Skip to main content
ohio-state logo

Sevyn Banks 'soaking everything in,' building for breakout

Spencer-Holbrookby:Spencer Holbrook•07/21/20•

SpencerHolbrook

Sevyn Banks by Birm-Lettermen Row
Ohio State cornerback Sevyn Banks could blossom into a starter for the Buckeyes. (Birm/Lettermen Row)

COLUMBUS — Sevyn Banks has massive shoes to fill at Ohio State.

After the departure of Damon Arnette and Jeff Okudah — both first-round draft picks — the secondary for the Buckeyes will look much different than it did a season ago. While Shaun Wade slides from slot cornerback to outside, the need for a second dominant corner on the outside is still there.

And Banks looks the part to be the next great Ohio State shut-down cornerback. The same spot Bradley Roby, Eli Apple, Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley, Denzel Ward, Okudah and so many others were in — that’s where Banks finds himself heading into his third season.

So how is he approaching the responsibility?

“You just can’t get complacent,” Banks said in December after the Big Ten title game. “And that’s in your whole life, honestly. You just have to keep working. I have a good future ahead of myself. I’m just going to keep soaking everything in, just worrying about the moment right now and just keep working, honestly. Just have to do what I do.”

Sevyn Banks-Ohio State-Ohio State football-Buckeyes

Sevyn Banks could be a starter on the Ohio State defense. (Sammy Silverman/Lettermen Row)

The first step was working this winter to get bigger, faster and stronger with strength coach Mickey Marotti. And Banks certainly did that. He looked like a different player in a much bigger body when the Buckeyes kicked off training camp this spring before the pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt.

Banks had already shown he could put a body on a physical Big Ten receiver last season, but with a stronger frame and another offseason of work, he could become what Ohio State is accustomed to seeing from its cornerbacks on the outside: the ability to lock down some of the best receivers in the country.

Sevyn Banks-Ohio State-Ohio State football-Buckeyes

Sevyn Banks can be a playmaker for the Buckeyes.

Finally reunited with Kerry Coombs, the secondary coach who recruited Banks to Ohio State from Orlando, Florida, Banks has some time to work on his craft with Coombs, who left the Buckeyes for the Tennessee Titans for two seasons.

Now back with knowledge as an NFL coach and an even better reputation, Coombs is excited for his secondary, and Sevyn Banks is going to be a huge part of that.

“I think there’s a lot of them that are going to have bigger roles, right?” Coombs said. “You lost three starters, so we would have every expectation that every one of those kids that was competing at the frontend of spring, Sevyn Banks and Cam Brown and Marcus Hooker, Josh Proctor, Marcus Williamson and Tyreke Johnson, they’re all going to have bigger roles.

“I have every expectation of getting a lot of guys on the field, and I think it’s a talented group of players. They’re just inexperienced, but I expect a lot of those guys are going to get ready to go compete and play in the fall.”

Coombs return to Ohio State signals that at least three guys will rotate at cornerback, even if Wade will be the No. 1 guy at the position.

Banks has plenty of experience through two seasons and a complete body transformation to show he’s ready to join Wade and Cameron Brown in the rotation.

If he can make the three-man group at cornerback, Sevyn Banks might be the next Buckeyes cornerback who will leave big shoes to fill.

You may also like