Few Ohio State position groups face a bigger overhaul this spring than the Buckeyes’ secondary.
Ohio State has to replace the star of its defense for the past two years, two-time unanimous All-American safety Caleb Downs, as well as two other starters in cornerback Davison Igbinosun and nickelback Lorenzo Styles Jr. The good news is the Buckeyes have strong candidates to replace them, as Devin Sanchez is in line to start opposite Jermaine Mathews Jr. at cornerback while transfer safeties Terry Moore and Earl Little Jr. were brought in to pair with returning starter Jaylen McClain.
Spring Previews
We continue our position-by-position look at Ohio State’s 2026 roster entering spring practice with a look at how the Buckeyes’ secondary has changed, the biggest question they’ll need to answer this spring and the overall outlook for Ohio State’s defensive backfield entering its first practices of the year next week.
Who’s Back
Jermaine Mathews Jr. (Starting CB in 2025), Jaylen McClain (Starting SS in 2025), Devin Sanchez (No. 3 CB in 2025), Leroy Roker III (Second-String FS in 2025), Miles Lockhart (Third-String CB in 2025), Brenten “Inky” Jones (Third-String DB in 2025), Jordyn Woods (Redshirt in 2025), DeShawn Stewart (Redshirt in 2025)
Mathews and McClain return to lead Ohio State’s 2026 secondary as second-year starters. McClain excelled in his first season as Ohio State’s starting strong safety, recording 53 tackles while allowing just 15 catches for 84 yards in 27 targets in coverage, per Pro Football Focus; now, he becomes the leader of Ohio State’s safety corps. Mathews, who was stout in coverage for most of the 2025 regular season but struggled in Ohio State’s postseason games against Indiana and Miami, will be put to the test in 2026 as he becomes the Buckeyes’ No. 1 cornerback.
Sanchez was Ohio State’s first defensive back off the bench last season, playing 321 snaps at cornerback. The top-ranked cornerback in the 2025 recruiting class, Sanchez is now expected to be a full-time starter opposite Mathews as a sophomore.
Roker, who played 81 snaps off the bench in 2025, is the only other returning defensive back who saw significant playing time last year. Now entering his third year as a Buckeye, Roker is likely to be Ohio State’s first safety off the bench this season and is a candidate to be the Buckeyes’ sixth defensive back in dime packages.
Who’s New
Cam Calhoun (Transfer CB), Dominick Kelly (Transfer CB), Earl Little Jr. (Transfer S), Terry Moore (Transfer S), Jay Timmons (Freshman CB), Jordan Thomas (Freshman CB), Blaine Bradford (Freshman S), Khmari Bing (Freshman S), Simeon Caldwell (Freshman S), Kaden Gebhardt (Freshman S)
The Buckeyes added a strong haul of four transfer defensive backs this offseason, led by Moore and Little, who are both expected to be starters in this year’s secondary. Moore, who’s expected to start at free safety, was graded by Pro Football Focus as the second-best safety in all of college football in 2024 at Duke before missing the 2025 season with a torn ACL. Little, who’s expected to start at nickel, earned second-team All-ACC recognition while lining up at all three safety spots for Florida State last season.
Calhoun also brings a track record of high-level play at the Power 4 level, as he was graded by PFF as a top-25 cornerback nationally for Utah in 2024 before transferring to Alabama in 2025. He didn’t play much in his lone season with the Crimson Tide, but projects as Ohio State’s likely No. 3 CB in 2026.
Calhoun will face competition to be Ohio State’s top backup cornerback from Kelly, who impressed in limited action at Georgia last season, and Timmons and Thomas, who were both top-12 cornerbacks in the 2026 recruiting class. Timmons, a five-star prospect, is also a candidate to play nickel and/or be the Buckeyes’ sixth defensive back in dime packages.
Bradford, the No. 7 safety in the 2026 class, projects as the top candidate among the freshman safeties to round out the two-deep, though Bing, Caldwell and Gebhardt will also have the chance to compete for position on the depth chart this spring.
