Assessing the Impact of Shaun Wade Opting Out of 2020 Season

What does Ohio State's best defensive player opting out of the season do to a team that is hoping to compete for a national title?

I have to be honest, the timing of this one caught me by surprise.

Shaun Wade, a captain and Ohio State's best returning defensive player, announced on his social media platform that he is opting out of the 2020 season.

The 14 members of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) convened on Sunday and were given a thorough presentation on why Big Ten Football can safely return in a few weeks. The league said on Saturday it would announce a decision within 72 hours, and while they have certainly had a rough stretch here from a PR perspective, we really don't have a choice but to take them at their word. 

So operating under the assumption that we'll know by Tuesday what the immediate future of Big Ten football looks like, why opt out now?

"I came back to get my degree and to play another season and win a national championship," Wade told ESPN. "But when the Big Ten canceled, I was focused on still playing, but I felt like they were holding off for so long I thought it was the best decision for me to declare for the draft and just go on with preparing and getting ready for the draft."

"When they ended up canceling the season, I was in contact with [defensive coordinator] Coach [Kerry] Coombs, Coach [Ryan] Day and Gene Smith, our AD, every day about the season. Then every time they said they were going to vote, the Big Ten was pushing everything back," Wade said. "I was being patient, but it was a time-consuming thing and time doesn't wait on no man, so I felt it was the right decision. We talked every day about what was going on behind the scenes, but time was ticking."

Apparently Wade's decision to leave the Buckeyes came because of an insect. Wade told ESPN that he saw a green cricket outside his front door when he left for a workout and when he returned home, it was still there.

"I looked up what a green cricket means and it's kind of about moving on with your life, so I think that was a sign from God that it was time for me to move on," Wade said.

Well, that's a first for me.

It is certainly his right to forgo the season and I'm not going to deny him that. I just find the timing of his announcement curious. 

Shaun's father, Randy, has been at the forefront of the Ohio State-led protests over the last month. But prior to organizing those, Randy said publicly Shaun wouldn't be playing a spring season and would be prepare for the draft. Only, there's no guarantee yet that the team won't play this fall. Perhaps they just had enough of the unknown and have decided to go their own way? To each their own, I suppose.

Randy Wade addresses a crowd of Buckeye fans gathered at a rally at Ohio Stadium on August 29, 2020

But now that Wade is gone, no matter when the Buckeyes take the field, the secondary is going to become a gigantic question mark.

That doesn't necessarily mean they will struggle or that they are incapable of adjusting. But after losing Jeff Okudah, Damon Arnette and Jordan Fuller to the draft last April, Wade was supposed to move out of the slot and be the lock-down cornerback on a national championship contending team. The Buckeyes certainly still have those aspirations, but they'll have to replace the entire secondary from a year ago.

As of September 14, Ohio State only has four cornerbacks on the roster that aren't true freshmen. Sevyn Banks and Cameron Brown are the two most-likely players to start at corner now. Senior Marcus Williamson and Tyreke Johnson are the other two non-freshmen.

To Ohio State's credit, there hasn't been a team in the country that has more consistently developed top-tier players at defensive back than Ohio State. They've adopted the moniker B.I.A. - Best in America - for a reason ... it seems like every April, an Ohio State DB is going in the first round (last year, it happened twice).

I'm not sure if there has ever been a team that has had to replace it's entire defensive backfield and gone on to win a national title. Perhaps it's happened before. If there were ever a program that seems equipped to handle that kind of challenge, it's this one. But it's fair to point out that the secondary may be the biggest unknown on a team with extremely high hopes.

With any luck, the Buckeyes will have to figure it out very soon as Big Ten teams and fans wait anxiously for a decision from the league.

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