The best way to understand the importance of Sevyn Banks to this secondary is to hear one of Ohio State’s younger cornerbacks talk about him.
“Sevyn? Sevyn’s real good. I learn a lot from him,” sophomore Ryan Watts said a few days ago. “I'd say everything he does, off man, press man, I learn everything. I use his tapes for teach tapes. So how I learned to use my hands and my feet, I learned that off of Sevyn. He'll teach me a lot.”
Being the cornerback used by fellow Buckeyes as teach tape is a privilege reserved for the very best in what has been one of the most talented position rooms in recent history. Before Banks became the corner everybody else pays attention to, it was Shaun Wade and Damon Arnette and Jeff Okudah and Denzel Ward and Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley and Eli Apple who had that role in Columbus within the past seven years.
Banks is next in line as Ohio State’s No. 1 cornerback with preseason first-round NFL draft pick potential, which comes with plenty of responsibility. He’s the guy everybody in the room follows, he’s the guy who sets the tone for the fellow corners, and he’s the guy who has to become a lockdown cover corner on the outside.
Is he ready? Knowing the ever-confident attitude of Banks, there’s only one answer to the question.
“I'm definitely ready,” Banks said. “That's why you come to Ohio State. I sat behind Jeff, Damon Arnette, all these guys. And now it's my time. It's going to be your time at some point and now it's mine.”
It truly has been a long time coming for the Floridian who once committed to the Buckeyes without anybody expecting it. He got onto campus four years ago, was touted by Greg Schiano as potentially the next great Ohio State cornerback at the end of the season, served in backup capacity the next year, then finally turned into a starter opposite Wade last season.
Banks’ first year as a starter wasn’t perfect by any means. He was part of a secondary that allowed more than 300 passing yards per game and got torn apart by Alabama in the national championship game. Yet he also played well enough to garner some early 2022 NFL Draft hype.
The goal this fall, Banks says, is to leave no doubt.
“Every play that I could've made, I'm going to make it this year,” Banks said. “Every play that I was that close, I'm going to be that much closer. You know, just learning off of your mistakes and learning off of your past, it's good.”
Part of the learning process, he mentioned, has been to watch him alone. Instead of just hanging out or watching a movie, it has been “film, film, film, honestly.”
Also, he’s gotten more live practice reps this year than last offseason due to the pandemic messing with the flow of the spring and summer in 2020. He missed part of spring camp with an undisclosed injury that required him to walk around with a cane during the spring game but says he’s “100” percent healthy right now. In the portions of practice that have been open to the media, he hasn’t appeared to be limited whatsoever and has taken the first-team snaps. (Update: Ryan Day said Monday that Banks has been out for the last couple of practices after he “tweaked something.”)
“It makes things easier,” Banks said. “It slows the game down. You anticipate things instead of guessing, or doing certain things like that that you usually wouldn't do but now you know. Now you're faster to it.”
How much the game has slowed down for Banks will go a long way toward the Buckeyes’ pass defense getting back on track.
There are reasonable questions elsewhere about the secondary’s personnel that haven’t been answered thus far. Will Kerry Coombs and Matt Barnes go with a three-man corner rotation or stick with two starters? Can Marcus Williamson hold off Lathan Ransom? How do Kourt Williams and Cameron Martinez fit? What can be expected of Cameron Brown as a full-time starter?
But just as important as – if not more important than – anything else in the defensive backfield is the play of Banks.
“I have very high expectations for myself this year,” Banks said. “Putting it all together. Y’all going to see it.”
