Top Of The Charts: Cornerback

We have made our way into the secondary as we continue our look at top opponents that Ohio State is going to face. The Buckeyes only will face half of the Big Ten, with a nine-game league schedule and 17 opponents not named Ohio State in the league, so technically, just a little bit more than half.

Once we ran our first piece of the series, I had someone reach out to me and tell me that they thought I made an omission in the quarterback list only to remember that we are talking about the teams that are on the schedule and in this instance, the Indiana player was not included with the Hoosiers off the schedule.

But it also does open the non-conference schedule and for Ohio State, that really is just one game, Texas. No, we will tell you the week of Ohio U. and of Grambling not to overlook those games, but in a matter of honesty, for the sake of this series, overlook those games, nobody on either team is going to crack the list.

The schedule now has us to cornerback, one of the most visible positions on defense and one that every football expert like to believe they can break down with the best of them.

Some familiar names will make this list and maybe a name or two that you are not talking about. Who will give Ohio State’s first year starting quarterback issues and who will Jeremiah Smith give heartburn to?

On to the list as we get close to wrapping up our look at the 2025 schedule for the Buckeyes.

5. Tacario Davis – Washington (September 27^th)

The former Arizona Wildcat is now a member of the Washington Huskies and will be part of what should be a solid defense. Davis hasn’t put up big numbers yet in his career but what’s not to like about a 6-foot-4 cornerback. Provided he has the skills to play corner (he does), have what it takes to be a starter (started 11 games last season) and have the faith of the coaches (Jedd Fisch coached him when he was at Arizona prior to taking the Washington job). Generally, I don’t make these picks based on upside, but this is a case of upside, and I think Davis could be pretty good.

4. Jyaire Hill – Michigan (November 29^th)

Hill had nine starts for Michigan and played in all 12 games. That was his first real major action since joining the Wolverines with spot action in year one. 2024 saw 35 tackles, 5.5 for loss and a sack, all while earning defensive player of the game honors in three games. He will share duties at corner with Caleb Anderson, but Hill seems to be the player on the better trajectory with Anderson coming in as a grad transfer.

3. A.J. Harris – Penn State (November 1^st)

Harris is only entering this third season for the Nittany Lions and already has started to make believers out of people in Happy Valley (Pa.). Corner is one of those positions where sometimes the lower the numbers the more respect you have earned (ask Shaun Springs during his Ohio State career). Should one career interception be concerning? Maybe yes, maybe no. If teams aren’t throwing his way, then there just aren’t plays to be made and being a corner generally doesn’t have you getting your nose bloody in run support.

2. Xavier Scott- Illinois (October 11^th)

Xavier Scott has been putting up numbers for a couple of seasons now at Illinois and 2025 could be a big year with a potential shot at All-B1G First Team honors. He isn’t the biggest corner on the list, but he has been tested and has six career interceptions under his belt in the Bret Bielema-led defense. With more than 120 career tackles, he has shown that he can get out there and get an offensive player to the ground when need-be and while Scott may not be one of the players that people think of first when it comes to the position, maybe they should.

1. Malik Muhammad – Texas (August 30^th)

It would be easy to point out that all of these corners on my list don’t have much in the way of interceptions but that isn’t really the only metric that you need to be looking at in making these determinations. Muhammad will be among the best cornerbacks in the SEC and in the nation and even if I wanted to have him lower, I am not sure that I could. Kobe Black will play the other cornerback position, and this should give Texas a solid duo, but Muhammad is poised to have a big year.

Go to discussion...