Buckeyes seeing 'healthy competition' in deep safety room
COLUMBUS — Perry Eliano can see the difference. The second-year Ohio State safety coach watched his secondary work on learning a defense and then try executing in it all at once last season.
It yielded mixed results, no matter who was out there. But there’s just something about this safety group that has Eliano excited to take the field in less than a month. It’s the experience, both in terms of playing time and playing in the scheme.
Eliano saw a unit last season that was trying to learn on the fly. He now can tell his unit understands what it is doing on every rep — and it’s making a huge difference for the Buckeyes defense so far in the first five days of camp.
“We’re better than we were last year,” Eliano said Tuesday following the Buckeyes fifth training camp practice. “But part of that is another year in the system, another year in the scheme. They have a greater understanding, so you see more guys getting reps.”
During the first day of camp last week, Ohio State kept a three-safety grouping of senior Lathan Ransom, Syracuse transfer Ja’Had Carter and sophomore Sonny Styles on the field together as a ‘first-team unit.’ Of course, that was just the first day of camp, but it did provide a glimpse of a potential starting trio with Ransom at the ‘bandit,’ Carter at the ‘adjuster’ and Styles playing a nickel role.
That’s a unit with plenty of talent. But Eliano knows he can’t just rely on that first group to help the Ohio State defense reach its potential. Depth will be needed — and Ohio State feels like it has that depth.
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He and the Buckeyes want seven guys to be ready for game-day action. But it’s hard to play more than seven in a game.
“We’re looking for at least six guys — plus one — to be honest with you,” Eliano said. “That’s what it’s going to take to play a game. Anything past that, it’s going to be hard to get the necessary reps during the week to play an opponent. The thing I love is that it’s a healthy competition. Nobody’s guaranteed a spot, and that’s what you want as a coach.
“They know they have to bring it every day.”
Lettermen Row’s Spencer Holbrook, Andy Backstrom and Tim May are back inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center as Lettermen Row talked to the Buckeyes safeties. The crew breaks down what it heard from the Buckeyes after the start of training camp on Thursday and they wrapped up practice No. 5 on Tuesday. Watch here or on the Lettermen Row Youtube channel, and make sure to subscribe to that channel for more Buckeyes breakdown videos.
The latest Lettermen Row report from the WHAC is presented by Byers Auto, the best place to buy a new or used auto in Central Ohio.
