Ohio State Expects Cornerbacks To Be At Full Strength For Season Opener

With Cameron Brown, Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock banged up, Jakailin Johnson and Jyaire Brown have gained valuable reps in camp.

Although Ohio State was “banged up” at cornerback in the early weeks of fall camp, head coach Ryan Day expects the unit to be at full strength for the season opener against Notre Dame on Sept. 3.

“We had a good practice coming out of the weekend, so the goal is to be at full force heading into next week’s practice and, overall, I feel good about it,” Day said during his press conference on Monday morning. “A majority of those guys had really good springs. A couple guys missed a couple things here, but it’s kind of (expected during) training camp.

“The goal is to have everybody there at full strength going into next week so that we have a full week of practice starting next Monday, but this week has to be a good one, too. We’re in decent shape.”

The Buckeyes have just six scholarship cornerbacks on the roster, so depth was already a concern for Day and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. But then fifth-year senior Cameron Brown and sophomores Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock were limited due to injuries, forcing the Buckeyes to cross-train third-year safeties Jantzen Dunn and Cameron Martinez at the position.

None of those injuries appear to be long-term, though, and Knowles noted Ohio State got closer to practicing with its full complement of cornerbacks on Monday morning as a result.

“I don’t have that many concerns,” Knowles said. “Now that the cornerbacks are coming back, I feel confident in what we have … It’s good to see those guys there and the ones who played when they were out gained a lot of experience against excellent competition.

“I think we have our top guys back now and it does give you a lot of confidence when they’re out there because they can change the game in terms of coverage. But these things happen in football. You’ve got to be next man up and it all pays off down the road because of the experience that they get.”

The biggest beneficiaries of the injuries at the top of the depth chart were redshirt freshman Jakailin Johnson and early enrollee freshman Jyaire Brown, who – as the coaches alluded to – gained some valuable reps in practice that will only benefit them on game day.

“I think both of those guys have practiced their tail off,” Day said. “They’re going every day up against Marvin (Harrison Jr.), Jaxon (Smith-Njigba), Emeka (Egbuka) and Julian (Fleming), so I give them a lot of credit. Every day, they’ve gotten better – both of those guys.

“Sometimes it’s hard for them to see that, but they are. They’ve gotten much better … If they keep grinding on these days, then they’re going to find themselves in games really fast. We’re trying to figure out who’s game ready right now, and they’re getting real close.”

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