When Ohio State secured the commitments of Earl Little Jr. and Terry Moore in the transfer portal, the assumption was that they’d complement Jaylen McClain as the Buckeyes’ other two starting safeties. While Earl Little Jr. seems to be barreling toward one starting job, another name has emerged to challenge Moore this offseason.
Leroy Roker III is making waves in his third year with Ohio State.
“I love Leroy,” Ohio State safeties coach Matt Guerrieri said. “Leroy is a guy who has developed tremendously over the last couple of years. He has all the skills to be a very, very, very good safety. He's an awesome person. The sky is the limit for him. I know you've seen him in spurts, but he's a guy that's grown tremendously and we've seen him every step of the way. But, yeah, I'm really excited for Leroy's future. I'm proud of him and his development. It's going to be a fun ride.”
Roker is working at all three safety spots in Ohio State’s defense, and the returns on the Florida native this spring have him in a spot to play a major role for this year’s Silver Bullets. It might surprise some, given his recruiting pedigree – but it doesn’t surprise Roker or those in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“Surprising? I wouldn’t say so,” Roker said. “I just really put my faith in God. I’ve been in the building a lot.”
Excluding punter Nick McLarty, who arrived from Australia in 2024, Roker was the lowest-rated prospect in Ohio State’s recruiting class of 2024. He landed as the No. 841 overall prospect and the No. 88 safety in the 247Sports composite. His offer sheet was short, with Miami and Iowa being the only two other Power Four schools involved in his recruitment.
Roker’s development got off to a slightly delayed start, at least by modern college football standards, as a summer enrollee. But he shed his black stripe just weeks into his first preseason camp at Ohio State in August 2024, though he did redshirt his freshman year in the end.
“Coming in with a bunch of four- or five-stars, highly recruited, it did put a chip on my shoulder. But I knew I could be able to compete with them,” Roker said.
Roker climbed the depth chart a few rungs as a redshirt freshman in 2025. He tied with Faheem Delane to play the fourth-most snaps of Ohio State’s safeties (including nickel Lorenzo Styles Jr.) at 81, seeing some meaningful action at dimeback in the middle to late portions of the regular season. He picked up nine tackles with one pass breakup on the season. In coverage, he allowed two receptions for 11 yards and one touchdown on three targets, per Pro Football Focus.
Range and the ability to play downhill are what Roker views as the strengths of his game. He felt he built trust with Ohio State’s coaching staff through his performance in practice and on special teams in 2025, which earned him the defensive opportunities he received.
“Special teams is very important here,” Roker said. “So I think by creating a role from special teams, I was able to put the trust in with the coaches and get on the field.”
McClain’s seen a lot of growth from Roker this offseason, saying Roker pushed him in the weight room, which is saying something given McClain is an Iron Buckeye. He’s making similar pushes in spring practice.
“He took a really big step,” McClain said. “You guys see him out there playing. He played more and more coming to the end of his sophomore season. And I expect him to see a big jump coming this year when it comes to being more mature. And on and off the field ... he got a lot bigger. I know you guys can see that. And he's been able to be trustworthy for the coaches.”
Communication is something Roker said he’s continuing to work on, ever-important in the back end to talk through coverages and alignments, but his versatility is another appealing element of his game to Guerrieri and Ohio State’s coaches. Having safeties that can play multiple roles has been a major boost to recent Buckeye secondaries, and Ohio State finished No. 1 nationally in pass defense in 2025. It gives the Buckeyes myriad ways to disguise coverages and put the best defenders in their best spaces.
“It just gives a different look,” Roker said. “The quarterback might think I'm going to go in the post, but I'm going to come down in the (run) fit. Or he's going down in the post, I come down in the fit. So it just gives a different look for the quarterback.”
Roker’s rise might seem like a surprise to those outside. But to those who watch him daily, it’s been bubbling for a while.
“He's just working every day,” McClain said. “It's not like anyone around here is surprised. We see how he works in the weight room. We see how much attention he pays in the meetings. I mean, he puts it out on the field, so there's no surprise about that.”
