Better Know a Buckeye: Kendall Sheffield

This week's Better Know a Buckeye feature continues with a profile of Kendall Sheffield, a JUCO cornerback prospect from Missouri City, Texas.

Sheffield comes to Ohio State with two years of college experience. He was a five-star cornerback in the 2015 recruiting cycle who originally enrolled at Alabama. He left Tuscaloosa after a redshirt year to play at Blinn College with the goal of landing at another Power Five program. He remembered his connections with Ohio State from his first time on the recruiting circuit, which helped the Buckeyes land Sheffield over major attention from Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, and USC.

I retell Sheffield's story below. Thereafter, I provide a scouting report of arguably the most polished cornerback on Ohio State's roster who should play immediately because he exhausted his redshirt at Alabama. I close with his JUCO highlight film.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Ohio State's football program already knew who Kendall Sheffield was from his first go-around on the recruiting circuit. Sheffield was a can't-miss five-star cornerback prospect from Texas in the 2015 cycle that drew major offers from the regional powers in the Big XII and SEC. Ohio State offered as well and even hosted Sheffield for an official visit for the Cincinnati game in 2014. However, Sheffield was wooed by the thought of playing for the Crimson Tide, which had made great strides in recruiting Texas after the SEC expanded its footprint to the Lone Star State in 2012. Sheffield chose Alabama a month before 2015 signing day, turning down overtures from Florida State, LSU, Ohio State, and Texas A&M, among many others.

Sheffield failed to crack the two-deep as a true freshman and redshirted his first year on campus. This coincided with Alabama's run to the 2015 national championship. He entered the summer of 2016 still stuck on a loaded depth chart that got deeper with the addition of several talented signees from the No. 1 recruiting class of 2016. Sheffield saw no immediate path to the field for Alabama and decided to leave the program on August 17, 2016. He enrolled at Blinn College, one of the top junior college programs that boasts Cam Newton as arguably its most successful alumnus.

The one-year stint may have taken some of the shine off Sheffield's stellar recruiting rankings but almost all the same programs interested in him for 2015 were interested in him for 2017. He visited USC on Nov. 5 for its game against Oregon. He visited Texas A&M ten days later. Onlookers thought Sheffield would stay in Texas for his second college stint. He had offers from Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Christian toward that end. Texas A&M showed the strongest interest.

However, Sheffield remembered his relationship with Kerry Coombs during his recruitment in the 2015 cycle. He remembered his visit as well. He made another trip in late November, in which Ohio State's coaches worked hard to sell Sheffield on the instant effect he could have on a depth chart that was likely to be depleted by early NFL departures. The pitch worked notwithstanding a strong push from Texas A&M.

HIS COMMITMENT

Kendall Sheffield committed to Ohio State as the 18th member of what would become its full 2017 recruiting class. He chose Ohio State over Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Christian, and USC. He spoke with ESPN about the decision.

"After a great season at Blinn College, and an exciting recruiting process, I have decided to finish my collegiate career at The Ohio State University... I am excited to join Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes, and look forward to helping Buckeye Nation return to the College Football Playoff."

Sheffield enrolled at Ohio State in March, the first football prospect to enroll in the middle of a normal academic spring semester since Ohio State completed the transition from quarters in 2012.

WHERE HE EXCELS

Ohio State has other, more physical corners in this recruiting class. Sheffield, by contrast, is a pure speed corner.

His speed and elite athleticism made him an attractive prospect in high school and at Blinn College. You'll see it in all aspects of his game. It starts with his backpedal quickness. It continues with his burst and his ability to swivel his hips into a sprint. His closing speed might be the best on the roster.

Since Sheffield has already plied his craft at the college level (Alabama, Blinn College), there's some optimism that Sheffield could make important contributions returning kicks or punts. He already has college film showing his ability to do this.

MUST WORK ON

Contrasting his JUCO film with his high school film allows some insight to why he failed to crack Alabama's two-deep.

"Speed corners are finesse corners" is a common complaint from analysts who see cornerbacks like Sheffield as typically struggling in the run game. Sheffield had two years at Alabama and Blinn College to address that. He has. He's much more physical now than he was when he enrolled at Alabama. You'll see it immediately in his film below. However, it's still one of the weaker aspects of his game and Big Ten competition will be much tougher than what he saw at Blinn.

Further, his backpedal quickness is elite but his backpedal out the snap is not. My hunch is Sheffield may place too much trust in his closing speed to make up ground he concedes at the snap. There was that conspicuous play in the spring game where Johnnie Dixon burned him.

REDSHIRT?

Kendall Sheffield redshirted at Alabama and thus cannot redshirt at Ohio State. He has sophomore eligibility with junior academic standing, giving him a max of three years at Ohio State with the option to declare for the NFL Draft after just one.

Critiques about Sheffield from his time at Alabama notwithstanding, Sheffield is arguably the most polished cornerback on Ohio State's roster right now. He has two years of college experience to his credit, including an informative (if disappointing) one-year stint under Nick Saban's tutelage. Expect Sheffield to play right away.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are JUCO highlights for Kendall Sheffield.