Two games. Thirty-nine snaps. And that was it.
Cornerback Cameron Brown appeared in just a couple of games before his third season in Ohio State's program came to a sudden end. In the fourth quarter of Saturday's 38-25 win at Penn State, he went down with what was confirmed on Monday as an Achilles injury that will sideline him for the remainder of the year.
How will his injury affect the Buckeyes? Who will need to step up in his absence? Those are the questions we're tackling today.
Hello, Marcus Williamson and Josh Proctor
To replace Brown's snaps, the Buckeyes won't turn to a single player. He wasn't a full-time starter who leaves a gaping hole. Rather, he helped the secondary as a role player who filled in primarily as a slot cornerback in nickel packages and as an outside cornerback at times. His versatility offered Kerry Coombs and the defensive staff a speedy option who could fit in at a couple of important spots.
Now that he's gone, fourth-year cornerback Marcus Williamson and third-year safety Josh Proctor will step even further into the spotlight.
Williamson has played 80 defensive snaps – the third-most at cornerback – with most of them coming as a slot cornerback who's spent ample time moving backward to effectively line up as a second safety next to Marcus Hooker. He'll come off the field even less now and might as well be viewed as a full-time slot cornerback moving forward. Already in by far the biggest role of his Ohio State career, Williamson's contributions only become more important moving forward.
Brown's injury could give Proctor some additional opportunities, too. Playing 51 snaps through two games, he already had been relied on for significant playing time. But with Brown gone, he'll be called upon even more. Matt Barnes, the safeties coach, talked before the season about how Proctor can impact games near the line of scrimmage and can cover man-to-man. He'll likely have more of those chances moving forward.
One Injury From A Dire Situation
Immediately after the first spring practice of 2020, Ryan Day said Ohio State would be in a "little bit of a crisis" if one of the team's running backs were forced to miss time. Little did he know, Master Teague had suffered an Achilles injury earlier, putting them into crisis mode. It led to the coaches bringing in Trey Sermon as a transfer from Oklahoma.
Brown's injury doesn't put Ohio State's secondary in crisis mode. But, to use Day's words, it does put them one injury – or positive COVID-19 test – from a little bit of a crisis.
The Buckeyes now have just four healthy upperclassman cornerbacks on their roster: Shaun Wade (redshirt junior), Sevyn Banks (junior), Williamson (senior) and Tyreke Johnson (redshirt sophomore). As long as everybody else stays healthy, Ohio State should be able to make this work. Wade and Banks start on the outside, and Williamson plays in the slot.
If something unfortunate were to happen to one of those there? The Buckeyes could be in some trouble.
Time For Youngsters To Step Up
Ohio State's absolutely teeming with talent at most positions. Depth, almost always, is a strength in Columbus simply due to the way this powerhouse recruits.
At cornerback, however, the Buckeyes have some question marks behind the starting trio of Wade, Banks and Williamson.
Johnson, in his third year, has yet to make much of an impression. While once rated as a five-star prospect, he has gone through three position coaches without making a jump up the depth chart under and of them. He didn't get off the bench against Penn State after playing nine snaps the week before. Now that Brown's done for the year, Ohio State needs something from Johnson – or some other underclassman.
Neither Watts nor Martinez have gotten into games yet and Cavazos has been unavailable to play, so it would be a surprise if they make contributions. Freshman Lathan Ransom and redshirt freshman Ronnie Hickman could be the guys to watch. Ransom, a safety in high school, played the final nine snaps against Penn State as Ohio State's slot cornerback. Hickman was at slot cornerback in place of Williamson the prior week. It's worth keeping an eye on them.
Secondary: The Chief Area To Monitor
You really have to nit-pick to find holes in what Ohio State has done through two weeks. The defensive backfield, though, is the one spot where the most legitimate questions have arisen. Brown's injury doesn't do anything to help, either.
Now, there's a combination of questions about both the talent on the back end of the defense and its depth.
Wade looked more mortal than some expected as an outside cornerback who got beat several times by Penn State's Jahan Dotson, and Banks is far from a finished product yet. Williamson's in the largest role of his career. And behind them are a slew of unproven pieces.
Is the cornerback situation a concern? Not yet. But it's definitely the spot to keep an eye on going forward to watch how these players get developed and how the coaches deploy them.
Unfortunate Hurdle On Speedy Ascent
Two years ago, nobody paid any attention to Brown. A freshman at the time, the coaches initially brought him in from St. Louis as a wide receiver ranked just outside of the top-300 recruits in the country but shifted him to a defensive back shortly after arriving on campus. Most imagined he'd need some time to make the transition before moving up the pecking order. A torn hamstring cut his first year in Columbus short, which seemingly made it even more difficult for him to make an early rise at a new position.
Anybody unaware of him soon needed to know about him, though.
Brown impressed Jeff Hafley last year to such a degree that he shot up the depth chart, became the primary backup cornerback and played 254 snaps – the most by any non-starter at his position. He went from a nameless underclassman to a potential-filled defensive back ready to pop when he got his opportunity in less than a year. A more polished defensive back skillset complemented his 4.3-second 40-yard dash.
This year was supposed to be his biggest role yet. A potential breakout season. Instead, an Achilles injury wiped that shot away and will force him to wait until next year – his fourth season at Ohio State – to make the kind of difference in the secondary he wants.
