Freshman Safety Kye Stokes Leaves Lasting Impression During Spring Practice

Stokes was the first member of the Buckeyes' 2022 recruiting class to shed his black stripe.

True freshman safety Kye Stokes had already impressed Ohio State’s coaching staff heading into last Saturday's spring game, as evidenced by him becoming the first member of his recruiting class to lose his black stripe earlier this month.

“The first thing you notice is his smile and his attitude every day is just excellent,” head coach Ryan Day said during his press conference on April 14. “It’s just contagious. I mean, he constantly just has a lot of energy.

“On the field, athletically, he’s got a really high ceiling. His movement is excellent. His range, his ability to change direction, his ball skills, covering skills. We’ll see how he tackles in the game but so far, so good.”

The 6-foot-2 and 185-pounder then backed it up with his performance on Saturday, when he recorded nine tackles and two pass break ups in 91 defensive snaps as the backup to redshirt junior Ronnie Hickman at the adjuster – or free safety – position.

That was tied with redshirt freshman safety Andre Turrentine for the second-most tackles in the game, trailing only redshirt junior linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, who had 10 in just two quarters of play.

“Kye has had a good, good spring,” new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said after the scrimmage. “Without watching the film, I thought he had a great game just because he showed up and flashed and it looked like he rose to the occasion.

“What you worry about with a young guy is the bright lights and he looked like like it was no problem for him. He really stepped up, so I’m looking at good things for him. I liked him all along, but I was impressed today.”

Playing time might be hard to come by for Stokes this fall, as Hickman, fifth-year senior Josh Proctor (bandit/boundary) and Oklahoma State transfer Tanner McCalister (nickel) seemingly have the three starting safety spots locked down.

But with several players – including fifth-year senior Marcus Hooker, junior Lathan Ransom and redshirt freshmen Jantzen Dunn and Jaylen Johnson – sidelined by injury this spring, Stokes showed the versatility and aggressiveness needed to make an early impact.

“The biggest concern for me, really, is on the back end. A lot of guys were banged up this spring,” Knowles said. “I’m always worried about depth back there because sometimes you have to move guys around from position to position and it becomes a challenge if you don’t have enough guys.

“That’s why I was really excited to see what Kye did today. I thought that can help us a lot in terms of our depth.”

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