One of Ohio State’s most compelling position battles this spring will be the competition between Malik Hartford and Jaylen McClain to start alongside Caleb Downs at safety.
Hartford looked like he was on the fast track toward becoming one of Ohio State’s top safeties as soon as last year when he made two starts filling in for Josh Proctor and played the third-most snaps among Ohio State’s true freshmen (behind only Carnell Tate and Jermaine Mathews Jr.) in 2023. After Ohio State brought in Downs and Hartford missed last spring due to shoulder surgery, however, Hartford ended up playing just 94 defensive snaps as a sophomore with nearly all of them coming late in blowout wins.
One reason why Hartford’s playing time decreased in 2024 was the emergence of McClain, who ended up playing the third-most snaps among safeties and the third-most snaps among true freshmen (behind only Jeremiah Smith and Eddrick Houston) for Ohio State last season. McClain played only 12 more snaps than Hartford, but it was McClain who was called upon to play some snaps at strong safety with the first-team defense against Nebraska when Lathan Ransom missed a game due to injury.
That’s partially because McClain is a natural strong safety, whereas Hartford has spent his first two years at Ohio State primarily lining up at free safety. But it’s also because McClain made a big impression in his first year at Ohio State, quickly demonstrating on the practice field that his potential to be an impact player for the Buckeyes is far greater than his recruiting ranking as the No. 373 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class suggested.
“We probably weren't talking about Jaylen McClain this time of year from that standpoint (playing as a freshman) and what did he do? He showed up early, he stayed late, he did his job as hard as he could possibly do it,” Ohio State safeties coach Matt Guerrieri said last week. “Discipline, routine, consistency, all those things; nothing extraordinary, just doing great at the things that we ask you to do every single day.”
Several of McClain’s Ohio State teammates from last season at the NFL Scouting Combine said they’re expecting big things from McClain this year. Perhaps the most notable praise came from former Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who selected McClain when asked to choose a returning Buckeye that he thought would make a name for himself in 2025.
“I could talk about all the receivers, I'm going to give another position group. I say Jaylen McClain is someone who's really going to step up,” Egbuka said. “He played a little bit in our postseason for us. He's kind of one of those freshmen that just has it all together, has the right mindset going into football. He's going to make a huge splash next season.”
That comment by Egbuka, along with McClain’s experience playing the strong safety position that’s open alongside Downs, makes McClain seem like the frontrunner to replace Ransom entering next week’s start of spring practice. But Hartford will also be a player to watch this spring.
While Hartford might project to be Ohio State’s free safety next year when Downs is in the NFL, he’s demonstrated the ability dating back to his time at Lakota West High School to be a physical downhill hitter like Ransom was for the past three years as Ohio State’s starting strong safety. And Guerrieri believes Hartford has come a long way from where he was as a freshman, when he flashed his potential but also made some notable mistakes, such as giving up a touchdown on his only snap in Ohio State’s 2023 loss to Michigan.
“I've seen a big jump from Malik. You're gonna see a different kind of guy when he takes the field this spring,” Guerrieri said. “It’s all mentality. It's all mentality. So physically, it's why you saw the flashes of him as a true freshman, and he's always had that piece right there. But the mentality, the toughness, the grit that he has, that's showing up big-time right now. So I’ve got big expectations for him.”
Whoever starts at safety alongside Downs this year might not be playing the same exact role that Ransom did last season. After all, Ohio State has a new defensive coordinator in Matt Patricia, who will likely do some different things with Ohio State’s safeties than former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles did.
With that in mind, Hartford and McClain aren’t just competing with each other for playing time. Patricia likes to use a variety of packages in his defense, and one of those packages will likely be a three-safety package, which could mean Downs, Hartford and McClain all on the field together for some plays.
Considering the success Ohio State had with three-safety looks in the second half of last season, it’s not out of the question that Hartford and McClain could even both be starters alongside Downs. While Ohio State used Jordan Hancock as both a cornerback and safety to accomplish those looks without substituting last year, it’s unclear whether any of this year’s cornerbacks will be able to play that dual role as well as Hancock did.
The specifics of Ohio State’s defensive scheme and personnel alignments will start to be determined this spring as Patricia evaluates how to best build the Buckeyes’ defense around their players, but Guerrieri – who will also have a significant hand in determining what Ohio State does on the back end in his new role as passing game coordinator – says the Buckeyes will look to create roles for McClain and Hartford that play to each of their strengths. And he says both of them will see playing time if they prove this offseason that they each belong on the field.
“Something I think that Matt Patricia brings to the table is throughout his career, he has highlighted what guys do really, really well schematically. So we're able to put guys into different packages and get them on the field to be able to do what they do,” Guerrieri said. “But we're excited about those guys. That's our job; if those guys earn the right to be on the field, which I expect them to do, then that's our job to make ways for them to be out there.”
Hartford and McClain will both enter this spring with their sights set on emerging as impact players for Ohio State in 2025. At Ohio State’s media day before the Rose Bowl in December, Hartford told Eleven Warriors that he thought he had gotten “a lot better” and that he was confident he’d be ready to start in his junior year.
“Coach G, he's allowed me to see the game at a different level,” Hartford said. “I think I'm seeing the game slower than I was freshman year. It's slowed down a little bit. I'm able to see more things on the field and play faster.”
McClain, who told Eleven Warriors before his freshman year that he had aspirations of being an All-American at Ohio State, said in December that he was working hard to be ready to take on a bigger role defensively whenever that time comes.
“Me just being worried about right now and this year, I’ve just been working,” McClain said. “Just hoping for when that time comes and staying ready, staying motivated, and my goals and aspirations are the same.”
Ideally, both Hartford and McClain will prove themselves ready to be starting-caliber safeties this spring, which would give Ohio State at least three safeties it can rely on in 2025. Others competing for playing time at safety will include highly touted true freshman Faheem Delane – who has the potential to earn immediate snaps on defense like Hartford and McClain did over the past two years – as well as redshirt freshman Leroy Roker III and redshirt junior Keenan Nelson Jr.
Regardless of how their competition ultimately shakes out, Ransom is confident that whoever replaces him in the lineup will be able to pick up where he left off.
“They’re two ballers, man, two ballers and competitors,” Ransom said of Hartford and McClain at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Extremely smart and care about the game, man. They're always in there meeting with me, extra meeting early, and two dudes that care and are going to be put into situations by our defensive coaches to make a lot of plays. So I can't wait to watch them and the players that they're going to turn into next year.”
