On the opening night of the NFL Draft next month, it’s probable that three Ohio State players hear their names called.
Marshon Lattimore, Malik Hooker and Gareon Conley are all likely to become the next wave of Buckeyes picked in the first round. If they are, it would give Ohio State three players from the same secondary all selected on Day 1. That would be quite a statement.
And while it shows the insane amount of NFL talent the program continues to pump out year after year, it also serves as a reminder the Buckeyes have some massive holes to fill in the secondary. Again.
Last year, Ohio State lost three starters from its secondary when Eli Apple, Vonn Bell and Tyvis Powell all declared for the NFL Draft with eligibility remaining. Conley was the lone returning starter and was joined by Hooker, Lattimore and Damon Webb. Now, after the Buckeyes possessed one of the best secondaries in the country in 2016, three more defensive backs are off to the NFL early.
If you’re concerned about Ohio State’s secondary next season, however, two of those early departees say you shouldn’t be.
“There’s a lot of guys that’s going to surprise you,” Hooker said after Ohio State’s pro day last week. “I can go on about this. There’s Erick Smith, Damon Webb, Jordan Fuller, Jahsen Wint and obviously Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette. It’s a young secondary but it’s a scary secondary.”
“People were shocked about what I did last year but just wait until you see what happens these next few years with these guys.”
Webb will start at one safety spot and Ward — who essentially was a co-starter last year as he played the same number of snaps as both Conley and Lattimore — will start at one of the corner positions. Smith, Fuller and Wint will all battle for playing time at safety while Arnette, junior college transfer Kendall Sheffield and five-star freshmen Shaun Wade and Jeffrey Okudah will all compete for the other corner spot.
Talent is certainly not the issue.
And while it may not be realistic to expect Ohio State to produce three first-round picks from its secondary in next year’s NFL Draft, the same thing was undoubtedly said at this time one year ago. Then, Hooker and Lattimore happened.
The first-round standard is set.
“They’re going to be better just like when [Eli], Vonn and Tyvis left, we tried to be better,” Lattimore said. “I feel like they got the same opportunity. Just be better than us.”
A high bar, for sure.
But as the Buckeyes proved in recent years, it’s one they're capable of living up to.
