Scarlet Sunrise: Lathan Ransom, Tyvis Powell reflect on safety tradition at Ohio State

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Lathan Ransom, Tyvis Powell reflect on safety tradition at Ohio State

The Ohio State “Tradition Talk” series — which includes weekly discussions between current and former Buckeyes players at each position — continued with senior Lathan Ransom and alum Tyvis Powell.

Both safeties, present and past, kicked off the conversation by reviewing their Mount Rushmore of Buckeyes at the position. Ransom rattled off four names: Mike Doss, Malik Hooker, Vonn Bell and Malcolm Jenkins.

Powell let the Jenkins pick slide, even though he pointed out that Jenkins actually played cornerback at Ohio State. The player Powell said Ransom needed to mention was Jack Tatum.

“You got some really good ones, and there’s a bunch more that we could throw out there,” Powell said, “but you gotta put Jack Tatum on there, man,” Powell said. “He was before our time, but he was ‘The Assassin.’ He was the epitome of how you wanted to play safety. Jack Tatum is definitely on my list.”

Powell also shouted out Jordan Fuller before noting that, although they might not have the same accolades as the other players brought up before them, Christian Bryant and C.J. Barnett are deserving of being in the conversation, too.

Powell said that Bryant was “the heart and soul of the defense” in 2012 and 2013. Meanwhile, Barnett — who played for the Buckeyes from 2009-13 and is a former captain — currently serves as the program’s assistant athletic director for player development and external affairs.

When reflecting on Ohio State traditions, Powell talked about the emotions that came with “Senior Tackle,” an end-of-season practice where seniors hit the blocking sled one last time. Then he segued into talking about the Michigan game.

“It’s war,” Powell said of the rivalry. “You grow up watching it, and you think you understand, but until you get in the game and are actually on the field, you’re like, ‘Man, it’s really like that.’ When I got my time to shine, I had that same mentality. It was like, ‘Dominate these dudes, show no love to none of them.’ They don’t care about us, so we don’t care about them. We gonna show y’all that we are the most dominant team, we are the better team. No matter what y’all do — trick plays, [and] if y’all wanna play in the parking lot, we gonna beat y’all in that, too. That type of tradition, just being dominant over them was big to me.”

Ransom said agreed that the Michigan game has to be up there. The tradition he touched on, though, was the black stripe removal. He was the second in his class to officially become a Buckeye.

“When you get here as a freshman, you’re looking up to all the older dudes,” Ransom said. “You’re just really trying to earn their respect. … I was the second one [in my class] to get my black stripe off. The first one was Kourt Williams. When Kourt came in, he was down pat, all business. That wasn’t a surprise to anyone. I got [mine] off in a scrimmage in the Shoe.”

Ransom continued: “I think one of the plays was, Miyan [Williams] broke off a big run, and I think I chased him down and got him on the ground. And then I had some PBUs and stuff. But that meant a lot to me.”

Predicting complete Ohio State 2024 recruiting class following early July commitments

Ohio State already has 18 commits in its 2024 class, but don’t think that the Buckeyes are done — or close to done — yet. The Buckeyes, who currently have the No. 2 ranked class in the On3 Team Industry Ranking, are looking to finish with 25-28 signees.

Head coach Ryan Day hasn’t signed a class of that size since the 2020 cycle. But, keep in mind, the Buckeyes will likely lose a horde of talent to the NFL Draft next offseason. At the moment, five, and sometimes six, Ohio State players are being projected to hear their names called in the opening round of the 2024 draft.

So strap in because the Buckeyes still have work to do on the recruiting trail to fill out their 2024 class.

Lettermen Row is predicting how the rest of the class will shake out. For the full rundown, go here.

Three thoughts on Buckeyes as offseason begins to wind down

Ohio State fall camp is less than a month away. Big Ten Media Days are even sooner.

With that in mind, Lettermen Row is collecting summer thoughts, including a question from the Lettermen Lounge message board, and reflecting on the Buckeyes ahead of the 2023 season.

We preview our “Safeties Week,” the latest installment of our position preview series, in addition to reviewing Ohio State recruiting “what-ifs” and providing more 2024 class predictions.

Check it out here.

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 54 days

Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 138 days

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