As a senior at Good Counsel High School in Olney, Maryland, Faheem Delane posted 97 tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, and three interceptions in 2024. He was named the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts. As a junior, he helped lead his team to a conference title with 69 tackles and 18 pass breakups.
Delane was ranked the No. 5 safety in the 2025 class per the 247Sports Composite and the No. 55 player overall. He chose Ohio State over offers from Alabama, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Michigan, Georgia, and every other major college football program in need of a play-making safety.
What To Like
Faheem Delane comes to Ohio State with a reputation as a physical defender with range. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, he has the size for the physical demands of the strong safety position, but he is not just an in-the-box kind of safety. While he plays more strong safety than free safety, he is still quite capable of being a deep safety when the need arises.
The first set of clips shows his ability to defend his zones and also play in man coverage. He triggers well as a deep safety and is a sound tackler when he gets to the ball. There is a strong understanding of his job and what the offense is trying to get accomplished.
There will be no need to teach Delane to like contact because it’s clear he has no worries. He is an extra linebacker when needed against the run, as well as a disruptor as a blitzer. There is a lot of former Buckeye Lathan Ransom to Delane’s game, which is always a welcome set of skills for a defense.
The Potential
Based on his high school experience and his first spring with the Buckeyes, Faheem Delane looks like the kind of strong safety that offensive backfields are going to hate. In the clips below, you can see his effectiveness as a blitzer, but it’s a lot easier to dominate like this in high school than college. Still, you can see why Delane is the guy tasked with wrecking an offense.
The No. 1 job of every Ohio State defender that isn’t a cornerback is to stop the run. That’s not really been an issue in high school for Delane. There is little doubt that he can fit in fine as a strong safety at Ohio State, but it’s not just a run-stopping position. There will obviously need to be an ability to play deep safety as well. The athleticism and football IQ are there to make that happen.
The Expectations
The Buckeyes went through spring practice with a two deep at safety that did not include any of Ohio State’s three true freshman safeties. There is a scenario where Faheem Delane can afford to redshirt, but that will be up to fall camp and the need for special teamers to decide.
Down the road, however, Delane should be a force in the box as an extra defender. Throughout all of his clips, it is easy to make the comparison to Lathan Ransom — and that’s not just because they’re both listed at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds. There is a safety hierarchy that Delane has in front of him at the moment, but it won’t last forever.
The Bottom Line
The clips below are a good portion of what Faheem Delane did in Ohio State’s spring game last month — including his interception against freshman quarterback Tavien St. Clair. Nobody on the defense was asked to do anything crazy, but Delane never seemed lost on defense — which has not been the case for all freshmen safeties over the years.
The comparisons to Lathan Ransom are easy to make, but people may forget the ragged road Ransom took to get where he was last year. During his career he played both safety spots and nickel early in his career, but only came into his own when he found his home at strong safety as an upperclassman.
Everybody has their own path, but the sooner Faheem Delane can establish where he needs to be, the better he’ll be when he’s finally in the Buckeyes’ lineup.
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