Ranking The Opposing Secondaries On The Buckeyes' 2024 Schedule

We finish our positional rankings of Ohio State’s 2024 opponents with a look at the 12 secondaries the Buckeyes will face this season. The transfer portal has affected every secondary in the Big Ten, save for steady ol’ Iowa. Who has handled it the best?

1. Iowa [Game 5, October 5 – Home]
All-American corner Cooper DeJean is gone but everyone else is back. Safeties Quinn Schulte and Xavier Nwankpa will make an argument for the Big Ten’s best duo. Schulte is the calming quarterback of the group. Nwankpa is the bad cop. Nickel Sebastian Castro is part linebacker/part cornerback. He posted 67 tackles, 8 TFLs, 8 PBUs, and three INTs last year. Senior starting corner Jermari Harris is back and sophomore Deshaun Lee started six games last year.

2. Oregon [Game 6, October 12 – Away]
The Ducks must find three new starters in the secondary, which is probably why they went into the portal and brought in three players with starting experience. Cornerback Dontae Manning has seven career starts and is the only home-grown defensive back expected to start. Washington transfer corner Jabbar Muhammad was Second-Team All-Pac 12 last year. Safety Tysheem Johnson had 70 tackles last year. Oregon could start five seniors in the secondary.

3. Penn State [Game 8, November 2 – Away]
The last time we saw this secondary they were giving up 394 passing yards to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. The top three corners are gone, so James Franklin went into the portal and landed Florida starter Jalen Kimber and former five-star Georgia sophomore AJ Harris. Junior Cam Miller returns and has plenty of experience. Safeties Jaylen Reed and Kevin Winston started every game last year. Zakee Wheatley is a key reserve piece in Tom Allen’s new defense.

4. Michigan [Game 12, November 30 – Home]
Starting safety Rod Moore tore his ACL in the spring and his return is very much in doubt. Senior safety Makari Paige started 13 games last year and posted 41 tackles and two PBUs. All-American cornerback Will Johnson is back. He is a lockdown player. Redshirt freshman Jyaire Hill may be next to him. Tennessee safety transfer Wesley Walker had 53 tackles last year as a starter last year. A consistent replacement needs to be found for nickel back Mike Sainristil.

5. Nebraska [Game 7, October 26 – Home]
The Huskers are replacing a starting cornerback and starting safety, but returning cornerbacks Tommi Hill and Malcolm Hartzog both have extensive starting experience. Nickel/Rover Isaac Gifford led Nebraska with 86 tackles last year, which was 35 more than any other player. He was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. Safeties Marques Buford and DeShon Singleton were both part of a revolving door of starters last year.

6. Purdue [Game 9, November 9 – Home]
The star of this group is sophomore free safety Dillon Thieneman who led Purdue last year with 106 tackles and six interceptions as a true freshman. He was named Second-Team All-Big Ten. Senior cornerback Markevious Brown returns. He started 11 games last year and posted 45 tackles. A second cornerback will be found. People will point toward Georgia transfer Nyland Green for that job. A nickel and another safety must emerge as well.

7. Michigan State [Game 4, September 28 – Away]
Michigan State has at least 10 DBs on the roster with starting experience. That’s a good thing but also an indication of a couple of veteran transfers combined with a returning roster that never really played well enough to be entirely settled last year. Nickel Angelo Grose can play anywhere. He finished with 72 tackles last year, starting 10 games. Safety Malik Spencer also posted 72 tackles in 2023. Camp is going to be huge to figure how what this lineup will look like.

8. Northwestern [Game 10, November 16 – Away]
The Wildcats are looking for three new starters and improvements across the board. Safety Coco Azema came off the bench last year and earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten status, posting 47 tackles. He has 14 career starts to his credit. Devin Turner started 12 games at safety last year and totaled 79 tackles. Starting cornerback Theran Johnson is back. There are several candidates opposite him. Their hybrid nickel/star needs to be solidified as well.

9. Indiana [Game 11, November 23 – Home]
There are nearly 10 members of this secondary who began their careers at other schools. Cornerback D’Angelo Ponds was a Second-Team All-Sun Belt pick last year at James Madison. He had 13 PBUs last year and followed head coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana. Starting CB Jamari Sharpe returns after a season where he posted nine starts, 22 tackles, and one INT. Safety Nic Toomer started half the season last year. This is a hectic mix of new and old players.

10. Western Michigan [Game 2, September 7 – Home]
Western Michigan returns starting safeties Tate Hallock and Aaron Wofford, but also adds Florida Atlantic starting safety Armani-Eli Adams, who has 15 career starts in his five years. Hallock and Wofford both tallied over 70 tackles last year. Adams missed most of last season but posted 69 tackles in 2022. The Broncos have a slew of long, tall cornerbacks, including 6-foot-2 Bilhal Kone who started four games and finished with 42 tackles and eight PBUs last year.

11. Marshall [Game 3, September 21 – Home]
There are more than a half-dozen defensive backs on the Marshall roster with starting experience, but none of them earned a mention on any of the first three All-Sun Belt teams last year. Safety JJ Roberts was an Honorable Mention selection after posting 73 tackles last year as a sophomore. Strong safety AG McGhee started seven games last year. The cornerback situation is completely up in the air. Transfers from Central Michigan and Arizona State should help.

12. Akron [Game 1, August 31 – Home]
The Zips must find four new starters to pair with experienced veteran Darrian Lewis who could end up at safety or nickel. There are transfers from Purdue, Washington State, South Carolina, Cincinnati, and Cornell in the mix and everybody’s going to have a shot to see the field. Safety Paul Lewis started 20 games in his career at Cornell, so the experience is there. Aman Greenwood started seven games in five years at Syracuse. The Zips were a middle-of-the-pack pass defense last year in the MAC. They should fall short of that this year.

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