshirt sophomore Jahsen Wint were both making their first starts, and doing it without incumbent starter Jordan Fuller, who was held back due to a hamstring.
Both Pryor and Wint were involved in allowing big plays, and it was no doubt a learning experience.
The Buckeyes are expected to have Fuller back this week, which will obviously help, but they could also be getting a hand from redshirt freshman cornerback Shaun Wade.
Wade came to Ohio State as the No. 2 cornerback in the 2017 class, behind teammate Jeff Okudah at No. 1. Both he and Okudah enrolled early, and both had very solid spring camps for freshmen. Unfortunately, Wade suffered an abdominal injury and missed his freshman season.
He was healthy this spring, however, and competed for a spot in the Buckeyes’ cornerback rotation. While the rotation opened with Kendall Sheffield, Damon Arnette, and Okudah, there has been talk from defensive coordinator Greg Schiano that Wade could possibly enter the rotation as well.
Wade made his Ohio State debut at cornerback last week, finishing with three tackles and looking more than eager in run support. In terms of pass coverage, Oregon State didn’t look all that interested in testing him.
Speaking on the Urban Meyer call-in show on Thursday, Greg Schiano said that we would be seeing more of Wade moving forward following a very solid performance last week at Oregon State.
“Shaun is a multi-talented guy,” he said. “I think Shaun can play in the nickel, I think Shaun can play safety, I think Shaun can play at corner.”
Wade, at 6-foot-1 and 192 pounds, has the size to play anywhere in the secondary, and the hips and feet to match.
It would appear, however, that Wade will be playing at least some safety moving forward, and wherever else Schiano deems it necessary as well.
“Most of the times when you move guys from corner to safety it’s because they’re just not quite good enough to be a corner, especially around here. It’s elite to be a corner,” he said.
“Shaun can do that, but we’re going to move Shaun all over the place. He’s a guy that I can see getting a bigger and bigger role as time moves on.”
Wade needs to be moved to safety now. Let him play there against Rutgers before we play TCU. Pryor and definitely Wint looked lost most of the time. Fuller being back will help with run support. Would not have had those two long TD runs with him back there even when the runner got past the LB’s. Need Borland back at Mike.!! Browning is NOT a Mike LB. Not sure if he is quick enough to play outside. He got caught up inside on both long runs, but so did Chase Young. He looked horrible on both plays. Get Tuf back into the middle and see if Browning can play outside, Hilliard can back up the middle. Right now Werner is too small, maybe Keandre Jones or Dante Booker is the answer. Need to get it fixed SOON. I agree with Mr. Miller, when I played DB in the 60’s we were taught to play the ball, not wait until we were beat to try and strip the ball.
GO BUCKS!!!
The way the DB’s play now works great if they have experience. Worked great the past 3 years.
Our linebackers were out of position, man handled by blockers, and looked slow. They scare me. Not sure how you fix slow.
Does he know about angles, and can he look back at the ball to make a play on it before he grabs the receiver for a pass interference ? hope so, because the rest of DBs can’t seem to figure that out. Not a big fan of modern coaching techniques on covering receivers. Playing the ball seems more effective. Little frustrating watching majority of other teams play different technique successfully with lesser physical talent.We have exceptional D-Line play, unfortunately LBs and DBs are definitely our weakness. Hate to sound so negative, but every time opposing Qb drops back and we don’t sack him, my heart drops to my stomach, because i feel a big play against us is coming. Very uneasy.
I don’t think the corners were an issue at all last week. Kendall Sheffield and Damon Arnette were right where they should be. Okudah got flagged twice for passes that shouldn’t have existed. He’ll learn.