Who’s Gone
Caleb Downs (NFL Draft), Davison Igbinosun (Senior), Lorenzo Styles Jr. (Senior), Faheem Delane (Transfer), Cody Haddad (Transfer), Malik Hartford (Transfer), Keenan Nelson Jr. (Transfer), Aaron Scott Jr. (Transfer), Bryce West (Transfer)
Among all of Ohio State’s departures from last season, no player leaves bigger shoes to fill than Downs, college football’s best safety in both of his years as a Buckeye. Ohio State can’t expect any one player to replicate everything Downs did for Ohio State’s defense; replacing the Jim Thorpe Award winner will be a group effort for the Buckeyes’ secondary.
Igbinosun was Ohio State’s best cornerback last season, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors, so he’s another key player the Buckeyes have to replace on the back end of their defense. And Styles was Ohio State’s starting nickelback in 2025.
The Buckeyes also lost several promising up-and-coming defensive backs to the transfer portal in Delane (who transferred to LSU), Scott (Oregon) and West (Wisconsin). It’s unlikely any of them would have started in 2026, but all of them would have likely been on the two-deep, so their exits put pressure on freshmen like Timmons, Thomas and Bradford to be ready to play right away.
The Big Question
Can Ohio State’s new starting safety trio effectively replace Downs?
As mentioned above, expecting any one safety to make the same individual impact for Ohio State’s defense in 2026 that Downs made for the last two years would be an unrealistic ask. As such, the responsibility of doing all the things Downs did for Matt Patricia’s defense won’t fall on one specific player, but rather on the collective efforts of all three starting safeties.
Moore, assuming he returns to his pre-injury form, has shown he has the range and coverage ability to be an excellent free safety. Little’s versatility makes him a good candidate to take on many of the in-the-box responsibilities that Downs had when he lined up closer to the line of scrimmage last season. McClain has already shown he can be an eraser in run defense, but will be tasked with taking on a true leadership role for the secondary now that he’s out of Downs’ shadow.
It goes without saying that Ohio State will miss Downs this season. But as it shifts to more of a true three-safety defense with the arrival of Little, the Buckeyes appear to have a solid plan to replace Downs without placing that burden on a single player. This spring will offer our first glimpse at what a Patricia defense will look like without having Downs as the centerpiece to it all – and where the Buckeyes may have to retool things to account for no longer having the soon-to-be top-10 NFL draft pick in the middle of their secondary.
Battle to Watch
Cam Calhoun vs. Jay Timmons vs. Jordan Thomas vs. Dominick Kelly
Even though Ohio State has only two returning starters in the secondary, the starting lineup appears to be fairly well-set entering spring practices. The plan has always been for Sanchez to start at cornerback this season, and Moore and Little were both brought in to start alongside McClain at safety. Unless one of them has a disappointing spring, there won’t be any fully open starting jobs in the Buckeyes’ defensive backfield.
That said, there will be plenty of competition to be the first players off the bench in the secondary, especially at cornerback, where all four newcomers are legitimate candidates to emerge as Ohio State’s No. 3 CB. And that’s a role that could lead to plenty of playing time, as proven by Sanchez playing more than 300 snaps last season.
Calhoun projects as the frontrunner for that spot with his successful track record as the No. 3 CB at Utah two years ago, but the others shouldn’t be discounted in that competition. Timmons soared up the recruiting rankings to become a five-star in his senior year for good reason, and Thomas looks the part of an early contributor with a college-ready skill set. Kelly comes from one of college football’s top programs and had three pass breakups in just 40 coverage snaps at Georgia, so he’s another player to watch in the battle for a spot on the cornerback two-deep.
Overall Pre-Spring Outlook
While Ohio State might not have a transcendent superstar in its 2026 secondary as it had for the past two years with Downs, all five of its projected starters have All-Big Ten potential. McClain was quietly elite for the Buckeyes last season, Moore and Little were already stars from their previous schools, Mathews showed plenty of playmaking ability in his first year as a starter and Sanchez is a star in the making.
Mathews and Sanchez both need to be more consistent than they were last year, and every defensive back’s individual weak points could be more vulnerable to exposure this season without Downs’ presence in the middle of the defense to help mask them. But the Buckeyes have more than enough talent in their starting five to still have one of college football’s best secondaries, with plenty of intriguing players behind them who will look to prove this spring that they can also make an impact for Ohio State’s defense this season.
