In his first playing season for the Ohio State football team, Shaun Wade has had to balance playing three different defensive back positions.
Wade began the season as a backup for the Buckeyes at outside cornerback, playing nine snaps with the second-team defense in that role in the season opener at Oregon State. Since then, Wade has been promoted to playing slot cornerback for the first-team nickel defense – a role the Buckeyes previously filled by moving Damon Arnette inside on nickel packages – and has checked into the lineup whenever Ohio State has brought its nickel defense onto the field in competitive game situations, playing at least 23 snaps in each of the last four games.
That said, he’s also been practicing at safety, and there’s a chance he could end up seeing regular playing time at that position, too – potentially as soon as the Buckeyes’ next game this Saturday against Indiana.
One day after the season-opening game against Oregon State, in which Isaiah Pryor and Jahsen Wint started at safety and both were on the wrong end of big plays by the Beavers offense, Ohio State co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Alex Grinch approached Wade and asked him if he would be willing to play safety. Even though Wade was recruited as a cornerback and had practiced exclusively at cornerback since arriving at Ohio State in January 2017, he didn’t hesitate to tell Grinch yes.
“I just want to be on the field, to help the team,” Wade said. “If they need me at safety, I’ll play safety.”
The Buckeyes really might need Wade to play safety, because Pryor and Wint have continued to have their share of struggles, and Pryor – who has remained in the starting lineup alongside Jordan Fuller for each of the Buckeyes’ last four games – is suspended for the first half of this Saturday’s game after being ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter at Penn State.
Wint is likely to start in Pryor’s place, but Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said Monday that Wade is also a candidate to see playing time at that spot, as is Brendon White.
That said, Wade is already playing an important role in the Buckeyes’ secondary as their top nickel cornerback. And after redshirting his true freshman season last year due to an abdominal injury, Wade is just happy to be getting regular playing time this year.
“That was my dream, just to play on the college level, so I’m blessed to be here at Ohio State, one of the best universities in the world,” Wade said.
“I just want to be on the field, to help the team.” – Shaun Wade on playing safety in addition to cornerback
Playing the nickel position instead of on the outside has been a challenging adjustment, and there have been growing pains. His most noticeable lapse in coverage came this past Saturday, when he got beat on a slant by speedy Penn State slot receiver KJ Hamler for a catch that ended up going all the way for a 93-yard touchdown, tying the longest defensive play allowed in Ohio State history.
Wade said his mistake on that play was backing up and allowing Hamler to break in front of him instead of getting his hands on Hamler and maintaining outside leverage.
“At nickel, you can’t back up. At nickel, you play outside leverage, so you got to keep your leverage every time,” Wade said. “And then, there’s two different receivers. At nickel, you’re probably going to get a fast, quick receiver; at outside, you’re going to get a long, tall receiver, so he’s not as fast, not as quick.”
Overall, though, Wade has performed well. The 6-1, 195-pound five-star recruit from Jacksonville, Florida has recorded 10 total tackles this season with four pass breakups and one interception – tying him for the team lead in each of the latter categories – including two pass breakups against the Nittany Lions.
He’s done all of that while also learning to play a brand new position at safety, which has made a positive impression on his coaches and fellow defensive backs.
“He’s working all three DB positions, and I think he’s doing a really good job of all three,” said cornerback Jeffrey Okudah, who was also part of Ohio State’s 2017 recruiting class. “It’s been pretty cool just seeing, since he got hurt, just seeing him fight back, grind through the offseason and then be able to make plays on Saturday.”
Grinch said last week that Wade “has taken a major jump” in his development since the beginning of preseason camp.
“I’ve been very pleased with his progress,” Grinch said. “The ability to prep for a Saturday and perform on a Saturday has been really, really positive.”
Given that Wade’s performance this season has generally been regarded as better than Pryor and Wint, it might seem like an obvious move for Wade to start at safety, considering that the Buckeyes have other options to play at slot cornerback, include Arnette and Marcus Williamson.
What we don’t know yet, though, is whether Wade is ready to see significant playing time at a position he only started practicing at a month ago. While Wade did play a few snaps at safety near the end of the Buckeyes’ blowout win over Tulane two weeks ago, he hasn’t played the position in any competitive game situations yet, and he’s had a lot to work on in learning to play that position, too.
Specifically, Wade has had to learn how to cover when he is not directly lined up against an opposing receiver, as his background both at and prior to Ohio State has been in playing press man coverage at cornerback.
“That’s probably the toughest thing, playing off,” Wade said. “Been playing press man my whole life, and going to safety you got to play off and catch (coverages) and all of that, so it’s a transition.”
Ohio State has put a lot on Wade’s plate in his first season, and he acknowledges that it hasn’t been easy. But he also appreciates the opportunity he’s getting.
“It’s difficult, but that’s life, period,” Wade said. “In life, you’re going to have the ups and downs. So learning three positions, that’s a blessing, to be honest.”
Wade still doesn’t exactly where he’ll be lining up in the Buckeyes’ secondary from week to week, so he has to be prepared to play all three positions. But he much prefers that to where he was at this time last year, when he wasn’t playing any position as a result of his injury.
“Last year, just having to sit and watch for injury, it was a lot,” Wade said. “It was a tough year. This year, I came in, I just wanted to work hard and get on the field some type of way. I just needed to go hard, so that’s what I did.”
