Ohio State DC Jim Knowles Specializing Safety Positions For Each Player

Ohio State Buckeyes fans' wait to see Sonny Styles start at safety will be over in just a few short weeks, but who will join him at the other two spots?

Ohio State's safeties had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows last season.

The lows stick out more than the highs because they came with long touchdown passes from Michigan's J.J. McCarthy and Georgia's Stetson Bennett in the two losses the Buckeyes suffered last season. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said while he wants players to be able to play multiple of his three safety positions, he's focusing on specializing each player at one spot.

"I love flexibility, but at the same time you don't want to cheat the player, so there is a real balance to that," Knowles said. "The more reps a guy gets at a certain position forming those fundamentals, the better he's going to be. So right now, I'm leaning towards get them set, get them in place, let them get better at their fundamentals at that position."

Both Ronnie Hickman and Tanner McCalister moved on to the NFL, leaving Lathan Ransom as the lone returning starting safety. Knowles' plan, as it stood on Thursday, was to have Ja'Had Carter playing the adjuster (free safety), Ransom the bandit (strong safety) and Sonny Styles the nickel.

Knowles said Carter, who missed time with an injury in spring, has made a fluid transfer from Syracuse and is grasping his 4-2-5 defensive scheme well.

"Ja'Had being a transfer has been a very coachable player," Knowles said. "He's one of those guys that you can say something to, correct it and he corrects it immediately on the field. That's rare. His learning and processing of our system has been great." 

One difference in the Buckeyes' safety room was the absence of Kourt Williams II. The Harbor City, CA. native was listed as a linebacker on the fall camp roster after battling injuries and garnering limited playing time in the back end since his arrival in 2020.

Williams has recorded 32 tackles in 17 games.

"Kourt is a guy we always felt would be better off closer to the line of scrimmage, so we've debated that move for awhile kind of in-house," Knowles said. "He's moved back and forth. We just thought it was the right time to move him down fully, and he'll still play some SAM linebacker in a 4-3. Kourt is a first-class young man. It's great to have him at linebacker."

And then there's Styles.

The Pickerington, OH. native was a top-30 recruiting and the second-best safety in the class of 2022. Standing 6-4 and weighing 228 pounds, Styles can fly around the field and make bruising tackles, which he showed against Toledo, while also playing in coverage.

His impact was limited behind the experienced veterans, playing in 10 games and recording nine tackles. However, his fans' highly anticipated wait of Styles' starting role will come.

"Sonny is that guy that we are continually trying to find ways to get him on the field to let him be a factor in the game," Knowles said. "Plan on him being out there a lot."

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