Better Know a Buckeye: Marcus Hooker Hopes to Create a Name for Himself After Following His Brother's Footsteps to Ohio State

We continue the Better Know a Buckeye series with its 12th installment in 2018. Here, we profile Marcus Hooker, a cornerback from New Castle, PA.

Marcus Hooker is following his brother's footsteps to Ohio State and will aim to make his own mark on the program but it might have been Malik's development in the spring and summer of 2016 that got Marcus' name on Ohio State's radar. However, Ohio State coaches needed to see more of the younger Hooker at the camps Ohio State hosted in the summer of 2017. Back-to-back camp performances at a one-day advanced camp in June and Friday Night Lights in July resulted in a public offer on July 26, 2017. Marcus Hooker accepted the next day.

I retell this recruitment below. Thereafter, I provide a scouting report of a prospect evaluated at cornerback but is more likely to factor into Ohio State's safety rotation in the near future. I conclude with a projection of a redshirt in 2018 and some senior-year highlight film for the reader to watch at the end of the feature.

HIS RECRUITMENT

Marcus Hooker's recruitment is ultimately inseparable from his older brother's development at Ohio State. The elder Hooker signed with Ohio State as part of its 2014 recruiting class. He redshirted in 2014 and played mostly on special teams in 2015. However, it became apparent in that spring and summer that Malik Hooker was going to be a star on the 2016 Buckeyes. It was around that time that Ohio State noticed his younger brother, Marcus.

The younger brother's recruitment followed a path similar to the older brother. Marcus Hooker may have benefited from the exposure his older brother's accelerated development in 2016 created. However, Marcus Hooker was about as lightly recruited as Malik Hooker even if Malik had some higher profile offers.

Marcus Hooker's recruitment starts small and regional. His first recruiting visits were to Penn State for junior day festivities and the Penn State spring game in 2016. The first few offers that came were from lower-tier programs like Bowling Green, Temple, and Toledo. West Virginia's offer in September 2016 was the first Power Five offer but it did not elicit that much fanfare or more attention on the recruiting trail.

He earned scholarship offers from the likes of Pittsburgh and Rutgers early into 2017, but he identified pretty quickly that he wanted to follow in his brother's footsteps at Ohio State. Toward that end, Ohio State's coaches needed to see more before they felt comfortable extending to him the opportunity.

The opportunity became public when Marcus Hooker reported a scholarship offer from Ohio State. It did not take long for him to accept.

I'm extremely blessed to receive a offer from The Ohio State University!! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/i4uaAsZkFm

— Marcus Hooker (@marcushooker23) July 27, 2017

Congrats Lil Bro Time To Continue The Legacy Now https://t.co/sc4dxlo14X

— Malik Hooker (@MalikHooker24) July 27, 2017

HIS COMMITMENT

On July 27, 2017, Marcus Hooker announced he had committed to Ohio State as the 12th member of what would become the Buckeyes' full 2018 recruiting class. He chose Ohio State over competing offers from Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and West Virginia.

My Journey Begins!!!#Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/DbTCKmnrJR

— Marcus Hooker (@marcushooker23) July 27, 2017

The offer came following recent camps where Hooker demonstrated his potential to a coaching staff unsure if he could be an Ohio State-caliber athlete like his older brother. His performance at a one-day camp in June and at Friday Night Lights the week before his offer ultimately convinced the coaching staff he was Ohio State-caliber. Hooker accepted the opportunity shortly thereafter.

He signed with Ohio State during the early signing period.

PAOH

Its all family here! Congrats on officially joining the Bucks, @marcushooker23!#GoBucks #Supreme18 #NSD18 pic.twitter.com/xi5QLoGpB4

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 20, 2017

WHERE HE EXCELS

Marcus Hooker's development will invariably coincide with how Ohio State fans remember Malik Hooker. Thus, his development at Ohio State will mirror how fans evaluate Nick Bosa vis-a-vis Joey Bosa. Here's a helpful primer toward that end: Malik Hooker is the better athlete out of high school and Marcus Hooker is the better football player.

Marcus Hooker is still a fine athlete, though. He doesn't have the freakish athleticism or the ability to close space in a hurry, but he still has the long arms and big hands that could make him a force in the defensive backfield. He combines it with a higher instinct-level than his brother showed when he enrolled at Ohio State in 2014.

These should all translate well to the safety position, which is where Marcus Hooker will land notwithstanding his evaluations by recruiting services at cornerback. Hooker's frame and overall skill set works better at safety than cornerback.

MUST WORK ON

Marcus Hooker is in a curious area where his athleticism showed more on offense than defense at the high school level but his skill set is much more amenable to playing defense than offense at the college level.

He has a lot to learn about the safety position and certainly the intricacies that Greg Schiano demands of players at that position. Schiano asks a lot of players at safety and the learning curve is steep even if Marcus Hooker is prepared for the challenge.

REDSHIRT?

This is almost a consensus redshirt projection in 2018 from Ohio State football writers forecasting who from this class can have an immediate effect on the two-deep. Hooker should benefit from the redshirt year. Fans should also expect him to start his career in 2019 on special teams as well.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are senior-year highlights of Marcus Hooker.