For most of the last decade, Ohio State's cornerbacks were known as BIA.
With Bradley Roby, Marshon Lattimore, Eli Apple, Gareon Conley, Denzel Ward, Jeff Okudah and Damon Arnette as some of the players the Buckeyes produced from 2014-20, one could claim that the Buckeyes' cornerbacks were, in fact, the Best in America.
However, after three consecutive seasons in which Ohio State's pass defense has been a weakness for the program, that claim has become harder and harder to defend.
As the 2023 iteration of Ohio State's cornerback room prepares for the season, its mission is to reinstall the tradition of BIA, and in tandem with the team's safeties, put the Buckeyes back in the conversation as college football's Defensive Back U.
On Thursday, Ohio State secondary coach Tim Walton and cornerbacks Denzel Burke, Jordan Hancock, Davison Igbinosun, Jyaire Brown, Ryan Turner and Lorenzo Styles Jr. met with the media at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and made that message clear.
Moreover, Walton addressed Ohio State's depth and experience in his position room and ensured that the Buckeyes' cornerbacks have worked hard to redeem the title of BIA in 2023. Burke discussed his leadership role as a third-year starter, Hancock broke down the healthy competition at cornerback and Igbinosun said he "can check" Marvin Harrison Jr., all while Brown, Turner and Styles described their roles with three weeks left of preseason camp.
Below are videos from each of their press conferences and bullet-point recaps of what each Ohio State coach and player said after the team's seventh practice.
Tim Walton
- Asked about the possibility of a rotation between Burke, Hancock and Igbinosun, he said the Buckeyes are still “trying to see where guys fit best” and those decisions won’t be made until closer to the first game. He said he feels good about all three of them and that Brown and other cornerbacks are also pushing for playing time.
- On Hancock: “The game has slowed down for him, so he can play fast. He’s seeing it quicker.” Walton said Hancock is practicing at both cornerback and nickel. “He brings us a lot of versatility.”
- Walton said he has three or four cornerbacks cross-training at nickel. He didn’t specify who, but Brown and Turner have also been seen practicing in the slot.
- Walton says Igbinosun was a competitor from the beginning but that he’s more comfortable now than he was during the spring. “He’s having an understanding of where to be, alignments, splits and formations. Now he knows the job description, so now he’s able to process it and to utilize it.”
- Walton said Calvin Simpson-Hunt is still catching up as a summer enrollee but “he’s gonna be good. I like his physicality, has good size, can compete, he can run.”
- On the importance of recruiting top players from Ohio: “You always want to get the best players out of this state, man. You got a lot of good history of guys playing well here … guys have had a lot of success, so we have to keep that going.”
Denzel Burke
- Consistency and taking “every single day seriously” are Burke’s focuses during this fall camp. He’s also looking to emerge as a leader that pushes his teammates every day.
- Burke said that he knows what Ohio State’s cornerback rotation will look like, but isn’t allowed to share the information.
- “First off, we all some dogs,” Burke said when asked to describe what makes him, Jordan Hancock and Davison Igbinosun stand out. He feels all three are capable of playing press or off coverage, whatever is needed to help the team win.
- Ohio State’s corners remind themselves every day that the room got zero interceptions last season, according to Burke. They want to right that ship this year.
- Burke called Hancock one of the best off-corners he’s ever seen, particularly for his football IQ.
- Burke compared Sonny Styles to former Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons. “He’s going to be everywhere."
Jordan Hancock
- Hancock said there’s a “huge difference” in how he feels now compared to where he was at this time a year ago. “My explosiveness, my IQ, just being in with Coach Mick, Coach Walt, they really upped my game.” He thinks his biggest areas of improvement have been his physicality and ability to match receivers’ routes.
- Hancock said he’s splitting reps at cornerback and nickel. He said he enjoys playing nickel because “you hit people more.” He said it’s a smooth transition from playing cornerback to playing nickel.
- Hancock said it affected his performance last season that he was unable to practice for eight weeks due to his hamstring injury. “I just got thrown into the fire. But I’m thankful to be thrown in that fire because I learned from those games and now it’s better off.”
- Hancock said Igbinosun “moves like a vet” even though he’s only a sophomore. “He doesn’t play around at all. He comes in here working.”
