Jay Timmons isn't letting his age get in the way.
His coaches and teammates know that full well.
"He doesn't care about being a freshman. He comes in, he talks smack to us. Most freshmen don't really talk smack, but he talks smack to the older guys," Devin Sanchez said Thursday. "He's going to go in there and compete. Whatever we do in the weight room, he's going to compete to the fullest, and then obviously on the field, he's going to compete."
Through two days of fall camp, it appears as if Timmons has backed up that trash talk, earning reps as the starting nickel cornerback to begin August.
Jeremiah Smith was asked at the end of March about which player stood out to him the most on the defensive side of the ball. His answer was Timmons, so that's got to count for something.
“Jay Timmons,” Smith said. “Gonna be a very special player for us, for sure.”
Timmons arrived on campus in January as an early enrollee, coming off a senior season at Pine-Richland High School in Pennsylvania, posting 42 total tackles and four interceptions on the defensive side of the ball, adding 40 receptions for 755 yards and eight touchdowns as a wide receiver.
But before he became a Buckeye, his recruiting journey saw him as a three-star committed to Indiana, then flip to Florida State, where his dad and longtime Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons played, and finish by putting pen to paper on National Signing Day as a five-star committed to the Buckeyes.
"He came in making plays off the bat. He's there mentally as well as physically," Florida State transfer safety Earl Little Jr. said Friday, who met Timmons on recruiting visits when he was pledged to the Seminoles. "For a young guy, he made a tremendous amount of plays. He still continues to do that. I commend him and I tip my hat to him. He's going to be a great player for us."
There's still an adjustment for Timmons to make, as after all, the 2026 season will be his debut campaign playing major college football, but the feeling that his number will be called is quickly becoming evident.
"It's new to him," Sanchez said. "Learning little things, and then obviously being out there, going to compete, not being scared to play, because we're obviously going to need him."
It's not like Timmons had an easy path to taking reps with the ones at nickel, as the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder has players like Dominick Kelly, Terry Moore and Leroy Roker III fighting for that spot. Little and Jaylen McClain can factor into that conversation as well, but the expectation right now is that they'll be primarily playing a more traditional safety role.
It's still early into camp, but Timmons is making a case that he's here to stay, and those around him believe he'll be needed and ready to contribute in his first year.
"Week 2 (against Texas) we're going to need him. We're going to play Indiana, we're going to need him. We're going to play Oregon, we're going to need him," Sanchez said. "So it's just going out there, competing and not being scared."
