Competitive Devin Sanchez Looking To Take What’s His

Ohio State freshman cornerback Devin Sanchez has the kind of outside expectations on him this year that aren’t fair for any player. Buckeye fans saw wide receiver Jeremiah Smith explode last year as a true freshman, and now people are wondering if Sanchez could do the same thing this year on the defensive side of the ball.

Like Smith, Sanchez was a top 10 recruit and the No. 1 player at his position, but the Buckeyes have had plenty of top 10 recruits over the years and only one of them was Jeremiah Smith.

As such, it’s okay to just let Devin Sanchez carve his own path

But like all cornerbacks, Sanchez has the kind of confidence that won’t limit his beliefs.

“Obviously, I want that for myself,” Sanchez said of Smith’s freshman season. “So, I’m going to push myself to that limit. Try to be on the field year one. That’s my plan. That’s the biggest reason I came here, because I have an opportunity to play year one. So, me having that opportunity is good, and I’m always going to come out here and compete. I’m putting myself at the bottom. So, I’m working. I’m going to work every day like I’m at the bottom and I got to get to the top.”

Sanchez has heard some of that outside noise and the expectations that people have for him online, but he’s also quick to remind people that the Ohio State cornerbacks room isn’t exactly empty, starting with returning vets Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews.

“I got dudes in the room like IGB, who’s gonna be a three-year starter. I got Jermaine, Freshman All-American, he’s gonna play this year too,” Sanchez said. “So I can’t let what people say on the ‘net get to me, because anybody can say ‘he’s gonna play this year,’ but I gotta prove it. So I’ve just gotta come out here, work, and earn that spot.”

The process of getting from the bottom to the top has many facets to it, including the competition every day against the Ohio State wide receivers — including Jeremiah Smith himself. The entire receiver room is pushing Sanchez, which is exactly what he wants.  

“Going against the Zone 6, they’re pushing me to my limits,” he said. “Bringing something out that I didn’t get to bring out in high school.”

Being a player at Ohio State is a daily test, but Sanchez prepared for that in high school. He knew what he was getting into by choosing the Buckeyes. Physically, he already looks like a college cornerback, checking in at 6-foot-2 and around 190 pounds. The mental side of things, however, is another test altogether.

But so far, so good.

“It’s been a good mental thing having to get myself ready to go against guys that are 20, 21 years old,” he said. “You know, being 18, they don’t care about that up here. So, it’s developing yourself to have a great mindset early. Having that grown man mindset at 18 years old is really important because up here. They don’t really care about feelings. So, it’s about just coming up here, being the man that you think you are, and having to go out there and prove it.”

Devin Sanchez found the process of proving himself every day going fairly well early on. In daily competitions this winter against his freshman classmates, he was winning. Then the true freshmen were released to the entire team and Sanchez lost his first individual competition to Davison Igbinosun.

A true freshman losing to a senior who is about to be a four-year starter isn’t front-page news. It is reality. It is expected. But that didn’t make it easy for Sanchez to accept.

“You know he let me hear it,” Sanchez said of Igbinosun. “So, after that loss, I was like, no, I can’t let this happen any more. Because it’s not high school where you’re 17, 16 years old, and if you lose, you lose. Up here, if you lose, the coaches will see that. And they’re going to see how you respond to it. So, I feel like I had to open my eyes. I had to go in that locker room like, yeah, okay, I can’t let this happen any more, you know? So, I’ve got to grow up. These guys are counting on me, too. So, it’s really important that I don’t lose.”

That was part of the most important lesson he has learned in his three months on campus. Every day is a competition and it isn’t optional.

“They take winning and losing to heart,” Sanchez said.

More than ever, now he does as well.

That mentality will be put to good use over the spring and summer as Devin Sanchez competes for a role on this team. The Buckeyes are set with starting cornerbacks Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more. Mathews is proof of that, working his way into the lineup one year ago.

The competition for playing time at cornerback is not going to be easy, but if Sanchez was looking for easy, he could have gone anywhere else in the country.

Instead, he’s just looking for some competition.

“I feel like if you can go out there and compete for it, it’s yours,” he said. “And if you compete for it all the time, who’s going to take it from you? So, I mean, I’m a good competitor. I’m always going to go out there and try to take what’s mine. If it’s out there, that means anybody can have it, and I’m going to be the one that’s going to get it.”

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