- Hancock said Burke is “being a really good leader” for the cornerback unit. “When maybe young guys step out of hand, he’ll speak up, and that’s going to make our room even better.”
Davison Igbinosun
- Igbinosun said he’s more comfortable making checks pre-snap in the fall than he was in spring football. He added OSU’s defense uses a lot more checks than Ole Miss used.
- In the spring, Igbinosun said he relied on Sonny Styles a lot for help understanding Jim Knowles’ scheme. He said he now has a much better understanding of the defense as a whole.
- When thinking about Ohio State cornerbacks, Igbinosun said he thought of the BIA reputation and recalled the legacies of players like Jeff Okudah and Malcolm Jenkins. He said he wants to help Ohio State get back to that standard.
- Igbinosun said Walton has preached to him the best aspect of a player’s game is his eyes, which allows him to be more disciplined and understand the opposition’s formations.
- Igbinosun said it’s been “balanced” between lining up in man and zone schemes this fall camp.
- On the competition for reps with other cornerbacks, Igbinosun said “competition breeds greatness” and that he knows the best players will be on the field.
- Igbinosun said he’s been strictly used as an outside cornerback.
- Igbinosun said Marvin Harrison Jr. is “the best player in the country” but said he "can check" him. He added he and Harrison Jr. “go at it” in practice a lot and that it’s usually a 50-50 split with who wins. “Going up against him makes everybody else easier.”
Jyaire Brown
- Brown doesn’t care whether he plays inside or outside corner, saying “my role is just to get better every day and whatever I can do to help this team and increase my value whether it’s inside or outside corner. Wherever that is, I’m going to try to get better every day.”
- Brown said he’s more comfortable playing outside cornerback but is becoming comfortable at inside cornerback.
- On getting a chance to play some last year: “It was really important confidence-wise and learning-wise. I was able to get into those games and learn from those experiences. I learned different situations and formations, things I can use for this year.”
- On going against Ohio State's wide receivers: “Iron sharpens iron. Once you’re going against that talent every day, you have no choice but to get better. When you then see lesser or equal competition, you’re ready for it.”
- Brown said Malik Hartford has been impressive in fall camp because he’s “flying around” to the ball, getting to the rock and getting calls off.” On offense, Brown said Noah Rogers and Carnell Tate have been impressive as freshmen.
Ryan Turner
- Turner said he feels comfortable as a nickel cornerback and hopes he can contribute in that role for the Buckeyes' secondary this season. "I feel like I am very versatile. I can cover the slot or cover the number one receiver." Turner said he will line up "wherever they want me to play" in 2023.
- Turner said there has been a healthy competition in Ohio State's cornerback room this offseason: "We all can compete for spots on the field. The best players will play."
- On Walton, Turner said the cornerbacks coach "is a character." He smiled as he tried to recall moments when Walton has made his players laugh or cheered them up. Turner later added that Walton has great knowledge of the game and passes that down to the cornerbacks daily.
- Turner said he's been able to process what happens on the field much quicker now that he is in his second season with the Buckeyes. "It's moving way slower. I know how to process it faster. I am able to learn stuff much quicker than last year."
- Turner said Noah Rogers, Brandon Inniss, Carnell Tate and the rest of Ohio State's young receivers have impressed him in fall camp.
Lorenzo Styles Jr.
- Styles feels he’s already settling into his new position, in part thanks to the efforts of the defensive line, who he said is making his job easier. “I’m performing at a high level right now.”
- Special teams are another area where Styles feels he can make contributions early while he works his way to a defensive role. “I’ve shown I can be a great gunner (at Notre Dame). I’ve done some kickoff return there.”
- “This is a really talented group. We have a lot of leadership in this room. I really think we can be one of the best rooms in the country.”
- Styles feels the transition to Ohio State from Notre Dame is made easier by the fact that the Fighting Irish play in plenty of big games every season, just as the Buckeyes do. He’ll have been in high-pressure situations before.
- The toughest part of his new position one week in, Styles said, is learning the techniques required. “I’ve just been using a lot of my athleticism and that’s taken me a long way.”
- Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock have been advising Styles the most. He said the duo have helped him embrace the “next-play mindset” of being a cornerback.
- Coach Tim Walton’s ability to understand the defense as a whole and then apply it to his cornerbacks is something that stood out to Styles when he was picking his next destination in the transfer portal.
