When Jeremiah Smith was asked last week who had stood out to him on the defensive side of the ball, the star Ohio State receiver’s mind immediately went to a freshman defensive back.
“Jay Timmons,” Smith said. “Gonna be a very special player for us, for sure.”
A five-star cornerback ranked as the No. 24 overall prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the 2026 class, Timmons is already making a big impression on his Ohio State coaches and teammates through six practices, giving him a chance to earn an immediate role in the secondary as a freshman.
“Competitive. Got his hands on another ball today,” Ryan Day said Tuesday of Timmons. “I'm not exactly in his meetings with (secondary coach Tim Walton), but you can tell he's prepared when he steps on the field. He's got a physicality to him, a toughness to him, an edginess to him, which you're looking for with a defensive back. And gritty. And productive. Made one play early on that was tremendous, a huge interception. So if he keeps playing like that, he's going to find himself on the field.”
Ryan Day says five-star freshman cornerback Jay Timmons is going to find himself on the field if he continues to perform the way he has through his first six practices as a Buckeye. pic.twitter.com/TObfdUW8Lw
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) April 1, 2026
There’s plenty of recent precedent for freshmen to make an immediate impact in Ohio State’s secondary – especially prospects as highly touted as Timmons. Just last year, five-star prospect Devin Sanchez played 323 snaps as a true freshman, making one start while otherwise serving as Ohio State’s top backup cornerback. In 2023, Jermaine Mathews Jr. played 192 snaps with one start as Ohio State’s top backup cornerback as a true freshman, most notably playing a crucial role in place of an injured Denzel Burke in a 20-12 win over Penn State. Burke was an immediate starter at cornerback as a true freshman in 2021 and continued to start at cornerback for the Buckeyes for four years.
Knowing what it takes to earn immediate playing time in Ohio State’s secondary, Mathews believes Timmons and fellow freshman cornerback Jordan Thomas have the ability to be even better than he was as a freshman.
“Those two, they compete very well. Jordan is the type of guy that he's trying to just get his reps; he's just trying to play, he's just trying to go 100% all the time. Jay's more technical and a little smart,” Mathews said. “So I like both of those two freshmen, they're gonna help the Buckeyes in the future.
“To be honest, I think they're more talented than I was as a freshman. I think my (high school) coach, he kind of put me in a different league, as far as mentally, because I knew a lot coming in. But athletically and just technique and all that, they're kind of better than me how I was as a freshman coming in. It’s just spring ball, this is their first couple practices with the Buckeyes, but they're going to be very good. Mark that. They're going to be very good.”
At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds with experience playing cornerback, safety and nickel in high school, Timmons brings an intriguing skill set to the Buckeyes. Demonstrating plenty of physicality despite his below-average size for an outside cornerback, Timmons is demonstrating that he has the ability to contribute at multiple spots in Ohio State’s defensive backfield.
He isn’t likely to start as a freshman, as Mathews and Sanchez are in line to start at outside cornerback while Earl Little Jr., Jaylen McClain and either Terry Moore or Leroy Roker III are expected to be Ohio State’s starting safeties. But he’s firmly in the competition to be Ohio State’s top backup cornerback, a competition that also includes Alabama transfer Cam Calhoun and Georgia transfer Dominick Kelly, along with Thomas. He’s also a strong candidate to back up Little at nickel and potentially see action in situations where Ohio State wants three cornerbacks on the field rather than three safeties, along with an option to be the sixth defensive back on the field in dime packages.
What exactly Timmons’ role will look like in year one is still to be determined between the rest of spring and in preseason camp. But it certainly sounds like Timmons is living up to the hype so far, and Day said Tuesday that Ohio State will look for ways to get its talented freshmen on the field if they prove they’re ready to play.
“I think the first thing we always want to do is win the game, as we know, but then from there, we want to put the best players on the field,” Day said. “There are guys that deserve to play, and if they earn that right in practice, then we got to put them in the game.”
