Sevyn Banks is using his additional year of collegiate eligibility, but it won’t be at Ohio State.
After Ryan Day said Monday that Banks would be “moving on” from Ohio State, Banks has opted to enter the transfer portal rather than enter the 2022 NFL draft.
— blessed. (@SevynBanks) February 3, 2022
Banks, who played four seasons at Ohio State and graduated from the university in December, has one more year of collegiate eligibility after the NCAA gave all players a free year of eligibility in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Banks left the door open in his statement for a possible return to Ohio State, it’s uncertain whether he would be welcomed back to the Buckeyes, especially considering that they are currently seven scholarships over the 85-man limit.
While Banks started every game at cornerback in 2020 and was expected to be the Buckeyes’ top cornerback entering 2021, he had an injury-plagued final season at Ohio State in which he was in and out of the lineup. With Denzel Burke and Cameron Brown returning for the 2022 season, Banks was unlikely to be a starter if he stayed at Ohio State for his fifth year.
Projected as a potential first-round pick entering the 2021 season, Banks was not projected to be selected before the late rounds if he stayed in the 2022 draft class. Playing one more season of college football elsewhere, however, could enable Banks to rebuild his stock for the 2023 NFL draft.
With Banks’ departure, Ohio State now has seven scholarship cornerbacks on its 2022 roster. Behind Burke and Brown, the rest of the Buckeyes’ current cornerback roster consists of redshirt sophomore Lejond Cavazos, redshirt freshmen Jordan Hancock and Jakailin Johnson and true freshmen Jyaire Brown and Ryan Turner.
