The open safety spot has a front runner. There is a pair of favorites at defensive tackle. The two starting outside linebackers are the same as they were in spring practice. Through the first week of camp, you get the sense Ohio State’s starting defense is almost set in stone.
All but one position, anyway: the cornerback spot opposite Gareon Conley.
Redshirt sophomore Marshon Lattimore, true sophomore Denzel Ward and redshirt freshman Damon Arnette are currently battling for that starting job and even though position coach Kerry Coombs says he wants all three to play in some fashion, only one will start opposite Conley.
“It’s looking good. We’re still battling,” Lattimore said. “Our defensive backfield is nice from top to bottom so it’s a battle every day.”
First, let’s examine the candidates.
Lattimore is probably the most naturally talented of the three. The former Cleveland Glenville star came to Ohio State as the sixth-ranked corner in the 2014 class and was the No. 52 overall player in the country. Hamstring injuries have limited Lattimore through his first two seasons in Columbus, however, but he’s fully healthy now and said at media day, “I’m feeling great.”
Ward was one of just four freshmen from Ohio State’s 2015 class who did not redshirt last season as he made his name on special teams. A former high school 200-meter dash state champion in track, Meyer said he thinks Ward is the Buckeyes’ fastest player and Coombs agreed, saying Ward has had "a phenomenal training camp" so far.
“We’re not battling each other, we’re battling the opponent. They know that. They feel that and they’re very excited and rooting for each other.”– Kerry Coombs
The somewhat surprising third contender here is Arnette, who redshirted last year as a freshman following an injury. He wasn’t exactly a highly-rated prospect — Arnette was just a three-star recruit and the No. 60-ranked corner in the 2015 class — but he comes from the famed St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and it’s clear he’s made quite the impression on the coaching staff.
“Denzel, Marshon and Damon Arnette, they’re all playing really good right now,” Conley said. “I couldn’t even tell you who’s ahead because they’re all just balling right now.”
In portions of practice early in fall camp open to the media, both Lattimore and Ward rotated reps with the first-team defense. Lattimore took the first of those reps, so if anybody has the slightest of edges right now, it might be him.
“They’re right there with me,” Lattimore said of both Ward and Arnette. “They’re just as good so I have to keep going. I can’t let them get me.”
Fall camp position battles are often an interesting dynamic. On one hand, players are competing for a starting job. On the other, they’re still teammates within the same unit.
Those in the thick of Ohio State’s cornerback competition don’t see it as anything unusual, however.
“I don’t think it’s weird,” Ward said. “We’re all friends, we’re all just out there competing and having fun playing football.”
Added Lattimore: “We don’t even really talk about it.”
Perhaps that's because all involved know they're likely to play this season in some fashion. Coombs said both Conley and Eli Apple played over 1,000 snaps from scrimmage last season — a number that's too high for the staff's liking — and he's going to try and do everything he can to decrease the number of reps this year by rotating corners when possible.
“Here’s what I would say: We’re all fighting for the same thing and that’s to win the games. We’re not battling each other and we won’t battle each other," Coombs said. The good news is everybody in that room, particularly Gareon, understands that our preference is not to have those corners play 1,000 snaps in a season."
"I need Marshon, Denzel and Damon Arnette to play quality reps in critical situations to help the team achieve victory."
All four seem likely to play, but by the end of camp someone is going to win Ohio State's cornerback battle and start opposite Conley. For now, though, there's not much discussion about it.
"We’re not battling each other, we’re battling the opponent," Coombs said. "They know that. They feel that and they’re very excited and rooting for each other.”
